“If you think you can hide your dirty little secrets from me, you’re mistaken. I know what you are and if you lay one finger on that child out there or any others, I’ll find out and hunt you down like the dog you are.” Kane opened the door but didn’t appear and his voice lowered to a whisper. “You won’t be able to breathe from now on without me knowing.” He moved to the doorway about to leave when Jenna heard Morgan’s voice from behind him.
“You won’t find nothing to hold up in court.” Morgan was breathless and his voice a little too high.
“You won’t make it to court.” Kane was deathly calm as he turned back.
Jenna heard a body hitting the wall and a moan. She turned and hurried to the counter and although the law enforcement officer in her gnawed at her insides to intervene, she figured Kane had his reasons t
o threaten Morgan. By the time she’d collected the takeout, Kane was beside her. “Ready?”
“Nope.” Kane shrugged. “I have to wash my hands.” He headed for the men’s restrooms.
As they walked back to his truck, she turned to him. “What did the girl say?”
“You don’t want to know, Jenna.” Kane opened his truck door for her so she could set the takeout down, and then helped Duke into the back seat.
Jenna climbed in and waited for him to slide behind the wheel. “I need to know and why you roughed up a witness. You don’t get cooperation by threatening people.”
“He asked that child to, let’s say pleasure him, to get a couple of hours of work a week.” Kane’s eyes flashed dangerously. “If she’d agreed to stand up in court and testify against him, I’d have hauled his ass in but she refused. She was barely able to speak to me but I gave her my card and my word to deal with him. She promised to call me if he touches her or anyone else inappropriately.” He started the engine. “Sometimes as cops we give warnings rather than tickets. I just gave him a warning is all.”
He’d likely scared the man to within an inch of his life but rather than criticize his ethics, Jenna nodded. “Okay. When we get back to the office, I’ll send everything we have on Morgan and his MC to Agent Josh Martin. His team is in the Sex Crimes Against Children program. They might place an agent in the MC undercover to find out how deep this goes.”
“Martin is a good agent but they have a massive caseload.” Kane turned onto the highway. “Where to?”
Jenna dropped a few cookies on the blanket for Duke and then turned to him. “The soup kitchen, to speak to Axel Reed. He’s the biker who gave Zoe a ride into Black Rock Falls last Wednesday night. He might be able to tell us where she’s been living since then. He is employed by the local charity who runs the soup kitchen and lives in town.” She opened the bag of donuts and placed then within Kane’s reach. “He’s the minister for the MC.”
“Do you want me to question him?” Kane bit into a donut and sighed with delight.
Jenna bit back a grin. “No. You show the photograph of Zoe around and see if anyone recognizes her.” She stared out the window. “If she made it into town, someone has to have seen her.”
Forty-Five
Preacher had seen the girl with the peaches and cream complexion in town many times. He couldn’t fathom his attraction toward her but the sight of her stirred something deep inside of him, a hunger no food could satisfy. Maybe it was her faultless symmetry. Her face as perfect as if created from the mind of a great artist. The shape, with high cheekbones and retroussé nose, made her look like an earthbound goddess. As he walked from his truck, she slipped from her silver Jeep Cherokee and picked her way across the snow-covered sidewalk, looking almost ethereal in the swirling snow. A strand of blonde hair had escaped from her hood and curled enticingly around one glowing cheek. He loved her eyes—they were as gray as a winter sky. He could imagine her frozen in time, those pretty eyes staring into forever.
He had to have her. She’d never abuse him or leave him and never grow old. He’d keep her in a block of ice and admire her. All he needed was a freezer with a glass door and she would be the centerpiece in his home. She would become a piece of his art he would never share with another soul—not even Ava.
He made his way across the glistening blacktop. The smell of salt and chemicals had tainted the fresh mountain air and he coughed in disgust. He approached her vehicle, then slowed as an eighteen-wheeler came toward him. He dropped his newspaper, slipped out his hunting knife, and using the truck for cover, bent and stabbed the tire. The noise from the rig drowned the hiss of air as the tire deflated. He retrieved his newspaper and followed the girl into Aunt Betty’s. She stood at the counter waiting for her order. He stood beside her and smiled when she looked at him. “Have you tried the apple pie?”
“Yeah, it’s the best in town.” The girl turned back to collect her order and then without a backward glance left the café.
He ordered the pie and a to-go coffee. By the time he’d collected his order, the girl was staring at her vehicle in dismay, her phone in one hand. He placed the takeout in his truck. After wrapping his scarf around his face, he pulled his hood down low and pushed on his sunglasses. He now resembled most of the men in town and crossed the road to her. “Is there a problem?”
“My dad is busy and isn’t picking up his phone and neither is my colleague.” She pointed to the tire. “I have a flat.”
Preacher smiled. Young women were so impatient, and he’d often used that fact to tempt them into his truck. With the digital age, they wanted instant satisfaction and not waiting for a relative or the auto club to help them was usually their downfall. “I’d change it for you but I have a bad back. Where were you heading?”
“Only to the medical examiner’s office, not far.” She frowned. “I can walk, I guess, but the food will get cold.”
Preacher shrugged. “I’m going that way. I’ll give you a ride. You can trust me, I’m a minister. What’s your name?”
“Emily Wolfe.” She smiled. “I—”
“What’s happened, Em?” A huge deputy came up behind him.
“Oh, Dave, am I glad to see you.” Emily beamed at him. “I have a flat. This man just offered me a ride.”
“I see. If you give me your keys, I’ll fix it for you. Do you want to grab your things and wait in my truck?” Dave the deputy indicated to a black truck parked a few spots away ahead of her. “Jenna is there. I won’t be long.”
“Okay.” Emily handed over the keys.