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Styles stood beside Beth with Wolfe on the other side like a wall of justice. The men’s eyes flicked from one to another, and the spokesperson nodded and turned away. Blowing out a long breath, Styles waved at Emily and Colt Webber, who had one hand resting on the butt of his weapon, across the road. He looked at Beth. “I guess we can eat now?”
“I guess so.” Beth headed for the diner and marched inside.
Styles pushed two tables together and they all sat down, peering at the menus. “What the heck was that all about?”
“I figure the townsfolk hereabouts are scared.” Wolfe leaned back in his chair. “Now that the convenience store over at Roaring Creek has been hit twice, they believe they’re not safe.”
“It would be hard to go from a no-crime town, apart from some drunk miners, to holdups with violence.” Emily’s eyes flicked from the menu and then back. “How long have we got to eat?”
“We’ll grab a snack and get back to it.” Wolfe sighed. “I called ahead and spoke to the local doctor. He’s already examined the bodies, collected all the personal effects and bagged them as per procedure, removed the bullet fragments, and arranged for viewings of the next of kin. All have been positively identified by close family members. He is ex-military medical, and I checked him out. He has an outstanding record, so I don’t figure we’llhave much to do with the bodies. I’ll examine them and get copies of the reports, but I imagine they’re fine and we’ll be able to release the bodies.”
Nodding, Styles gave his order to the server and looked at Wolfe. “So we process the crime scene and get the hell out of Dodge?”
“Something like that.” Wolfe raised both eyebrows. “You’re planning on staying in Roaring Creek?”
“Just until we find Cassidy Wilder.” Beth folded her hands on the table. “Going on the other cases, this killer doesn’t keep them for more than one night before disposing of their bodies. If she’d been out there wandering around, someone would have spotted her. Two local choppers have been searching all over the county.” She looked at Styles. “The mortician told me that his cousin lives hereabouts, and every man and his dog have been searching alongside the highways… as that’s the killer’s MO for his favorite dumping areas.”
“I have the CCTV footage of this shooting.” Wolfe pulled out his phone. “I’ll send it to y’all. It’s much the same as the previous one: he goes to the counter, asks for cash, kills the people in the store, and last, the cashier. He takes the girl. On leaving, an old guy must have been walking by with his dog, and he shoots him as well. I can hear gunshots and we know about the victim and his dog. Same as with the other footage, the CCTV is angled from the front door to the counter. It takes in the aisles but gives us nothing that happened outside.” He sighed. “Same as before. No one saw anything.”
When Styles’ phone chimed a message, he opened the file and viewed the grainy footage. “It’s practically useless, but yeah, it looks like the same guy. Why don’t people update their equipment? This is useless to identify anyone.”
“It’s just a deterrent for shoplifters.” Beth sipped coffee the server had just delivered and sighed. “They don’t know they’re not state of the art, do they?”
Styles shrugged. “Nope, but I bet a dollar to a dime that the killer does.”
ELEVEN
Once Wolfe had processed the Broken Bridge crime scene, Beth climbed into a truck and they went in a procession of vehicles to the meat-processing plant. The crime scene had been much like the first, apart from the black bloodstain on the sidewalk from the poor man just walking his dog. No clues to the killer’s identity, and from the CCTV footage, he was just like before, covered from head to foot and wearing gloves. It surprised her to find the local doctor waiting outside. She stood to one side with Styles as Wolfe and his team examined the bodies. It was freezing inside but the smell wasn’t too bad. Wolfe and the local doctor talked together for a time over each body. When he was done, she looked at him expectantly. “Find anything of value?”
“Nope.” Wolfe frowned. “It’s the same ammo as we discovered. I’ll run tests to see if it’s from the same gun. There are no wasted shots. All the victims received fatal wounds. I figure, he wanted this one to be fast. One thing you might consider is if someone comes by the store regular around the same time each night. If so, you’ll know this killer is stalking his victims, or making sure he hits the stores at a low-customer time.”
