Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Only my pride.” She took a long, deep breath then let it out slowly as if to steady her nerves. “I gather the explosion was the truck that ran me off the road? He tapped the rear side of my cruiser and then shot past me at speed. Next moment, I heard an almighty crash. I figured his truck had caught fire—I could smell smoke.” She winced. “Then an explosion shook the ground and I figured being inside the cruiser in a ditch wasn’t so bad after all.” She looked at him. “I hope he didn’t hit anyone else. Can you tell if it’s the black truck I had on my tail?”

Surprised by her calmness, Kane shrugged. “Hard to tell the make or model, it’s in pieces. The driver wrapped it around a pole and it burst into flames. I haven’t checked the occupants but it would be a miracle for anyone to survive a wreck like that.” He tried the door to Jenna’s cruiser but it was locked tight. “I’ll get you free and then take a closer look. Where are your keys? Can you reach them?” As all the Black Rock Falls vehicles had keyless entry and ignition to allow for a fast getaway, the key fob would likely work. “I’ll be able to open the doors from out here.”

“Yeah, I think so. If I can reach into my pocket.” Jenna wiggled around then passed him the key fob.

He aimed the smart key at the cruiser and it responded with a blink of lights. “There, the fob overrides the automatic locking system.” He pulled open the door, unlatched Jenna’s seatbelt, and helped her out.

“I thought I was a goner for sure.” She looked up at him. “I’m sure glad I was driving the new cruiser. The airbags worked real good.” She scanned the scene, on the job as usual. “I guess we’d better go and see if the driver survived, but from that awful smell, I figure he’s a crispy critter by now.”

“Wolfe is on his way and Maggie called the fire department.” He followed her as she moved away. His natural calm had resumed and life had returned to a comforting normality. In the distance, he could hear a police siren. “That’ll be Rowley. He apprehended the suspect in the red truck and he’s on his way.” He took her hand. “I’ll help you out of the ditch.”

To his surprise, she didn’t argue and he climbed up the side of the ditch, pulling her behind him. He turned and looked at her. “You sure you don’t want to sit and rest a while? You could be in shock.”

“I’ve been resting for about twenty minutes. I’m not hurt.” Jenna stamped the mud off her boots and looked up at him. “Mad as hell at myself for not handling the situation better, but after what I’ve been through of late, this was a walk in the park.” She pulled out her cellphone and checked it. “My phone is fine too.” She started to pick her way through the twisted metal on the blacktop. “Oh, can you smell that stink? I’m right. There’s a body in the wreck for sure.”

Kane hustled after her. The bitter smell of burned rubber and flesh was one he’d been familiar with in his lifetime. He reached her side and they moved closer to the wreck. From ten yards away, they could clearly see the blackened body of the driver, hunched over the wheel. He reached for her arm. “I figure we check out the surrounding area in case he wasn’t alone then leave the rest to Wolfe.”

“You do that and I’ll see if we can get the Louan deputies to assist and block off access to this area until we clear the scene.” Jenna seemed transfixed on the smoldering ruins of the vehicle. “Why did he run me off the road? I wasn’t chasing him down. It doesn’t make sense.”

Kane peered into the ditch beside the road then shrugged. “I figure he’s the second suspect in the showgrounds robbery, and when he left the showgrounds, he thought you were in pursuit of his accomplice. He wouldn’t have known Rowley was ahead of you. I’d say the driver of the black truck decided to run you off the road to allow the other man to get away. He probably thought they’d both be home free once he’d disposed of you.”

“Hmm, maybe, but he did the classic PIT maneuver—the one we use to stop a speeding vehicle.” She looked up at him. “It takes practice to use the Pursuit Intervention Technique. I think he’s a cop.”

Kane frowned. “Nah, he may have tried it, but not many cops end up barbecued on a pole after completing that maneuver.”

“If he isn’t a cop—” Jenna stared at the blackened wreck “—I figure, there’s more to this guy than we realized.”

