Chapter 37

After being brought up to speed on the interviews conducted by Rowley and Rio, Jenna looked from one to the other. “Do you believe that either could be suspects?”

“They both have the same characteristics and, like Carter, made contact with the victims before their deaths, although Strauss says he doesn’t know anyone by the name of Jennifer.” Rio leaned back in his chair. “If he were our only suspect, we’d haul him in for further questioning and even consider having him charged on suspicion of murder. The problem is, we have three men, all moving around town at the same time and the victims all worked in places where they were in contact with any number of members of the public in one day.”

Nodding, Jenna twirled a pen around in her fingers. She looked at Rowley. “What do you think, Jake?”

“I don’t believe Carter would murder women, for a start.” Rowley turned his hat around in his hands, fingering the brim. “The other two, maybe, and the woodcarver, Chase Holden, has been to their homes. He knows the victims. He didn’t appear to be nervous at all when we spoke to him. I’ve been talking to people for a time now as a deputy and anyone you stop to speak to is always wary.” He shrugged. “Both Holden and Strauss didn’t have a care in the world, as if deputies dropped by every day to ask them about missing women.” He indicated to the door with his chin. “Carter, on the other hand, was visibly shocked and I could see by his expression that doubting him was cutting deep. Whoever murdered those women doesn’t have feelings and that’s all I have to say.”

“Allowing a killer to lure you into a false sense of security is a big mistake.” Kane moved his gaze from one deputy to another. “I’m not saying that Carter is guilty of murder, but he is capable of taking lives and not letting it worry him.” He lifted one shoulder. “SEALs are trained to kill. Never forget that part of his makeup. He could take out a battalion and not break a sweat. Some can’t take the killing and have mental breakdowns and the suicide rate in troops returning from tour of duty is skyrocketing.” He drew a deep breath. “We know Carter suffered from PTSD due to an incident he won’t discuss. What if something triggered him?” He raised both eyebrows. “Let’s look at the facts: Is he capable of making the changes to the stun gun? Yes, he is.” He looked back at Jenna. “That is one thing you need to be checking. Do our other suspects have the knowledge. Is it available on the internet?”

Making notes, Jenna lifted her eyes back to Kane. “Do you honestly believe Ty is our killer?”

“Nope, but we can’t go easy on him just because he’s our friend.” Kane shrugged. “Trust me, if the boot were on the other foot, he’d be doing the same. It’s better we make sure he’s innocent rather than leave any room for doubt. Just don’t ever underestimate a SEAL. He has far more knowledge and capabilities than any of you are giving him credit for. Plus the fact he knows how to react. That’s part of his training too, and working with Jo, he could fool anyone.”

Troubled, Jenna looked at her deputies. “Okay, Rio, go and see what you can find about changing the amps on a stun gun, and Rowley, take another look at the suspects Strauss and Holden. Don’t go poking around Carter’s files or you’ll stir up a wasp’s nest.”

She stood and refilled her coffee cup and one for Kane and then sat down at her desk and stared at him. “That was harsh. Carter looked stunned when you shook his hand and threatened him. What’s gotten into you, Dave?”

“That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise and he knows it. You don’t want him flying back to Snakeskin Gully and out of our jurisdiction, do you? As he’s suspect, that would show incompetence on our part.” Kane pulled his coffee cup toward him, took a sip, and swallowed. “He screwed up on the sting operation and put lives in danger. He didn’t follow up with the prison to make sure they ran Mateo’s fingerprints when they took him into custody because it’s as obvious as the nose on my face that Mateo escaped in the bedlam that followed the raid. Someone took his place and likely the switch was planned ahead of time, just in case something went wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same switch was made by Eduardo Souza. The cartel is well organized and makes contingency plans.”

Jenna rubbed her temples, wondering where this conversation was going. “There’s nothing he can do about it now. Mateo’s dead.”

“Yeah, but the man who took his place is still alive and I’ll call Agent Styles and make sure Eduardo Souza is actually on remand.” Kane’s lips curled up in one corner. “I know Ty, and he’ll break a world speed record to discover how it played out and if there are any players left in the field for us to worry about.”

Jenna poked one finger on the desk and stared at him. “Is that your only concern? We have homicide victims in the morgue and a killer on the loose. Can you focus on the cases for a time?”

