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“Okay, okay. Here, take this.” The driver dragged a blanket from behind him and offered it to her then spoke into his radio. “Ten-four good buddy, over.” He turned to her. “He wants to know what’s happened.”
She stumbled through her horrific ordeal then gaped at him; whatever coded language he was speaking, it scared the hell out of her.
“A deputy from Black Rock Falls is on his way.” He turned back in the seat and the truck engine roared and moved forward. “We’ll meet him on the highway. I’d stop here and wait for him but I’m late and I’ve given him the coordinates where I found you.” He indicated to a thermos. “Help yourself to coffee.”
The stress seeped out of her and she leaned back in the seat. The warm air from the heater permeated through her clothes making her sleepy. With the gentle rocking of the cab, her eyes drifted closed for a second then she sat bolt upright. What if he drugged my coffee? She had to stay alert and bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. Chancing a glance at him, she cleared her throat. “I really appreciate the drink and ride.”
“I can’t figure why you would risk driving to Black Rock Falls in the middle of the night.” He kept his eyes on the road. “Are you aware of how many murders occurred in this county in the last couple of years? I know the area covers many thousands of square miles but it’s all over the news.”
“And from what happened last night, I guess there is another killer on the loose.” Ella bit back the rush of panic threatening to take over.
“I wouldn’t live here.” The man waved a hand toward the road. Blue lights flashed in the distance. “There he is now.” He eased the truck to a halt. “You take care now, hear?”
Three
Deputy Jake Rowley took down the truck driver’s details, then turned his attention to the blood-spattered young woman beside him. She had a few scratches on her cheeks, but not enough damage to account for the copious amount of blood on her face and jacket. Concerned she might be involved in her friend’s murder, he opened the back door of his cruiser. “Okay, Ella, get inside in the warm.”
“Don’t you want to know what happened?” Ella gripped his arm. “My friend Sky is lying on this road somewhere.” She pointed back down the road. “Back that way. We have to find her.”
Rowley eased her arm free and urged her into the car. “The truck driver didn’t see a car or any sign of anyone but you on the road, but we’ll take a look.” He climbed behind the wheel and pushed the coordinates into his GPS, then spun his cruiser to face the other direction.
“Hey, I recognize that clump of trees in the distance.” Ella squirmed in her seat, teeth chattering. “His vehicle was here, lights flashing like he was in trouble.”
“Stay here.” Rowley slid from the seat. “I’ll go see what I can find.”
The icy wind cut into his cheeks and buffeted him with each step up and down the stretch of road. He searched for any sign of blood on the frozen blacktop, but the snow covered everything in a deceptive white powder. With regret, he walked back to his car and climbed into the warm. He shook his head at Ella. “I can’t find any trace of your friend, I’m sorry.”
“You have to do something.” Ella’s eyes filled with tears. “She has to be out here somewhere.”
Rowley’s heart went out to the shocked young woman. “Search and rescue will be out here in no time. We’ll have a snowplow to clear the highway and men looking for her before we get back to town. Don’t worry—if she is out there, we’ll find her. I have the details of her vehicle and the coordinates. We’ll conduct a search of the entire area.” He tried to use a calming tone. “You need to be checked out by the paramedics.”
With so much blood on the young woman and no apparent injuries, he needed to run the incident report past Sheriff Alton before taking Ella to the hospital, but he was reluctant to disturb her when the doctor was due to visit. She would expect him to use his initiative and call Deputy Wolfe. The ex-marine widower with three daughters had joined the department the previous year but spent most of his time working as the Black Rock Falls ME. If Ella had witnessed a homicide, as she claimed, he would want to examine her for evidence.
He reached for the satellite phone, slipped out the cruiser and walked a few yards away to call him. “Hey, it’s Rowley. I’m out midway between Blackwater and town. I have a female, nineteen years old, Ella Tate. Claims a man attacked and killed her friend last night. The truck driver who found her didn’t see her friend’s yellow vehicle or a body on the side of the road. I checked the location as well and found zip. I haven’t gotten a statement from her but she is covered in blood and likely suffering from exposure.”
“Her blood?” Wolfe sounded interested. “Any serious injuries?”
Rowley kicked at a clump of graying ice and looked at Ella. “Not from what I can see. She has a few scrapes, is all. It looks suspicious. I guess the scratches down her cheeks could be from her friend’s nails.”
“Have you notified the sheriff?”
Rowley blinked away snowflakes from his lashes. “Nope, she was waiting for the doctor to arrive and I didn’t want to disturb her. With her and Kane out sick, you’re the senior officer.”
“Okay, I’ll call her. She’ll organize search and rescue but if the injured friend has been out on the side of the road all night, they’ll be searching for a body. Take Tate into custody. Not at the sheriff’s office. Take her to the hospital and get her up to the secure ward. Don’t allow anyone near her. We’ll have to treat her as a suspect for now. I’ll meet you there.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “How’s the sheriff this morning?”
Rowley headed back to the cruiser. “She’d be better if she took the time to rest but she hates being holed up in the house and wants to get back to work.”
“If this is a murder, she’ll want to be involved and so will Kane. I doubt illness will slow her down.”
Rowley opened the car door and slid behind the wheel. “I hope so. We sure need them back at work.” He started the engine. “I hope you can spare Webber. We’ll need to send him out with Walters to coordinate the search.”
“Nothing’s happening here.” Wolfe sounded bored. “I’ll send him into the office and meet you at the hospital. Let’s hope we haven’t gotten ourselves another maniac loose in Black Rock Falls.” The line went dead.
Four
Jenna waited for Kane to slide a heavy locked metal box inside her floor safe, then pressed her thumb on the scanner. She entered a few more digits into the panel and glanced up at him. “Scan your thumb. The locking device accepts two fingerprints to open, so either of us will have access. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, the info is secure in my box. If someone forces the lock, it catches fire.” He smiled at her. “Between you and me, it’s the usual: IDs, cash, passports and burner phones.”
