Cross My Heart (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Ahead, Jenna made out smoke and pulled out the fire extinguisher from under her seat. “Pull into the alleyway beside the soup kitchen.”

They jumped out and ran along the sidewalk, pushing through a group of onlookers. A trio of vehicles greeted them. One was pouring steam into the air from a busted radiator, and the others all had damage. She tossed the fire extinguisher to Kane and went to the huddle of people exchanging details. “What happened here? Is anyone hurt?”

“No ma’am, and we have tow trucks coming from George’s Garage. Deputy Rowley is on his way.” A man in his sixties with silver hair and wearing a thick brown coat and gloves looked at her. “Some idiot came flying out of the alleyway. I swerved to miss him and hit the Toyota, the GMC ran into the back of him.”

“Did you get a plate number of the truck?” Kane raised an eyebrow. “The make, model?”

“No, we were just saying that it came out so fast and took off at high speed.” The man frowned. “It was a white pickup, Ford maybe. I was kind of busy trying to save myself at that point.” He looked at the crowd. “Anyone see anything? Any camera footage?”

Not one person put up their hand. Jenna looked at the three car owners. “I’ll take some photographs and file a report for your insurance companies. We’ll need to clear the road as soon as possible.” She sighed with relief as Rowley jogged into view.

“Rio is at the other end of Main diverting traffic. We have a clear path for the tow trucks.” Rowley looked behind her at the vehicles at a standstill. “Do you want me to walk down and detour the traffic via Maple?”

Jenna nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” She took the fire extinguisher from Kane. “Can you drop this into the Beast on your way past? We’ll capture the scene for the insurance and get everyone’s details.”

“Sure.” Rowley took it from her and headed through the crowd.

It took forever to get the wrecks onto the tow trucks and clear up the mess. She’d collected everyone’s details, had no witnesses that had actually seen anything but the aftermath, but it didn’t bother her too much. The CCTV cameras along Main would have picked up the truck and she’d be able to hunt it down easily enough. When Kane came back with a sour expression, she went to his side. “What’s up?”

“I pulled up the CCTV camera footage on my phone and we have nothing from six this morning. I’m not sure, but it looks like they used a laser pointer to disable it. There’s a flash and the camera goes offline.” The nerve in Kane’s jaw twitched. “I hope it’s not kids planning something spooky and illegal for Halloween.”

Jenna sighed. “So, our chances of catching the guy in the white truck are zero?” She looked up at him. “All these so-called coincidences are starting to freak me out. Things happen, but this is darn right weird. If you find the door back to our dimension, pull me through with you. I’m so over this week.”

“I’ll keep a lookout.” Kane chuckled. “I have to admit this has been the weirdest week I’ve ever worked, and we’ve experienced every ride at the fairground.” He looked up as another flash of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rolled. “No rain again. These dry storms are darn right dangerous when the ground is so dry.”

They arrived at the Beast and Jenna slipped into the passenger seat. She heard Kane mutter under his breath and then a whistle that almost burst her eardrums. She leaned across the seat to look out the open window at him. When he repeated the whistle and walked back and forth staring in all directions, concerned, she climbed out of the truck and went to his side. “Who are you whistling?”

“Duke.” Kane’s expression was distraught. “He’s gone.”

Forty-Six

Jenna pulled open the back door and stared at the blanket Duke was snuggled in when they’d left him. She spun around to Kane. “You did secure him with his harness, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did.” Kane paced up and down, rubbing the back of his neck. “He can’t unclip himself. His leash is missing as well.”

Jenna stood beside him and touched his arm. “Are you sure he couldn’t have unclipped his harness? I’ve seen him biting at the clasp—he knows what it is and how it works. He’s very smart.”

“Then we’ll take a closer look.” Kane turned back to the Beast and leaned inside. “There are toothmarks on the seatbelt clasp. They could’ve been there from before. He can’t get out of his harness, but if he managed to unclip the seatbelt, he could slip right out of the truck. His leash was attached, he’d be trailing it behind him.” He removed his Stetson and ran a hand through his hair in an agitated manner. “Why would he leave the safety of the truck? He’s never jumped out the window before.”

Jenna pointed skyward. “The storm could have frightened him, and he was alone. You know he likes to hide and he needs someone to comfort him. If he jumped out in fear and couldn’t find us in the crowd, he’d look for the safest hideout. We’ll have to figure out where he’d go. He knows his way around town.” She looked at him. “Who does he trust?”

“Me, you, Atohi, Maggie.” Kane rubbed his chin, thinking. “He likes Carter and I guess Susie Hartwig, because she always feeds him something special.” He shrugged. “Or he’s hightailed it to the office to hide under Maggie’s desk. I’d say Aunt Betty’s would be the closest place, and it has food.” He buzzed up the window and locked the Beast. “We’ll walk and ask people as we go.” He shook his head. “If he was close by, he’d come back. Duke always comes when I whistle. I’ve got a real bad feeling about this.”

“I’ll call Rowley and then Maggie in case they’ve seen him. You keep whistling.” Stomach cramping, Jenna pulled out her phone. “Hey, did you see Duke in Kane’s truck when you returned the fire extinguisher?”

“Nope. I figured you’d left him home today.” Rowley sounded concerned. “Is he missing?”

Jenna gripped the phone. “Yeah. He was wearing a harness and secured as usual. We don’t know how he got out, but the window was left open for him. Are you back at the office?”

“Yeah. I’ll s

ee if he’s here.” After a minute or so, Rowley cleared his throat. “He’s not here. What do you want me to do? I can’t put out a BOLO on a dog.”

“No. We’ll hunt him down. He can’t have gotten far.” Jenna chewed on her bottom lip. “While we’re gone, check Foster’s alibis at the times of the murders. Call Bobby Kalo, and get Foster’s image to him. I’d like eyes on the movements of all our suspects.” Jenna thought for a beat. “And ask Rio to put out a media release asking for anyone who witnessed the car wreck on Main to come forward.”

“Yes, ma’am, and I’ll call you if Duke shows up here.” Rowley disconnected.

Kane was on his phone as she walked to his side. “Duke wouldn’t go willingly with anyone he doesn’t know, not after that asshole tried to starve him to death. Yeah, I agree, he might well be heading to the res. He feels safe there.” Kane listened for a time. “Okay, yeah, I’ll do that, thanks, Atohi.” He disconnected and turned to Jenna. “Atohi said due to the dry storms coming through this week, the fire department has wildfire watchers back in the towers. He knows most of them and will call them to watch out for Duke just in case he’s heading for the res, same with the forest wardens.” He shrugged. “I know it sounds farfetched for Duke to head into the forest, but he’s a dog—who knows what goes on inside his head?”