Chapter 12
TWELVE
Or course this guy had ditched the minibike. Autumn swallowed a wave of frustration. The way he kept slipping through her fingertips made her angry.
It shouldn’t be this difficult to get him in custody. She sighed and tried to focus on the bright side. The crime scene techs could find something useful on the minibike. The perp had been wearing gloves, but he may not have been wearing them when he first picked it up.
They could find beads of sweat on the frame, but DNA testing would take too long. She couldn’t wait a month or more to nail this guy.
“I need to search the database to find perps that have a dagger tattoo,” she said, more to herself than Jordan. “And soon.”
“I’ll make breakfast as soon as I’m finished with the morning chores.” Jordan glanced at his puppy. “Come, Cutie.”
Cutie sent a forlorn look at Bear before following Jordan outside. Despite her lack of progress on the case, Autumn smiled. “That girl is smitten with you, Bear.”
He thumped his tail in agreement.
After pouring herself more coffee, she went to work on finding someone she or her mother had arrested with a dagger tattoo. It was slow going, though, and by the time Jordan came back inside with Cutie, she had only gotten halfway through her list of suspects.
And hadn’t even started on those her mother had put away.
“I hope you don’t mind bacon and eggs again,” Jordan said as he washed up at the sink. Cutie crawled beneath the table to cuddle against Bear. Whatever the puppy had done outside had worn her out.
“That’s fine. I usually settle for oatmeal topped with fruit.
” She didn’t cook on a regular basis, only on the weekends where her goal was to make enough that she’d have leftovers for the week.
She gestured to her laptop. “This is taking longer than I’d hoped.
There are plenty of former inmates who have tattoos, but the process has been time-consuming. ”
“Is there a way I can help?” Jordan had the bacon sizzling in the fry pan and the scent made her stomach rumble with hunger. “I don’t mind lending a hand.”
“I wish, but I can’t load the precinct software on your personal computer.
I’ll have to go through it myself.” As she said the words, she realized that wasn’t exactly true.
She could call on Detective Peters for help.
He’d actually sounded more concerned about the perp after their last conversation. “I’ll check in with Peters.”
“Good idea.” He cracked eggs into a bowl. “Breakfast will be ready shortly.”
“Thanks.” She was grateful for Jordan’s hospitality and somewhat surprised that there wasn’t any awkwardness between them despite their kiss.
The camaraderie between them was akin to what she shared with her fellow police officers. The thought startled her, because she’d never experienced that before with someone outside the police force.
Certainly not with her ex.
She gave herself a mental shake, knowing she’d allowed Jordan to get too close. She needed to stay focused. As she went through the next few names, though, she was far too conscious of him moving around the kitchen as he prepared breakfast, even topping off her coffee.
Way too close.
When Jordan brought their plates to the table, she closed her laptop and pushed it to the side. “Looks amazing.”
He smiled and gestured to the dogs, who were snoozing under the table. “Should we feed them now, or wait?”
She glanced at her watch. “Let’s wait. It’s early for Bear. Besides, they’re sleeping.”
“Works for me.” He slid into the seat beside her and clasped his hands together. “Would you say grace?”
“Sure.” She was surprised by his request. Up until now, she’d assumed he’d just gone along with her prayers without really participating.
She bowed her head and gathered her thoughts.
“Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless this food and bless the ranch. We ask for the strength and courage as we seek those who would harm innocent women and their babies. And lastly, please keep us safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen,” Jordan echoed. “It’s hard not to think about the babies,” he added as they began to eat. “Like Jenny’s daughter. Is there anything new with the task force?”
“Not that I know of.” She chewed a slice of bacon. “I wish I could give you something hopeful to look forward to, but we don’t have as many leads as we’d like.”
“I understand.” He sipped his coffee. “Although patience is not my strong suit. Unless it’s dealing with animals.”
She had noticed his tolerance with Cutie and could only imagine he was the same way as he worked with the horses and cattle.
They were just finishing their meal when she heard the rumble of a car engine. Autumn jumped to her feet, reached for her weapon and bolted toward the window to face the oncoming threat.
Bear woke up and followed her, with Cutie trailing behind. She relaxed when she recognized the police vehicle sitting in the driveway.
Then she frowned when Detective Daniel Peters slid out from behind the wheel. He hitched his belt up and strode to the door, his perpetual scowl engraved on his features.
