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At the time, Kane obviously had not recognized his name or face but admitted they had spoken by phone. If he had cause for alarm, or Wolfe had confided information to him earlier in the day, it would mean only one thing: Kane was working off the grid for the government and Wolfe was his new contact. Kane fit the profile and he had to be way above her old pay grade.
Collecting a glass of wine and the bottle, she headed into her office. If word had leaked about her new identity and whereabouts, she doubted the Department of Homeland Security would send him to protect her. After working undercover on one case, she hardly rated the expense. More likely, the DHS would swoop in and relocate her again, but so far, hiding in plain sight had worked. She dropped into the chair in front of her computer and refilled her glass then stared at the wall of flat screens. Why is he here?
Her mind turned to the murder. She needed to organize her deputies and use the assets of her team. She grabbed her notepad and made some notes. After listening to the brief report from Wolfe at the scene and Kane’s conclusions, she had a few of her own. Although Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley made her skin crawl, the crime scene had told her one man was involved. Yeah, after the antics in the tack roo
m, she believed either of them was capable, but would they work alone?
The staging of the victim and the fact her face was not touched led her to believe the killer was unlikely to be her boyfriend. She had seen enough victims of domestic abuse to know men angry with their wives or lovers went for the face. The murder was gruesomely artistic, which meant the killer had murdered before. One thing Wolfe mentioned had been significant. Killers who mutilate their victims start slow. They start with their pets and move up to murder as the need grows. From the carnage she witnessed in Stanton Forest, whoever had brutally murdered Felicity had plenty of practice. If her murder followed his usual modus operandi, his kills would be easy to trace—and people make mistakes. Without the ability to search the local databases for similar crimes, she drafted a letter then sent it out to all the police and sheriffs’ departments in the state.
She leaned back in her seat and made plans for the next day. In the morning, she would ask Rowley to trace Felicity’s cellphone and collect a list of calls or texts she had made from the server. Having her parents’ written permission gave the sheriff’s department instant access to her accounts. Rowley could also check her social media for clues. She needed some idea of Felicity’s movements from the time she left home until approximately nine thirty. A list of her friends would be helpful. She would send Kane to interview the boyfriend, Derick Smith, and see if he had an alibi for the time of death. Whoever Felicity had met during the short time between leaving home and reaching the forest had murdered her. The face of Felicity Parker filled her mind. Why did you go into the forest, Felicity?
Fifteen
Kane did the usual sweep of his house, checking for any intruders or bugs. Confident his home was secure, he emptied his pockets, removed his holster, and stripped off his uniform. He dropped the garments into the washing machine then headed for the bathroom. He had a lot to think about and the shower was his refuge of choice. The arrival of Shane Wolfe had surprised him but he would be an asset to the team. Wolfe had spent his time wisely by continuing his studies to become top in his field in forensic and computer science. Once his wife died, the government ordered Wolfe back to active service. Why put the three of us together? It makes no sense.
He stepped from the shower and dressed. His gaze settled on his notepad and his immediate priorities slammed into place. He had a young woman lying on a slab in the mortuary, and he owed it to her and her family to find her killer.
After dragging on a T-shirt and jeans, he padded barefoot to the bedroom he’d converted into an office. Set up much like Jenna’s, he had a full CCTV network of cameras around Jenna’s property linked to flat screens. Luckily, Jenna had convinced Mayor Petersham to fund a system for the town and public areas. He sat at his desk, turned on the laptop, and went over the information he had taken from his visit to the Parkers.
His experience in profiling suspects had often meant life or death for him in the past. He studied a person’s behavior or reaction, and the flicker of eyes or beads of sweat spoke volumes. The interview with Felicity’s parents had told him one thing: Neither of them had anything to do with her murder. He watched their reaction at the viewing of their daughter’s body. Both had responded normally; that kind of shock, horror, and anger did not come from a killer.
His experience in dealing with grief was limited, and standing beside the couple during the viewing was disturbing. No one could ever forget seeing a loved one murdered. Disturbing memories remained forever, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not forget the faces of the men he had killed in the line of duty. To him, not one was “the target,” the term used by the kill squad to eradicate the human element from the shooter’s mind. He remembered the names and faces of them all.
