“It’s not looking good.” Jenna indicated to the brown water rushing past in the drainage ditches alongside the highway. “I’ll call Raya and make sure she keeps the boys at home today. Do we have enough supplies if we get isolated?”
Smiling to himself, Kane’s mind went to the extension they’d added to the barn. As their substitute family had risen over the last few years, and the weather had become so unpredictable, he’d become more like a prepper. He stored goods just in case something happened. He’d built the barn extension to withstand earthquake and flood. It had solar and gasoline generators and enough stores to share. He’d encouraged the other deputies and Wolfe to do the same, but he took the “just in case” attitude. The swollen muddy river came into view, and he pulled to a stop alongside the road and turned to Jenna. “You don’t need to worry about supplies. All the new appliances run on an app that orders and restocks food items as we use them. I have beef, pork, and chicken in the freezers in the barn, along with everything else we could possibly need. Wolfe even made sure we have all the necessary medical supplies for an emergency, should anything happen. Why don’t you call Raya and I’ll go and check the flood levels.”
“Okay.” Jenna reached for her phone.
Kane’s boots sunk into the wet grass as he opened the back door and unhooked Duke from his harness. He made his way across the grassy slope until he came to the sandy riverbank. In front of him the river moved swiftly, curling around rocks sticking out of the water and hurtling past under the bridge. He could make out the flood markers on each side of the bridge and the road leading onto the highway. Brown muddy water lapped the bottom of each post. There would be room for more water if it remained dry for a day or two but once it rained in the mountains, the water would come cascading down into the valley, and the river at this point wasn’t wide enough to take away the excess flow. In the past, this part of the highway had flooded all the way through to the Blackwater on-ramp. Flooding here meant that delivery trucks would be held up for an indefinite time as there was no way around the water.
Standing hands on hips, Kane scanned the immediate area, taking in the threat. Large spots of water hit his Stetson and he stared into the turbulent sky. The wind had picked up since leaving the ranch and dark clouds moved fast across the sky as if they were in a hurry to be somewhere else. Thunder rolled in the distance, and above the mountains lightning zigzagged across the sky. He whistled for Duke and they headed back to the Beast. He opened the back door to the truck, grabbed one of the old towels from the floor, and dried the dog’s wet feet before placing him on the seat and clipping in his harness. It seemed to him that Duke really enjoyed getting his feet wet and the subsequent drying process, but it made him smile that one mention of the word bath had his dog running for cover. He climbed behind the wheel and turned to look at Jenna, who had finished talking to the boys on the phone. “If that storm hits, it’s going to flood. The river is already swollen and every part of the surrounding land is draining into it and making it worse.”
“The mayor has everyone on full alert.” Jenna leaned back in her seat and sighed. “The last time this part of the river and downstream flooded, most of the town remained safe, although no supplies could get here, apart from those coming from the other side of the mountain.” She indicated with her chin to a truck with bold letters on the side stating it was from Black Rock Falls City Council. “They’re already out checking the roads. I’m sure they’ll notify Blackwater if the highway goes underwater at this end. If they don’t, we’ll end up with a convoy of trucks blocking the highway. Looking at how dark the sky is right now, flooding is inevitable.”
By the time they reached the office, rain fell in sheets and thundered against the roof of the Beast. Visibility had dropped considerably and vehicles creeped along Main, some pulled to the curb to wait out the storm. Kane drove to the back entrance of the office and pulled up outside the awning covering the back door. He climbed out, leaving the door open for Jenna, who slid across to his seat to avoid getting wet. He collected Duke from the back seat and they all hurried inside. Jenna walked ahead of him. She instructed her deputies to go to the conference room and then dropped by the front counter to update Maggie on the case and take any messages.
Kane climbed the stairs and found Carter and Jo in the conference room staring at their laptops. He sat down beside Jo, needing to pick her brains about the current case. He had great respect for Jo’s knowledge of the criminal mind. She traveled across the country lecturing about criminal profiling. She had also published many books on the subject and was considered one of the best behavioral analysts in the business. After updating her on the information or lack of it on Jan Pierce’s killer, he offered her his theory and then sat back and waited for her to mull it over.
Before Jo had time to reply, Jenna came into the room and went to the coffee pot and filled two cups before sitting beside him. Kane took the cup from her and smiled. “I’ve updated Jo on the case and hopefully she’ll be able to give us better insight into the killer’s motive.”
“In my opinion, the chances of someone overhearing Jan telling her friends about her intention to walk up the mountain trail is a little remote.” Jo’s frank expression moved over Kane. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the crime itself is way too clean for your average serial killer. I figure that Jan’s killer knew her. He or she was privy to her enthusiasm about facing her fears and taking the Bear Peak Mountain trail rather than driving. This person might have even encouraged her.”
Not seeing why, Kane frowned. “I need a bigger picture. Can you explain why you would come to this conclusion?”
“As you know, most crimes fit into certain categories.” Jo pushed her laptop to one side and reached for her cup of coffee. “Most domestic murders are caused by intense emotions and happen in the spur of the moment. The killer in this instance usually suffers from remorse.”
Kane nodded. “So, we’re talking about anger, fear, jealousy, and revenge. Those that are often caused by relationship breakdowns or a wrongdoing of some kind?”
