Promises in the Dark (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna pulled a face. “You really don’t want to know.” She turned and pushed bread into the toaster. “Thanks for cooking breakfast.” She inhaled the delicious smell of sizzling bacon and sighed. “I thought we were all out of bacon.”

“Apparently, Jo ordered a ton of supplies and they arrived just as we’d finished tending the horses.” He shrugged. “We have enough food here for a month. The overflow is in my freezer.”

“It’s all part of our assignment budget.” Carter stood and took the heated plates out of the microwave. “You’ll get a paycheck as well.”

“That’s right.” Jo came into the kitchen and smiled at her. “My move to Snakeskin Gully came with a ton of provisos. Trust me, I intend to use up every cent of my budget each year. I’m planning on making our field office a force to be reckoned with.” She collected cups and placed them on the table with the fixings.

Breakfast had become a well-oiled ritual, everyone pitching in to help. Jenna took out the silverware and laid the table and before long they were all sitting down eating. She looked at Jo. “How’s Jaime?”

“She’s good.” Jo sipped her coffee. “She misses me of course but it’s a way of life for us and she copes well. The puppy helps as well. She loves Snakeskin Gully, the small school, and friendly people. She told me she never wants to leave.”

“I always wanted a permanent home when I was a kid too.” Kane looked up with a forkful of eggs raised to his mouth. “I was an army brat, moving from place to place, country to country.”

“Yeah? Was your pa in the service?” Carter liberally spread butter on his toast.

Jenna shot Kane a meaningful look across the table. He never discussed his past life, not ever. Carter could have checked him out and would likely know his file verbatim.

“Two-star.” Kane continued to eat.

Jenna didn’t recall any mention of a two-star general in Kane’s resume, when he applied for the job as deputy. She needed to change the topic of conversation fast and cleared her throat. “Time’s getting on. We’ll need to head out to Blackwater as soon as we’ve finished here. I’ll find out when Wolfe plans to be there. You mentioned updates?”

“Yeah. First up, I already called Wolfe and the fire chief. They’re heading out to the crime scene at noon.” Carter pushed his empty plate away and looked at her. “There’s been no sightings of the girl. Nothing. It’s as if she placed her bag against the tree and walked away. They checked the fingerprints on her backpack, they’re the same as they found at her home.” He sipped his coffee. “Ah, let me see. Kalo’s been hunting down connections between our suspects and social services, and both Wood and Sheriff Stuart. He’s had a few hits. Wood used to live in Blackwater before he inherited the ranch out of Louan from his father.”

Jenna sighed. “Yeah we knew that, it’s in my report.” She leaned back in her chair. “Anything else?”

“Let me finish.” Carter mirrored her pose and raised one eyebrow. “Wood worked in Blackwater, that’s where he met his wife. There the sheriff and Wood both had dealings with John Cleaves. Apparently, he’d been stalking an old girlfriend in DC. He was arrested in DC and received a slap on the wrist with the proviso he took counseling. He refused and fired his lawyer, saying he’d lose his job if he remained in DC for the required time. The magistrate gave him three months’ jailtime.”

“So, we have a tie in to the DC magistrate and lawyer.” Kane was expressionless. “But not to Sheriff Stuart or Wood.”

“Well, the story didn’t end there.” Carter stood and refilled his coffee cup and took the pot back to the table. “He verbally abused his DC lawyer, said he’d get even, and the judge added an anger management course to his sentence. It was the same lawyer who died in DC.” He spooned sugar into his cup and then added cream before sitting down. “When the girlfriend moved to Blackwater, Cleaves started to follow her around and the situation replayed apart from the time in jail. This time, he took the counseling with Wood but wasn’t cooperative and threatened to get even with Sheriff Stuart for arresting him.”

Considering the new evidence, Jenna looked around the table. “Do we have the threat to the sheriff in a statement?”

“Nope.” Carter met her gaze, his green eyes flashed with something like amusement. “Kalo hacked into the sheriff’s files and found Cleaves made a one-on-one threat, so I’m afraid it’s hearsay.” He held up a finger. “Wait there’s more.”

“You sure like to drag things out, Carter.” Jo refilled her cup.

“He found Dexter had no significant connection to anyone, but this is where the story gets interesting.” Carter paused a beat to sip his coffee. “Roger Suffolk’s best buddy was a guy named Graham Lindley. They were both raised in Blackwater. They parted ways when Lindley reported him to the sheriff for messing with underage girls. Suffolk was thrown out of school and they had a very public brawl in town. Sheriff Stuart hauled them in for fighting, charged Suffolk with property damage and assault but allowed Lindley to walk free.”

“How so?” Interested, Jenna leaned forward.

“I think I know but I’ll come to that in a second.” Carter looked pleased with himself. “The very next day, Stuart hauled Suffolk downtown again and held him for forty-eight hours, I assume to hunt down any proof of the underage girl accusations. He was released without charge, so I figure they couldn’t prove he’d committed an offense.” He sighed. “Soon after, Suffolk and his family moved to Louan to be more involved with their church.”

Jenna pushed her hair behind one ear. “Graham Lindley is the name of the Blackwater magistrate, but he’s in his late sixties so can’t be the same person. How does this tie in with the bombings in DC?”

“The magistrate in DC is his son. The friend Suffolk had a fight with way back. It was his secretary involved in the car bombing, which makes it too much of a coincidence.” Carter rested his cup on the table. “They had the same name. Suffolk had a motive: his career in law was over and so was his place on the college football team.”

Jenna frowned. “How old was Suffolk when this happened?”

“Eighteen.” Carter shook his head. “Seems he still has a hankering for underage girls.”

“If Suffolk was blamed for something his folks probably raised him to believe was okay, it would be very confusing for a teenager.” Jo frowned. “But it wouldn’t be enough to trigger murder.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Kane looked up from his plate. “My question would be, how involved was Lindley? What if he was initially involved with underage girls as well and then rolled over on Suffolk for immunity? That would sure trigger a fight between friends. It’s not beyond reason to believe that a magistrate might be tempted to cover up crimes to save his son’s reputation— not everyone’s squeaky clean.” He leaned back and stretched his arms high above his head. “If Lindley was involved but then walked, it gives Suffolk motive. His best friend ruined his life.” He dropped his arms, groaned, and then rubbed one shoulder.

Unsure, Jenna looked from Kane to Carter and back. “I’ve always thought Sheriff Stuart was lawful, but they’re close friends.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Hmm, I’d say seeing his ex-friend successful in DC, while Suffolk was doing manual work, might have given him a motive.” She shot a look at Kane. “But it doesn’t tie him in with the lawyer. What motive did he have for killing him and why the secretary?”

“I don’t know about the lawyer, it’s something we need to look into more closely.” Kane raked his fingers through his hair. “The car bombing, if Lindley’s secretary refused to allow Suffolk to see him, she could have become a target. We’re not talking about a logical mind here, Jenna. This guy is sick.”