He scanned the files Wolfe recently added to Felicity Parker’s case and found his conclusions solid. Although the results of soil samples and bodily fluids would take some time, the forensic examination of the scene was impressive. Wolfe had noted the absence of Felicity’s footprints in the immediate area, which would mean the killer, or one of her killers, carried her to the rock. The autopsy proved the killer had viciously raped her but Wolfe had found no evidence of that happening on the rock. She was raped and killed in a different place—but where? The killer had eviscerated her post-mortem on the flat rock. He concluded the act was ritual in nature and if two men were involved one would be dominant and calling the shots, while the other looked on. He could not discount the fact one man was responsible, in fact it was uncommon to have two serial killers working together. They don’t like to share.
Kane rubbed the back of his neck. He had studied murderers and interviewed serial killers and sociopaths from every walk of life. The fact he had used her then “cleansed” her in the river before cutting her throat followed the pattern of one person’s very disturbed mind. The lewd positioning of the body and makeup made him believe the killer had suffered prolonged abuse as a child, perhaps from a woman who wore bright red lipstick. The killer would have despised her but craved the love she denied him. The flowers were significant. Violated children often tried to placate their abusers.
Had Felicity gone willingly into the forest with her killer? Was he someone she trusted? He did not recall any signs of a struggle on the footpath and he doubted a girl of her age would leave the trail and risk plowing through dense undergrowth alone in the summer. She was a local and would be fully aware of the wildlife. He scrolled through the photographs of the scene, zooming in on each one. As he moved his mouse over the image of the footprints surrounding the rock, goosebumps ran up his arms.
Holy shit! The footprints all led away from the river and toward the rock where the body lay. He searched the images, zooming in on the far side of the clearing, and his stomach clenched. Practically concealed by bushes, a second path led from the opposite side of the clearing. He cursed under his breath and pulled up every photograph of the area. From a different angle, he could make out a bend in the path turning it toward the river and not deeper into the forest. As none of them had known the area, they had no idea which was the regular path to the riverbank. On arrival, they had been engrossed with the murder scene and the trail of footprints leading from the river; none of them had considered the victim or killer had taken a different route on the way to the riverbank.
He grabbed his cellphone and called Jenna. When she picked up, he explained what he had found. “Do you want me to take Wolfe with me after our meeting and take another look? I hope the scene is secure. Walters put tape across the entrance to the area and posted a sign.”
“How did we miss the other pathway? We should have had Rowley with us. A local would have known it existed.”
“We were all concerned with gathering evidence from the scene. The problem is if we missed any evidence, the killer could have returned by now to sanitize the place. I am surprised he didn’t try to cover the footprints.”
“The kids might have disturbed him before he had the chance?”
He stared at the computer screen and sighed. “Maybe. I would like to know how he knew no one would be there at that time of day. He has to be a local. And how did he lure Felicity to the riverbank? We know she was heading in a different direction. I believe she knew her killer and he planned the murder ahead of time.”
“It’s a bit far-fetched to believe an obvious psychopath not only planned for her to be in that location but managed to, as you say, ‘lure’ her to the riverbank. Why would she change direction and head for the forest when she had planned to meet her friends and head into town?”
“Do you believe teenage girls never tell lies or keep secrets from their parents?” Kane cleared his throat. “For all we know, she made a date to meet someone, her boyfriend or someone else in the forest. She must have gone there willingly or we would have found signs of a struggle on the trail into the forest from Stanton Road. Don’t forget there are cowboys in town and they are attractive to teenage girls. Add the fact she left home wearing pink cowboy boots, and after the act Lucky and Storm put on yesterday, they are on the top of my list.”
“Why not the boyfriend? We can’t rule him out yet.”
“I’m not leaning heavily toward the boyfriend. The profile doesn’t fit a teenage killer—it says older man to me, probably late twenties or older, Caucasian and has killed before.”
“Her boyfriend is twenty and on the college football team, so he’ll be big. At that size, age doesn’t come into it, does it? He would be more than capable of killing her and we haven’t had time to check him out.”
“For me, he remains a suspect mainly because of motive. I would like to know why they argued —what if she was pregnant?”
“The laying of flowers too.”
“Yes, and not jealousy or a crime of passion.” Kane stretched and yawned. “We need her phone records pronto to see if she made or received a call before or after leaving home.”
“I’ll have them by the morning but until we get the lab results we’re flying blind. I understand your concern—I want to catch this monster too.” Jenna sighed. “It’s late and I’m exhausted. You must be too and we all need to be on our toes right now. I’m done for the day, I’ll see you in the morning.”
