Chapter 6
Six
Nothing could be worse than waiting on DNA results to confirm identity when the parents of missing kids waited close by.
Jenna sat at her desk checking through statewide reports, searching for any similar cases.
Who could possibly be deranged enough to decapitate people?
Her head ached from lack of sleep and she actually looked forward to taking a short break to eat lunch and try and push the images of the victims from her mind for a few minutes.
She picked up her phone and called Agent Ty Carter and behavioral analyst Agent Jo Wells in Snakeskin Gully.
It was good to see their faces and she smiled. “Hey, how are things?”
“Slow. I even encouraged Jo to go fishing with me yesterday.” Carter moved a toothpick across his lips, catching it between his teeth to grin.
“The problem with Jo is she’s a catch-and-release girl—and me, well, I lived off the land for a time and appreciate a home-cooked fish dinner.
But I compromised and we let everything we caught swim away with only bruised egos. ”
“I don’t see Dave.” Jo frowned at her. “Is something wrong?”
Wanting to tell them Kane hadn’t been around for ten long days as she should be able to trust her best friends, but knowing one slip of the tongue would place Kane in mortal danger, Jenna forced a smile.
“It’s been the same here and Dave and Shane went on a guys’ getaway.
It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. They left their phones behind, so I’m guessing they’ll be somewhere off the grid for a time. ”
“You don’t need to worry about them, Jenna.” Carter picked up on her concern. “If there are two people who can survive anywhere, it’s them.” His eyebrows raised. “Now what’s the real reason you called? You know you can’t hide anything from the FBI; we have superpowers.”
After explaining the current situation, she looked at Jo.
“Who would do such a thing? I have nothing. Both women gave statements and neither saw anything. No one along the trail, no vehicles—nothing. There’s no evidence at the scene, apart from maybe a partial boot print in the blood spatter, but it could be from the female victim. ”
“Yeah, well if the killer is obsessed with the legend, the male would be the first to die.” Jo drummed her fingers on the desk.
“The couple in the car hear a scraping noise, which in the stories is the Axman dragging the blade of the ax along the side of the vehicle. The guy gets out to see what’s happening and he is murdered and his head placed on the roof.
The girl is left alone, waiting for him to return, and then she gets out of the vehicle and is murdered.
It’s been told many times over Halloween to scare people. ”
Nodding, Jenna leaned back in her chair. “Rio is ready to send out a media release, telling young people not to drive into the forest late at night and to avoid any of the local lovers’ lanes. He’s not mentioning the murders, just that someone has been stalking couples in the area.”
“Hmm, it’s almost Halloween. Seems to me the moment the displays start going up all the crazies crawl out of the woodwork.
” Carter looked at Jenna. “We love to be with you guys at Halloween. If officially you ask us for help, I’ll run it past the director, and if I get the green light, we can get there tomorrow. ”
Blowing out a sigh of relief, Jenna nodded. “Oh, please come. Bring Kalo and Jaime. Our cottage is stocked. You can stay for as long as you want. Raya is here to watch the kids.”
“Okay, I’ll call him right away.” Carter swung his attention to Jo. “Can you profile someone like this, Jo?”
“Not until we have some evidence, but if you consider the killer might be obsessed with Halloween or is part of a cult, something like this might be an initiation.” Jo shrugged.
“There might be more than one person involved too. It’s a wait-and-see game to discover if this perp uses any other weird myths.
There are so many that it would be very difficult to cover all of them with a contingency plan. ”
Chewing on her bottom lip, Jenna nodded. “It’s terrifying to think we’ll need to wait until someone else dies in the hope of finding evidence. I’ve been searching all morning for anyone who has committed the same crime or just been released from prison and came up with a big fat zero.”
“It’s likely someone passing through.” Carter blew out a sigh. “At this time of year, tourism is at a peak. It might be someone just wanting to make a name for themselves in Serial Killer Central.”