“Send me an image of what you’ve discovered. I’ll only need the one. If it’s as you say, I’ll issue a search warrant immediately and text it to you. You can send one of your deputies to collect the original from my office.”
“I’ll do it.” Kane took the photograph and sent it directly to the judge. He pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and pushed it into the computer to download the files. He shrugged. “Don’t worry, we’ll get the warrant.”
Moments later Jenna’s phone chimed. She followed the link and downloaded the file to her phone. “Should we take the computer?”
“In normal circumstances I would say yes, but Graves is out in the forest playing catch me if you can.” Kane scratched his cheek. “I’m wondering if it would be better to leave everythingas is. If he doesn’t know we’ve been inside the house, it’s likely he’ll come back and carry on as usual. I’ll look at what’s on his computer. By the time I’ve finished, I’ll have downloaded a copy of his entire hard drive. We take that to the DA, and the next time we come by it will be with an arrest warrant and backup.”
Liking his style, Jenna smiled. “That sounds like a good plan. Make sure you check his emails. Get copies of his address book and any suspicious emails. While you’re busy, I’ll search the rest of the house. Make sure everything is back in its place when you’re done.”
“Not a problem.” Kane wiggled his gloved fingers. “He’ll never know I’ve been here.”
Nodding, Jenna pulled on examination gloves and slowly went through the office drawers. She discovered files mostly on children the doctor had as clients. As she flicked through the files, she noticed some of names had small red hearts beside them. A sick feeling curled in her stomach. This man had been in a position of trust. If these files lined up with some of the sickening photographs, it would mean he’d been abusing his patients. Leaving Kane, she went along the hallway and found the doctor’s bedroom. She meticulously searched through the drawers and went to the closet, pulling a shoebox from one of the shelves. She stepped back in disgust at finding the trophies that the sick freak had collected over the years. She took photographs and tipped half of the box into an evidence bag and then sealed and labeled it. As Kane had a complete copy of the hard drive, physical evidence like this might be important and she didn’t plan on leaving it all behind. Evidence collecting would come later, but for now this would do especially if they could link the items or DNA to any of the photographs on the computer. Leaving the room exactly as she’d found it, she headed back to the office.
“I’m done here. We’ll drop the evidence into the DA’s officeand then head to Aunt Betty’s. Time is getting away from us.” Kane removed the thumb drive, pushed it into his pocket, and then indicated for them to leave. “We’ll leave by the front door. It’s snowing heavily now, and by the time he gets back, our footsteps out back will be covered. I couldn’t see more than a dark shape running through the trees. He obviously knows his way through the forest, and for all we know, has a vehicle parked on a fire road somewhere. I doubt he even noticed we were following him.”
Distaste for Graves crawled over Jenna like a rash. She couldn’t wait to get outside the house. From the notes she’d read about Graves, for many years he’d maintained his office inside his house. The thought of him abusing kids right where she’d been standing made her sick to her stomach. She watched as Kane collected a tracker from the Beast and attached it to the underside of Graves’ truck. “You know I don’t care what anyone says, but I’m not leaving our kids alone with anyone. If they need counseling, I’m gonna be right there. After what we have seen over the years, I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
“Same.” Kane swung inside the Beast. “Let’s get this over with and go and get something to eat. I’m tired and cold. I figure this day has forty-eight hours in it. Worst of all, we have to deal with criminals instead of eating dinner with our children. I know they understand but I always feel like I’m letting them down when I’m not there.”
Jenna squeezed his arm. “Me too. Don’t worry, this will be over soon. We have at least three solid suspects. With a little more digging, we’ll be able to narrow it down and maybe this case will be solved by Christmas. It will be good to spend some time at home with the boys.”
“You can say that again.” Kane turned onto the highway.
THIRTY-TWO
After leaving the evidence with the DA, Kane drove Jenna to Aunt Betty’s Café. They found a parking spot some ways away, and battered by the freezing wind, hurried along the sidewalk. In the windows of the stores, Christmas lights flashed in bright colors and festive music filtered into the street. Most had Christmas trees just inside the door adorned with brightly colored gifts. Head throbbing from the cold, Kane embraced the warmth in Aunt Betty’s Café. The team had pushed tables together in their usual spot and everyone sat around chatting. Duke bounded over to see him, his thick tail windmilling. He nodded to Carter. Duke would go anywhere with him and Zorro, but Duke stressed out a little if Kane went missing for some time. He rubbed the dog’s ears and, after removing his coat, slid into a seat beside Beth Katz. He didn’t know her very well. Jenna had spent some time with her during his time away on a mission and found her to be a very experienced agent. He sat enjoying the warmth as Jenna brought everyone up to date about Graves. Beside him, Beth cleared her throat trying to get his attention. He swiveled his gaze toward her. “So, you weren’t able to locate Ethan Rourke?”
