Jenna climbed into the vehicle, glad to find the interior warming from the heater. The incident had upset her more than she cared to admit and highlighted her vulnerability. No man had ever caught her off-guard before; she had believed she had the skill to take down the largest man with ease. Oh boy, was I mistaken. Although armed, the idea of walking into her empty house alone disturbed her. Perhaps she could entice Kane in for a hot drink. When he climbed in beside her, she offered him a smile. “Is that a ploy to get hot chocolate and cookies?”
“Yeah, after working me so hard and making me swear to cover up a potential crime, I think you owe me.” Kane turned the car toward home.
“Okay, but I refuse to discuss the incident tonight. There is nothing to discuss until I figure out who he is and why he is threatening me. Maybe the hood will give us a clue but for now that can wait. I’m exhausted.” Jenna leaned back in the seat. “I’ve had enough excitement since you arrived in town and I need some downtime.” She lifted both eyebrows at him. “What do you say?”
“For your chocolate chip cookies? Let me think…” Kane smiled at her. “Deal.”
Eighteen
Jenna paced the house into the early hours of Sunday morning, constantly checking the locks on windows and doors like someone with OCD. Every time snow slid off her roof and hit the ground with a plop, she grabbed her weapon and slid along the wall, turkey-peeking around each corner. Convinced someone wanted her dead, she opened her laptop and went through each case file, checking every minute detail in case she had missed something, but came up with zip. All her cases had been straightforward.
Living in constant fear should be a thing of the past, and if one of Viktor Carlos’s men found her, she would not get a warning. Death would be instantaneous. Who in Black Rock Falls thought her a threat now that David Kane had joined the department? Someone had something to hide and believed she had turned a blind eye—or ignored it until backup arrived in the form of David Kane. But what crime? What did I miss?
Trying to think of every angle, she crawled into bed, glad of the warmth, and with her Glock nearby, she pulled out a notepad and made notes on anyone who might be a threat to her. Okay, so Josh Rockford had made advances, but if serious why not just ask her out? She had belittled him to some degree of late. A man needing to uphold his reputation with his fans and teammates when under the influence of alcohol might threaten her. Perhaps he feared rejection or had some weird possessive thing going on with her.
Who else in town had she had contact with over the last few months? Her mind went to a nasty cruelty to animals court case over one year ago. A local rancher, Stan Clough, a man in his early forties, had blamed aliens for the animals gutted alive and left in the fields on his ranch. She had committed him for psychiatric evaluation but the report came back negative and the case proceeded. Clough had not taken his dead, sunken eyes off her during the court case, but there had been no threat. Although, his one-year sentence had been a joke, especially as the jail released him after six months.
Apart from Josh Rockford, another man, James Stone, had pestered her since her arrival. A tall, athletic man in his late thirties was also the size of her attacker. The lawyer of the well-heeled residents of Black Rock Falls was a popular choice to smooth over their crimes. In truth, Stone practically stalked her. If he had not been such a close friend of Mayor Rockford, she would have been tempted to take out a complaint against him for harassment. It would have been a waste of time as Mayor Rockford protected his friends. In a local court hearing, she would have lost the case and her job because she required the mayor’s sanction for her elected position.
She allowed her mind to drift back to the last time she had contact with the outwardly handsome and charming James Stone. It had been Thanksgiving and, being alone, she had joined him as his guest at the Cattleman’s Hotel Thanksgiving dinner. His kiss on her doorstep had been demanding. In fact, he had not taken rejection easily, and the angry flash in his eyes had disturbed her.
Although they often crossed paths, she kept him at arm’s length and refused an offer of dinner from him the day before Kane arrived. She made the excuse of being far too busy settling in the new deputy sheriff to enjoy herself. His vow never to give up suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Holy cow, could he have taken stalking to a new level? She made notes in her book and fell back against the pillows.
Telling Kane would be difficult; she found him a little overprotective but many of the agents she worked with had a similar work ethic toward their female partners. In fact, all of them would have taken a bullet for her, and she guessed Kane would be the same. Although some women might find his actions a little condescending, she found his caring nature quite charming and she could keep him in his place if necessary. She smiled and hugged the book against her chest. “Right now, you can be as protective as you like. I think I need all the help I can get.” She gently fingered the earrings he had altered. Having Kane close by was certainly a bonus.
Nineteen
Early Monday morning, the persistent ringtone of Jenna’s cellphone broke into her dream of riding a black stallion in the mountains, and she pawed at the bedside table for her cell. Glancing at the clock, she sighed. Being in charge of the nine-one-one service overnight usually meant a sleepless night, but she had made it to six without being disturbed. “Sheriff Alton. What is your emergency?”
A man’s voice rushed through the earpiece in a garbled flow. She sat upright and pushed the hair from her eyes. “Who is this?”
“George Brinks.”
She pulled the covers up to her chin and shivered. Brinks ran a landfill business on the outskirts of town. “Okay, take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.”
“I found a dead body.”
Shit! “Okay. Nice and slow. Where and when?”
“At the back of the landfill area at the Saddler’s Crossing end. It fell out a fifty-gallon barrel.”
“Fell from where?” Jenna grabbed a pen and notepad from the bedsid
e table. “Did you see it fall?”
“No, no, it was my fault.” He drew in a deep breath but the panic in his voice was evident. “I don’t allow that type of garbage—barrels, I mean—in that area, so I moved it with the forklift. When I moved the container, it toppled over and the lid came loose. The stink was overpowering and I could see part of a body sticking out.”
Every sense locked into action, the fear of the previous evening melted away, and a professional calm slipped over her. A murder under my watch? Jenna slipped from the bed and put the cellphone on speaker then dragged on her uniform. “Don’t touch anything and keep everyone away from the area. Close the gates to the landfill and don’t allow anyone inside. Not anyone. I’ll contact the medical examiner and be there as soon as possible.” She waited for him to disconnect then called Kane.
“Okay, I’ll be there in five. I guess it’s just as well I haven’t eaten breakfast?”
Jenna pulled on her boots. “Yeah. I haven’t eaten either. The call woke me and I don’t have time to brew coffee, so expect me to be cranky.”
“I can meet Mr. Brinks if you want to take some time after what happened last night? I’ll give Rowley a call to meet me at the landfill.”
“Thanks, but we don’t have dead bodies popping up every day. I want to see if it has any relation to our missing persons.” She yawned and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. “Mr. Brinks mentioned the body stinks, so someone must have dumped it recently or it would have frozen solid. Don’t wear a clean uniform; that stink tends to hang around.” She straightened then reached for her belt and holster. “The beginning to another perfect day.”
“Do you have an ME in town?”