Page 43 of Whisper Through the Pines

Jenna sat at the head of the table. “Maybe.” She turned to Kalo. “Bobby, did you find anything on the CCTV from the Roadhouse?”

“The CCTV footage from the Roadhouse confirms he was there at the times he mentioned.” Kalo swiveled his laptop around and displayed the footage. “As you can see from the time stamp, he walked into the gas station at nine-fifteen, purchased a bottle of something, and left. He can be seen driving away. I have a clear shot of his plate.”

Jenna watched the footage with interest. “So that part of his alibi holds for the second murder.”

“That gives him plenty of time to kill those guys and head home.” Carter waved a toothpick in the air. “As far as I’m aware, he didn’t return to work, did he? I doubt any of them work late into the night, even with a deadline to reach.”

“Have you thought he might have fabricated this stomach problem as an alibi?” Raven’s brows lifted. “He set the timer for the projection to start at a particular time. Work was running late and he needed to get away. He grabbed an ax on the way out and likely dropped it back the following morning.”

Jenna thought for a beat and then nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good point. If he was questioned and had an alibi, and it turned out to clear him, he would come across as being truthful. I’m definitely keeping him on our list.”

“That’s good.” Raven looked at Jenna and grinned. “While you were interviewing him, I got a phone planted in his truck under the seat and it’s transmitting.”

“Seems to me, our deputies are getting very careless with their phones.” Rio looked around the table and everyone laughed. “Maybe we won’t mention it to the DA when we’re hunting down an arrest warrant.”

“What phones?” Carter grinned around a toothpick.

Taking a cup of coffee Kane handed to her and having a sip, Jenna glanced at the list of names on the whiteboard. She moved to the next name. “Okay, let’s move along to Pike.”

“This guy is a possible.” Carter leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “He likes to intimidate people. On the night of the second murders, he left the Old Mitcham Ranch around nine and didn’t return until midnight. He fits the timeline, drives a white pickup, and looking at the size of him, he’s more than capable of decapitating a man with one strike.”

A cold shiver sent goose bumps down Jenna’s arms. She turned to Rowley. “How did it go with planting a phone on Durnell? I noticed he had one delivery around lunchtime.”

“It was at the Chinese restaurant, so I just walked from here and hung around until he showed.” Rowley leaned forward. “I waited on the corner of the alleyway until he unloaded and when he went inside to get paid, I managed to plant one inside his truck.” He blew out a long breath. “He almost caught me. I’d just turned back onto Main when I heard the bell over the restaurant door chime.”

“You have a man who moves around the entire town without anyone noticing.” Jo glanced at her notes before raising her gaze to Jenna. “He is very proficient with the type of ax needed to decapitate people. He has access to both attractions. I noticed on his delivery calendar that he also delivers firewood to the Old Mitcham Ranch. They have equipment lying around everywhere and it would be easy enough for him to take an item from a storeroom while he is unloading.”

“I’m seeing three men, all with access to the attractions, all with shaky alibies, and all with a potential opportunity to kill.” Carter opened his hands wide. “None of them is a clean fit.”

Standing, Jenna went back to the whiteboard. She stared at it, trying to extract the answers she needed. “Which means we keep digging.”

“What does your gut say?” Kane flicked her a glance over the top of his coffee cup.

Turning to look at her team, Jenna folded her arms across her chest. “My instinct tells me the killer is watching us. He’s confident and is likely anticipating our next move.” She looked at Jo. “When do you think he’ll strike again?”

“Looking at the profiles of the three suspects, I don’t believe you’ve frightened him off, more likely the opposite.” Jo shrugged. “I figure he has a plan and it will play out no matter what we do. For some reason I don’t believe this is something he plans on getting away with. This niggling feeling at the back of my mind tells me that when he’s fulfilled his need or fantasy, whatever—he’s not planning on going to prison, more likely he’ll want to go out in a blaze of glory.”

“So what timeline are we looking at?” Kane finished his coffee and placed the cup down softly on the table.

“Very soon.” Jo frowned and her fingers ran across her notes. “Now he’s been interviewed, the rush is on for him to finish.”

Images of the victims played across Jenna’s mind, and they would be there for a long time. She didn’t need a whiteboard to remind her. “Okay, we’ll call it a day. Rio, Raven, monitor one of the phones each. We’ll take the third one. I figure if anything’s gonna happen, it will be between nine and twelve. I doubt he’ll change his pattern. If one of them is on the move, call us right away and don’t wait to see where they’re going.”

“If it looks like a go, don’t leave home without your vests and rifles.” Kane turned his head to look slowly around the table. “We keep it quiet. No lights or sirens, and we’ll use our phones to communicate, as this guy seems to be able to block our coms. In the field, make sure your phones are on vibrate only.”

Jenna watched as the team shifted into motion. She gathered her things and headed back to her office to grab her coat. She turned as Kane walked into the room with Duke on his heels. Fear shuddered through her. Would they be in time to save another victim? “Do you figure it’s going to be tonight?”

“I guess we’re going to find out.” Kane placed a hand on her shoulder. “He’s smart but we won’t fall for his smoke-and-mirror tricks. If it’s going down tonight, we’re the predators.” He cupped her cheek and smiled. “We just need to keep our heads.”

Forty

That evening, Jenna and Kane spent the time before dinner playing with their boys. Carter, Kalo, Jo, and Jaime joined in the games and once everyone had been fed and the kids had gone to bed, Jenna sat at the kitchen table with the others, stripping down their weapons, with the exception of Kalo, who had been working on a project for hours. The quiet atmosphere niggled at Jenna, the tension in the room palpable. She glanced at Kalo. “If we move, I want you to remain in the office. Rowley will come by as well. We’ll need a command post and your expertise.”

“Not a problem.” Kalo smiled and held up a com. “I’m pretty sure I’ve fixed the problems with the coms. I doubt very much they’ll be hacked because they’ll change frequencies at random. He won’t be able to get a fix on them and they’re tied into military satellites.”

“Is that legal?” Carter raised both eyebrows. “I don’t want them coming for you.”

“How would they find us?” Kalo frowned. “It’s difficult to get a fix on a frequency that changes every few seconds. It’s not like I’m hacking them, just borrowing them. It can’t interfere with anything. They won’t know we’re piggybacking.”