“We’ll catch up with him tomorrow. If you all survive taking down Bryce Withers.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Styles has insisted I remain at the office and bring the files up to date. As he is technically my boss, I agreed. He wants me to do in-depth searches on the suspects. He doesn’t want the case to run over Christmas if possible. Styles takes Christmas very seriously and is looking forward to being part of your family’s celebrations.”
Kane smiled at her and slowly removed his gloves. “We’ll enjoy having everyone along. Unfortunately, apart from the boys, Jenna and I don’t have any family—I mean siblings or parents. We do call Atohi Blackhawk and his relatives family, due to our son Tauri. So we’ve made our team an extended family. We celebrate all the holidays together, and you and Styles are more than welcome to join us.”
“Thanks. We’re very much loners as well.” Beth barked a laugh. “Unless you include my father in the state penitentiary. I’m not sure if anyone has told you but it’s no secret that I’m the daughter of a serial killer by the name of Cutthroat Jack.” She sighed. “Before you ask, no, I never saw him kill anyone and I didn’t know he had murdered my mother until a long time after. The cops questioned me at the time and I didn’t know what they were talking about. To me, he was just my dad. I’ve never visited him in jail. To be perfectly honest I couldn’t look at him after knowing what he’s done.”
The conversation paused a while as everyone gave their orders to Wendy. Kane turned back to her. “Is that why you joined the FBI?”
“My first love is IT.” Beth leaned back in her seat looking at him. “I became proficient very early. I discovered the dark web around the age of fourteen. By the time I got to college, the FBI approached me to join their cybercrime division. I admit I found it tough going. They were always waiting for the psychopath to break free in me. I ended up in Snakeskin Gullywith Styles because they believed I didn’t show enough empathy toward a child kidnapped by a predator. It’s a long story. I arrived and took care of the child but found a man bleeding out from a cut throat. I made sure I had the kid safe and tried to save the man’s life. Later we discovered I’d tried to save the perpetrator and the Tarot Killer had murdered him minutes before I arrived on scene.”
Astonished, Kane looked at her. “You could have been killed.”
“I don’t think so.” Beth took a sip from a cup of coffee. “Seems to me, everything I’ve read about him tells me he murders serial killers. I don’t believe he’s a threat to law enforcement. I figure he’s just cleaning up the mess we leave behind.”
Her theory made sense. “You’ve brought down many pedophile rings. Untouchable people.” Kane explained the situation they’d stumbled on previously.
“The thing with pedophiles, Dave, is they’re like cockroaches—there’s never just one.” A shadow crossed Beth’s eyes. “I’d like to look at his computer when you’re done. It’s likely that he’s connected to others. They use the dark web and have many disguises. They’re in every walk of life and aren’t ‘the dirty old man’ everyone believes. As a sexually deviant type of psychopath, they have no empathy for the children they destroy. Over the last ten years or so, I’ve made it my life’s work to hunt them down and bring them to justice.”
“I’m sure the DA will be more than willing to hand over the computer.” Jenna leaned forward in her chair to look at Beth. “I agree with you. I’ve seen things over the last decade or so that keep me awake at night. The more we put behind bars the better.”
The conversation became lighter as they all enjoyed their meal. Susie, the manager of Aunt Betty’s Café, also provided large plates of leftovers for each of the dogs. Kane watched with interest as Duke, Ben, and Bear woofed into their plates of food,demolishing them in seconds while the Doberman, Zorro, ate daintily. With three dogs watching him, it didn’t take long before Bear tried to sneak a sausage from his plate. Zorro, sitting like a sphynx with the plate between his front legs, gave a low growl. His top lip quivered over a set of formidable canines. Kane chuckled and looked at Carter. “Is he always like that with his food?”
“We don’t have many other dogs around.” Carter moved Zorro and his food beside him. “With Duke, it’s mutual respect.” He smiled. “Then again, he usually gets kibble. I don’t spoil him with sausages. I guess he figures it’s a onetime deal and he’s gonna savor every bite.”
Back at the office, Kane made sure everyone had the equipment they needed while Jenna uploaded files to the server. He assumed that the pedophile had returned to his home without knowing that he had been discovered as the tracker app on his phone indicated that the vehicle remained outside his house. A DMV check confirmed that the vehicle was his only form of transport. Convinced they would be able to arrest him easily enough the moment the DA issued an arrest warrant, he put Graves to the back of his mind and concentrated on the mission. When Jenna appeared at the door of her office, they all moved out but left a few minutes apart to avoid appearing like a convoy. They kept the vehicles to a minimum and left all the dogs in the office with Beth. She appeared to be quite happy to work in the office alone, even though Jo had offered to remain behind.
Night had fallen by the time they headed to the fire road in Stanton Forest. Kane dropped Jenna, Jo, and Kalo at Wolfe’s van. He emerged from the front seat wearing combat gear andcarrying an automatic rifle. He slid into the front seat and nodded to Carter.
“Do you know how to use that thing?” Carter’s eyes widened.
“Marine.” Wolfe faced front, his face frozen.