Forty-Three

Jenna wondered if she’d ever get the stink of the rancid air out of her clothes and hair. The oily smoke had coated everything around her, giving the browning grass a weird sooty covering as if all the tops had gone through a fire. When Rowley arrived with his prisoner, she escaped into Kane’s truck and listened to Rowley’s update of the arrest. “So, you have the suspect in custody and recovered the money from the hold-up. Was he carrying the weapon he used?”

“Yeah, once he hit the roadblock and found himself staring down the barrels of four rifles, he threw his weapon out the window and couldn’t surrender quick enough. He started talking so fast I had to shut him up to read him his rights. His name is Joey Turner.” Rowley indicated with his chin to the car wreck. “I have the name of the man who ran you off the road as well. It’s his big brother, Jimmy. The suspect in custody gave me a blow-by-blow. Seems his brother was talking to him on his cellphone during the chase. Said he’d slow you down so they could both get clean away. He had priors and wasn’t an ex-cop.”

“Kane figured it was something like that.” Jenna looked behind him as Wolfe started heading in her direction. “Great work, Rowley. Take the prisoner in and book him. Contact the DA and he’ll have him hauled off to the county jail to await a hearing. We’ll be back as soon as we’re finished here.” She glanced up at Wolfe. “What do you have for me?”

“It plays out like you said.” Wolfe removed his soot-covered surgical gloves and rolled them into a ball. “Speeding and he was using his phone. He lost control and slammed into the road sign.” He frowned. “How many more people am I going to find dead behind the wheel of a vehicle with a phone clutched in their hands? People don’t seem to realize that texting or taking calls when driving is worse than playing Russian roulette. They take their eyes off the road for a few seconds and end up wrapped around a pole or, worse, kill an innocent driver in a head-on.” He leaned against Kane’s truck. “I’ve taken what blood samples I could but we’ve already had witnesses from the showgrounds come forward to say he was drinking bourbon at the bar. I’m sending his body straight to the mortician. I don’t need to do an autopsy.”

Jenna sighed. “I’ll get Walters to notify his next of kin.” She looked at Wolfe’s unusually strained expression. “This accident has taken up too much of your time. The clean-up crew is here; why don’t you head on back to town? I know you’re itching to get to the Court autopsy.”

“That’s done.” Wolfe stared straight ahead as if thinking about something more important. “Right now, it looks like a possible homicide, if I can prove he has gun muzzle bruises on his face and temple, and match the glove marks on his thumb. He wasn’t a user. I found no indication of drug use. No needle marks or the associated damage I would normally see from an addict or even a recreational user. I also contacted the college and spoke to them about the testing they do on their players: they take random urine samples and the laboratory confirmed Court’s tests all gave a negative result. The last test was only a week ago. I do know he made an appointment with the counselor and was distressed by the deaths of his friends.”

Nothing seemed to add up. Jenna chewed on her bottom lip. “So what killed him?”

“I’ve tested his blood for the usual speedball type of drugs. I’ll get it confirmed but I had a positive result for morphine.” Wolfe leaned one palm against the door and bent to speak to her. “The drug’s readings appear to be too pure for a street mix. I figure there’s more to this than meets the eye.”

Jenna frowned. “W

hat do you mean?”

“I’ll know more very soon. I sent the blood samples to a special lab. If I’m right, someone used a massive dose of morphine to kill Court.” Wolfe gave her a long look. “How could a college kid obtain morphine in Black Rock Falls?”

“Hmm, that is unusual.” Jenna thought for a moment. “Unless his father is a doctor or works in the pharmacy?”

“Maybe but doctors and pharmacists don’t just leave medications lying around, and they keep a record of their supply; they’d know if some went missing.” Wolfe glanced at his watch and then ran an agitated hand through his hair. “I’ll keep you up to date with the findings.”

She’d known Wolfe long enough to know when something was eating at him. He was always on the job but something was wrong. “Forget the caseload for a moment and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.” Wolfe straightened. “I’m fine.”