Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Under the ‘Welcome to Black Rock Falls’ signpost, the one on the northside of town.” Kane straightened and went to his laptop on the coffee table and closed it. “He is on scene with the truck driver who called it in. He has the crime scene secure and Colt Webber is with him. Wolfe is in transit.”

She looked at him. He looked exhausted and his hair was disheveled as if he’d been holding his head in his hands. “Webber? How did he get there so fast?”

“He’s living a few minutes away from Rowley now.” Kane glanced at the door to the kitchen. “I’ve just made a fresh pot of coffee. I’ll fill the Thermos flasks. It’s going to be a long night.”

Jenna pushed both hands through her hair and stood. “Okay, I’ll grab my gear.”

She dashed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Another murder and they had two possible suspects, and only circumstantial evidence. She needed to think outside the box. After scrubbing a towel over her face, she dashed into her bedroom to retrieve her duty belt. She checked the load in her Glock and slid her backup weapon into an ankle holster. A killer would expect her to go straight to the murder scene, but she didn’t intend to play The Sculptor’s game this time. She peered out the window and her heart sank. During the two hours or so she’d been asleep, the snow had increased and the roads would be dangerous. She considered dragging the snowplow guy out of bed to clear the way as she headed for the family room.

Duke lay on the rug before the fire and Pumpkin was playing with his long floppy ears. She looked down at them. They had become a small piece of normality in her unsettled life. Sighing, she headed for the mudroom. Kane had already bundled up against the cold and was pulling on his boots. She looked at him. “You should’ve gone home hours ago. What have you been hunting down?”

“Similar cases across the country.” Kane shrugged. “Jo sent a ton of unsolved cases with similar victims and cause of death. I was looking for a pattern, something we could use to catch the killer.”

Trust Kane to work into the night. She wished he’d had a few hours’ sleep. Even her short nap had refreshed her. “Find anything?”

“Not anything new.” Kane indicated out the window. “The snow has set in again. It will be slow going. I’ll go and fit the snowplow attachment to my truck. I don’t plan on getting stuck in a snowdrift any time soon.”

Jenna nodded. “I’ll help you. I think you should leave Duke here. He’ll be fine. He can get outside if needs be through the doggy door.”

“Duke won’t move until daylight.” Kane smiled at her. “Are we good to go?”

“Yeah.” Jenna disabled the house alarm and as Kane walked down the front steps, she reset it and pulled on her gloves.

Snow smacked her in the face sending icy trickles down her cheeks. She blinked away snowflakes attacking her eyelashes and stomped through the snow to the garage beside Kane’s cottage. Under the floodlights the ranch seemed to shrink into a small patch of light surrounded by a black wall of shadows. The door of the garage creaked open and a light went on inside. She hurried to where Kane was dragging the snowplow attachment to the front of his truck.

“Wait! I’ll start the truck first.” Kane slid inside and the Beast rumbled into life. “It will save time if it warms up first.”

A few moments later they were heading down the driveway, snow flying out beside them in a steady stream. It took some time to negotiate the road from her ranch but when they turned onto the main highway into Black Rock Falls, it was evident that Mayor Petersham had the snowplows and salt spreaders working around the clock. She pulled out her phone to access the file on her two main suspects. “Forget about the crime scene. It will still be there later. We’ll chase down the whereabouts of the suspects. They won’t be expecting us at this time of night.”

“Then we’ll need our vests.” Kane shot her a glance and then returned his gaze to the road. “I don’t want to come across a killer who is on a high from murdering some poor woman.” H

e cleared his throat. “Rowley said this one is real bad. He said the killer went crazy. You’ll need to release another statement and warn people we have a serial killer on the loose.”

“Yeah, but if I say we have another crazy in town, I’ll be ostracized. Maybe they’d prefer me to call him a sick SOB. Maybe that sounds more professional.” Jenna sighed. “Although mutilating people and killing for fun fits the stereotypical definition of crazy.”

“You shouldn’t allow the press to get under your skin. Sometimes they act like it’s our fault that serial killers end up here. They don’t seem to understand it’s in a psychopath’s nature to believe they can outsmart law enforcement.” Kane snorted. “The reporters are looking for any excuse to sensationalize a story and poke holes in our investigative process. I’d say the reporter has a hidden agenda, maybe a relative who plans to go against you in the next election.” He chuckled. “They can’t win. The townsfolk trust you to keep them safe and right now, you’re batting a thousand.”

Jenna stared ahead as snowflakes splattered on the windshield. “I don’t believe the killers figure they can outwit me. They choose Black Rock Falls because there are so many places to hide. The county is so vast with over two million acres of forest and then there’s the lowlands. If people don’t want to be found, it’s pretty easy to drop off the grid here.” She glanced at the GPS. “Our first suspect is Axel Reed, the biker. It’s not far. He lives on the corner of Stanton and Aspen. Pull up some ways away and we can suit up. I’ll call Wolfe and explain our delay.”

“Okay.” Kane headed into town.

Jenna made the call. “Hi, Wolfe, it’s Jenna. We’re hunting down suspects. I’m hoping to catch them before they have time to destroy evidence.”

“Sure. It’s pretty messy on scene.” Wolfe paused a beat. “I’ll be here for a while. I tested the samples Kane collected from Josiah Brock’s cabin. There’s no sign of any human blood or DNA on the swabs.”

She glanced at Kane and pulled a sad face. “Okay thanks. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” She disconnected. “Nothing on the swabs at Brock’s cabin.”

“At least we have two other, more promising suspects.” Kane pulled the truck into the curb. “That’s Reed’s place. The redbrick two doors down and his truck is out front.” He looked at her. “How do you want to play this?”

Jenna peered through the gloom at the house. Not one light shone from the windows and no smoke came from the chimney. Outside a streetlight sent an orange glow over the truck parked in the driveway. It appeared the occupant had gone to bed. “There’s not much snow on his truck, he’s not been home long. You go to the front and I’ll watch the back.” She eased out the truck closing the door gently and met Kane round back.

They pulled on their Kevlar vests and struck out across the slippery road and along the snow-covered sidewalk. When Kane opened the gate, it swung open without a sound and Jenna was through and heading around back. She ducked under low hanging branches and entered a void of blackness. Halted by the unknown, she pulled out her Maglite and shone it on the white ground. The yard was piled with snow and she doubted the back door had been opened for weeks. A drift had blown in up to the windowsills. If anyone attempted to escape from this side of the house they’d be in trouble. She heard Kane bang hard on the front door but inside nothing stirred.

After hearing Kane’s four attempts to wake Reed with no response, Jenna edged her way across the back of the house and froze, heart pounding at the sound of muffled footsteps coming from the fence line. She doused the light and pulled her weapon. Temporarily blinded by the darkness, she pressed against the freezing wall and waited. Could the house have a side door? If Reed planned to escape, she’d hit him with the beam of her Maglite but for now, she’d blend into the night. Footsteps came closer, crunching almost silently in the ice-covered snow. Pulse pounding in her ears, she took a deep breath and aimed her weapon.

Fifty-Five

“Jenna, where are you?” Kane’s voice came out of the night and the beam of a flashlight pierced the darkness and swung back and forth.