Chapter 15

The phone buzzing startled Jenna out of her thoughts and she grabbed it up and stared at the caller ID. “Shane, do you have anything for me?”

“First up, I’ve scanned all the usual channels to see if there’s any scuttlebutt about organizations acting in Montana or anywhere else. It’s something I do routinely, so it won’t cause any problems. I found nothing that could possibly involve Dave. From what I know, and this is positive, the mission we completed was attributed to the Secret Service, which is just about as anonymous as you can get, so no foul there.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “That’s a positive because if anyone else took him, likely he’d be out of the country by now and up for sale to the highest bidder. I’m not sugarcoating the seriousness of this, Jenna. I’ll keep my channels open as inconspicuously as possible because by now POTUS would know and he’d contact me. Have you discovered anyone locally who might have a reason to abduct him? Honestly, I was hoping he’d show by now.”

Relieved but on edge, Jenna pushed a hand through her hair and stared at her computer screen. “I’ve hunted down anyone and everyone who is in jail and recently released on parole and you know as well as I do the dangerous ones are either dead or in maximum security. I’ve tried to scan their immediate families for any chance of a vendetta toward him. This is slow going but calling the prisons and asking about visitors and calls was my only option. Only a very few have anyone visiting them at all. The warden was a font of information. Most are women who believe a serial killer would make a good boyfriend. Most of the family members have never visited them and have changed their names to avoid any connection. I can’t see why any of these would take Dave.”

“What about the biker gang he messed up? The ones that took you at the Triple Z Roadhouse? It’s been a time but they’d be out by now. They didn’t do hard time as far as I’m aware.” Wolfe’s office chair creaked as he rolled it across the tile. “Maybe look into them.”

Finding a trace of a biker gang would be difficult but it was a lead she couldn’t ignore. “Okay. Have you found anything on our two homicide victims?”

“I’ve uploaded everything onto the server, but as I concluded on my initial examination, the cause of death was an electric shock from an upgraded or modified stun gun. The current, in fact, destroyed the brain stem in each victim and caused major damage to organs as it passed through the body and grounded out through the soles of their slippers. I’ve detailed everything in my report.” Wolfe tapped away on his computer. “Nothing of interest so far on the swabs we took from all over the house. No other fingerprints or so much as an indication that the homes were wiped clean. If I’d discovered a stun gun at the scene, I’d have considered the victims had killed themselves. I’m sorry, Jenna. I can’t find a thing to point to anyone. Someone is murdering women, but whoever is doing this is on the next level of evil expertise. I can only imagine that this person has technical knowledge to be able to modify the amperage on the stun gun. The problem is so many ways to do things are available on the internet and more so on the dark web, it makes it difficult to track them down by profession.”

Mind reeling at hitting another brick wall, Jenna leaned back in her chair and stared at the clock. It was almost five and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and likely neither had her deputies. “I’ll see if I can track down anything on the web. If not, we might be looking at someone who can access the dark web. That takes a special skill, doesn’t it? Although criminals seem to gain access with ease, I’ve never been able to master it.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself, Jenna. It’s a skill. For some, like writing code, it just slips into place like reading, but for others it’s a mystery. It’s not a place you really need to explore. There are things there that will live with you forever.” Wolfe sucked in a breath. “I gather y’all are chasing down anyone who came in contact with the victims?”

Jenna stood and walked over to pour a cup of coffee from the machine. “Yeah, Rio and Rowley have been working all day. I hope they have a list by now, I haven’t seen them since we arrived.” She added the fixings and stirred. “I’ll call Nanny Raya and tell her I’ll be late. She is watching Tauri like a hawk, so he’ll be safe.”

“Maybe you should stay over with her tonight?”

Shaking her head, Jenna walked back to her desk. “No. I’m armed and driving the Beast. I won’t take any risks. I’ll use Nanny Raya’s garage to move Tauri as usual and once inside the truck, no one can harm us. The ranch is secure. We’ll be fine. I’d rather be at home, where I have a panic room.”

“Okay, check out those bikers and call me if you need me.”Wolfe blew out a long breath. “I’ve sat waiting while Kane was captured. I can’t say where or when or how many times, but it was a long time. He was alone, stripped naked, and subjected to mental and physical torture beyond belief, but he survived. If this is a biker gang, they don’t stand a chance, but if we don’t hear from him by morning, someone else has him. Expect a ransom or deal. If nothing happens and Carter is still missing, you’ll need to contact Dax Styles. I know you don’t want this but it’s essential to get specialized assistance.”

