Chapter 50

Heart in her throat, Jenna gripped the seat as Kane turned off the lights of the Beast and they drifted almost silently off the road and into the bushes. They all slipped from the truck. If this was the Casanova Killer, his threat was unknown. He could be carrying a pistol as well as a stun gun. She’d listened to Kane as they’d driven to the location. He suggested that he and Carter take the side of the road they assumed Piper was hiding and Jenna and Rio spread out along the other side. Kane and Carter could move through a forest like cats. They’d all grabbed night- vision goggles as they left the office and hiding in the dark wouldn’t be a problem. For once, they had the advantage—if they could get to Piper in time.

It surprised Jenna, how calm Rio had been. He’d given details and had the team moving before he disconnected from Piper and now, apart from a determined expression, he was fully in control of the situation as always. Kane had discussed with Carter about taking down the man using hand-to-hand combat. Like her, Kane wanted answers, and if this was their man, they needed to know what made him tick. The problem was, there were so many unusual people in Black Rock Falls. This man might just be walking home or he could be anything from a stalker to a psychopath. Unfortunately, there was no way of telling until they apprehended him.

She moved closer to Rio as Kane gave hand signals to Carter and they vanished into the forest on the opposite side of the road. “We’ll stick to the shadows. Try not to make a sound.”

“Copy that.” Rio followed close behind, scanning the blacktop and the forest as they approached the bend in the road.

A scream pierced the night and it shot through Jenna like a blade. She ran forward, weapon in her hand, and rounded the bend in the road.

“Get away from me, you creep.” Piper burst from the forest and sprinted up the road.

Behind Piper, a man grabbed at her long hair and tugged. “You’re not getting away from me.”

Screaming, Piper turned and raked down the man’s face with both hands and kicked him hard in the shins. She grabbed her hair and dragged it from his grasp and turned to run but hadn’t gotten more than a few yards before she tripped and sprawled across the road.

The cowboy wiped at his streaming eyes and cursed at her.

“It could have been easy but now I’ll make you pay.” He pulled a knife from a sheath at his waist and moved closer.

Watching in horror as Piper tried to crawl away from her attacker, Jenna ran, weapon aimed at the man, but she had no hope of hitting him. The next second, Kane and Carter burst out of the trees. Kane went high and Carter low and they tackled the man to the blacktop, hitting with such force they slid halfway across the road. Terror gripped her as Kane and Carter fought a man fueled with adrenaline and hellbent on murder. It was as if they were trying to tackle a grizzly. The knife in the man’s hand glinted in the moonlight and Jenna stopped running to aim her weapon at the sprawling mass of bodies.

“Don’t shoot.” Rio was beside her. “Give them space.”

Stomach squeezing, Jenna could only stand by and watch as Carter wrapped himself around the man’s kicking legs. Above him, Kane had both hands locked on the hand with the knife. They rolled in a stream of cursing, their captive bucking and trying to headbutt Kane in the face. Kane avoided the attempts, the man’s head hitting Kane’s shoulder as he slammed the man’s hand down hard on the blacktop repeatedly until the knife came loose and spun away landing at Jenna’s feet. The man wasn’t finished yet, even pinned under two bodies he rolled and arched his back, trying to bite Kane. Carter had the man’s legs in a death grip and he wasn’t going anywhere. Running closer and pointing her weapon at the man’s head, Jenna raised her voice. “Enough, you’re done.”

The man roared in anger, head bobbing and teeth flashing like a rabid dog. The next moment Kane reared up, drew back his fist, and punched him hard in the face. The man’s head bounced off the blacktop and he lay still.

“This guy is as strong as a bull and as wild as a bobcat.” Kane sat on the blacktop rubbing his knuckles and shaking his head.

“It’s the killing frenzy. It makes them strong.” Carter released his grip on the man’s legs and stood, offering Kane his hand.

“It’s called hysterical strength. Happens when people’s lives are threatened usually. They receive a huge shot of adrenaline and can perform superhuman acts of strength.” Rio shrugged as if being a human encyclopedia was normal. “Just sayin’.” He wrapped his arms around Piper and whispered to her.

“Somehow, I knew you’d have the answer.” Carter went to pick up his hat from the road and returned grinning. “I wish I had your instant recall.”

The threat neutralized, Jenna turned her attention to Piper. She holstered her weapon and walked to her, removing her night-vision goggles. “Are you hurt, Piper?”

“She’s fine. Just frightened is all.” Rio rubbed his sister’s back and rocked her like a baby.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” Piper lifted her face from Rio’s chest and stepped away. “The Casanova Killer?”

Frowning and keeping her distance, Jenna turned to look at the prone man. Right now he was just a dark inert mass on the blacktop. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” She searched her pockets for a flashlight and turned to Kane. “Where are your goggles?”

