TWO
Millions of pine needles crunched underfoot, sending a burst of forest fragrance mixed with damp soil into the air as they dashed back through the woods. Jenna led and took a wider more direct trail and they hit the fence line a little way past the playground. Wolfe had the body on a gurney and was swabbing the carousel. Emily and Webber were crawling over the grass, collecting potential fragments of evidence and placing them in sample containers. Breathless from the run, Jenna hustled to Wolfe’s side. “Did you remove the mask?”
“Nope.” Wolfe lifted his gaze to her. “I’m not taking the chance of losing evidence. I’ll do that in a controlled environment, but from what I can see, it’s glued in place. There are drops of glue matting the hair. I’m hoping the killer left a trace of themselves behind. Glue is a very useful medium. When it’s wet it attracts all kinds of things.” His brow furrowed. “Why the rush?”
Jenna removed her hat and fanned herself with the brim. “It’s probably nothing. Do you recall the day Poppy Anderson quit?”
“Yeah, she hightailed it out of town on a truck heading for Colorado, if I recall. You did a trace on her and she’s spending a ton of cash all over.” Wolfe’s face showed interest. “What makes you think she has anything to do with this case?”
Glancing at the black body bag and then back to Wolfe, Jenna pushed down the horrible feeling Poppy might be the victim. “It’s like déjà vu and we know killers like to revisit crime scenes. We tracked Poppy through the same patch of woods when we believed something had happened to her. Would you believe, Duke stopped in the same place as he did before. We know she got into a vehicle on the fire road, or Duke would have picked up on her scent. It just seems a bit spooky, a body of a blonde-haired woman shows up and she arrived here along the same path as Poppy took when she left.”
“That was three months ago.” Wolfe packed the swabs away and removed his gloves and mask. “The body isn’t Poppy, unless she shrunk about five inches. If I recall, she was tall and looked me straight in the eyes. The woman we found is around five-four. You’re worrying over nothing. Poppy probably did the disappearing act to gain attention. Kalo has been tracking her movements, and she’s where she said she was heading—Colorado Springs.” He sighed. “You know how serial killers work. This isn’t his first murder, and by this stage, he wouldn’t wait three months between kills. Knowing how stubborn you are, you won’t trust me and your very capable deputies to handle this case for a few days will you? Do you really want to postpone the wedding?”
The last thing Jenna had on her mind was the wedding. “It will be easy to postpone. It’s not as if we hired a wedding planner, is it?” She stared at Kane. “Weshould be working on the case. We’ll postpone the wedding and I’m not doing it for Poppy Anderson. If Kalo is tracking her in Colorado Springs, that’s good enough for me.”
“See?” Wolfe rolled his eyes to the heavens. “As stubborn as a mule. You’ve trained your team to the highest level. They’re overqualified to handle this case and you’ll have Jo and Carter arriving soon to cover for you. You’ll have the investigation rolling before you leave. Delegate as usual and let everyone get at it. If we have a problem, we’ll call you.”
Unconvinced Jenna shook her head. “We’ll move the wedding to next month. It will still be summer.” She looked at Kane’s concerned expression and sighed. “You know I need to be here. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to cancel.”
“We planned for just this contingency, Jenna.” Kane moved to her side. “Rio has worked on plenty of homicides. Let’s face it, we have nothing to go on right now and chances are Wolfe won’t have gotten too far with the autopsy findings before Monday. We don’t have any suspects to hunt down until the grunt work is done and the guys are more than capable of handling that part of the investigation without us. We’ll be gone three days max.” He stared at her. “Okay, I’d settle for two… or even one night. You can spare one night to be with me, can’t you?”
“You’re not canceling the wedding, are you?” Emily dragged off her mask. “Jenna you can’t. Not at this late date. Everything is planned.” She glanced at her watch. “Jo and Ty are on their way now. You can’t postpone it. I won’t let you.”
Special Agents Ty Carter and Jo Wells from Snakeskin Gully had become firm friends and an unofficial part of her team, although she could call them in anytime to take over a case or as consultants. They had arranged to move into the cottage at the ranch to care for the animals over the weekend. Having them around would be an advantage if they decided to go ahead with the wedding. Jenna glanced at Kane, and he shrugged, not giving anything away. “I guess with Jo and Ty to back up Rio and Rowley, it might be possible, but having a wedding and flitting off on a honeymoon in the middle of a murder investigation seems downright irresponsible to me.”
“We’re not indispensable, Jenna.” Kane pushed back the tip of his Stetson. “Our team is solid. They can manage for a few days. We have to have a life outside of the sheriff’s department. You know that, right?”
