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“He’s nice, isn’t he?” Jo’s mouth turned up at the corners. “He took me to the diner and we had coffee and pie.”
Blowing out a long sigh, Carter removed his hat and coat and gave her a long stare. “In my opinion, he’s a jerk. He gave me the third degree and told me he was in town to find a wife. It looks like you’re on his list of potentials.”
“Really?” Jo blushed. “Me? Well, that has to be a first.”
Carter tossed her a bag containing her favorite blueberry muffins and turned to Kalo. “Did you hunt down anything on our missing family?”
“Absolutely nothing.” Kalo peered into the bags. “He and the family are squeaky clean, not so much as a parking ticket.”
“The only things I discovered is that he is part of the anti-hunting lobby and is against weapons of any kind.” Jo shrugged. “There’s a small group in town, not radicals or anything. They don’t even protest, just send in the odd petition.” She sighed. “That’s not enough reason to kidnap them.”
Carter rubbed the back of his neck. “If we can’t find a reason for someone taking them, there is only one other choice, isn’t there?” He looked at Jo. “I figure we go back to Blackwater before the snow gets any worse and get search and rescue out looking for bodies.”
TWELVE
Black Rock Falls
Unable to believe her ears, Jenna snapped her fingers to get Kane’s attention and put her phone on speaker. “Rio, are you sure? Have you checked his workplace and where he lives? Maybe he’s at his girlfriend’s?”
“Yeah, well we checked all that out before and he’s single and doesn’t have a girlfriend. .We walked the highway up one side and down the other looking for a body.”Rio coughed and wheezed a little. “Sorry, it’s so darn cold I can hardly breathe. He’s vanished the same as Maisy Jones. Apart from his bag and phone, there’s no trace of him. We’re heading back to the office. I’ll bring you up to speed then.”He disconnected.
“If his backpack and phone were found on the way to Blackwater, maybe he got a ride with the wrong person.” Kane stood and refilled the coffee machine. “What’s the name of the new sheriff in Blackwater? I’ll call him and ask him to put out a BOLO on Billy Stevens.”
Jenna glanced at him. “Sheriff Dirk Nolan.”
“Carter and Jo are working on a missing persons case in Blackwater.” Kane shrugged. “I hope there’s not a tie-in to this one.”
Concerned about the implications of a potential kidnapper covering multiple counties, Jenna pushed both hands through her hair and stared at her casebook trying to think. “Why would Stevens take a ride? He was in walking distance of the school? I can’t see a reason anyone would take a ride along Stanton when the distance between School Road and Pine is only one hundred yards. What’s that, one to two minutes? He wouldn’t be dawdling in the cold, that’s for sure.”
“Worst-case scenario, he was hit by a truck and dragged inside.” Kane leaned against the counter nibbling a cookie. When Duke sat at his feet and whined, he smiled at him. “No more cookies for you today. Even though you get the vanilla doggy ones, the man in the white coat insists too many isn’t good for your health.” He tossed him a chew bone from a jar on the counter. “You’ll like these. Suzie Hartwig says her poodle loves them.” He turned to Jenna. “Getting back to the case. The same thing could have happened to Maisy. We might have a hit-and-grab psycho driving our backroads.”
Shuddering at the thought, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, but where is he hiding the bodies? We have zip. Are these people really missing or are we chasing shadows?”
“Maybe Maisy and her mystery friend grabbed him?” Kane popped the last bite of cookie into his mouth and then folded his arms across his chest. “The probabilities are endless.” He sighed. “We’ll just have to wait and see if Kalo can track Maisy’s phone.” He glanced at his watch. “He doesn’t usually take so long.”
Jenna sighed. “He is hunting down background info on the missing family from Blackwater. I’m sure he’ll get to it as soon as possible. I was able to get her last calls and messages from the phone company and there’s nothing there. Her calls to Glacial Heights Ski Resort, the Cattleman’s Hotel and the Triple Z Bar, and later to the motel, are the only ones before her disappearance. They all validate what we know about her. She called to find a job at the ski resort and worked her way down the list. There’s no calls to Hastings, not for two weeks previously.”
As Rio and Rowley came through her office door, the phone rang and Jenna held up a hand to silence the room. “Hi, Bobby, what have you got for me?”
“I’ve located Maisy Jones’ phone.It’s between Black Rock Falls and Blackwater. It’s stationary. From what I can make out, it’s right on the shoulder beside the highway, so it’s not on her body or someone would have seen her. I’ve been monitoring it for the last hour and it hasn’t moved. I’ll send you the coordinates.”
Jenna exchanged a glance with Kane and cleared her throat. “Is Carter or Jo in today? I need to speak to them.”
“Yeah, they’re right here.”The wheels of Kalo’s office chair squeaked as he rolled away from his desk.“Carter, it’s Jenna.”
“What’s up?”Carter sounded interested.
Searching for an explanation to explain her hunch, Jenna blew out a breath. “I might be grabbing at straws here but I’m starting to believe our cases are connected. We have two missing persons who seem to have vanished without a trace. The only indication we have is that their belongings were tossed alongside the highway heading for Blackwater.”
“We’ve found nothing to indicate a reason for the family to vanish in the middle of dinner.”Carter blew out a long sigh.“No ties to anything illegal… zip. We’re heading back to Blackwater first thing in the morning. I’ve asked the local sheriff to do a door-to-door and see if the neighbors have seen anything or heard rumors. It’s all we have right now. If you figure the cases are connected, maybe we should join forces? Do you have room for three at the cottage? We’ll bring Kalo with us this time.”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, sure. We’ll see you in the morning.” She disconnected and turned to her deputies. “Give me the rundown on what you’ve discovered about Bobby Stevens and then I’m heading out with Kane to locate Maisy’s phone.”
After listening to Rio and Rowley’s report, she leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Okay, find his family and friends, check social media. You know the drill. Keep asking questions. Someone might be able to give us a lead.” She stood. “First, take a break and eat. You both look frozen.” She pulled on her coat, gloves and hat. “We shouldn’t be too long.”
As they drove along Main, Jenna pointed out a small wooden erection in the park. “Ah, now I know what it is.” She smiled at Kane. “There’s usually a Nativity scene outside the town hall but it looks as if the townsfolks are building one alongside the park. I noticed the building a week ago but now there’s a crib and three figures. It’s like an Advent calendar. A little of the scene is revealed each week. What a beautiful gesture.”
“Life-sized too.” Kane slowed to peer out of the window. “It looks good. I guess they’ll be adding a few figures all the way up to Christmas Eve. That’s where the local choir congregates to sing carols. It will be a nice backdrop.”