“In the bushes. We’ll need to locate them before we leave.” Kane stared down at the man. He stood feet apart with one hand resting on his weapon. “Who is this clown? Can you aim your flashlight on him?” He pulled examination gloves from his pocket and snapped them on. “I’ll pat him down.”

Moving closer with caution, Jenna aimed the beam at the man’s face. A red welt had formed under one eye and bruising was evident where Kane had hit him. Scratches down his cheeks made it difficult to identify him in the dim light. His eyes were rolled back in his head, but she could see his chest rising and falling. She took another step toward him and ran the flashlight over him, fully expecting him to rise up and grab her by the throat. He was dressed like a Carter clone, same hat and jacket, and the blond hair was almost the same but not so much the face. This man had a short fat nose, but Carter’s was long and straight and he always had a tan. This guy’s face was sheet white under the bruising. She looked at Kane. “You sure he’s out cold?”

“I’m sure.” Kane met her gaze. “He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Jenna moved the beam back to the man’s face and bent to stare a little closer at him and then looked at Kane. “I recognize him. The suspects all look alike but I’m certain that’s Dallas Strauss, the ranch hand. Well, I wonder what turned him into a killer?”

“Well, Dallas Strauss, it’s all over for you now.” Kane pulled a stun gun from Strauss’ jacket pocket and held it up to Carter. “Get a photo of this… Wait a minute. He has a Glock in a shoulder holster.” He checked him all over and then rolled him over and cuffed him.

Jenna held open an evidence bag and Kane tossed in the weapons and Strauss’ wallet and keys. “We caught him in the act, although following someone along the highway seems a little strange.”

“Maybe Piper triggered him?” Kane shrugged and straightened his hat.

“I’ll go and look for the goggles.” Carter used his phone light to search the bushes, coming back with both sets a few minutes later.

“He’s going to be out for a while.” Kane waved to Rio. “Help me get him off the road and I’ll go get my truck. We wouldn’t want him squashed by an eighteen-wheeler, duty of care and all.”

“It sure would save a long, drawn-out court case.” Carter shrugged. “Can we put it to a vote?”

Jenna glared at him. “Absolutely not.” Following Kane and Rio to the edge of the forest, she bent to check Strauss’ pulse. “He seems okay. You hit him real hard. You could have killed him.”

“Nah.” Kane smiled at her. “I know how much you and Jo want to get inside these guys’ heads. Although, if he’d bitten me, things might have gotten nasty.”

Jenna looked at Piper, the girl was hugging her chest, her face ashen. She turned back to Kane. “Where are we going to put him? We can’t transport him with Piper.”

“I’ll ride in the bed with him.” Carter shrugged. “If he wakes up, I might just hit him again.” He shook his head. “The trouble this jerk has caused me, he’d deserve it. Humph… he doesn’t look anything like me. Some people need their eyes tested.”

Jenna smiled at him. “I never had any doubt. I mean Thanksgiving and all the holidays wouldn’t be the same without you, Ty.”

“Yeah, sorry for giving you such a hard time.” Kane bent to secure Strauss’ ankles. “Walk with me. He’s not going anywhere.”

“While you’re doing that, I’ll call Wolfe and bring him up to speed.” Jenna pulled out her phone. “I’ll ask him to meet us at the office. We’ll need swabs from Piper and Strauss.”

“That man was in town today.” Piper indicated to Strauss and moved to Rio’s side. “He’s been following me all day, but he was driving a truck. He didn’t walk from town. He just suddenly showed up behind me.” She pointed toward town. “I heard footsteps back there about five hundred yards or so. I didn’t hear a vehicle, so he must have parked off road close by and then followed me.”

“Did he say anything to you in town?” Rio put his arm around her. “Did he threaten you or anything? When did you first see him?”

“No, he didn’t say a word until just before.” Piper explained her encounter with Strauss. “So, I guess I did provoke him. Although, I don’t figure he’d heard what I said and he didn’t buzz his window down until after. His eyes were like black bottomless pits. At first, he seemed to be there every time I turned around, but then when I headed to your office, he vanished and then showed up here.” She took in her brother’s worried expression and shrugged. “If he’d been following me when I got to the office, I’d have told you, but he’d gone by then and I figured it was okay.”

“If ever anyone is following you, I want you to call me right away.” Rio stared down at her. “Don’t wait. You came so close to dying tonight I don’t want you to ever take a chance like that again.”

“I won’t and next time I’ll take the loaner.” Piper blew out a long sigh. “I didn’t realize it would take so long to walk home.”

At her feet Strauss moaned and his eyes flicked open. Jenna pushed her phone back into her pocket and drew her M18 pistol and aimed it at his face. “Your day isn’t going so well, Mr. Strauss. Don’t give me an excuse to make it a whole lot worse.”