“I can’t see Jan falling into any of those categories.” Jenna turned her coffee cup around with her fingertips. “From what we know about her, she was a homebody and hardly knew anyone. I can’t imagine her instigating that type of emotion in anyone.”
“You mentioned she didn’t have any relatives that you know of, so other motives like greed for financial gain, the desire for power and control, or gang-related violence are off the table.” Jo sipped her coffee. “This leads us into the world of the psychopath. The unknown, mainly because they don’t require a reason to kill. Although, in my opinion, this doesn’t resemble a typical psychopathic murder, unless we have a killer who enjoys seeing someone fall onto rocks. I guess it could be a fantasy one of them might enjoy, but unlike the slash and kill, strangulation, and other very violent crimes, it would be difficult to lure their victims to a suitable place to reenact their fantasy.”
“So do we put this one into the too hard basket or was it perhaps an attempted rape that went wrong?” Jenna pushed a hand through her hair. “That can be a spontaneous action, and if they struggled on the edge of the mountain, it would be easy enough for Jan to fall. The perpetrator could easily slip into the forest and move to another trail and walk back down to the parking lot without anyone really noticing him.”
“That’s very possible.” Jo narrowed her gaze. “We should consider factors like substance abuse. Environmental influences—for instance, bullying and humiliation—can lead to violent behavior and homicide. Perhaps Jan reminded the killer of someone in their past and it triggered a violent episode.” She leaned back and sighed. “He might have been stalking her for days or weeks and was just waiting for a chance to get her alone. Did she mention to the group or Raven the reason why she decided to take self-defense classes and one of his dogs for protection? It seems to me, if she’d been nursing her grandma for a long period of time, she’d still have been alone to some extent. It’s not as if Grandma had the capacity to defend them from someone breaking into the house—there must have been another reason. Why was she suddenly scared? I would be looking at this angle.”
Impressed and intrigued by Jo’s insight, Kane nodded. “So we move the investigation toward people who Jan came into contact with over the last few months. As she remained at home most of the time, we’ll need to consider her clients and anyone else she became involved with.”
“And anyone who came by to help her care for her grandma.” Jenna made a few notes on a legal pad. “She would have had some assisted care—a nurse and a doctor definitely and someone to help Jan transport her back and forth to have tests or whatever at the hospital. Her health insurance would have covered transport or visits by paramedics.” She smiled at Jo. “It is like a ray of sunshine having you drop by and assist us with a case. I find it amazing how you hold all this knowledge inside your head. You have angles I would never have considered.”
After taking a long sip of coffee, Kane leaned back in his chair and looked at Jo. “Would you consider the women who are taking the self-defense classes a threat to Jan? The reason I’m asking this is because the murder is clean. Pushing someone over the edge of a cliff is something a woman could do, so our killer isn’t necessarily a man.”
“Agreed.” Jo ran the tip of her finger over the drip running down the side of her cup before raising her eyes to him. “A jealous woman would have wanted to see destruction and she would have certainly been satisfied with seeing Jan crumpled on the rocks. Was there anything about Jan that could make someone jealous enough to kill her?”
“Not really, no.” Jenna frowned. “She was very quiet and kept her eyes on the floor most times. I’ve seen her in Kane’s and Raven’s classes. Raven really needed to encourage her to take part when he wanted to show them a move they could use to protect themselves. He made every one of them practice the move with him and then they practiced on each other. Personally, I can’t honestly see her making anyone jealous. She just didn’t seem the type. In the class, everyone got along really well. Like we mentioned before, they all went for coffee after each class and chatted to each other. I believe they are becoming a self-help group. All of them had some degree of loneliness, and for once in their lives they had a group of other women they could talk to.”
“Hmm.” Carter swung his gaze their way. “I figure it will be someone new who came into her circle. If she’d been working for the same stores for a time, she’d have a lunatic doing things way before now.” He moved a toothpick across his lips. “Could the new friendship that she struck up have caused jealousy? The woman you mentioned speaking to this morning is someone I would look into. Has she been spending more time with Jan than somebody else? I’d be looking at that somebody else.”
“Yes, I agree.” Jenna nodded. “Jan’s life was quiet until her grandmother died. So we need to expand our search area. I’m considering anyone she might have come in contact with. All the people she’d need to speak to when her grandma died: funeral director, hospital staff, and the like.” She looked at Rio. “Make a list on the whiteboard of anyone you consider and follow up. If Jan’s grandma had medical equipment, it’s likely hired. If it’s missing from the house, we need to consider whoever she called to help remove it from her home.”
“Got it.” Rio stood and headed for the whiteboard.
A blast of hail hit the windows like buckshot and Kane turned to Jenna. “The storm is going to be nasty. What do you want us to investigate first?”
“I figure we go and check the home. Rowley and Raven can handle the women from the group. They’d likely be able to tell us if anyone suspicious came into their circle.” Jenna turned to Carter. “I hope you and Jo want to be involved?”
“Yeah, well, I do. We need to catch this killer.” Carter turned to Jo. “You?”
“Yes, of course.” Jo glanced down at her tablet. “This one will be intriguing.”
Fourteen