“Your and Tauri’s safety is my priority. I don’t like surprises. Being ambushed so easily, and not knowing if they were hurting you and Tauri, isn’t something I’m going to forget.” Kane stood, walked around the desk, and pulled her into his arms. He held her tight against him, with his face buried in her hair. He stood there just holding her, as if gathering himself, and then stared into her eyes. “I know you’re strong and independent, but so am I and they still got to me, Jenna. They abducted Tauri before your eyes.” He held up his hand and closed his finger and thumb a quarter inch apart. “We came this close to dying because someone conveniently forgot to run Mateo’s prints. This means the cartel has someone inside the prison and I mean to find out who it is.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and then met her gaze. “The current caseload is well in hand. We’re investigating the murders. In fact, Rio and Rowley have made progress in a very short time. Has Wolfe added any files to the server? The autopsy was scheduled for eleven on Saturday.” He went back to his chair and peered at his laptop screen.

Unable to believe that Kane actually believed life went on as normal when he went missing, she gaped at him. “He completed the autopsies and gave me a verbal rundown but as the living take priority, I gave Rio and Rowley orders to proceed with the investigation. Wolfe and I dropped everything and started searching for you. After we’d searched all around the ranch, we waited for you to show or for a ransom demand. When nothing happened, we alerted the FBI and then Agent Styles arrived and we began a grid search.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t until Sunday, right?” Kane tapped away at his laptop. “I see Wolfe completed the autopsies on Saturday. Let me see, electrocution using a stun gun with high amps, as we thought. No sign of trace evidence, nothing found on the skin of both victims.” He looked up at Jenna. “His note says if there’d been a stun gun at the scene, he’d have considered suicide as means of death.” He raised his gaze from the screen. “So, we have nothing apart from the suspects seen speaking to the victims?”

Opening up the files, Jenna swallowed hard at a partial report from Agent Katz. “I have something.” She looked at Kane’s inquisitive expression. “Not all of the CCTV footage gave a clear indication of the man seen with the victims. She mentions they all appear the same build and wear the same type of dress and boots, but so did another twenty or so men who appeared on the footage. The ones she clearly identified all gave a positive for Carter.”

“Does she give a time and date?” Kane raised both eyebrows. “He did admit to speaking to the victims.”

Jenna nodded. “Yeah, and strange as it may seem, none of the times Carter said he was speaking to them are on the footage. The times were in the days before the murders but not on the days of the murders as Carter seemed to remember.” She looked at Kane’s startled expression. “So is this proof he’s lying to us?”

“It’s a problem I didn’t envisage.” Kane blew out a long sigh. “Send her a message and ask her to upload all the incriminating data to the server so we can view it.”

Nodding, Jenna picked up her phone and sent the message. “Now what?”

Before he could answer, Jenna’s computer signaled an incoming video call. She looked at Kane. “Jo’s back and she’s asking for a video call.” She turned her screen around and joined the conversation. “Hi, Jo, did you enjoy Disneyland?”

“I figure I’ve come back to it.”Jo’s eyes flashed. “You have Carter as a suspect in three homicide cases? Have you lost your minds?”

“He was the last person to see them alive.” Kane gave her an intent stare. “Have you read the files?”

“Yeah, I have, and they mean nothing. The CCTV footage that we obtained from the Rattlesnake Creek field office shows many men spoke to the women over the same time. This accusation is ludicrous.”She blew out a long breath. “He’d no more commit murder than you would, Dave.”

Jenna raised both eyebrows. “We don’t believe he did it either.”

“The other matter, the so-called mole in our team…” Jo stared into the camera. “I can imagine how upset you are, Dave. What happened to you and Tauri is unforgivable, but you can’t lay all the blame on Carter.”

“Why not?” Kane leaned forward on the desk. “He informed me he’d seen Mateo onto the bus to County. There’s been no escapes and yet Mateo was free to organize my abduction and Tauri’s. He planned to torture my son to make me recant my evidence against Eduardo Souza. What happened?”