Impressed, Beth nodded. “We’ll look into that. Thanks.” She turned to Styles. “Is there anything else or are we done here?”
“I’m good.” Styles rubbed the scar on his chin. “Wolfe has a point. That might prove a motive. If he has been stalking his victims, he’s not an opportunistic killer, is he?”
Beth shook her head. “No, and if we can prove that, we’ll open up a whole new can of worms.”
She led the way outside to where Sheriff Weston leaned against his truck staring at his phone. “Sheriff, we have a job for you. We need you to find out if anyone regularly walked by the convenience store around the time of the murders.”
“Yeah, well, I know that already. My deputy was first on scene because he patrols regular between eight and twelve on Friday nights. His report is in the files I gave you. Seeing that we have miners in town, we take turns over the weekends, patrolling from the saloons to the local motel. Some nights it can get a little rowdy and a police presence calms everyone down.”
It was as if the planets were falling into alignment. Beth nodded. “Thanks. Can you drive us back to the choppers? Contact us if Cassidy shows up in your county. We’ll be staying out at Roaring Creek for a time, but we won’t get there until after dark. If anything changes, we’ll let you know. Are you okay to leave now?”
“Sure. Not a problem.” Sheriff Weston touched the brim of his hat.
They headed back to the chopper and Beth waited until they lifted into the air before she discussed the case. She understood the case and flying the chopper took a toll on Styles. It had been a very long day and it wasn’t over yet. “Okay, what have we got so far? The killer plans his kills. As we thought, the cash he steals has nothing to do with his motive.” She waited, hoping Styles’ insight that she’d come to admire would lead him to the same conclusion as she’d made.
“Nope, he enjoys killing, that’s for darn sure. I figure you’re right: he’s using the robberies as a cover to abduct his victims. It’s slick and fast, he leaves no witnesses, and is high on his kills by the time he gets to her. The store kills are his meal, and the girl is the dessert.”
TWELVE
Wolf Valley, Mischief
Dark shadows bathed the blacktop as the bus’s brakes squealed and came to a stop. The doors whooshed open, and Layla Cooper stepped down into total darkness. She stood for a second as the bus lumbered away in its own pool of light as if sucking the darkness behind it. In this part of town, sidewalks didn’t exist and she used the flashlight on her phone to find her way along the blacktop. She had no fear of being hit by a vehicle. At this time of night, most people were safely home in bed. Layla didn’t have a choice but to take the bus. Her mom needed the truck for work, and Layla attended Mischief College. She worked at the diner until ten each night and then caught the last bus from town. It was a half-mile walk to the home she shared with her mother. Her father had cleared out years ago after working in the mines most of his life. Determined to finish college and make a life for herself, Layla worked nights and weekends to pay for her tuition. Her mother’s nine-to-five job in the general store didn’t pay for luxuries, but they got by. When she graduated,hopefully they’d leave this dead-end town and she’d be earning enough money to support them both.
The chilled temperature outside made her wish for the cozy interior of the bus. Although it had that weird smell all buses have, of body odor, smelly feet, bad breath, and sometimes dog, it was better than walking and she wished it traveled another half-mile before turning back to the depot. She hunched her back, watching the road ahead of her in the small pool of light, fully aware of the wildlife that roamed the area at night looking for their supper. A cold wind buffeted her, swirling her coat around her legs, and the branches in the trees alongside the blacktop creaked and whined. It would be easy to get hysterical at this time of night, when owls dropped from the sky and came close enough to pull on her hair. She took a few deep breaths of the cold night air and doggedly placed one foot in front of the other.
The sound of a vehicle surprised her, and she stepped cautiously into the long mud-streaked grass beside the blacktop to allow it to pass. She turned and looked into brilliant blue-white orbs of light. She blinked rapidly, trying to remove the red spots in her eyes. The vehicle slowed and came to a stop beside her. Still dazzled by the light, she peered at the driver. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as his window buzzed down. Instinctively, she took two steps back and almost fell into the ditch.
