Cross My Heart (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Yeah.” Jenna nodded. “That will give us time to check out this guy.” She pushed open the door to her office and smiled at Mr. Long. “Sorry about that—ah, where were we? Kane, do you have any questions?”

“Yeah.” Kane narrowed his gaze. “Do you work here in town? Are you a shift worker?”

“Nope. I’ve been fixing up my ranch.” Long rubbed his chin as if deciding to tell them and then sighed. “I’ve been away for a time. My pa passed and I inherited the ranch. I don’t have any livestock so there’s not too much to do, but I have plans to run some cattle. I’m waiting until spring to buy me some calves to raise.”

Jenna frowned. “Why take the Howards to Bear Peak? It’s not very romantic, with its history of murder.” She pulled a face. “Darn right creepy if you ask me.”

“What murders?” Long met her gaze with a wide-eyed, astonished expression. “I’ve been away for five years and I don’t know about any murders.”

“Really?” Kane pressed both palms on the desk and eyeballed him. “They made the news. Have you been off the grid? Living on the moon?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Long shrugged. “That’s beside the point. I came here to give you information on Patti and Emmett, not to be interrogated like a criminal. I want to leave now.” He went to push to his feet but Kane laid a hand on his shoulder. Long laughed at him. “Are you trying to intimidate me, Deputy? I’m just trying to help the sheriff.” He looked at Jenna. “Is he always so intense?” He turned back to Kane, obviously amused. “Chill out, man. The Howards will be right where I left them.”

“We’re asking questions is all.” Kane’s jaw tightened. “When people go missing in our town, we take it seriously. Right now, you’re the last person to have seen them.”

“That’s not unusual, is it?” Long stifled a yawn. “I’m sure that happens all the time.” He stared at Jenna as if challenging her. “You know they’re in the forest, don’t you? It’s gotta be over a million square acres and only I know where I left them. Come with me and I’ll be glad to show you.”

And murder us as well? Keeping her expression neutral, Jenna stood. “Okay, we’ll go with you to where you left them. I’m sure they’re waiting there for you as planned.”

She understood how many psychopaths enjoyed revisiting a crime scene and seeing the reactions to their work. Many would try to insert themselves into an investigation to relive the moment of their victim’s death over and over each time the crime was discussed. Long fitted into this category and had fast gone from witness to possible suspect in a wink of an eye. The need to find out more about Long tugged at her, and she sat back down in her seat. “Do you like to hunt, Mr. Long?”

“Yeah.” Long scratched his cheek. “It’s all about the hunt for me. Stalking and then bringing down the kill.”

Jenna leaned back in her chair. “What is your weapon of choice?” She asked the question but it was as if she already knew the answer.

“I like a crossbow.” Long mimicked the motion of loading a bolt in a crossbow and aiming it directly at her. “Silent but deadly. They never see it coming. I can see the surprise in their eyes when I take them down.” His gaze fixed on her unblinking.

She’d seen that stare before, many times. Many psychopaths she’d interviewed had the same cold, dead eyes. Empathy didn’t exist in their world, for people or animals. Life meant nothing to them but a fast thrill as they extinguished it. Hairs raised on the back of her neck in a tingle of a warning. She nodded. “You hunt alone? How do you manage to field-dress your kills?”

“Same as everyone else, I guess.” Long stared at the wall and his breathing increased as if he was reliving a memory. “It has a smell when you gut a kill.” He looked directly at her. “The blood gets everywhere

, even under your fingernails.” He examined his hands and smiled at her. “It’s almost as good as the hunt.”

“I’m sure it is.” Jenna looked at Kane. “Would you call Rowley for me, please?”

As Kane left the room, Jenna forced a smile. Something inside her had told her not to trust this man from the minute he’d walked into her office. His relaxed attitude was different from the behavior of the usual witnesses who came forward. Most displayed nervousness or even excitement, but this guy was so laid back and had kept up the act until Kane had leaned on him. It was as if he’d rehearsed his story and expected her to be gullible enough to believe him.

A few things had made her suspicious of Long. He claimed not to know about the Bear Peak murders, when stories about them had been on TV and in books. Some of the murders went back twenty years and it didn’t ring true for a guy who’d been raised in Black Rock Falls not to know about them. Even if he’d been away for five years, surely his family would have mentioned the murders to him at one time. She moved files around on the desk and then looked at him. “Do you know Payton and June Harris?”

“I’ve heard of them.” Long inclined his head. “The name has been on every news story. Is June Harris still missing?”

Jenna caught the flash in his eyes, the sudden change of expression. She couldn’t describe it, but it made her skin crawl. She stiffened. “Yeah, she is.” She couldn’t look away. Had he noticed her change of attitude? “So, you must have been in town Thursday through Monday?”

“I was all over town.” Long opened his hands. “I can’t recall every second, but I went into the mountains and I was out by your ranch late last Sunday during that storm.”

Jenna swallowed the bile creeping up her throat. “How do you know where I live?” She noticed the way he looked at her and how a smile played in the corner of his lips.

“I went by your neighbor. The snowplow guy.” Long placed one booted foot on his opposite knee. “I heard tell he had a horse for sale. He mentioned you lived in the next ranch.”

“I see.” Jenna sipped from a cold cup of coffee and pushed it to one side. “Where were you Thursday night through to, say, Friday morning?”

“Thursday night, I went to Aunt Betty’s for supper. It was late, I stayed for some time. I went home and was back there for breakfast.” Long smiled. “I do recall seeing Tommy Jonas at the crossroads around eleven. I stopped and chatted to him about buying cattle but it was late and he had to get on home.” He looked at her. “I can give you his number to call him if you like?”

Jenna nodded. “Yes, we’d like to check that out.” She took down the details he’d found on his phone and then looked at him. “Where did you go after returning to town yesterday?”

“I hung around town.” Long broke eye contact and stared into space as if thinking. “I decided to take a look at all the changes around these parts and drove around some. It was dark by the time I got home. I don’t recall speaking to anyone in particular. The weather has been unpredictable. I didn’t walk anywhere.”

“Yes, the dry storm on Sunday night was unexpected.” Jenna picked up her pens and dropped them back into the chipped mug on her desk. “Do you own a slicker?”