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In desperation, she tugged at the fraying zip tie and suddenly it snapped. Lunging on unsteady legs, she crawled to the pool of water. It tasted metallic but she didn’t care and scooped it up in her hands to quench her thirst. Her stomach rolled as the freezing water slid down her throat making her nauseas. Slowing her pace, she sipped slowly. Sharp rocks dug into her bare flesh but she didn’t care and splashed water over her face. Breathing heavily, she didn’t hear the footsteps at first but the cough was unmistakably human. Frozen with fear, she turned and stared into the lens of a camera. The echo of footsteps rumbled toward her. The unmistakable rhythm of his walk was imprinted in her mind. He’d decided to torture her again.
Panic gripped her as she scampered back to the filthy mattress and snatched up the blanket. She fashioned it around her for warmth. Trembling, she glanced at the lantern. Indecisions clutched at her. If she took it, he’d find her in seconds but her fear of the dark made the pitch-black tunnels leading away in all directions terrifying. A cool wind blew against her cheek and she moved closer to the forbidding abyss. There had to be a way out. And the draft was coming from outside. She glanced behind her down the main tunnel as a slither of light bounced off the walls from his flashlight. His footsteps had gotten closer and now she could hear him whistling. Whatever the darkness held for her it had to be better than suffering a moment longer. She gathered her courage and ducking under cobwebs, ran into the darkness.
Twelve
Jo climbed into Jenna’s sheriff department’s SUV and glanced at Carter. They’d decided to take both vehicles, mainly to carry all their gear and two dogs. “What possessed you to give the lead to Jenna? You’re one of the top people in your field.”
“Like I said, she has a reputation in the local counties, many of the deputies have worked under her before. It was the right move and leaves my hands free to investigate. If Kane has the knowledge he claims to have in explosives, then we’ll be working on identifying the bomber using our expertise. Jenna is great at finding potential suspects and with you profiling, we have everything covered.” He glanced at her and his green eyes flashed with amusement. “They can’t arrest anyone unless the killer walks into their county but we have that covered. Don’t worry, Jo, everything will work out just fine.”
“Oh, I don’t have a problem with Jenna, I just don’t want you and Kane butting heads.” Jo sighed. “It doesn’t take a behavioral analyst to recognize something isn’t sitting too well with Kane. His reaction to the images of the car bombing surprised me.” She shook her head slowly. “I was expecting this case to freak you out, not Kane, he seems so laid back.”
“Did you know, he has a metal plate in his head?” Carter flicked her a glance. “I read up about him: after the marines he joined the force and took a bullet in the head during a gunfight. I’m guessing he suffered PTSD and maybe the images triggered an episode. He took a deputy’s job in a backwoods town for some peace and quiet.” He snorted. “He’s not having too much luck to date, is he?”
They soon arrived at the crime scene and Jo climbed out and waited for Jenna and Kane. She had questions but would ask them later, when she and Jenna were alone. She waited for them all to pull on protective suits and gloves. “Okay, it’s best if Carter explains the technical side of the explosion. We have the report from the Black Rock Falls Fire Chief as well.”
“That’s good and with Kane’s input we should get a very clear picture of what occurred here.” Jenna turned toward the gutted remains of the large ranch house and then looked at Carter. “I can see the perimeter is marked. Have entry and exit points been established?”
“It’s good to know you follow procedure.” Carter smiled around his toothpick and tipped back his Stetson. “Yeah, we enter around the detonation crater and exit by the backdoor.”
“As we haven’t reevaluated the crime scene yet…” Jenna waved a hand in the direction of the ruins. “Why isn’t there a deputy on duty around the clock to preserve the evidence?” She scanned through the files on her screen. “Anyone could’ve been inside since the ME left.”
Jo walked to Jenna’s side. “Webber took a video and hundreds of pictures. Wolfe and the fire chief both took samples of the crater and the accelerant. They found a can of gas upturned on the kitchen floor.”
“Okay.” Jenna looked up. “Who collected evidence from the second floor?” She looked puzzled. “I see from the preliminary report, the fire destroyed the stairs.”
Jo frowned. “No one went upstairs to collect evidence as far as I’m aware, Jenna.”
“Really? We’ll need to get someone up there to collect evidence and take some shots. I’d say the youngest victim would have been in her bed around the time the bomber broke into the house. How old did you say she was?”
A vivid flash of the charred body crossed Jo’s mind as she opened her iPad and scrolled the information on the family. “Jody Wood was five. The explosion occurred a little after nine.”
“Kane, can you hunt down a ladder and gain entrance to the second floor?” Jenna looked at the images on her tablet. “The bottom of the stairs are toast but the structure looks okay.”
“Are you suggesting the fire department didn’t clear the upper floor for survivors or bodies?” Kane shot a look at Carter. “Surely once the area had been cleared of explosives, the fire chief would’ve checked?”
“Not that I’m aware.” Carter frowned. “I assumed it had been cleared before we arrived. Everything was out and the firefighters had left by the time we arrived.”
“You assumed?” Jenna rolled her eyes. “You’re an expert in your field and you didn’t ask if the upper floors had been cleared?”
“I was called in to hunt down a secondary device.” Carter shrugged. “I did my job and cleared the crime scene of explosives.”
“And yet you didn’t clear the upper levels?” Jenna glared at him. “Why was that?”
“The st
airs were gutted.” Carter met her gaze unperturbed. “It’s highly unlikely a bomber would bother to place another explosive on the second floor. He wanted a big bang and backed it up with a secondary device and used gas as an accelerant. Trust me, there is no bomb upstairs.”
“You should have cleared the area anyway.” Jenna lifted her chin. “It is normal procedure. You couldn’t hunt down a ladder?”
“Oh, the boss has claws.” Carter straightened, removed his hat, and ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair and stared down his nose at her. “Don’t let the promotion go to your head, honey.”
“Pull your head in, Carter.” Jenna stared at him, unmoving. “You chose me to lead the case, and if you don’t like to follow procedure, too bad because I do, so quit the sexist remarks and suck it up.”
“Fine, but you should be blaming the fire chief or Wolfe, not me.” Carter was holding his ground. “We cleared the area and Zorro would have alerted me if there’d been another explosive device close by. I did a thorough search of the ground floor. Zorro doesn’t make mistakes and neither do I. It wasn’t my job to search for bodies. I collected evidence in the bombing, which led to the connection between this case and the ones in DC.” He creased his hat down the center and slammed it back on his head. “Since when did calling a woman ‘honey’ become sexist? It is an endearment, not a slight.”
“It’s rude and demeaning. I know you’ve been living alone for a couple of years but you’re representing the FBI now and need to get your filter back in place. We’re not living in the 1970s.” Jenna’s eyes flashed with anger when his mouth twitched at the edges. “Forget it. I’m not standing here arguing with you all day. We have a case to solve.”
“I’m not arguing, Jenna.” Carter’s infuriating smile was back in place. “You’re so easy to rile. Loosen up a bit and we’ll get on just fine.” He indicated to Jo with his thumb. “Look at Jo here, she doesn’t take offense to every word I say but if my being friendly makes your hackles rise, I’ll do my best to think before I speak, okay?” He glanced at Kane. “Man, is she this hostile with you?”
