“But nobody is perfect.” Kane leaned back in his seat and placed the side of his boot on one knee. “They all make mistakes, maybe very small but we usually find them.”
“Oh yeah.” Jo smiled. “Trophies being their biggest mistake. They know keeping items from a kill is dangerous but they can’t resist it.” She looked at Carter. “Has Kalo found anything on Suffolk to do with explosives?”
“Nothing specific but he did purchase some Semtex a year ago to blast a boulder from his property. He was building a shed apparently.” Carter looked at Jenna. “Which is good enough for me, he’d have to know how to detonate it. It’s a putty similar to C-4.”
Jenna couldn’t avoid the eyeroll. “Yeah, I know about Semtex.” She thought for a beat about Suffolk. “At least Suffolk hasn’t directed his anger toward any of us. That has to be a first.”
“Did you have to say that?” Kane winced. “You know what happens when you tempt fate around here.”
Jenna laughed. “Moving right along.” She glanced at her notes. “I figure we look at Cleaves and Dexter again. It will mean another trip to Louan but after finding Sophie in Black Rock Falls, we need to know if they were over this way on the day we found her body, same with Suffolk.” She looked around the table. “We know all three men interacted with Wood and they all went to DC at the same time. If we can link one of them to the DC Family Law offices, we have our man. That’s enough for tonight. I figure we’re real close to closing this case now.”
“So do I.” Kane looked at her and his eyes softened. “It will be good to lay the ghosts to rest.” He looked at Carter. “You ready to leave?”
“Yeah.” Carter looked relieved and closed his laptop. “I sure need some sleep.” He collected the empty cups from the table and headed for the kitchen.
“One thing before it slips my mind. Did you find out where Sandy Rowley disappeared to today?” Jo stood and picked up the coffee pot and a plate of cookies. “You haven’t mentioned her.”
Jenna smiled. “She’s fine. She was heading into town for an appointment with Doc Brown when she had the flat tire. Rowley said she hurried from Miller’s Garage and made it in time. That’s why her phone was turned off.”
“She’s not ill, is she?” Jo frowned.
Jenna shook her head. “Not that I’m aware.” She collected the rest of the plates and stared at Kane busy on his laptop. “You told Carter you were leaving and you’re working again. You need to get some rest. We’ve gone as far as we can with this case tonight. Whatever you’re doing can wait until morning.”
“Oh.” Kane gave her an angelic smile. “Sorry, I was just checking tomorrow’s specials at Aunt Betty’s.” He rubbed his stomach. “Mmm ribs. They’ll be worth the wait if we’re driving to Louan. It will be something to look forward to after a busy day.”
The sudden change in his demeanor made her smile. The anger at the man who’d murdered his wife had melted away as fast as it had emerged, or he was better at hiding his emotions than she’d imagined. Whatever the reason, she’d play along. “That’s a good idea.”
“Did I hear you say ribs?” Carter came back into the room, eyebrows raised in question and one hand rubbing his belly. “I sure hope they’ll have some left by the time we get back.”
“I’ve already sent Susie a message, she’ll hold back a stack for us.” Kane chuckled. “She’s never let me down yet.”
Forty
Saturday, 1 a.m.
“Jenna, wake up.” Jo’s voice broke into a dream. “Jenna.”
Jenna slapped at the hand shaking her awake. She had been asleep for what felt like seconds and her head was still in slumber mode. Forcing her eyes open, she made out a shape in the light filtering in from the hallway and blinked at Jo’s shadowed face. “What’s wrong?”
“You awake?” Now Kane had walked into the room, fully dressed and armed.
Jenna sat up and stared at him. “It seems I’m the last one to the party. What the heck is going on here?”
“Kane will explain, I’ll go and get dressed.” Jo hurried from the room.
“I called you and then Jo.” Kane picked up her phone and stared at it. “Your phone is on silent.”
“Yeah.” Jenna pushed the hair from her eyes. “I’m not on call for the 911 emergency line, so after working a seventeen-hour day, I didn’t want to be disturbed by townsfolk complaining about a dog barking.” She glared at him. “What’s so important you’re in my bedroom in the middle of the night?”
“One of the deputies out of Blackwater called in an explosion at Sheriff Stuart’s house.” Kane switched on the light beside Jenna’s bed and looked down at her. His hair was damp from the shower and Jenna wondered if he’d slept at all. “At first, he figured it was a gas leak but the neighbors heard three explosions. After what happened in Louan, he called the FBI and they contacted Carter. Wolfe is heading out there as soon as he can get his team together. I figured you’d want us on scene too.”
A pool of acid formed in Jenna’s stomach. It was always difficult when bad things happened to folks she knew. She’d called on Sheriff Stuart many a time for assistance, and respected him. With effort, she pulled on her cloak of professionalism and nodded. “Survivors?”
“Not a hope in hell.” Kane shook his head. “It’s bad. The place was fully ablaze in seconds. Whoever was inside didn’t stand a chance.”
The shock of losing a fellow officer jolted her fully awake. She tried to shake off the wave of incredible sadness engulfing her and swallowed hard. In times of great stress and tragedy sticking to procedure lightened the burden. It was as if the way ahead had already been mapped out. No flustering or second thinking. All she had to do was move forward one step at a time down an imaginary list in her mind. “Is the local fire department on scene?” She slipped from the bed and dragged clothes from the closet and threw them on the bed.
“Yeah but they’re volunteers, so if there’s another unexploded device lying around, we don’t want them going inside. The local deputies have sealed the town, no one in or out accept essential services. We’ll need to move fast.” Kane frowned. “I’m concerned about this, Jenna.”
Jenna stood and stared at him. “Okay, so why are you worried? We’ve dealt with worse cases than this one? How do you know it wasn’t three propane tanks exploding? People often have more than one for the house.”
“Maybe but think about the surrounding circumstances.” Kane stared at the wall as if mulling over the problem. “Sheriff Stuart’s granddaughter goes missing and then his house is set on fire. It’s as if someone used the girl to clear the way to the sheriff. All his men would be out scouring the countryside for his granddaughter, and if he’d called for backup, it would have taken ages for anyone to respond.”
She noticed the tick in his cheek; he was angry, not concerned. “You figure it’s the Louan bomber, don’t you?”