“I spoke to Agent Styles just before and told him I’d call. He smelled a rat after he spoke to you and flew straight to LA to discover the truth. He’s still there on the job. The prints of all the prisoners were taken on arrival and all are still in jail. Styles ran the prints of the prisoner by the name of Mateo and they didn’t match the ones on record. The man who claims he’s Mateo is in fact his cousin. They look alike. After Styles interrogated him and informed him he’d have the kidnapping and assault of a law enforcement officer, plus the abduction of a child, added to his sheet unless he cooperated, he buckled. He planned to switch places with Mateo as soon as the deal was agreed on, he would easily get out of most of the charges on a technicality later.” She paused a beat. “Before the deal was completed Mateo had already slipped away. It will interest you to know the kingpin, Eduardo Souza, had a double as well, but he didn’t escape capture. The cartel members on scene were arrested and processed. Carter was there with others to make sure they all made it to jail. The doppelganger would have fooled anyone, Dave. As soon as they discovered the prosecution had an eyewitness, they needed to protect Eduardo Souza. He’s the reason they hunted you down.”

“There is one person you need to pursue and that’s the guard responsible for checking the prisoners’ prints.” Kane stared at Jo on the screen. “He’s working for the cartel and either switched the prints or didn’t conduct a search for a match. You need to find that man and charge him. He will be acting as a go-between from the kingpin to the remaining cartel members on the outside. While he’s moving around freely, nobody is safe.”

“We were going to ask for an internal investigation on how that oversight happened, but I’ll contact Agent Styles and inform him of your concerns.”Jo made notes and then glanced up at the screen. “I see why we need to get involved. An internal investigation can be manipulated if there’s a cartel member working at the prison.” She smiled at Kane. “Don’t worry, we’ll find the worm in the apple.”

Glancing at Kane, Jenna turned her attention back to Jo. “So how did Mateo find Dave?”

“One of Mateo’s men took a photograph of him during the deal. They used their extensive family members in jail to move it across the country, asking other prisoners until someone recognized him. It took less than twenty-four hours to get a result.”

“Who was it?” Kane leaned forward in his chair.

“I don’t have the details, butStyles got a name. It is a member of the biker gang you shot for kidnapping Jenna at the Triple Z Roadhouse. He was doing time in County in Black Rock Falls and released last week. He contacted Mateo to give him Kane’s name. That’s how they found you.”

“So prisoners all over now know my face?” The nerve in Kane’s cheek twitched. “Nice.”

“I’ll send you a copy.”Jo suddenly smiled. “It looks more like your evil brother, maybe. The expression is wrong and you darkened your skin. I’d say you maybe looked that way when you took down the biker gang. I personally wouldn’t worry. As this came through the cartel, and the men who saw it are in jail, I’d figure they wouldn’t want to get involved. I’d say the biker had a score to settle.”

Jenna ran a hand down her face. “Send me his name. If he’s been in contact with a felon, he’s broken his parole. The money he received from a felon will have him back in jail. I’ll send the information to the Blackwater sheriff. It’s his problem to deal with parole violations.”

“Not a problem. I’ll contact Styles when we’re done here.”Jo looked from one to the other. “You guys are like family to me. I don’t want Carter’s apparent involvement in a crime to come between us. You have my word we’ll share all the investigations we’re conducting to prove his innocence. He is innocent and I’ll stake my professional reputation on it. You need to be looking elsewhere.”

“We are, and we have two other suspects.” Kane twirled his coffee cup around in his fingertips and stared at the screen. “Right now we need information on the tampering of the murder weapon. When we discover which of the two suspects is capable of changing the amperage on the stun gun, we’ll have a case. There are many factors involved to do that and I’d expect the weapon isn’t one purchased and altered, that’s near impossible. I figure it was built by the killer, because any readily available are restricted in their capability to produce high amperage. Rio and Rowley are searching the suspects’ backgrounds and the internet as we speak for more information.”

“That’s way over my head.” Jo rubbed her temples. “Where exactly is Carter?”

Jenna blew out a sigh. “I have no idea. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him go. I assume he’s at his cabin. He said he’d leave his phone switched on.” She frowned. “Can’t you reach him?”

“Right this moment, no. My call went to voicemail.” Jo held up a hand. “He might be out of range. I’ll try the satellite phone. Oh, and Kalo is back on the job. He’s hunting down a few things for Carter. They spoke after he left your office. I’ll be in touch.” She disconnected.

“She’s not very happy with us.” Kane rolled his eyes skyward. “Yet she’d do the same. Look what happened when Rio was found with a victim. We followed procedure then too. Nobody is above the law.”

Losing Jo and Carter’s friendship would be a disaster, but Jenna had no choice. She looked at Kane and shook her head slowly. “There goes Thanksgiving.”