Chapter 30
Thirty
Black Rock Falls
Everything about Black Rock Falls was picture-perfect.
The sun shone down on lush green pastures, and as Kane headed the Beast along Stanton the forest moved in the breeze, a living entity awash with colors.
Since moving to this town, he couldn’t remember seeing such a massive blue sky before and he’d traveled to countries all over the world.
Here, it stretched on forever, disappearing into the distance high above the black mountain ranges.
He recalled his son Tauri asking him where the sky went to and his reply: To the end of the earth and back.
He often wondered if the beauty of this place might be a warning to stay away.
In nature, many of the most brightly colored and beautiful creatures were lethal and picturesque.
Black Rock Falls was no exception. It certainly lived up to its name of Serial Killer Central.
Beside him, Jenna accepted another call and put her phone on speaker. He listened as Bobby Kalo’s voice filled the cabin of the truck.
“I have a list of everyone who was working at Lawson’s Ridge at the time of the Lawsons’ murders. I assumed you wanted me to include the women as well?”
“Yes, I did.” Jenna stared at her phone. “Have you made any progress with the women who left abruptly and didn’t pick up their paycheck from before the Lawsons’ death up to today?”
“That will take me a little longer as many of the files aren’t digital.
However, a vast number of files are available to me and I’m running everything through a program I wrote.
Beth was good enough to assist me, and with any luck we should have some results coming through very soon.
” Kalo tapped on his keyboard. “No, nothing yet, give it a few more hours. I’m sure if you ask Bowman, he’ll be able to tell you.
He’d know who hasn’t picked up their paycheck in the last few months or so.
Most ranches pay their hands directly into their bank accounts, but I believe Bowman pays his seasonal workers by check and that’s something he handles himself. ”
“That’s really great, Bobby.” Jenna glanced at Kane as if she planned to ask him a question and then changed her mind. “Make sure Beth and Styles have a copy and obviously Carter. When I get back there, I’ll ask them to start interviewing everyone.”
“After reading the report that Rio uploaded to the server about Lawson’s diaries, the moment I gave them the list, they headed out to start interviewing people.
” Kalo cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
“The consensus was that there is a serial killer on the ranch and they’ve been here for a long time.
Carter figured they shouldn’t waste time sitting around and he was sure you would understand. ”
Unable to prevent the grin from curling his lips, Kane glanced at Jenna. “Hey, Bobby, it’s Dave. Did Carter ask you to tell Jenna when you called?”
“Yeah. He figured you’d be at the morgue and didn’t want to disturb you.”
“It’s not a problem.” Jenna lifted both eyebrows as she stared at Kane. “I appreciate their assistance. Yours too. I’m not sure what we’d do without you. Don’t forget to eat. I don’t want to get to Rhett’s house and find a skeleton sitting in front of a laptop.”
“Not a chance.” Bobby chuckled. “Catch you later.” He disconnected.
Kane shook his head. That was just Carter being Carter.
He always had good intentions but often they were misconstrued.
“In case you believe that Carter is trying to take over the investigation, that would be the furthest thing from his mind. More likely he is trying to impress you with his spontaneity. You’ve got to remember that Jo isn’t with him at the moment.
In all the years we’ve known them, Jo has always been there to temper his enthusiasm. ”
“Enthusiasm?” Jenna snorted and turned in her seat to glare at him.
“Sure, we’re all close friends, but someone needs to lead the pack and I just happen to be the sheriff.
Sometimes he takes assisting to a whole new level.
I’d like to have seen the list before we started.
Just going ahead without instructions or a plan of action doesn’t follow procedure—and he knows darn well I follow procedure.
Getting Kalo to give me the news was underhanded and if he believes his good looks and charm will get him out of trouble, he needs to know it won’t work with me. ”
Kane shook his head, trying not to laugh. “Oh, he does. I promise you, he does.”
The fastest way through Stanton Forest was by using the fire roads.
They connected the roads built by the forestry to access hunting cabins and the like in the area.
The fire roads in this area were as wide as a highway in places, enough room for two fire trucks to pass each other with room to spare.
