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“Then we’ll take a look. Get in the car.” He opened the door of his SUV and slipped behind the wheel.
The engine of his powerful vehicle roared into life. He backed up then hit the spotlights, and two beams of white halogen light pierced the dark woodland for fifty feet or more. Bats flew out of the trees in a cloud of confusion but nothing else moved. “He’s long gone and wouldn’t have risked hanging around to be identified.” He turned to look at her pinched expression. “We’ll talk to the parents then I’m taking you home. Grab your stuff and come over to my place, and we’ll watch a movie.”
“Why?” She gave him a long, confused stare.
He shrugged. “I need to leave the job behind for a few hours and I need some company before I lose it big time.”
“You lose it? Give me a break.” Jenna snapped back into sheriff mode and snorted with mirth. “Between you and Wolfe, I don’t need to wait for winter for the room temperature to drop to subzero.” She turned in her seat, her expression hidden in shadows. “But I will take you up on the offer of wine and a movie. I can’t wait to tell Maggie a tough guy like you enjoys watching romcoms.”
He spun the SUV around and headed for the gate. The task ahead would be depressing to the max and he needed to keep the banter between them light-hearted. “I’ve created a monster.” He smiled at her. “No, I take that back, once Maggie spreads that news around town, everyone will know I’m really a sensitive guy.”
“Good luck with that.” Jenna placed one small hand on his arm. “I think we should close the gate once the ambulance has left.”
Kane pulled up at the curb. “Yeah, and I’ll wrap some tape around it to keep the kids out of the area until I notify the dean. Although, he is likely vacationing somewhere.” He glanced at her. “Have you called a support person for the Brights?”
“Not yet, and I can’t find any other people with the last name Bright in the local phone listings. It’s late and someone local would be ideal.” She frowned. “Apparently Reverend Jones has been very helpful for the Parkers. I know they go to the same church, and as it happens, I have his number in my contacts list.” She pulled out her cellphone. The light from the screen illuminated her worried expression. “Do you think I should call him?”
“If you don’t have the contact number of a family member, I guess a reverend would be the next best person.”
“Okay, I can at least ask him.” Jenna shook her dark head then called Jones and asked him to meet them at the Brights’ residence.
Once the ambulance and Wolfe had left, Kane went to shut the gate and noticed a squashed flower on the driveway not far from the entrance. Moving back inside, he bent to examine it; noting the resemblance to the ones left with Kate’s body, he dropped the plant into an evidence bag and pushed it into his pocket. He straightened then headed into the trees adjacent to the long driveway, using his flashlight to search the area of woods close to the road.
He noticed a small patch of disturbed earth as if someone had wrenched the flowers out by the roots then broken the stems and scattered the remains. “So that’s where he collected the flowers.” He did a visual scan of the area.
On closer inspection, he found a clear, small footprint in the disturbed soil. He pulled out his cellphone and took photographs using his boot beside the imprint to give a size comparison. If the footprint belonged to Kate, which he imagined it did, he had a clear sequence of events. He strolled back to the gate and after wrapping crime scene tape around the bars, he climbed back behind the wheel.
“Did you find something?” Jenna’s dark gaze fixed on his face.
“A flower. The killer took them with him, which proves intent; going on how he left flowers at the last two crime scenes, this has to be the same person. Somehow he knew she would be at the pool and at what time.”
“What makes you think he didn’t follow her?”
“There is a patch of disturbed earth where someone pulled out the flowers and a small footprint in the upturned soil. If the footprint matches Kate’s shoes, then she had to have walked through the woods after the killer collected the flowers. I wouldn’t mind betting she arrived at six thirty as originally planned.”
“I guess the time of death will give us a better idea but Chad did say he planned to meet her at eight thirty and found her minutes after.”
“What the killer did to her takes time and he wanted to savor every second.” Kane shook his head in disgust. “You mentioned Chad received a message via his online game room changing the meeting time from six thirty to eight thirty. How the hell did the killer have time to inflict so many injuries?”
“I have no idea.”
Kane drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and stared toward the woods. “We have proof the killer was close by because Chad heard the ringtone of Kate’s cellphone. When we arrived, there was no one else in the pool area. Trust me, I had a good
look around and found zip. My guess is he watched Chad, then took off into the woods to take Chad’s call, then made his escape.”
“Just a minute.” Jenna turned and wrinkled her nose, something she did when sorting out a problem. “This all sounds reasonable but you have missed the main point. How did the killer know she would be at the campus in the first place?” She tapped her bottom lip. “We’ll need to ask Chad when and where he asked her on the date. Chad mentioned Aimee and Lucas knew about the date. The killer must have been near them at the time to have this information but we can rule out Lucas. He has an alibi for Felicity’s murder and Chad was in contact with him around the time of the murder.” Jenna let out a long sigh. “If the killer is the same person Helena Police Department is looking for, he is a very smart cookie.”
“If this lunatic is the same man, this changes everything. Up to now everything pointed to him being local. We have to think outside the box. Who works in a job that would get them close to young people in a short time and be privy to their private information?”
“Just about everyone on our list of suspects.” Jenna worried her bottom lip, making it cherry-red. “Rogers started at the school in January; both cowboys come and go; the computer guy, Lionel Provine, took over the store around December, I think. The only suspect who has lived in town all his life is Felicity’s boyfriend, Derick, but he moves around with the team playing football and they do stay at least two nights in each town.” She shrugged. “I’ll be interested to find out if they all have alibis for tonight.”
“Then there is the janitor.” Kane turned to look at her. “Kids of this age use Facebook and give out intimate details of their lives. I mean we have no idea if her friends told anyone else she was meeting Chad. It could be all over social media for all we know.” He sighed. “It looks as if we have a lot of work to do.”
He started the engine and headed toward the main road. On the corner of Stanton Road, the headlights picked up a blue sedan parked alongside the forest. He slowed his vehicle. “That’s a strange place to leave a vehicle. Did you notice it parked there when we arrived?”
“I’m not sure. You drove like a bat out of hell.”
Pulling to the curb beside the car, he slipped from behind the wheel and, using his flashlight, examined the vehicle. Something inside moved and his heart raced. He reached for his weapon. “Sheriff’s department. Put your hands where I can see them.”
