AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. How about you?”
She shook her head. “After…I didn’t have any appetite. But I’ll look for something to fix for you.”
“No, thanks. I don’t think my stomach would welcome anything solid. But I could stand a cold drink. How about you?”
“I’ll get it.”
He held up his hand. “No, I’ll do it. Sit.”
He brought back two glasses filled with ice and soda and drank half of his before sitting down again.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him. “That tastes good.”
“I don’t like the reason that brought you here,” he told her, “but it feels…nice to have you here to talk to. You know, you aren’t exactly the most relaxing person to be with—”
“Gee, thanks,” she interrupted.
He continued as if she hadn’t said anything. “But somehow, with you, I feel I don’t have to pretend anything. I can be whatever I am at the moment. However I feel.”
Dana’s throat tightened. “Thank you. That’s a real compliment. I’ll try to be deserving of it.”
“Oh, you may not think it’s such an honor after a while,” he teased. Then sadness clouded his eyes again. “Jesus. I can’t imagine there’s somebody out there, right in this county, capable of doing things like this.” He took another long swallow of his drink.
She ran her finger around the rim of her glass, trying to decide if she should say what was on her mind. She could be all wrong—actually, hoped she was—but she needed to know if she was seeing shadows where there weren’t any.
“Let me give you something different to sink your teeth into.” She stared into her glass. “I talked to some of the parents of the children who were killed. Ivy Winslow mentioned something, so tonight, while I was trying to keep myself from thinking about today, I went back over all my notes. Cole, in all but two of the cases, clowns were involved.”
He frowned. “Clowns? Like party clowns?”
Dana nodded. “Children are drawn to them. They’re familiar. I’m wondering why no one tied it all together back then?” She had to ask the question banging around in the back of her mind. “Was the sheriff covering up for someone else?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole’s frown deepened. “I have no idea. It seems to me, if there’s a common thread in a situation like this, it only makes sense to follow it.” He stared at her. “God, what a terrible thing if it’s true and they missed it completely.”
“The only mention I could find was that either Jed Nickels or one of his deputies talked to the chamber and the rodeo association. They were the two organizations that dealt with the clowns. And that was only because they talked to everyone at each site. Not because they smelled something fishy.”
“And?”
“And it’s weird.” Dana wet her lips. “People couldn’t seem to agree if there were four clowns or five at any given event. Apparently, not even the clowns. Most of them said four, but a couple said five. But I guess no one figured clowns were likely suspects.”
“Even though the easiest thing for a predator is to camouflage himself with a costume and makeup and blend into the activity?”
“Uh huh.”
“What else?” Cole asked when she stopped suddenly.
“I probably should keep my mouth shut, but I have a lot of issues with the way Nickels handled the whole thing. Why clamp such a tight lid on it? Why not ask for outside help, like you’re doing? I mean, after two deaths, you’re looking for solutions, for help, for anything that will find this guy. So why, after two years of child rapes and murders, did Nickels do nothing?” She heard her voice rising and tried to temper it. “There’s a lot of whys in this case, Cole.”
Cole shrugged. “I think those are questions no one ever wanted to ask. Jed’s family goes back four generations, and he was like the elder statesman of the county, you know.”
Dana took a swallow of her soda. “I’ve seen that in other situations. One in Florida in particular. The sheriff ruled with a big smile and a heavy hand. No one ever thought to question him about his methods or why he handled that particular case the way he did. The killer turned out to be his own son.”
“That wouldn’t work here. Jed doesn’t have a son. Only daughters. Even if he did, those kids were just babies when all that happened. But Jesus, Dana. What if you’re right and he actuallydidcover up for someone?”
“Cole, what if it turns out this is the same man from twenty-five years ago? And now, for some reason, he’s moved to older girls.”
Cole blew out a long breath. “Hell, that makes just about every man in this county over the age of fifty a suspect.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “And it means you being here and digging up those old cases really did start him up again. It puts you in even greater danger.”
