Rolling her eyes, Jenna glanced at him and led the way to the kitchen. “When are you not hungry?”
“Now that’s an intriguing question.” Kane paused a beat. “Usually after a large bowl of pasta.”
“There you are.” Rhett got to his feet and waved them to two empty seats alongside the large kitchen table. “We thought we’d eat in here. We can discuss the case over lunch.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Kane slid into a chair and nodded to Beth and Styles. “Thanks for coming. We need all the help we can get right now.”
Jenna nodded to Kalo. “Good to see everyone.”
“So what’s your plan, Jenna?” Carter took plates of food from the housekeeper and passed them down the center of the table.
It seemed to Jenna that the housekeeper had made an effort to cover everyone’s tastes. She watched as bowls of tossed salad, chili, plates piled high with sandwiches or hamburgers, and a huge bowl of fries appeared before her. After everyone tucked in, piling their plates, she glanced around the table. “We’ve locked down the environment as much as possible. I’ve told Bowman to prevent people from leaving if possible, and if someone does slip away, he makes a note of the person’s details so we can catch up with them later. I figure the immediate steps would be to identify who was on the ranch on Thursday night. I’d like to know who had access to the cattle gravesite and who was aware that the cow had been buried. I’ve noticed that the cattle here have ear tags and I would assume that if a death occurs, the tags would be removed and taken to the office. There must be a list or they would never know if cattle were missing or dead.”
“How far have you got with Marie’s last movements?” Beth took a bite of her sandwich and stared at Jenna.
There was always something about Beth that put Jenna on edge. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She liked her but couldn’t quite call her a best friend. It was as if Beth wore a cloak around her that prevented anyone from getting close. She was a loner and had purchased a cabin deep in the woods in Rattlesnake Creek and spent as much of her downtime as possible alone there. Styles had mentioned she liked to paint landscapes and used the time away from work to unwind. Beth had very few friends. It was as if she didn’t trust anyone to get close to her, and in all the time Jenna had known her, she’d never had a boyfriend. The closest person Beth had in her life was Styles. Although Beth had been very open about the fact her father was a serial killer by the name of Cutthroat Jack, currently doing time in a maximum-security prison, Jenna believed she carried untold secrets. Dragging her mind back to Beth’s question, she shook her head. “I don’t have very much to go on. Bowman, the rancher, knew she was leaving and he paid her cash. He informed us that the last time he saw her, she was looking for a ride to the bus station. I’ll ask the women in her bunkhouse if she took her belongings. It’s very strange that she decided to leave in a hurry. They pay the seasonal workers very well here.”
“Have you interviewed any of the ranch hands yet?” Styles tucked into a bowl of chili.
Jenna gave them a rundown of the interviews they’d held to date. “All my notes are on the server. No one seems to know anything so far. Today, I’m planning to go and speak to the women who share the same bunkhouse, they might have more information. I believe they all work in the hay shed.”
“Okay, we’ll handle the cattle hands.” Beth smiled. “This screams of an organized serial killer to me. They hide bodies where they feel comfortable. I figure this isn’t a seasonal worker. It’s someone who works here year-round.”
“Yeah.” Styles nodded thoughtfully. “We need to discover who dug the original grave. I’d like to see if it ties in with who was working that area on Thursday night and if they had access to heavy equipment.”
“Carter mentioned that you have reason to believe this homicide might be linked to a cold case twenty-two years ago?” Kalo met Jenna’s gaze.
Nodding, Jenna reached for the coffee pot and filled her cup. “It’s possible. We’ve just discovered a ton of evidence left in a safe by Rhett’s father. Rio is leading the investigation with Rowley and Raven. We’ll need to run the cases parallel to each other.”
“I can help by cross-referencing current employees with past ranch employees.” Kalo nodded slowly and stared into space. “I’ll make a list of anyone connected to the cold case victim or suspects. I’ll be concentrating on anyone who left abruptly twenty-two years ago and has now returned, as well as anyone who has remained here. Of course, I’ll run them all through the databases to see if anyone has a criminal record. Although it seems to me that most serial killers don’t have a criminal record until they’re apprehended for murder.”
“What did you get from the autopsy this morning?” Carter glanced up from his bowl of chili.
“She wasn’t sexually assaulted.” Kane looked up from his meal and sighed. “But she was tortured to near death and then buried alive.”
Men who abused women were at the top of Beth’s hate list, and Jenna moved her attention to her and caught the flash of anger in her eyes. “As far as we’re aware, no one has left the ranch, as in collected their paycheck and moved on, since last Thursday.”
“Which means”—Beth moved her gaze toward Styles and the corners of her mouth quirked up—“he’s still on the ranch.”
Twenty-One
After lunch everyone split up and headed out to complete their assignments. Jenna, Kane, and Carter made their way to the hay shed. Jenna glanced at her notes. “Tex Williams is the hay shed lead. I guess we ask him if we can speak to the women who bunked with Marie?”
“Leave it to me.” Carter popped a toothpick in his mouth and headed toward the man in charge.
Cattle and horse ranches all had the similar aromas. To Jenna, being in a hay shed was like being at home, but this one was a hive of activity. It smelled of dust, diesel, and sweat. As the workers moved the bales into position, dust and loose chaff danced in shafts of sunlight streaming through the cracks in the walls. A few moments later, Carter arrived with four women. They looked up as Jenna approached, their faces tight with worry. Their attitude concerned her and she tried to put them at ease. “Thanks for stopping work. We won’t keep you very long. We just need to chase down a few things about Marie Reyes.”
Jenna noticed their attention moving fleetingly toward Kane and back. His size often intimidated people but he just stood beside her, arms folded with an unreadable expression. The first woman introduced herself as Tove Ruuskanen, tall and fair with her blonde hair braided tightly. Jenna liked her immediately. “I guess you’ve heard that we found a body in one of the cattle graves who we believe is Marie.”
“We’ve been talking about nothing else since we heard the terrible news.” Tove’s Finnish accent clipped the words neatly. “How can we possibly help you?”
Jenna looked from one to the other. “I am trying to piece together a timeline of her activity on Thursday. We’re aware that she worked all day and ate dinner with you. It’s from dinner onward that we need to trace her steps. Maybe we should start with how well you knew her.”
“I am Turid Solberg.” Another woman stepped forward, removed her gloves, and pushed them into her back pocket and then brushed hay from her jeans. “We only knew her for a few weeks, Sheriff. The four of us arrived on the same bus together, but I can tell you that she was friendly and talked to everyone.” Her Norwegian lilt softened the edges of her voice.
“What do you recall about Thursday night?” Kane looked at the third woman. “Did anything unusual happen?”
“Tiffany Emerson from New Zealand, nice to meet you.” She folded her arms and leaned against one of the posts. “When we were eating dinner, she asked everyone along the table if they knew anyone going into town. She wanted a ride to the bus station.”
