Whisper in the Night (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“She’s from school, I’m not sure of her name.” Julie frowned at the screen of Jenna’s cellphone. “Lucy would know. I can get her number for you.” She pulled her cellphone from her pocket and scrolled down the screen, then gave Jenna the details. “Has something happened to her?”

In full panic mode, Jenna thumbed in the number. “Nothing yet, I hope.”

She waited for what seemed like an eternity for Lucy to pick up. “Lucy, this is Sheriff Alton.”

“Er… yes. Do you want to speak to my mom?”

Trying to keep the concern from her voice, Jenna sucked in a breath. “I’ve an image of a girl from your school. I need to know her name and contact details. Can you help me please?”

“Sure. Has she done something wrong?”

“No. I just need to find her. I’ll send it through and call you back.” Jenna disconnected, sent the text, waited a long minute and then called her back. “Do you know her, Lucy?”

“You didn’t need to hang up. I can receive texts and talk at the same time. I’ll show you how to do it if you like?”

Jenna pushed down the rush of anxiety and tried to remain calm. She didn’t want to frighten Lucy. “That’s very kind of you but I need to know the name of the girl.”

“It’s Sara Nelson. She lives out at 209 Stanton Road, Glacial Heights. I have her number if you want it?”

Jenna balanced the cellphone under her chin and scribbled the details in her notebook. “Do you have her landline number as well?”

“Ah, yeah, but if you need to talk to her parents they won’t be home for ages yet, like after six. They work at the hospital. Her mom’s a nurse and her dad’s a surgeon.”

If the Shadow Man had already abducted Sara, the girl had no one to report her missing.

“Okay, thank you, Lucy.” Jenna disconnected, and then took in Julie’s sheet-white face. It was as if she’d read her mind. She forced her mouth into a smile. “Thanks for your help, Julie, I’ll see if I can contact her.”

After picking up her paperwork, Jenna walked as casually as possible back to her office, and then thumbed in Sara’s number. The call went to voicemail and she left a message asking Sara to contact her. Next, she tried the home phone and got the machine. She called the hospital and, after waiting what seemed like an eternity, finally reached Sara’s father. She explained the situation. “I need you to call her friends, in case she’s with one of them. If you find her, call me – and if you don’t, call me. This may be a copycat, or a hoax, but we need to make sure she’s okay.”

“I’ll go get my wife, we’ll call everyone we know then get back to you.” Dr. Nelson sounded strained. “Please keep me informed. I’ll give you my cell number.” He rattled off the number.

Jenna took down the details then disconnected. She heard footsteps in the hallway and stared at the open door. If her deputies found a cellphone, missed in the pat down, they’d have their killer. The next moment, Kane and Rowley came into the room. She looked at their stone-faced expressions and knew they’d found nothing. “So you’re telling me the killer is still out there somewhere?”

“It sure looks that way.” Kane balled his fists on his hips.

Stymied, Jenna leaned heavily against her desk. Tired, sore and exhausted. She sat down slowly in her chair. “He needed a cellphone to send the message.”

“Not necessarily.” Wolfe walked into the room with Webber close behind. “Some cellphones have text scheduling. He could’ve set it then made sure he’d gotten an alibi for that time.” He gave Kane a knowing look, then handed him a new Kevlar jacket and a helmet. “Or it could be a copycat.”

Jenna heaved a sigh seeing him and the new super-vest he’d managed to obtain for her with amazing speed. “The killer didn’t know we’d planned to haul him in for questioning, did he? And we’ve not informed the media about the messages.”

“No but I’d bet he had a neat alibi set up for this afternoon.” Wolfe leaned one shoulder against the wall. “The first question you ask a suspect is their whereabouts at the time of the incident.”

“Yeah, problem is all of the potential suspects we’re found so far were at work with a ton load of witnesses.” Jenna pushed a hand through her hair in frustration. “But if he’s kidnapped Sara and stashed her somewhere, he can’t kill her if he’s one of our suspects.”

“Unless he’s rigged up a way to kill her using a timer, and with explosives that’s not difficult.” Kane’s eyes flashed with anger. “If we split up, we could search their homes now. One of them could have her holed up in his cellar.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Their keys are in the property room and we’ve gotten their written permission to do a search.” He leaned on the table and looked at her. “We can’t risk you going out alone, Jenna, not until we’ve solid evidence against this maniac, so leave the searching to us, okay?”

“Sure. I’d be useless trying to do a search right no

w.” She glanced at her watch. Ten precious minutes had already passed. “Go get the keys. Rowley, make sure everyone has the correct addresses.” She waved everyone out her office.

“I’ll call Blackhawk.” Wolfe turned back and frowned down at her. “He’s in town with one of his friends. You’ll be able to deputize them if everything goes to hell.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Jenna removed her Glock from the desk drawer and slid it into the holster. “The Blackwater deputies aren’t due until six but I still have Walters.”

“Yeah, but I’m with Kane on this, maybe we have the suspect locked up and maybe we don’t. If the Shadow Man is as smart as we figure, he’ll be out there watching us and know you’re alone. With his track record, he could be capable of anything. You’ll need backup.” Wolfe pulled out his cell. “I’ll call Blackhawk now.” He headed out the office.

Jenna’s ringtone chimed and she stared at the caller ID, relieved it was Dr. Miller. “Sheriff Alton. Have you had any luck tracking down Sara?”