The hairs on the back of Zoe’s neck prickled in a warning. She’d read about men like this man, Preacher. She turned to look at Ava and wondered just how naive she was. “Haven’t you heard about men kidnapping women and selling them to the highest bidder?” She looked into Ava’s eyes. “To him it’s not about using us for sex—” she held up her hand and rubbed her thumb on the pad of her first finger in a circular motion “—it’s about money.” She shuddered. “If he undressed us, how do we know he didn’t film us or pose us for photographs? If he did, he’d likely post them on his secret club page and wait for the highest bid.”
“You think?” Ava chewed on her fingernails.
Zoe slipped out of bed, testing her balance before moving around the room. “Have you tried to escape?”
“Of course I have.” A flash of annoyance crossed Ava’s face. “There’s no way out. The door at the top of the steps is locked and would be hard to force because it opens inward.” She sighed. “There’s nothing in here to use as a weapon, food comes on paper plates with plastic utensils, the glasses are plastic, same with the cups. All the chairs are bolted to the floor.”
Zoe squared her shoulders and turned to face her. “I don’t give up too easy. Give me five minutes to get my head on and we’ll work on a solution.” She glanced around. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Over there.” Ava went to a closet and threw open the doors to reveal a rack of clothes and shelves containing underwear. Below sat a neat row of boots of various design and sizes. “Grab something to wear. There are toiletries in the bathroom. Don’t be too long, I’d say he was waiting for you to wake up before he feeds us and I’m famished.”
Zoe took a few seconds to look at Ava. If she’d only been here a few days, why was she already showing the resignation of Stockholm Syndrome. She’d soon have her snapping out of that and she’d start over breakfast. Heading to the bathroom, she took in the structure of the cellar and nodded to herself. There is always a way out.
Twenty-Three
Snowflakes piled up on the windowsills as Jenna glanced out the window, hoping they’d make it home this afternoon before another blizzard hit the town. She glanced at the clock and calculated what she needed to do for the rest of the day. Waiting for a positive ID of the snowman victim, slowed the investigation but she had plenty of time to follow up with Jim Foxx, the owner of the trucking company, before the snowplow made its last trip of the day from town at five-thirty. As it went right past her front gate it would sure make life easier. In fact, if they gave the driver a call and followed the snowplow home, all she had to do was open the gate and her friendly neighbor would cut a path straight to her front door.
She tried the office and a recorded message gave her a list of numbers of people to contact. She called Mr. Foxx and he answered on the third ring. “Mr. Fox this is Sheriff Alton, I wonder if you could give me some information on a couple of your drivers?”
“I’m not inclined to give out such information, Sheriff. Privacy laws and all that.” Foxx sounded defensive.
Jenna pulled a face. “Ah, well one of the men in question has already admitted working for you and where he went on his last trip, but as I’m conducting an investigation, I would appreciate your assistance.” She cleared her throat at the stony silence at the other end of the line. “The man in question is Claude Grady. He stated he made a trip to Colorado recently with a man by the name of Josiah Brock. Could you confirm that please?”
“Okay, this question is easy. You already know Grady went to Colorado last trip. Josiah Brock no longer works for me. I believe he’s working out of Blackwater. My competitor, Blackwater Trucking, came by here offering my drivers more than I could pay them and I lost a few good men.”
Jenna made a few notes. “Did Brock ever ride with Grady?”
“Yeah, I believe so.” Foxx sighed. “If you need any more information, you’ll have to ask Brock.”
Jenna twirled her pen in her fingers, she had to ask but somehow knew the reply. “Would you be willing to give me the routes Grady took in the past twelve months or so?”
“I’m afraid not, Sheriff. You’d need a search warrant for that information.” The line went dead.
Jenna snorted. “Well, thank you so much for your cooperation.” She dropped her phone on the desk, leaned back in her seat, and looked up just as Kane entered the room bringing with him the smell of winter and loaded up with takeout. He was wearing a grim expression. Jenna patted her knee and Duke laid his head on her lap, clearly upset as well. “Anything wrong? Duke looks sad.”
“Uh-huh.” Kane arranged the food on her desk. “Duke’s just fine but I had another run-in with Kim at Aunt Betty’s.” He pulled off his coat and hung it on the peg behind the door.
“Oh man, you should have been there.” Rowley followed him close behind carrying to-go cups of coffee. “That woman is a siren. She had every guy in the store drooling over her and Kane pushed her away as cold as ice—you should’ve seen his face, he looked like a hired killer.” He placed the cups on the desk, moved one over toward Jenna, and then straightened to remove his jacket.
If you only knew. Jenna’s stomach growled with hunger as she peered into the bags. “What did she do this time?”
“Same, she hung all over me. Made like we were going together.” Kane dropped into a chair and pulled off his woolen cap. He ran a hand through his tousled hair and looked at her. “She invited me to spend the weekend with her at her secluded hunting cabin out at Blackwater.”
“Ha.” Rowley flashed a wide grin. “She said she would make him real cozy and—”
“Enough!” Kane’s look was dangerous. “You have a report to discuss. Sit down and tell us what you’ve found.”
“That can wait.” Jenna slipped her gaze over Kane. His tight jaw, ticking cheek, and murderous expression told her Kim was getting way out of hand. She turned her attention to Rowley. “Do you mind giving me a few moments alone with Kane?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley grabbed his lunch and left the room.
Jenna stood and pushed the door shut behind him and then went to lean against her desk in front of Kane. “Okay, it’s just you and me. What happened?”
“Like I said.” Kane looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. “Kim’s not listening to anything I say and I’ve been blunt. I can’t charge her for stalking me. She doesn’t pose a physical threat to me and being annoying doesn’t make her a stalker but we may have a case for harassment. Carter believes the DA wouldn’t touch the case after I had a drink with her and then went back to her room. He’d say I encouraged her attention.”
Shocked Jenna gaped at him. “You did what?” She swallowed hard and avoided his stubborn gaze. “You never mentioned that before.”
“No because I knew you’d react like you are now.” Kane looked at her with an annoyed expression. “Her room was on the way back to mine is all but I would have been captured by the CCTV cameras in the elevator.” Clearly agitated, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you honestly believe, after all we have been through together, I’d start chasing after women?”