Chapter 31
Thirty-One
Stanton Forest
Jenna stared out of the window as Kane negotiated the narrow dirt road.
The truck swayed from one side to the other as it bumped over the deep ruts.
The dense forest pressed in all around them, absorbing the light and turning the day into dusk.
Dead vegetation surrounded them as if spring and summer had passed it by and left it stuck in winter.
A fire had been through at one time and the charcoal remains of dead trees stood like silent decaying sentries alongside the road.
The once lush green undergrowth had turned brown long ago and spiderwebs hung like curtains between the trees.
The masses of wildflowers in abundance elsewhere were missing.
She’d driven through patches of forest like this before.
Her Native American friend Atohi Blackhawk had told her that sometimes evil spirits walked in places and sucked the life out of the vegetation.
As they came cross a dilapidated cabin, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled at the sight of an aluminum meat locker.
Against the old cabin, it looked out of place and she wondered if anyone had occupied the cabin in the last ten years or so.
Weeds grew out of the gutters and some of the shingles were missing but someone had boarded up the windows and added a sturdy front door.
She turned to look at Kane. “I wish we had Duke with us today. He’d be able to tell if anyone was hanging around.
That is a very creepy old place. Can you imagine going through torture and then waking up inside a meat locker? Zoe must have been terrified.”
“If that is the meat locker.” Kane reached into the back seat and grabbed the forensics kit.
“I’ll take a few swabs. Raven said she had a head injury, so no doubt she left blood behind.
” His head moved from side to side as he scanned the area.
“I can’t see any sign of life around and he would need a truck to get here.
This is the end of the road. The cabin hasn’t got a garage or any place to hide a truck.
I figure we’re okay. He’s long gone.” He slid from the truck and searched back and forth on the ground before returning.
“I didn’t find any tire tracks or anything we can use. The ground here is like concrete.”
Jenna’s gaze swept the forest before climbing down from the truck.
She followed Kane to the meat locker, pulling on examination gloves.
As Kane lifted the lid, the strong smell of rotten meat hit her in a wave of stink.
She took a few steps backward and peered inside.
It was empty but smeared with blood. “It’s been used recently. ”
“So I see.” Kane wrinkled his nose. “Zoe did mention that she smelled like death and this place fits the description. Here.” He pulled the fingerprint scanner from out of his pocket and handed it to her.
As Kane went to work collecting samples from all different areas of the locker, Jenna used the scanner to collect anything that resembled a fingerprint from the outside and inside.
Raven had mentioned that Zoe’s description of the man included the fact he wore gloves at all times, so she doubted they’d find the killer’s prints, but if they discovered Zoe’s, they would know they had found the correct cabin.
“I’ve collected swabs of every drop of blood I could find.
” Kane straightened and pushed the evidence bag filled with tubes of swabs into the forensics kit.
“The cabin doesn’t belong to anyone. Raven checked it out when he purchased old cabins around the area.
We can break in and look for evidence. I’ll grab my Maglite from the truck. I figure it’s dark in there.”
The truck was only a few yards away, but the moment Kane walked away from Jenna a feeling of vulnerability surrounded her.
She gave her head a shake to dispel the wave of creepiness that had engulfed her the moment she stepped out of the Beast. It was as if death surrounded them and eyes watched their every move.
She scanned the forest and resisted the need to follow him.
No one lurked in the shadows, but unease curled around her like a snake.
She’d always stubbornly resisted Kane’s protection, but she had to admit that having his solid strength beside her was comforting.
She still couldn’t understand why a tall, muscular, devastatingly handsome man like him could possibly have been interested in her.
When they first met, she wasn’t the easiest person in the world to work with as she had trust issues and PTSD after being married to a cartel member who abused her.
The marriage wasn’t real. It was part of an undercover sting that took two years of her life.
It left her the target of a drug and sex-trafficking cartel, which meant witness protection and a new life in Black Rock Falls.
