Chapter 38

Laurel sat on the far side of the conference table in front of the murder board that depicted the river killings. Her phone dinged, and she lifted it to her ear. "Agent Snow."

"Hey there, it's Dr. Ortega. I figured you'd be working overtime just like I am today, and I wanted to call you real quick."

She straightened. "Hi, Doctor. Do you have news for me?"

"I wanted to give you a heads-up that we've identified the body of Jason Abbott from his dental records. His teeth were still somewhat intact after the crash and the fire."

Her shoulders dropped. "I'm not surprised, but I was hoping that it wasn't him."

"It's definitely him. Also, I sent over the toxicology report on Haylee Johnson. She was clean. There were no drugs in her system."

That wasn't a surprise. "Was Abbott dead when he hit the ground?"

"I'd say he was alive when the truck went over the cliff and dead by the time it hit the ground and exploded. I'll send you a complete autopsy report sometime tomorrow."

She didn't see Jason committing suicide. Who wanted him dead? Probably a lot of people. Yet only one most likely benefitted from those journals being destroyed before Jason's death. Abigail Caine. How could Laurel prove that Abigail had killed him? It had to be her. "Switching to the recent drowning homicides. Have you found trace evidence on any of the victims? Any dog fur?"

"Nope. Nothing," Ortega said. "It's like the guy touched them with gloved hands when he dragged them across the ice. We found absolutely nothing. We have no idea where he kidnapped them or how he held them until he killed them. My guess is a plastic-lined trunk, to be honest."

She winced. How terrible. "All right. I appreciate it, Dr. Ortega."

"How's Huck doing?" he asked.

She sighed. "I haven't talked to him yet. He's still being interviewed, but I can't imagine they have any hard evidence."

"It's still your case, isn't it?" Ortega asked.

Probably not for long. "Yes, so far. Why?"

"Then I can share with you that the dog fur found on Rachel Raprenzi's coat does match Aeneas's."

Her chin dropped. "Are you kidding?"

"No. I would never joke about something like that. Somehow this killer got hold of Aeneas's fur or one of his blankets. I mean, she was covered in the fur."

Laurel shook her head. It would have been easy for somebody to steal the blanket out of Huck's vehicle while everybody searched for the kids the night before. To think that the killer had been that close to Huck. "All right. Thank you, Dr. Ortega."

"You bet. Tell Huck we're all pulling for him." He ended the call.

Laurel texted Nester to apply for a search warrant when he returned so they could dump Zeke Caine's phone—not only for the night before, but for the last couple of weeks. Nester could be very persistent when he wanted, and Opal's mention of "the pastor" might give them probable cause. Maybe.

A ruckus sounded near the doorway, and she straightened, grabbing a notepad and starting to make notations about a poem she'd once enjoyed, anything to keep her focus off the new arrivals. She switched to a different language. It was doubtful Zeke Caine knew Chinese, so she started writing in Chinese.

Soon he appeared at the doorway with Monty and two muscled Fish and Wildlife officers behind him. She kept writing.

"Daughter," he snapped.

She held up one finger from her left hand and kept writing. "Just a minute." She could almost feel the anger pouring from him, so she waited another moment and then looked up. "Oh, hi. Yes. Just bring him inside. Sit him down." She purposely did not address Zeke.

His eyes widened and a red flush covered his face. His nostrils flared. He still wore his pastoral robe with a pink stole this time.

Monty pulled out a chair and pushed him rather roughly into it.

Laurel looked past Zeke. "Thank you, Officers. Sorry to drag you in on a Sunday for a silly matter."

Monty walked around and sat at the head of the table, leaving Laurel to face her father.

Zeke's gaze flicked to the board she'd left revealed behind her, and then he studied the River Reaper board.

"You like what you see?" She tried to sound bored.

He shrugged. "I don't know what I'm looking at."

"Do you like being referred to as a pastor?" she asked.

He looked at her, anger still glittering in his eyes. "Yes. I've earned that moniker. People trust me. I guide them. Without me, they'd be lost."

No ego there. "I see."

"No, I don't think you do," he spat. "Your goons dragged me away from a large Sunday sermon in front of my parishioners. They pretty much accused me of being a murderer and hauled me away like a common criminal. You will pay for this."