Jenna stared into space. “Okay, if we don’t hear anything by the end of day, I’ll call him.” She sipped her coffee. “Thanks for all the info. I appreciate you.”

“Stay strong, Jenna.”Wolfe disconnected.

She made the call to Nanny Raya and then, feeling lightheaded, headed downstairs to speak to her deputies. She looked from one to the other. “First up, have you eaten?”

“Nope, apart from energy bars and a gallon of coffee.” Rowley shrugged.

Concerned, Jenna looked from one to the other. “We’ll order a pizza for now. What do you have for me?”

“The main problem is that both women came into contact with a cowboy who has the same description.” Rio leaned back in his chair, his expression grim. “If I said it was Carter, well it would be a close match and not just once. From all the people I called today, the same guy was mentioned each time.” His gaze remained fixed on her face. “We’ve both been hunting down CCTV footage. Most has been deleted over a twenty-four-hour period, but we do have a few other places to check. I put out a media release for anyone with street CCTV footage over the times we know the movement of both victims to call the hotline. We might discover the name of the cowboy.” He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t help that Carter is MIA. Not only do we need his help, but we need to eliminate him as a suspect. Right now, he is at the top of our list.”

Astounded, Jenna stared at Rio. “Carter? A suspect?” She shook her head. “No way. We’ve worked beside him, spent time with him. He works alongside a behavioral analyst for heaven’s sake. There’s no way he’s murdering women.” She looked at Rowley. “Tell me you have someone else in mind?”

“We do have a couple of other people who the victims may have come in contact with over the last two weeks.” Rowley looked at his screen. “Dallas Strauss and Chase Holden. Both men have blond hair and fit the same approximate build. They were seen around town by locals, so we included them on the list.” He turned to look at her. “That’s all we have apart from a timeline for both women, and they followed the same routine like clockwork.”

Jenna pulled her hair into a ponytail and tied it with a band from around her wrist. “Okay, we know about the guy in the general store. Hunt down CCTV footage from local stores. The bank is opposite and we have a few security cameras in the area.” She looked at Rowley. “Who is the other guy and has he spoken to both women?”

“The guy fits the same description, as we mentioned, like Carter.” Rio blew out an agitated breath. “I know it’s hard to believe but that’s what we have. He was in the market buying supplies and went to the hot food bar. He was seen speaking to Jennifer Kriss three days in a row. I spoke to her workmate, and she mentioned that the guy had asked about a hairstylist in town to get his hair cut.” He snorted. “How many other blond cowboys do you know who get their hair cut at a beauty parlor?”

Nodding, Jenna considered the glaring evidence. “Carter is the only guy I know and he’s been around town. He talks to women, so it might be a coincidence. If there’s two or more men fitting the same description maybe one was him one day and one of the others speaking to Dakota?” She blew out a sigh. “Follow up with the beauty parlor and see if he went there.” She glanced at her watch. “They’ll be open.”

The pizza delivery arrived and she handed them both a box. “Do what you can and we’ll call it a day at six. I’ll have the 911 calls transferred to my phone. I need to know what’s happening.” Jenna opened the pizza box and stared at the pie. Her stomach growled with hunger but she had no appetite. Emptiness surrounded her as her mind fixed on Kane. How could she explain his absence to Tauri? He would sense her worry. Her stomach clenched. Not knowing what had happened to her husband and being unable to do something—anything—to help him was driving her insane. What was happening to him and where was he? Without any other options, she opened up the database to hunt down the biker gang members’ whereabouts. She hoped he hadn’t fallen afoul of them. They were unpredictable and well hidden, and she figured they’d want more than revenge. They followed more of an eye-for-an-eye mentality and Kane might have roughed them up some, but he hadn’t killed any of them. Without a clue, a ransom note, or even a threat, she was hog-tied to do anything but wait for someone to make a move. She pictured Kane’s face and bit back a wave of fear for his safety. It wasn’t easy doing nothing and a lump formed in her throat each time she looked at his empty chair. As Kane’s voice drifted into her mind, reluctantly, she lifted a slice from the box and folded it over. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Eat when you can in a crisis because it might be a long time until you get the chance again.”