Chapter 6
SIX
The loss of her mother’s personal items, especially her mother’s badge, cap, scarf and photos of the two of them together, hit Autumn hard.
Her mother had been a wonderful role model, a woman who loved being a police officer.
Marion Riley was the main reason Autumn had gone to the police academy to become a cop.
Losing her mother had been difficult, more so because the person responsible had never been caught.
Autumn had gone through the cold case file herself.
No witnesses, no DNA or other evidence, other than a shell casing that hadn’t matched any others in the system.
The detective on the case had looked into her mother’s prior arrests, too, but none had panned out.
She grimaced at the scene in her home. The smashed television and broken vases didn’t matter. They could be easily replaced. But what if she never found her mother’s things? Her mementos?
A hollow feeling settled in her chest as she wondered if this was exactly what the perp wanted. To deeply wound her as revenge for throwing him behind bars.
Maybe the gunman had lost his mother while he was incarcerated. She tucked that possibility away as an angle to explore in more detail later.
Unfortunately, her attempt to arrange for a new security system to be installed had been too little, too late. And worse, she didn’t have time to clean the place up. The mess would have to wait until she interviewed Sasha.
“Do you still have your suitcase in your car?” Jordan asked.
“Yes, why?” She sent him a distracted look.
“You and Bear can’t stay here, Autumn,” he said in a gentle but firm tone. “Please come back to the ranch with me.”
She sighed, realizing he was right about not staying at the house.
“I’ll think about that. Thanks for the offer.
” She turned toward her colleagues, Officer Chris Torres and Officer Sam Bolder.
“I need to hit the road. I have a meeting I can’t miss.
Will you touch base with Detective Peters on this break-in?
I’d like the crime scene techs to check things out.
” She gestured toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “There’s a slug in the doorframe that needs to be retrieved from the first break-in.
If I find this guy and his gun, we might be able to match the ballistics. ”
“This is the second attack against you?” Torres asked with concern. “That’s not good.”
“There was technically a third attack, but Jordan—er, Mr. Clarke here—was the one who’d been nearly run over by the guy.
And that reminds me, I issued a BOLO for a black sedan with muddy plates.
Our Flock cameras haven’t picked it up, likely because the plate is covered.
” The city had two Flock cameras, newer technology that could be programed to identify stolen plates.
She glanced at her watch again, torn. Should she hang around and take care of things here?
She could reschedule with Sasha, although she didn’t want to.
Finding Jenny’s baby, not to mention a lead to find missing Mia Andrews, was important.
She didn’t want to let down the task force. Besides, technically her assailant was Peters’s case.
“I’ll stay,” Jordan offered, sensing her dilemma. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Thanks, Jordan.” She knew he wanted her to keep working his sister’s case, but he was also doing it because he cared. She managed a smile. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“No rush.” His smile was crooked. “I’m caught up with things at the ranch. Thankfully, the calves won’t be dropping for a few more weeks. That’s when things get crazy.”
She could only imagine. She was woefully ignorant of what went into the cattle ranching business, but clearly cows giving birth to the next generation of cattle was a key component. “Thanks again.” After nodding at her colleagues, she hurried outside. “Come, Bear!”
Bear eagerly trotted to the SUV, and of course Cutie followed.
“Sorry, girl, you’re staying here,” she said. “Stay. Do you know how to stay?”
“She doesn’t know many commands and that’s my fault, I’m afraid,” Jordan said. “But after watching you and Bear in action, I realize I need to work with her more.”
“I’ll help.” She closed the back hatch, then added, “Once I have things under control, I’ll work with the both of you. See you later.”
“That would be great.” Jordan’s smile was genuine and only made him more attractive.
She slid behind the wheel, reminding herself that she needed to stay focused on her career, especially if she wanted to become a detective one day, like her mother.
Besides, Jordan was the victim’s brother and therefore off-limits.
And more importantly, she wasn’t about to trust her heart to another man. End of story.
Thankfully, Sasha was waiting for Autumn when she pulled up to the coffee shop where they’d agreed to meet.
She decided to leave Bear in the back, as the bloodhound was sleeping after playing with Cutie.
The SUV had a built-in temperature gauge that would trigger the engine to turn on if the interior got too cold, so she wasn’t worried about his comfort.