“It’s Peters,” she said, crossing over to open the door. “Stay back, Bear.”
Bear didn’t move.
“Detective.” She greeted him coolly. “I’m surprised to see you here so early.”
He flushed. “Redding asked me to follow up on the shooting incident last night first thing.” He glared at her as if she’d done something wrong and her earlier thoughts of him coming around vanished. “Seems like a hotshot like you wouldn’t need any help, but I had no choice but to follow orders.”
Hotshot? He was still upset that she’d been put on the task force over him. Which was ridiculous, since the task force was comprised of all K-9 handlers. Peters didn’t have a dog. Swallowing her annoyance, she opened the door wider. “Come in. Would you like coffee?”
“Black, no sugar.” She noticed he didn’t thank her. Bear growled as Peters crossed the threshold, which caught her by surprise. Did her K-9 know something she didn’t?
“I don’t like dogs,” Peters muttered as he skirted Bear and Cutie to sit at the table.
She almost told him the feeling was obviously mutual but held back. No point in antagonizing the guy any further. He already had a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Elbert. Bear had stopped growling and hadn’t alerted, so she tried to relax.
Peters was a jerk, but he wasn’t her assailant. He was too big in the gut for one thing. And probably not smart or quick enough, either.
Jordan didn’t look happy to see the detective but brought him a cup of coffee, anyway. She gave him an apologetic look before joining Peters at the table.
“I heard this guy fired several rounds before escaping on the minibike,” Peters said, breaking the prolonged silence. “Did you get a good look at him?”
“He wore black and a ski mask over his face.” She caught Jordan’s gaze and gestured to the computer. “We have a few images of him from the trail cameras mounted on the house.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about the trail cameras.” Peters averted his gaze, as if caught sleeping on the job. “Can I take a look?”
“Yes.” Jordan opened his laptop and retrieved the images. Then he turned the machine so Peters could scroll through. “We might have had a better chance at getting this guy if the storm hadn’t knocked out the power.”
Peters shrugged, then frowned as he toggled through the pictures. He waved a dismissive hand. “These aren’t much help.”
“I know.” She managed to keep her tone civil. “I was outside with Bear, who followed his scent through the woods. When I saw him near the barn, I identified myself as a cop and told him to drop his weapon. That’s when he fired at me.”
Peters grunted. “I guess it’s a good thing he’s a lousy shot.”
Was that his way of saying he was glad she hadn’t been hurt? She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Yep.”
“Why do you think he switched from the black sedan with muddy plates to the minibike?” Peters asked. “Seems odd to change his mode of transportation midstream.”
“I assume he wanted to get closer to the house without us seeing him.” She tapped the screen.
“He likes to hang out in these woods along the back of the property. Last time, he parked his car several yards down the road. This time, he was able to ride right out of the woods. I was going to try to follow him in my SUV but by the time I reached it, he was long gone.”
“The minibike had a small engine,” Peters said, his expression holding disdain. “Those things barely go twenty to twenty-five miles per hour. If you’d tried to follow, you probably would have caught up to him.”
She bit her lip to keep from snapping. She spoke evenly with an effort. “You might be right. I’m not an expert and was under the impression he was on a small motorcycle. I didn’t learn it was a minibike until it was found abandoned at the side of the road.”
“Hmm.” Peters smirked, as if he still thought she’d dropped the ball on the investigation, letting the guy slip away without putting in effort. After another sip of his coffee, he asked, “You still haven’t identified him from one of the perps you’ve arrested?”
“No. I’ve been thinking that this could be related to my mother’s cold case.”
“Oh yeah?” For once Peters looked intrigued. “How?”
“I’m not sure, but if you could maybe look into what cases she was investigating prior to her murder, that might help.”
He didn’t appear convinced, but nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
She tried not to roll her eyes. If Peters didn’t try harder, she’d ask Captain Redding to assign someone else to assist or do it herself. “Thanks. In the meantime, I plan to keep going through the list of arrests.”
Peters frowned. “Is there anything else you can tell me that will help us find him?”
There was no us, but she didn’t voice her thoughts. “No. But I appreciate you driving all the way out there to follow up.” It was more than what he’d done on Jenny’s case, and she could tell by how Jordan glared at the detective he was thinking the same thing.