She’d spent at least the first year after meeting Kane believing he’d been sent to murder her, only to discover sometime later that he was grieving his wife and unborn son, who died in a car bombing.
All Kane ever wanted to do was protect her.
In the end two very broken people had found each other—and found their way back to happiness.
“Is everything all right?” Kane scanned the forest and then his gaze drifted back to her. “Did you hear something?”
Jenna shook her head and walked to his side. “No, it’s just creepy here and I keep thinking about what Blackhawk told me about evil spirits lurking in dead areas of the forest. I know it’s unprofessional of me to be on edge, but you know I believe in ghosts.”
“Oh, Jenna.” Kane slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“You know that long ago people created stories about evil spirits to scare their children into behaving. I believe in good and evil. There are good people on this earth and evil—but they’re only people and evil people can be taken down with a bullet.
” He waved his flashlight toward the dead part of the forest. “Think about it. Blackhawk’s people wouldn’t want their children playing in a dead forest now, would they?
Dead trees can fall down in the wind, and no one really knows why these patches die like this.
It could be poisoning deep underground. By telling the children there are evil spirits here, they wouldn’t dare take a step inside, would they? ”
Glancing up at him, Jenna sighed. “I guess so. You always have a logical explanation for everything.” She stepped away from him and headed up the porch steps, testing each one to make sure it was strong enough to take her weight.
“This seems sturdy enough.” She turned the knob on the front door.
Locked. “Do you think you’ll be able to get the door open? ”
“Stand to one side.” Kane took two steps back and then slammed the heel of his boot beside the door handle. In a shattering of wood, the door flew open. He turned and smiled at her. “Yeah, I figure I can.”
Taking the small flashlight from her belt, Jenna followed Kane inside the cabin.
His larger beam lit up the interior. It was a small hunting cabin, one room with a stove, a sink, and standing against the wall, an old rusty bed frame.
Kane’s flashlight moved to a chair attached to the floor with brackets.
A rope had been tossed to one side and strips of gaffer tape littered the floor.
Some of the tape had hair attached to it, but Jenna’s attention settled on the splashes of red across the floor, up the walls, and over the ceiling.
Bile crept up her throat and she froze in the entrance.
They were looking at a crime scene, or perhaps many crime scenes.
The hair attached to the gaffer tape was a variety of colors.
“Oh Lord.” Kane’s flashlight lit up a small table pushed hard against the wall. A variety of blood-soaked tools, including wrenches and hammers, sat alongside a roll of gaffer tape. He turned to her. “We need to get Wolfe up here ASAP.”
Backing out of the cabin, Jenna pressed her back to the wall, pulled out her satellite phone, and made the call. “Shane, we’ve walked into a crime scene. Can you come right away? We’ll wait here for you. I believe we’ve discovered a psychopath’s torture chamber.”
“Yeah, I’m only running tests at the moment. I’ll grab Emily and Webber.” Wolfe’s footsteps followed the whoosh of the door at the morgue’s laboratory. “Where exactly are you? Can you send me the coordinates?”
Jenna checked the coordinates on her phone and forwarded them to him along with the image of the rough map that Raven had drawn for them. “You’ll find the map useful. Make sure you have your satellite phone because I don’t know what the signal is like here.”
“I never leave home without it. Just a minute.” Wolfe could be heard talking to Emily and his assistant, Webber.
“I’ll get the equipment. Colt, we’ll need the floodlights.
Em, fill a few flasks with coffee and grab the delivery from Aunt Betty’s.
We’ll take it with us and I’ll ask Norrell to reorder for her team. ”
“Okay, but where are we going?” Emily’s voice came through the speaker.
“The mountains.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “Y’all still there, Jenna?”
Exchanging a look with Kane, Jenna nodded. “I’m here. Call me if you get lost.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Wolfe disconnected.
Jenna turned to Kane. “Now what?”
“Now we wait.”