The Crying Season (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“James. Thank God you’re here. This idiot arrested me.” Woods waved a hand at Kane, who looked up from his notes.

“You’re lucky I’m here. I planned to take a trip to New York this week.” Stone placed his briefcase on the table and pulled out a seat then gave Jenna and Kane a dismissive wave. “I’d like to speak to my client alone.”

“Sure. Press the buzzer when you’re finished.” Jenna glanced at Kane. “You can bring me up to date with the other two prisoners. I gather they’re not being represented at this time?”

“Nope.” Kane stood and his cold stare moved over Stone, but he followed her out the door without another word.

In the hallway, she stopped and leaned against the wall. “What have we got?”

“Leroy and Abel Finch. They are brothers who own a cabin in the mountains near Bear Peak. Their licenses check out and are current. There is no evidence to indicate they are poachers, no infringements with Fish, Wildlife and Parks.” Kane glanced at his notes. “I have no proof of who started the brawl. The buck has a through-and-through wound so no bullet even if we took the time to do ballistics. It does have a broken leg, so it could have staggered out onto the road before Woods had time to reach it. Woods did say they left him in the forest to chase down the buck.” He shrugged. “It’s hearsay at best.”

Jenna tapped her bottom lip, thinking. “I’m not sure the charges of striking a law officer will stick. I figure they’ll have witnesses coming out the woodwork to turn around the charge to police brutality. If it sticks, all the judge will give them is a fine. I’d rather lock them up for the night and let them go with a warning.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll go talk to them next.” He tipped his head toward the interview room with Woods and Stone talking animatedly. “What about Woods?”

“We’ll see what he has to say. I figure he’ll offer to buy his way out of trouble and we can send him on his way. How much damage do you think they did to the Triple Z?”

“I figure if Woods offered the owner five grand, he’d be dancing naked in the street with joy.” Kane’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “Most of his tables and chairs are from yard sales, then add a few glasses. A day to clean up the mess and I think he would come out ahead.” He flicked a glance toward James Stone. “His lawyer is probably charging him more than that an hour.”

“Okay, we’ll see if he’ll do a deal.” She sighed as Deputy Webber came into view looking glum. “It looks like I’m going to be busy for a while. Can you deal with Woods?”

“Sure, I’ll cut him a deal to pay damages and let him go.” Kane grinned. “It might take the edge off Mr. Freeze for a while. He is one lawyer I detest dealing with; he is such an arrogant ass.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

When Webber marched toward them, Jenna could tell by his expression that something was wrong. She turned to meet him. “Problem?”

“Maybe. A couple of hikers found a human skull near the reservation border. I asked them to wait in the front reception area. Rowley is still in your office with the paramedics.”

Jenna considered her options. “Bring them down to interview room four and send the paramedics down here as soon as they’ve finished with Rowley to check the Finch brothers. If the brothers are okay, lock them in the cells. I’ll speak with them later.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The deputy turned on his heel and hurried back along the passageway.

Can my day get any worse? Jenna sighed and pushed a hand through her hair. The brawl at the Triple Z slid into obscurity. She looked up at Kane. “I’ll go interview the hikers.”

“Sure.” He rubbed his chin. “A human skull, huh? You want me

to call in Wolfe?”

She shook her head. She counted herself lucky to have the medical examiner, Deputy Shane Wolfe, on her team, and discovering he had served in the marines was an added bonus. “Not yet. I’ll see what they have to say first. I hope it didn’t wash down from the reservation. There are some ancient burial sites there and they don’t like people walking on their sacred land.”

Footsteps heralded the arrival of two paramedics. Webber followed behind with a young couple. Pushing down the need to ask the extent of Rowley’s injuries, Jenna entered the code on the door then ushered them into the interview room. She took a seat and rested her hands on the table. “I’m Sheriff Jenna Alton. Can I have your names and contact details for the record, please?”

“Jim and Bailey Canavar out of Kansas.”

Jenna took in the couple’s appearance. Jim Canavar, a tall man with glasses and wearing clothes that looked too small for him, was a stark contrast to the young woman beside him: very attractive, shoulder-length raven hair, with manicured nails and wearing branded outdoors clothes. She shouted money with a capital M. Pulling her attention away from them, she filled the details in the report. “Do you remember the exact location of the skull?”

“Yeah, I took down the coordinates and took some photographs.” He glanced at his wife. “It scared the hell out of my wife when she went to take a pee.”

“I’m sure it would.” Jenna wrote down her email address and passed it to him. “Did you touch the skull or disturb the area, Mrs. Canavar?”

“No, I saw it just off the path then ran back to tell Jim.” Bailey gripped Jim’s arm and looked mournful. “I didn’t even want him to take photographs. I don’t want them in our honeymoon shots.”

“I’m sure he will delete them but before you do, please send the coordinates and image files to this address. I’ll pinpoint the area.” She waited for him to comply then smiled. “What brings you to Black Rock Falls?”

“We’re on our honeymoon and staying at the Cattleman’s Hotel. We drove up to the parking area at Deadman’s Creek then hiked all day, planning to camp in the forest then come down in the morning.” Jim shrugged. “The wardens told us it wasn’t a designated hunting area but we could sure hear the guns blazing in the distance. I’m pretty sure the trail borders the reservation but we found the skull on this side of the boundary just off the main trail.” He raised one eyebrow. “I figure it’s a murder victim.”

“We don’t have any open missing persons’ files at the moment but I’ll be sure to check with other counties.” Jenna smiled. “It’s likely it washed down from an ancient burial site in the rain.”