Swallowing the guilt, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve never walked away from an investigation. Not when it’s on my watch. I’m ultimately responsible for the townsfolk’s safety.”
“We all are, Jenna. You know, Jo and Carter manage to solve a variety of crimes on their own.” Wolfe looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Same with Rio, and Rowley is a fine deputy. Most towns of this size have a sheriff and one, and they cope just fine. It’s time for you to allow your team to do the grunt work on this case. I’ll need time to run tests. There are a ton of things going on here. Finding answers will take days and you can’t assist me in the forensics. Even if I work straight through from now until Monday morning, I doubt I’d have enough evidence to present to you to make a case. There are too many questions we need answered.”
Jenna could see his rationale but stared at him. “How so?”
“First up, no one has been reported missing.” Wolfe held up his hand, fingers spread and turned one down. “Who is she?” He turned down two. “Where was she killed?” He turned down three and continued as he made his points. “Where did the killer purchase the mask? What glue did they use? Has she been sexually assaulted? Cause of death? Has she been in storage, frozen or kept as a sex slave? What damage was inflicted? Was it inflicted post-mortem? Cause of death, drug evidence, trace evidence?” He dropped his hands and sighed. “I could go on and on, Jenna. I figure, you should get married tomorrow morning as planned. Take the weekend and get back on the case on Monday. I might have something for you by then.”
Conceding to his argument, Jenna nodded. “Okay, okay, the wedding is on—for now. I might change my mind if anything significant happens later today.”
“It won’t.” Emily grinned at her. “I’ll work with Dad over the weekend and get you some answers and, really, until we identify the body and find out where she’s from, there’s no trail to follow.” She suited up and went to view the body, leaving them alone with Wolfe.
“I’ll get Rio to write up a media report and set up a hotline.” Jenna’s mind was moving ahead at warp speed. “Someone must be missing her.”
“She could have been dumped here from anywhere and thousands of people go missing.” Wolfe rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we start local and spread out. One thing you need to consider. The chances of this being their first kill is remote. First kills are messy and rushed. Looking at this victim, this killer is at the top of their game.”
Knowing more about murder than she would like, Jenna nodded. “Then the killer will be working inside their comfort zone—they all do. So, they’ll be close by.”
“Not always.” Kane pushed his hands into his front pockets. “Most times, yeah, but some can have a few comfort zones. Some might kill around a favorite vacation destination, for instance. The killing becomes part of the time off work. Then we have people who travel for work, freight drivers, executives. All of these offer a possibility of the expansion of a comfort zone. The thing is, they all have a base to work from in each zone. So, look for anyone who moves around and stays for a time at the same place.”
Jenna swallowed hard. “So just about anyone, huh?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Why now? This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”
“Yeah, we’ve had three months of quiet.” Kane shook his head. “It’s as if the killer doesn’t want us to get married.” He moved his gaze to Jenna. “Do you know any psychopaths with a crush on you?”
Snorting, Jenna lifted her chin. “Only one and I killed him. I agree the timing stinks, but whatever date we pick, the chances are something will go wrong.” She shrugged. “We have today to get the ball rolling and, like you said, we’re only a phone call away if we’re needed.”
“You do know, it’s at least a five-hour trip?” Wolfe narrowed his gaze and lowered his voice. “You need to stick to the plan and leave after the ceremony. We’ll be able to get straight back to work.” He looked at Kane. “I made a few calls and upgraded your flight. POTUS doesn’t want you and Jenna traveling commercial. He wasn’t too happy about you leaving the state but has made a consideration for the weekend. There’ll be a rental waiting for you at the airport. You have the address of my mom’s condo and where to pick up the key. It’s nice and safe.”
“Going without a weapon will be like being naked.” Kane touched the handle of his M-18 pistol. “I can’t remember a time I wasn’t armed.”
“Leave that to me.” Wolfe thought for a beat. “I’ll have creds for you as a US Marshal by morning. You’ll be able to carry a weapon.”
“You’ll have time to organize that and a badge?” Kane narrowed his gaze. “Seriously?”
“Do you really have to ask, Dave?” Wolfe raised both eyebrows.
“Ah, no. I guess not.” Kane chuckled. “Friends in high places, huh?”
Jenna looked at him and shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine if it doesn’t arrive in time. We’re going to the beach and acting like normal folk for a change. You won’t need a gun.” She dragged in a sigh. “Come on. Let’s get at it. I want to see how Kalo is progressing with the searches.”