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Carter tipped back his Stetson and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do. Sorry for bringing it up. It’s the detective in me. It never sleeps.”
“Not a problem.” Kane grinned at him. “Do you want a Harley? I’ll build you one. It gets boring out here when we don’t have a case.”
Astonished, Carter laughed. “You do know it’s against the law to bribe a federal officer?” He chuckled. “Although, the idea of a project to pass the winter is a good idea. I’m kinda sick of whittling.”
“Maybe we can work on it together?” Kane glanced toward the cottage. “Jenna is talking about starting up a quilting circle. Emily and Julie have been making quilts for years. They show them at the fairs.” He blew out a breath. “While I admire the quilts, it’s not something I aspire to join, so I was planning on going fishing or hunting, but I’m not planning on freezing my butt off in the snow all winter. I need something to do.”
Following Kane from the garage, Carter nodded. “Sure. We could start hunting down parts. There’s a ton of old barns in Snakeskin Gully. I visited one recently that had a Model T Ford rusting away under the straw. I’d bet a dollar to a dime there’s Harley parts all over.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Kane pressed a button on the control panel on the side of the garage and a door slid down into place. “Once this case is solved, we’ll get at it.” He laughed. “If Rowley and Rio get involved, we’ll have our own biker gang.”
An hour later, after Jenna had contacted her office and given her deputies their instructions, Carter landed the chopper in Blackwater and they climbed into a rental. As he drove, he glanced in the rear view mirror at Jenna. “I’ve spoken to Sheriff Nolan and he’s given you jurisdiction in his county to investigate.”
“That’s good to know, although we could be here as FBI consultants. We’ve done that before.” Jenna moved Duke’s head from her shoulder.
“This way would cut the red tape.” Jo peered out of the window. “The weather has gone real strange this year. Snowfall is different in each county. They haven’t had much in Blackwater at all but the trees along Main are all decorated.” She made a humming sound. “Oh, look, they’ve built a Nativity scene. Do they do that every year?”
“Yeah, it’s the same in Black Rock Falls. They light candles and sing carols around it on Christmas Eve. It’s nice. The one in our town is in the park. It’s where they have the bandstand, on the cement slab. They’ve completed the building. People have been hanging lights on the outside and adding the animals. It’s a community tradition. Everyone helps out.”
As they reached the outlying parts of town, Carter glanced at Kane riding shotgun. “The trail through the forest is just ahead. I can park on the road or go up aways and come in via the fire road.”
“Which way would Jenell have walked?” Kane peered ahead. “We’ll need to follow her path if we have any chance of finding her.”
Carter slowed and drove onto a gravel stopover area beside the road. “We can walk from here.”
When they arrived at the corral where Jenell Rickers exercised the dogs in her care, they split up and searched all around for any trace of a struggle or disturbance. Finding nothing of consequence, Carter pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and handed it to Kane. “These socks belonged to Jenell Rickers. Jo collected them from her laundry basket last night. Duke might be able to pick up her scent.”
“Can Zorro follow a scent?” Kane whistled Duke to his side and took the bag. “You trained him, right?”
Shaking his head, Carter smiled. “Not for tracking people, no. Not unless the missing woman was carrying explosives. Zorro’s nose is trained to identify hidden IEDs, C4 and other types of explosive components.”
“Okay. We have a chance. If it had snowed again last night, things would be different.” Kane opened the bag and held it to Duke’s nose. “Seek.”
Carter fell into step beside Jo. “Now you’re up to speed on the Black Rock Falls cases, do you have any insights I should be aware of?”
“I’m leaning toward a more personal occupation than a driver.” Jo pushed her hands inside her pockets and shivered. “Someone people would usually trust. Although we found nothing in the Bridgers’ home to suggest the need for a contractor.”
Carter tossed a toothpick in his mouth and heard Jo’s moan of distaste. The chewing on wood helped him to think or maybe it had become a nasty habit like Jo kept insisting, but what the heck. He’d given up everything else in his life: chewing gum and drinking great quantities of liquor came to mind. He still enjoyed a beer but kept within the limits. Allowing the Bridgers’ home to come into his mind’s eye, he nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense because they allowed him to go inside. They had sturdy locks on the doors and a peephole in the front, so why open it if they weren’t expecting him?”
“Make a note to check the Bridgers’ phone records. He might have called a few contractors to bid for work he needed doing.” Jo lifted her chin. “The idea his work revolves around a house narrows the playing field. If we have the Bridger family as the center point, we can assume he planned their abduction for whatever reason. This would make me believe the same for Jenell Rickers.” She waved a hand around her and pushed it back inside her pocket. “This place is isolated and we know Jenell walked the dogs here daily. I figure he was working close by and saw her leave every day around the same time. Maybe he followed her a few times to see where she was going and planned her abduction.”
Carter rubbed his chin. “Hmm, then they’re not connected to the Black Rock Falls cases? They all appear to be opportunity grabs.”
“I disagree.” Jo looked at him. The end of her nose was bright red with the cold. “Maisy Jones’ vehicle was disabled. Yeah, she might have been an opportunistic kidnapping, but he made it happen, didn’t he? He tampered with her vehicle and Billy Stevens took the same way home every night. They’re all screaming ‘organized psychopath’ to me. I figure they’re all dead. We haven’t found any bodies because an organized psychopath would have likely dug the graves deep in the forest or wherever weeks ago before the ground froze. Or he’s keeping them in a trophy vault somewhere.”
Swallowing bile, Carter stared at her. “Trophy vault? That’s a first. How did you come up with that doozy?”
“Not in a case.” Jo smiled at him. “I went on a tour of Europe some years ago and we visited tombs. Generations of kings and queens all inside vaults under churches and the like. People have them here as well in graveyards. I figured it was only a matter of time before we find something similar here. The climate is perfect and there are so many survivalists no one would notice anyone building a bunker underground.” She shot him a glance. “Would they?”
Mind spinning with the implications, Carter nodded. “I get your point. You figure, after not finding a body, this guy is keeping his kills as trophies.”
“It’s a thought.” Jo huffed out a cloud of steam.
“Duke has picked up a scent.” Jenna had stopped on the trail and waited for them.
Carter brought Jenna up to speed and waited for her to process the information.
“Yeah, that’s possible. Although many types of people are sold into slavery, they usually fit into one particular type or another.” Jenna shrugged. “Mostly kids and good-looking or young men and women. Why did he take the Bridgers? Apart from their son, Mr. Bridger and his wife would be too hard to sell. If he’d killed them and made off with the son, he’d have done it at the house. Why drag them all over the county, and parents will fight to the death for their child. I’d like to examine the crime scene, but from what I could see, it looks as if they went willingly.”
