Excited at finding a lead to her grandmother, Sarah Woodward turned the hired SUV into the driveway toward the ranch house. Ahead, she made out a pickup parked out front with a man rugged-up against the cold, wearing a Stetson an
d worn cowboy boots. She parked beside the vehicle and slid down her window. “Hi, I’m Sarah.”
Cowboy Boots touched his hat. “Ma’am.”
Deciding to leave her purse inside the car, she slid from the seat and smiled at him. “Is this the place my grandma was interested in buying?” She glanced at the dilapidated old house. “It looks like a fixer-upper.”
“Yeah, that’s what she said she wanted.” His mouth turned up at the corners. “She told me she wanted a feel for the place and I arranged for her to stay in the root cellar. There’s power down there, beds, and a stove. It’s nice and warm. The house needs a lot of work before it’s habitable.”
“Did she stay?”
“I guess so, she left some of her things down there.” He started walking toward the barn. “She could be back anytime.”
Sarah wanted to jump for joy; no wonder no one had seen her grandma if she was staying out here in the sticks. “Can I take a look? I would recognize my grandma’s things.”
“Sure, I’ll show you the way.”
As she walked into the barn, she could hear the hum of machinery. When he waved the way toward an entrance cut into the barn floor, she hesitated. The dimly lit stairs made the place creepy, and she could see dusty cobwebs wafting in the breeze. Never go into a dark cellar. The warning played on a loop through her mind.
“If you’re afraid, I’ll come with you.” Cowboy Boots pulled a pistol from the back of his belt and smiled at her. “I have this if we see a rat.”
Apprehension slipped over her; going into a dark cellar with a man holding a gun might be stupid, but hey, if it was okay for Grandma, it was okay for her. “Okay.”
She took the steps with caution and moved along a short passageway then turned into the main room. A single bulb glowed over a wooden table and she could see bunk beds and a stove as he had mentioned. “It is warm down here. The stove works really well.”
Agony slammed into her brain. She lifted her hand and absently stared at the blood dripping through her fingers. “Oh, I’ve hit my head.”
She turned to look at him and the light fell on his expression, making his eyes appear to glow. Terror gripped her at the sight of the gun pointed at her face. She staggered back, uncomprehending. “Did you hit me?”
“Yeah.” Cowboy Boots gave her an evil smile and stepped closer to press the muzzle of the gun to her forehead. “Back up nice and slow until you reach the table then take off your clothes.”
Twenty-Eight
Jenna leaned back in her office chair and looked at Kane. “What’s your take on the suspects?”
“So far, Rockford is the only suspect with a possible motive, and I’m grabbing at straws here.” Kane pushed a hand through his thick black hair. “The evidence is weak and we’ll need a lot more proof before we can bring him in for questioning. The same goes for Stan Clough. We need to find out what he’s been doing since he got out of jail and pay him a visit. He appears to be a prime suspect but we still need to discuss the evidence we have linking Rockford to the crime.”
Jenna tapped her pen on the table. “Go on.”
“I saw a barrel identical to the one found at the landfill on the back of the vehicle involved in the accident.” Kane gave her a meaningful stare then moved to the whiteboard and made a numbered list in the “Body in the barrel” column. “One, a pickup carrying a black barrel ran you off the road. Two, we find a corpse in a similar barrel, and if it is Helms, we have the hockey link to Rockford.” He turned and stared at her. “Three, we concluded the person who dumped the barrel at the landfill used the back gate, which probably makes him a local. Four, on investigating, someone shot at us. Rowley mentioned Rockford’s a crack shot.” He pushed a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all directions. “What else can you tell me about Rockford? Why would he try to hurt you?”
Jenna frowned. “Rockford is big on getting even. I did bruise his ego in front of his friends. Do you think that is enough?”
“Unless I’m correct and all three incidents are warnings.” Kane rubbed the dark stubble on his chin. “Can you remember the attacker’s exact words?
I’ll never forget. Jenna pushed down the need to vomit and nodded. “He said, ‘Things were going nice and smooth and you had to bring in a big-city cop. Keep your mouth shut and your dog on a leash or I’ll show you exactly what I’m capable of doing.’ Then he cuffed me around the head, pushed me flat on my face and ran off. You arrived a couple of moments later.” She moved her gaze from one deputy to the other. “I have no idea what he was talking about, unless, like you said, I missed something during Stan Clough’s arrest.” She rubbed her temples. “If it was Rockford, I embarrassed him in front of his friends then you did the same when he tried to hit on me.” She sighed. “We know Rockford was at the Cattleman’s Hotel but from the size of the man, it could have been Stone as well. I have no idea if he was there though; I don’t remember seeing him.”
“I doubt whoever is responsible just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I think someone is monitoring our movements.” Kane rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “The question is, how?”
“Oh, shit.” Rowley’s face reddened. “When Daniels was at the landfill directing traffic, he called in over the two-way asking for you.” He winced. “I told him you had headed out to inspect the back gate at the landfill and would be in later.”
Jenna rubbed her temples. “What did he want?”
“Oh, he said he’d resolved the traffic problem and wanted to return to the station.” Rowley shrugged. “I told him to come on back. I didn’t think it was something requiring your permission.”
“That’s fine. It’s not your fault, you had no idea what was happening and neither did Daniels.” She met his gaze. “But from now on we need to keep my movements off the airways.”
“That solves one mystery because you are usually at the Cattleman’s Hotel after the Larks game.” Kane rubbed his chin and his hooded gaze went to her. “Either man would only require a scanner to listen in to the cruiser transmissions. That makes three attempts on your life, in my book. So far, Stone has only been a nuisance and we don’t know enough about him to believe he is capable of murder, so his name goes on the attempted murder list for now.” He drew a line under Josh Rockford’s name. “Rockford has threatened you twice, hasn’t he, and in front of witnesses? Is there any other reason he would try and warn you off?”