Jenna nodded. “So she was in a hurry to leave?”
“Seems so. She was asking the guys.” A Canadian by the name of Susan Glysz met Jenna’s gaze. “She needed to get to Blackwater, but she didn’t seem upset or anything.”
“Did she say why she needed to go in such a hurry?” Carter raised both his eyebrows.
“Yeah, she had a job offer in Blackwater at the Broken Bridge Ranch.” Tove nodded. “She mentioned wanting a change of scenery. As far as I know, everything was arranged by phone.”
“Did any of you see who she left with?” Kane straightened and looked from one to the other. “Or overhear who offered to give her a ride—or suggested someone?”
“No.” Tiffany frowned. “She didn’t say anything to us before she left. She picked up her backpack from the bunkhouse, gave us a wave, and then walked off toward the equipment yard. That’s the last time I saw her.”
“There’s something else you should know about.” Susan lifted her chin. “It’s Zoe, Zoe Carpenter. She didn’t come back to the bunkhouse last night and we haven’t seen her. She’s usually working right alongside us during the day.”
“When did you last see her?” Kane’s jaw tightened and he exchanged a look with Jenna.
“Dinner.” Tiffany moved around uneasily. “She didn’t sit at the table. She just grabbed a plate and said she’d be back later but never showed.”
A ripple of unease crept down Jenna’s spine. “Did Zoe know Marie very well?”
“No more than we did, but they talked.” Susan shrugged. “Everyone does. We’re all stuck in the same bunkhouse. It’s not exactly the Hilton.”
Jenna needed to dig deeper, and she looked slowly from one woman to the other. “This is really important. Do you recall Marie mentioning anything about being concerned about someone here at the ranch? She seemed to leave abruptly as if she was running away from something. Did she mention any concerns to you about anyone or anything?”
“She seemed a little on edge last week.” Turid frowned. “The men here are always asking us to sit with them for meals or to go for a drink. It’s innocent enough, I guess, but it gets annoying after a time. Marie used to complain about them being overly attentive. This is something you come up against frequently when doing seasonal work. At some of the places I’ve worked everyone has been really great and other times I’ve left early because of the sexist environment.”
“Do you remember the name of anyone she complained about?” Carter tipped back his Stetson and eyed her critically. “No one will know if you gave us a name.” He glanced behind him. “Everyone has returned to the field. It’s safe to talk to us.”
“All she said to me was that the men were driving her crazy and wouldn’t leave her alone.” Tove pushed a strand of hair behind one ear and frowned. “If she’d said something to us, we’d have made sure she was never left alone with him. That’s what we usually do if someone is getting singled out.”
“Okay, that’s all for now.” Kane pushed his notebook back into his pocket. “If Zoe doesn’t show by this afternoon, we’ll start tracking her down. If any of you see someone hanging around, or a vehicle you don’t recognize, go straight to the ranch house and talk to Agent Carter.” He indicated toward him. “He’s staying here for a few weeks until we get everything sorted.”
The women’s subdued expressions spoke volumes. Jenna softened her voice. “You’re not in trouble. We just need to find out what happened to Marie and make sure that Zoe is safe.”
“Sheriff.” Tiffany’s expression filled with concern. “Do you figure something has happened to Zoe too?”
How could Jenna possibly answer that question? “We’ll find her. Stay together as much as possible and don’t wander off alone. If you speak to any of the other women, give them the same advice until we can sort out what’s happening here.” As the women exchanged uneasy glances, Jenna followed Kane out into the sunshine.
“Two missing women in under four days.” Kane lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Someone is hunting on this ranch.”
“And they’re escalating.” Carter shook his head slowly. “It could be any one of the forty people working here.”
The awful feeling of being watched crept over Jenna as she scanned the sprawling property, the distant forest rising to the familiar mountain range, and then back slowly to the maze of outbuildings. “Somehow, we need to find him before he strikes again.”
Twenty-Two
Beth Katz carried a secret no one could ever discover but she’d come close to jail time some years ago. She preferred to work alone, and after hunting down a child rapist and murderer, she’d saved the little girl but been found covered in blood alongside the dead killer. The killer’s throat had been slit from ear to ear and a tarot card, the Grim Reaper, was left on the body. When questioned, Beth had insisted she’d been trying to save the man, when in truth, after seeing him on top of the little girl, she’d lost her cool and murdered him. The result was she’d been reassigned to the backwoods town of Rattlesnake Creek with Dax Styles, a man who played by his own rules. Working as an FBI agent and seeing so many killers walk free on a technicality, when their guilt was evident, had triggered the dormant psychopath in her. From that moment on, she lived two lives, one as an FBI agent and the other as the mysterious Tarot Killer.
“So this guy, Dirk Lovall, likes to get in bar fights and had a few problems with the law in his youth.” Styles scrolled down his tablet. “He’s been at the ranch for the last twenty-four years and covers our past and recent cases. So how do you want to play this?”
Pulling out her phone to record the conversation with Lovall, Beth fell in step beside him. “I would like to get a take on the man, feel him out, and see what makes him tick. Right now, we don’t know if he is a reliable witness or not. I figure we’re going to get conflicting stories about what happened twenty years ago and what happened to Marie.”
The news that no one was allowed to leave the ranch had spread like a wildfire. As they walked toward an old room in one of the barns designated to them as an interview room, Beth noticed the suspicious looks from the men she passed. After being a city girl for so long, Beth wrinkled her nose as they walked past a corral filled with bawling cattle. Inside the dim room a man hovered uneasily with his hat clasped in his hands and his fingers moving nervously along the brim. Sweat beaded across the man’s forehead and the room stank of unwashed male.
“Why don’t you take a seat, Lovall?” Styles shut the door hard enough to rattle the window. “I’m Agent Styles and this is Agent Katz. We have a few questions for you but it won’t take long.”
“I already told Bowman everything I know.” Lovall sat stiffly, placed his hat on the table, and folded his arms. “This is a waste of time. I have work to do.”
Beth took in his defiant posture, turned on the recorder on her phone, and placed it on the table in front of him. “I don’t like taking notes, so I’ll be recording our conversation. I’d like to make it clear that you’re not under arrest. We’ll be interviewing many people on the ranch to try and establish a timeline for Marie Reyes.” She brushed a few straws of hay from the chair before sitting down opposite him. “You’ve worked here for a long time, since Rhett’s father ran the ranch. What can you tell me about the accident that killed him and his wife? What was Lawson like in the weeks prior?”