Good for them. They had done exactly what she'd wanted them to do. "Oh, will I?" She rolled her eyes. "You're not nearly as frightening as you want to be. I'm an FBI agent. I deal with serial killers. You're an older pastor who thinks he gets power by talking about God. God doesn't care about you."

His eyes bugged out. "God cares about me more than anybody else. I make this world better for Him."

She chuckled and then looked at Monty. "Did you hear that? This simple man makes life better for God."

Monty snorted. "That's a good one."

Zeke sat straighter, his shoulders going back.

"Do you like crampons?" she asked Zeke.

A small smile curved his mouth, and he looked up toward the cameras mounted on either side of the room. "Crampons? I don't even know what that is."

"Sure you do. You put them on your feet and stomped through ice," she said. "At most of your recent crime scenes." She opened a file folder and took out a picture of Delta Rivers. "You met her in Santa Fe. Remember?"

He tilted his head. "No. I've never met that woman."

"Have you been to Santa Fe?" Laurel asked.

His nostrils flared as he took in air. "I've already told you I won't discuss my travels with you. Period."

They'd see about that. Laurel tapped the photograph. "She had dark hair. You seem to like blondes. Did you talk her into dying it blond, or did you do it for her?"

Zeke looked at Monty and then back. "I have found that women do what you ask them to do if you treat them nicely. But in this case, I never met that woman."

Then he stared at her, a smirk now obvious on his face.

She had studied smirks. She understood the derision behind them. Yet he might just be playing a game with her. Why would he have killed Delta? He had an alibi for Teri's murder. Haylee seemed like an inconvenience for somebody like him. None of this made sense. She took out a picture of Haylee Johnson. "What about this young woman?"

"She was pretty, wasn't she?" He stared down at the picture. "It's quite a pity that Huck Rivers killed her just to protect you. The captain is quite the alpha male, isn't he?"

Would Zeke go to this much evil trouble just to hurt Huck? That didn't fit with his psychopathy. She could see him hunting and shooting Huck, one on one, but not kill him with an elaborate game.

Perhaps she needed to speak with Pastor John again. For now, she pulled out a picture of Rachel Raprenzi. "What about her?"

Zeke cocked his head. "I saw her show earlier. She is such a brave young woman. How in the world did she escape your boyfriend? Perhaps Huck still has feelings for her and couldn't go through with the murder?"

"Were you at Rachel Raprenzi's crime scene?" she asked.

"I've never been to a crime scene," Zeke murmured.

"Were you present at the search and rescue effort last night?" She needed to tie somebody else to the scene and, from there, to taking the blanket out of Aeneas's crate.

His mouth opened and then closed. "Of course not. I was busy praying at my church when I heard those girls were missing last night."

"Do you have anybody who could corroborate that?" she asked.

He looked sadly around. "No. I worked by myself at the church, then at my cabin. My phone will reflect that, I'm sure."

So he'd left his phone either at the church or his cabin. A man who was smart enough to steal a blanket out of Huck's truck and use it himself wasn't stupid enough to take his phone with him on a kidnapping and murder. Or he actually wasn't the killer. How badly did she want to put him in prison? Could her anger with him be coloring her actions?

He sighed. "Laurel, it appears as if Captain Rivers is a killer with some serious problems. I do wish you'd take heed and protect yourself from him."

"You have access to a lot of trucks, don't you?" she asked suddenly.

"Oh, no, I have an SUV." He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "You're not going to connect me to any of these crimes, Laurel. I'm a man of the cloth. I would never harm a woman."

She pulled out a picture of Teri Bearing and pushed it across the table. "What about Teri Bearing?"

His eyes flared and for a second, the lines of his face shifted.

She'd have to study the video later to try to determine what that movement meant.

"I'm very sorry about the mayor's wife." He stared as if transfixed by the picture. "I cannot believe Captain Rivers dumped her body outside of our church."

"Hypothetically, if the captain didn't kill her, who do you think did?" she asked. Zeke no doubt knew his parishioners.

"Hmm." His lids lifted and he stared at her. "I don't know. Is there something different about this death?"

She reached for comparison pictures of the holes made in the ice. "The ice is different. The killer didn't use crampons for Mrs. Bearing's drowning."

"Oh, yes, crampons." He nodded. "I do know what that means. Don't you climb icebergs with them?"

"You can," Monty said.

Zeke didn't look at him, keeping his focus solely on Laurel. "Isn't that odd? Don't serial killers often stick to their rituals?" He stared at the different photos.

