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“Maybe, but they’re not excluding us.” Jenna’s expression was determined. “This is our case in my county and I plan to solve it.” She moved ahead of him along the trail. “I’m just holding my breath nothing happens while we are on a field trip.”
“Walters said he would go into the office. You have three capable deputies on duty and they’ll contact you if anything happens.” Kane rode beside her. “We can’t do anything in town. If the vigilante is going to strike, she’ll do it anyway.” He shrugged. “If we had a clue who she picked out for her next victim, we could have placed him in protective custody, but we don’t. All we can do is wait and hope her killing spree is over.”
“Maybe if she has led us to the grave site, we will discover enough evidence to find the girls’ killers and bring them to justice.” Jenna sighed. “Then she might be satisfied and stop killing the men responsible, but if she figures sending us up here will get her off the charge of murder, she is sorely mistaken.”
Kane nodded in agreement. “She would be underestimating you if she believes you’ll ever give up chasing her.”
“Yeah, and playing the victim card with me won’t work.”
“Craig’s Rock is in front of us now, which makes Old Corkey’s cabin some ways west from here. It’s close to private property, so we’ll have to be careful.” Rowley turned around in his saddle and brushed at the sweat trickling down his temples. “Orders, ma’am?”
“We’ll dismount and spread out on foot. Stay in sight. I hear there are bears in this area, so stay alert.” Jenna slid off her horse and winced as she landed. “Take the bear spray just in case.”
Kane dismounted and took in his surroundings. A trail led through the dense pine trees and the jagged rock face peeked out between them. “I think it would be this way. I would not risk walking through poison ivy; I’d use the animal trail.” He gave Jenna a long look. “This is a very remote place. Why send us here?”
“Well, it may be a hoax, but we won’t know until we take a look.” Jenna strode away, back straight and head erect.
“I wouldn’t mind betting those cabins have something to do with the missing girls.” Wolfe moved beside Kane and his expression turned murderous. “You mentioned Rockford’s son was doing time for having child pornography. Maybe we need to pay him a visit in jail?”
“That’s a thought but the FBI investigation turned up zip. I doubt he was involved and trust me, during the court case he would have given up his soul to avoid jail time.”
Thinking of Mayor Rockford’s extensive estate before his son went to jail, Kane turned to speak to Rowley. “Hey, Rowley.” He removed his shades and pushed them into his shirt pocket. “Those cabins are miles from anywhere—how did Rockford maintain them? I couldn’t see him trekking all the way up there to change the sheets.”
“There used to be a road that ran down the other side of the falls. It met up at the top near the cabins. Many folk stayed up here on weekend fishing trips. There was a trailer that came every weekend through summer, sold everything from milk to hot dogs.” Rowley removed his hat and wiped his sweat-soaked face with a cloth. “After the rockslide, I doubt Rockford came up here to check out the cabins. The hikers had to fend for themselves, I guess.” His brow furrowed. “There are people living all over up here, scattered around the national park areas and all have private roads off the mountain, but they pretty much keep to themselves. Most are self-sufficient and don’t leave their properties more than once or twice a year.”
A memory of Lizzy Harper flashed through his mind. “Hey, hold up a minute.” He waited for Jenna to turn around. “When was this rockslide?”
“I’m not sure—about six years ago, maybe longer.” Rowley’s brow wrinkled into a frown. “Why?”
“Wolfe was wondering if the cabins have anything to do with the missing girls and I recall Lizzy Harper mentioning her father took her fishing on the weekends. That’s where he molested her and no doubt had other men involved as well.”
“Then once we’ve checked around here, we’ll find Old Corkey’s place then check out the cabins.” Jenna pushed back her hat, allowing her dark hair to fall over her cheeks. She raised both eyebrows. “Come on, let’s go, it’s getting late and it will be hard enough riding down the mountain in daylight. I don’t fancy tackling the trail beside the waterfall in the dark.”
“We could stay in the cabins.” Rowley’s expression was hopeful.
Kane opened his mouth to say something but Jenna beat him to it. “Have you lost your mind?” She glared at Rowley. “Not one chance in hell.”
Duke had run ahead with his drooling tongue flopping out the side of his mouth. The crashing through the undergrowth stopped and he gave out three barks then whined.
“I hope he hasn’t disturbed a bear.” Kane followed the dog through the trees and came out on the edge of a small clearing.
Duke came to his side and nudged his leg, clearly agitated. Kane surveyed the immediate area and swallowed hard. Oh, shit! A skull’s hollow black eyes stared at him as if pleading for help. The bleached white skull lay on one side with green moss growing over one cheek. A foot away, the top of another peered out of the leaf mold as if hiding. Long fine bones littered the open space nestled beneath Craig’s Rock. Nothing could be worse than finding the graves of murdered children. He schooled his expression to cover the welling emotion and turned away as Jenna came toward him. “I’m afraid it’s a mass grave, ma’am.”
47
On the way to meet the next monster, she took the old back road, which ran between the end of town and the lower edge of Stanton Forest. It snaked its way through the south side and ended in a large circular area for cars or trucks to turn around. Emergency services used the road and it acted as a firebreak just in case a wildfire sparked into life. After driving her car down a track, some distance from the trail he had mentioned, she parked behind a clump of bushes then slid from behind the wheel and dragged a bicycle out of the trunk. She made sure she had everything she needed then covered her vehicle with a camouflage sheet. With the keys in the ignition, she could make a quick getaway if everything went to hell.
A sound startled her; if he spotted her now, he would know it was a setup. She turned slowly, staring in all directions, but nothing but the breeze moved through the tall pines. After removing her hat and allowing her hair to drop to her shoulders, she replaced it, pulling the front down to cover her eyes. With her large sunglasses covering most of her face, he would think she was fourteen for sure. Now if her monster, or Eighteen and Lonely as he called himself, drove past her on the road, he would not suspect a thing.
The idea of killing him excited her and terrified her at the same time. The fact she enjoye
d watching them die frightened her sometimes. She pushed away the fear and embraced the gnawing need inside her to rid the world of predators.
She pulled a backpack onto her shoulders, mounted the bicycle, and headed down the road. As she turned the bend, she heard a car and hid in the bushes. A car went flying by her, and to her horror, Bobby-Joe Brandon was behind the wheel. I can’t take on two men at once.
Indecision plagued her. Stay or leave? What should she do now? She stared after Bobby-Joe but the SUV kept on going and disappeared around a bend in the distance. Not long after, an identical SUV drove slowly up behind her, and she turned on her seat then stopped pedaling. A man climbed out of the vehicle wearing a clown mask, and every instinct to run screamed in her. Fear gripped her. If he had planned on Bobby-Joe as his backup, she had made a fatal mistake.
“I’m Eighteen and Lonely. Are you Needy Girl?”