“Sasha Dugan? I’m Officer Autumn Riley.” She offered Sasha her hand. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”
“I heard they found Jenny’s body.” Sasha’s dark eyes filled with anguish. “I can’t believe it. I honestly thought she decided to up and move.”
Autumn sensed Sasha’s grief was genuine. “Did Jenny mention moving?”
“No, but I know she was getting frustrated with sleeping on my sofa.” Sasha played with her coffee cup. “She asked me to consider moving into a two-bedroom place, but that would have been more expensive and Jenny only gave me a hundred dollars a week toward the rent.”
Autumn nodded in understanding. Rent prices had skyrocketed in the area. “I was told her brother invited her to stay at the ranch.”
“Yeah, but Jenny wasn’t interested.” Sasha sighed. “She believed Jordan would try to control her life and interfere with how she chose to raise her baby. I tried to tell her she would need more support…” Sasha’s voice trailed off. “I just can’t believe she’s dead.”
Autumn gave her a moment to pull herself together. “Tell me about the night you dropped her at the park.”
Sasha grimaced. “That was the night we argued over moving into a two-bedroom apartment.”
“Really?” This was new information. “Jenny was upset when you dropped her off?”
“Yes.” Sasha’s voice had dropped to almost a whisper.
“I told her there was no reason to run back to Eric, but she insisted on going to the park. Said she’d walk if I didn’t drive her.
I figured talking with Eric would only reinforce there was no hope for them—the guy wasn’t going to be providing much in the way of child support—so I agreed.
” Sasha shook her head. “If I had known she’d disappear, I’d never have left her alone. ”
“It’s not your fault,” Autumn hastened to reassure her. “I’m sure Jenny would have walked if you hadn’t given her a ride. That was in late August, right?”
“Yes. The weather was nice, but there were storm clouds moving in, which is why she wanted a ride.” Sasha held her gaze. “You’re going to find out who did this, right?”
“That’s our goal.” She decided not to go into detail about the task force. “Can you think of anyone else I should talk to? Anyone who Jenny may have confided in?”
Sasha frowned. “I was her best friend. I would have thought she’d confide in me.”
She nodded in understanding. “You don’t think she’d have talked to her coworkers at the Dollar Store?”
“Maybe Mary Leland,” Sasha said. “I would think that if Jenny was mad at me, she’d talk to Mary. They hung out together sometimes.”
Autumn made a note of Mary Leland in her phone. “Anything else?”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been going over this ever since I heard the news. I can’t think of anything else.” Sasha stared down at her cup. “I hate feeling as if I let Jenny down.”
“You didn’t,” she reassured her. “I’m sure Jenny valued your friendship.”
“I hope so.” Sasha appeared overwhelmed with guilt. “Maybe I should have agreed to look at two-bedroom apartments. Maybe then she’d be alive.”
“Hey, this isn’t your fault,” Autumn said. “Jenny had the option of moving back to the ranch.”
Sasha nodded but didn’t look entirely convinced. Autumn slid a business card across the table. “If you think of anything else, call me, okay? Sometimes even the smallest detail can help.”
“I will.” Sasha took the card. “I hope you find who did this.”
Autumn did, too. She smiled then quickly headed back outside. She was glad she’d kept the interview. She hadn’t learned much but found it interesting that Jenny had been pushing for Sasha to move into a two-bedroom apartment.
And Sasha had reinforced Jenny’s reluctance to move to the ranch. She imagined that a nineteen-year-old might view Jordan as domineering, overbearing and controlling. He was, what, ten years older than Jenny? The age gap must have seemed insurmountable.
Yet, the Jordan she’d come to know had cared deeply about his sister and had searched relentlessly for her. She wished Jenny had given him a chance.
She made a quick stop back at the Dollar Store to get contact information for Mary Leland. The clerk didn’t answer her call, so she left a message.
As she drove back to her place, she called River. He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Autumn. How are things going?”
She filled him in on the scant information she’d obtained from Karen and Sasha. “It’s not much, but I think it’s interesting that Jenny wasn’t happy with her current situation. Maybe she ran into someone who offered to help.”
“That’s a possibility,” River agreed. “And would play into the first two murdered girls. But I don’t think Mia would have been interested in help. She didn’t need financial support.”
“True.” Jenny wouldn’t have needed help, either, if she’d just accepted Jordan’s offer to live at the ranch. “Did you learn anything new?”