They both had taken their FBI jackets along with them in the truck but decided not to wear them. Sometimes announcing their arrival did more harm than good. They often frightened people. Once they saw federal agents, most times they expected the IRS must have sent them. As Zorro wasn’t indicating that a dog would rush out at them, Carter led the way along the gravel driveway, his boots crunching on the small wet stones. They took the usual precautions as they approached the door, spreading out one each side before Carter knocked. Inside, light footsteps came toward them and the door opened to reveal a young woman, barely eighteen. She had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a pink crop top and a pair of Daisy Dukes. She appeared to be way too thin to be healthy, and dark circles under her eyes and the terrified expression she gave him put him on instant alert. He glanced behind her but saw no one. His attention moved over her in a swift inspection. Bruising that could only be from fingers wrapped around the tops of both arms. If there’d been a complaint against Wallace, Jenna would have been here or sent someone, but obviously this woman was either too scared to complain or didn’t consider the treatment she received bad enough.
“We would like to speak to Rodney Wallace. Is he home?” Jo moved to his side. She held up her credentials. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. We are conducting routine inquiries in the area.”
“Joan, who is that?” A loud angry voice came from behind the woman.
“It’s two people from the FBI. They want to speak to you.” Joan stood to one side. “I guess you’d better come in.”
A man came walking toward them with broad shoulders. He was good-looking and likely played college football at one time. Carter held up his cred pack. “Special Agent Ty Carter. We’d like to ask you a few questions about your customers—if you’ve got the time?”
“Get back in the kitchen, Joan, and shut the door.” Wallace glared at the young woman and waited until the kitchen door shut behind her before he turned to them. “If you need dates and times, I’ll go and grab my tablet. I keep my schedules on there.” He indicated to an open door along the hallway. “That’s my office. Come with me and I’ll see if I can assist you.”
The hairs on the back of Carter’s neck rose and beside him Zorro growled as if sensing his master’s dislike of the man in front of him. He’d noticed the scared look in the young woman’s eyes and the way she glanced over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her. He wiggled his fingers at Zorro to stand down and followed Wallace into the office. “Mrs. Hurst mentioned that you went by to do some repairs for her.” He noticed the sudden change in Wallace’s expression and held up a hand. “She didn’t have a complaint against you, but we’d like to know how you came to visit Jan Pierce, Roxanne Dunn, and Sierra Lang.”
“I make it my business to know when the womenfolk are having their meetings.” Wallace leaned back in his seat and interlaced his fingers, his thumbs tapping together as he spoke. “It’s easy enough to come by that information because most of them put up flyers on the community notice board. Those particular women you mentioned, I happened by when I went to Aunt Betty’s Café for supper one night. All of them were sitting around chatting and I went over, passed out a few of my flyers, and told them if they needed any work done and showed me the flyer, I’d give them a ten percent discount on the estimate.”
“Is this how you drum up work?” Jo remained standing in the doorway. “Do you find it easier to deal with women than men?”
“Yeah, most times women are pretty stupid.” Wallace looked at Carter and raised both eyebrows as if trying to get him to agree to his statement. “If they’re living alone, I can usually talk them into buying just about anything.”
Carter disliked this man already. “Were you in the vicinity of the hiking trail parking lot at Bear Peak on Thursday morning?”
“I’ve seen the news.” Wallace’s nose flared. “That’s where that Pierce girl went over the edge of the trail, isn’t it? I guess you’re looking for witnesses, but unfortunately, I wasn’t there. I did meet the woman earlier in the week. She’d wasted my time calling me out to her place, but the moment I got there she told me she planned on getting a protection dog and would be going up the mountain to collect it on Thursday.”
Deciding to use one of Kane’s interrogation techniques by sympathizing with a suspect, Carter shook his head. “That’s the problem with women. They can change their mind in a split second. They don’t care if they put a man out and cost him half a day’s time.” He could almost feel Jo’s eyes boring into him and couldn’t bring himself to look at her, but he’d explain later.
“Yeah, exactly.” Wallace snorted, nodding in agreement. “I did go to the other women’s houses and gave them an estimate. Again, they were just time wasters. I’m not sure why they bothered to call me in the first place. They have no respect. When I was young if we didn’t do as we were told, my daddy would take me and my sisters out back to the barn and whip us soundly. Look at me. I turned out just fine.” He snorted. “Joan knows her place too. Women were put on this earth to serve men.”
“Do you get enjoyment out of dominating women?” Jo had one hand on the weapon hidden beneath her jacket. “Do you beat your wife?”
“There’s no law to say I can’t if I wanted to. Unless they complain and then it’s a few bucks’ fine. They always end up crawling back to me. Well, she did until I broke her nose—then she got an order against me. The moment her sorry ass left, I found myself another woman.” Wallace smiled at her. “I asked Joan to move in right away. She’d just turned sixteen. It’s a good age because they don’t have any bad habits.”
Carter frowned. “I understood you were married.”
“Divorced now.” Wallace pushed to his feet. “That ugly toad tried to get me put in jail. I’m glad to be rid of her. It took me less than a day to find Joan. I’m not marrying her, though. It would be illegal. I know the law. I’d need to be less than three years older to marry her, but sex is fine. It’s a crazy world, isn’t it?” He sniggered. “This way, once she’s passed her best-by date, I’ll trade her in for a new model.” He winked. “Are you married? No? You should get yourself a girlfriend. I could ask Joan if she knows someone looking for an FBI agent.” He sniggered.
Disgusted, Carter clenched his fists so tight his fingernails bit into his palms. “She’s way too young for my taste.”
“That’s your loss.” Wallace looked at Jo when she cleared her throat.
“Were you home on Thursday night and Saturday morning during the storm?” Jo narrowed her gaze on him.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Wallace leaned on his desk, his expression impatient. “Joan will confirm it if you don’t believe me. What happened? Did someone mess up those women?”
Carter stood slowly and met his gaze. “They’re dead and I mean to find out who murdered them. Don’t leave town. If you do, I’ll hunt you down and you’ll be arrested.”
“Is that a threat?” Wallace straightened to his full height and glared at him.
“No, Mr. Wallace.” Jo gave him a sweet smile. “It’s a promise.”
Thirty-Seven
Fuming, Carter banged his fists on the steering wheel, making Zorro bark. “I can’t for the life of me understand why the federal age of consent is eighteen and yet states have different ages. Sixteen seems so young to be living with a man. He’s right. It’s illegal to marry her but sixteen is the legal age of consent for sex in Montana. It makes no sense.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t make the laws.” Jo blew out a long breath. “We can only enforce them, but unless Joan makes a complaint against him, there’s nothing we can do.”
Starting the engine, Carter added the address of Dr. Caleb Morrow into the GPS. “I figure we need to call Jenna and bring her up to date.”
“Okay.” Jo made the call. She explained about their interview with Wallace. “He’s a creep, no doubt about it, but he seems to have an alibi for the times the other girls were murdered. This doesn’t leave us with many suspects, does it?”