Laurel pulled back the pictures and shut the file folder. "Yes, they do."

Zeke rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if in deep contemplation. "I don't really have an answer, but what if somebody wanted to disturb the church? What if they wanted to stop me from going national? It would make sense to leave a body there, right?"

"Go on," Laurel said.

"Or Pastor John was having an affair with this poor woman. He took advantage of her. I would take a hard look at him or at her husband, of course." He shrugged. "Unless somebody just wanted to mess with me and ruin my television debut. You don't suppose Huck Rivers had it in for me, too, do you?"

Laurel studied him. "No, I don't suppose he did. So your theory is that Teri Bearing's killer is either Mayor Saul Bearing, Pastor John Govern, or Captain Huck Rivers?"

Zeke held out both hands and smiled, looking her directly in the eyes. "Well, now, Laurel, who else could it possibly have been?"

* * *

Laurel's mind spun after Zeke Caine had left her office. Her emotions might be clouding her judgment. Why would he kill Delta and Haylee, then kidnap Rachel but let her go, and possibly kill Teri Bearing but use something else to break the ice?

She couldn't find his motivation.

The downstairs door buzzer sounded, and then heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Laurel took several deep breaths and sat back in her chair, keeping her shoulders straight.

Special Agent in Charge Norrs walked into her office, pulled out a chair and sat. The agent had dark circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot.

"How are the RICO cases going?" Laurel asked.

"Just concluded two of them," he said, and then sighed. "You're off the drowning cases, Laurel. I just spoke with Deputy Director McCromby."

She swallowed. It wasn't a surprise.

Norrs steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "I didn't tell the deputy director that you're pregnant with Captain Rivers's baby, but you probably should give him a heads-up before he finds out from somebody else."

She tilted her head. "Abigail?"

Norrs nodded. "We are dating."

Now wouldn't be the time to tell Norrs that she was fairly certain Abigail had murdered Jason Abbott. She would have to build that case on her own without his interference. He wouldn't believe her anyway.

He sighed. "I'll be taking over the river killings. We're pursuing Captain Huck Rivers as our primary suspect."

Her hands shook. "He is not a murderer."

Norrs shook his head. "Love is blind, Snow."

The irony of that statement struck her.

He flattened his palm on her desk. "I'm going to bring in a small team and we're going to take over your office, okay?"

"That would be proper procedure," she said, noting his slower than usual movements. "You require sleep first."

He shook his head. "There's no time for sleep."

"The conference room is all yours. If you require additional space, you may use the first level of the building to the east. My mother is going to build a tea shop there, but it's vacant for now because she's out of town. You cannot have my office because I'm investigating other cases."

"I don't want to mess with your office. I think you should reach out to your sister for help. You're going to need support during this very difficult time." His gaze dropped to her abdomen and then up. "I've looked over the case files. We have a good case against Captain Rivers. Unless something else breaks quick and fast, he's going to be charged, and we're going to put him away."

Her stomach rolled.

"We've also received a phone call from Pastor Zeke Caine," Norrs said, his voice almost slurred. "He's suing us for slander and emotional distress."

"What? Because we called him in for questioning?" Laurel asked, her eyebrows rising.

Norrs shook his head. "You didn't catch the last few minutes of The Killing Hour just now?"

"No."

"As he left your building, Pastor Caine was attacked by Rachel Raprenzi and her cameraman. They had the whole scoop on how he'd been pulled away from his parish and had basically been accused of murder."

Seriously? What kind of reach did Rachel have? Or had Zeke somehow set this up? "How did they know all of those facts?" Laurel asked.

"Heck if I know," Norrs said. "But he's suing us, and he's pissed."

She thought back to what she knew. Zeke had horribly embarrassed Pastor John in front of their entire church. Perhaps John had taken a little bit of revenge. Not that she could blame him. However, a lawsuit would make her life even more difficult.

Agent Norrs stood. "Where's the case file?"

"All of the files are in the conference room, as are the murder boards. You can take over the entire area if you want." She'd already removed the pictures and notes from the board featuring Abigail so he wouldn't see her evidence.

"Thank you," he said. "I'm sorry about this."

Laurel nodded. "So am I."

He smiled. "The good news is that if I'm here for a while, Abigail will be here as well. You two can finally bond."