The hardpacked dirt and gravel were constantly maintained, but when they turned off one and onto a small narrow winding dirt road through the forest, the truck lurched back and forth as it negotiated the deep ruts.
Raven had cleared this old dirt road to give him fast access to Stanton.
As they reached the end, if they’d turned right and driven for ten minutes or so, it would have taken them to Raven’s cabin, but he turned left.
This long windy road took them to Cheryl’s cabin, and if they continued on, it would join up with Bison Ridge.
They could get to town from there but it would take them almost half an hour longer.
He pulled to a halt outside Cheryl’s cabin and scanned the area.
He took note of the spray of bullet holes across the front of the house.
Inside the Beast they were very safe. He laid a hand on Jenna’s arm, glad he’d insisted they wear their Kevlar vests.
“Wait just a minute. I want to make sure no one’s gonna try and ambush us. ”
“I’ve been watching since we turned onto this road.” Jenna turned in her seat and stared out of the window. “I haven’t seen anything move at all. I honestly don’t believe that he’d be stupid enough to be hanging around after shooting up the house.”
The front door opened a crack and the muzzle of a shotgun poked out. Kane picked up the microphone from the dash and clicked the button. “Cheryl, it’s Dave Kane.”
“I know who you are.” Cheryl’s face peeked around the door. “I’m covering you, is all. I haven’t seen anyone since Raven left, so I figure it’s okay for you to come inside.”
Kane slid out his weapon, scanning the forest as Jenna made her way to the front door. He followed, not taking his eyes off the trees. Once inside, he noticed Cheryl’s drawn expression. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, but I’m going to stay over at Tracy’s until you’ve caught this guy.” She indicated to the bags beside the front door. “I figured you could see me safely to my vehicle before you head up the mountain.”
“Not a problem.” Jenna squeezed her arm. “I think it’s for the best. Now, where’s the map Raven gave you?”
“Come into the kitchen. I have it there and I’ll explain.
” Cheryl led the way. Inside the kitchen, she took a folded piece of paper from her pocket and spread it out on the table.
“This is my cabin. You need to follow this road until you come to a fire road on the left. Take the fire road and travel two hundred yards and you’ll see a small road here on the left.
” She pointed to an X on the map. “Raven said it’s just wide enough for a truck.
It’s overgrown with deep ruts with grass growing between.
Raven figures it must have been a stream at one time because cottonwood trees grow along one side.
At the end of that road is where he found the derelict cabin with a food locker out front.
He’d planned to take the food locker, but it was a two-man job to lift it onto the back of the truck.
That’s what made him remember its location. ”
The map looked clear and easy to follow. Raven’s military background showed in his sketch. Each part of the journey he’d given the approximate distance. Kane nodded. “We’ll find it, don’t worry.”
“I’ll take a photograph of it, add the directions, and send it to Rio, just in case we run into trouble.” Jenna glanced at Kane. “Not that I believe for a second that a man who beats up women is any match for the pair of us, but the first time I don’t follow procedure something will go wrong.”
Noting how Jenna had played down the fact that the shooter could be the serial killer they’d been searching for, Kane remained silent.
Considering the young woman who stumbled into Cheryl’s cabin was Zoe Carpenter, the seasonal worker missing from Lawson’s Ridge, he had little doubt that the shooter was their man—but who was he?
As far as he was aware, Bowman had locked down Lawson’s ranch, but in truth, he wouldn’t be able to prevent anyone from leaving, neither would the FBI agents on scene.
As there were so many hands working at the ranch, anyone could slip away through one of the back gates on the massive property without people noticing.
He turned his attention to Cheryl. “Can you give us a description of the shooter?”
“Unfortunately, he kept to the shadows.” Cheryl shook her head slowly.
“I would recognize his voice again. It was deep and gravely, like a man in need of a long drink of water. I couldn’t even tell you how tall he was or the color of his skin.
All I saw was the flash from his weapon.
From the noise it made, I would say it was a pistol, and as none of bullets came through the house, it wasn’t loaded with hollow points or anything similar. ”
“That’s good to know.” Jenna went to the front door and picked up a suitcase. “Come on, we’ll show you to your vehicle. We need to find this cabin before he removes the evidence.”