“I bet he sells lavender products at his wellness center.” Jo leaned forward in her chair. “He likely recommends it for its calming qualities. If he’s well known for using lavender, it would make sense for him to remove the evidence from the scene.” She frowned. “He’s guilty or covering up for someone.”
Thirty-Nine
Sunday
It had been good to see Atohi Blackhawk when he arrived just after lunch on Sunday. Everyone enjoyed his company, especially Tauri. Having spent almost a year living with him, Tauri looked on him as an uncle. They spent many hours together, with Blackhawk teaching him his language, history, and the traditions of their tribe. When a much happier Jackson had fallen asleep for his afternoon nap, Blackhawk offered to take Tauri for a horseback ride through the local forest. With Jo and Carter living in the cottage, it would give the four of them a short period of time to discuss the case. Jenna would never discuss homicides in front of her boys, but she’d tossed and turned all night trying to work out who could have possibly murdered those innocent women and for what reason. She’d read and reread the case files. All the suspects that had been interviewed appeared to be viable, but she couldn’t point the finger at one of them in particular. She couldn’t work out a motive for murder. All the women came from different backgrounds, occupations, and circle of acquaintances. The only thing that linked these women was the self-defense classes. It seemed more than a coincidence that the killer selected his victims from this small group. Right now, she wanted to dig deeper into the cases with the two people she respected greatly.
They worked for an hour and came up with nothing new and then Jackson had woken. Jenna spent most of the afternoon playing with him, with Carter, while Jo helped Kane in the kitchen getting the food ready for dinner. The afternoon went fast. She spent time talking with Blackhawk, but he needed to leave to feed the dogs on Raven’s ranch. She fed the boys and once they’d been bathed and put to bed, everyone sat around the table eating dinner. It seemed that Kane guided the conversation to anywhere but the case, but Jenna’s mind wouldn’t let it go. She forced herself to stop thinking and instead listened to Carter discussing his visit to Rhett’s ranch. As they retired to the family room, concern gripped her for Rhett. She liked him and couldn’t rest easy until she discovered what had happened to his parents. Although it was a cold case, the letter from his father had sent chills down her spine. It might have been twenty or so years ago, but she wouldn’t let it lie for much longer.
Her concern moved back to the current victims. All their discussions hadn’t unearthed any real conclusions, but everything led back to the self-defense class. Jo and Carter needed to return to Snakeskin Gully soon and this case wouldn’t wait until Carter took his annual leave. She looked at Carter across the family room. “I’ll wait for Kane before we get into any more discussions about the current homicides, but there is something I need to ask you.”
“Ask away.” Carter grinned around his toothpick. “Are you going to ask me why I’m irresistible to women?”
There it was again: the old Carter would slip out without warning and take her by surprise. Jenna couldn’t help smiling. “No, I figure that’s on a need-to-know basis.” She leaned back in her chair. “Do you figure Rhett is safe to move into the ranch?”
“That is the question I’ve been asking myself.” Carter shook his head. “I advised him to get the renovations finished and then his staff settled, so he has people around him—just in case. It’s been over twenty years, but you never know. Some types of scams move from father to son. His father might have taken on more than he could chew or was a thorn in the side of a type of underhand dealing. The cattle business is lucrative—who knows how many people might be skimming off the top.”
Jenna thought for a beat. “I’m glad he’s not moving in for a while. I’d like to look into his parents’ deaths and find out for sure if it was an accident or murder. These days we have better forensics. If there’s anything wrong, Wolfe and Emily will find it.”
“Talking about forensics.” Kane laid a tray of cups and snacks on the coffee table before the fire. “Wolfe mentioned that he’s filed for a search warrant for Norrell and her team to dig up the pig farm.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t envy her that job.”
“It will take forever.” Jo frowned. “We had a recent case involving pigs. They had all the mud from the pens collected and put through a tumbler to be washed. The residue was sorted and tested. It was a nightmare.”
“Can we talk about anything but pigs?” Carter opened his laptop. “I’ve read the case files on the current murders so many times. The MOs are vastly different, but the murders follow a typical serial killer pattern. What is the link?”
“Something we’re not seeing around the self-defense classes.” Jo blew out a sigh. “We all agree with that at least.”
“It’s not the location or someone outside of the group.” Kane rubbed his chin. “It must be someone common to all of the women. The thing is, not all of the women showed for each class.”
After scrolling through the attendance records, Jenna raised her head slowly. “Raven is the only constant across the board. He was involved with every class. You, Carter, and Rio dropped by, but Raven carried the entire course.”
“There’s no way Raven is killing the women.” Jo shook her head. “No way.”
Earlier, Julie had gone by the hospital to collect Raven and take him to his vehicle. Jenna checked her watch. “They should be at his ranch by now. I’ll give him a call.” Jenna lifted her phone, and Kane touched her arm as if to stop her. “I’m not going to accuse him of murder. I have an angle and I need to check it out, is all.” She made the call. “Hey there, I’m just calling to see how you’re doing. You’re on speaker and I’m here with Dave, Jo, and Carter.”
“I’m okay.” Barking sounded in the background. “Julie has left and Atohi is helping me with the dogs. The scans came back normal. The headache will go in a day or so.”
Jenna frowned. “Take what time you need.” She paused a beat. “We’ve been discussing the current homicide cases this afternoon. Something came up I need to ask you about. It might be relevant. I recall you mentioning that Sierra and Jan asked you to drop by to see them regarding either their safety or about getting a dog. Did the same thing happen with Roxanne?”
“Yeah, I went by Roxanne’s house to talk to her. I was inundated with requests by the women in the classes to go by their houses and I don’t think some of them had any interest in getting one of the protection dogs at all. I believe it was a ruse just to get me into their houses alone with them. They tried the same thing with Rio but he always told them he’d do a drive-by and see if anyone was hanging around when he was on patrol in the evenings.” Raven cleared his throat. “The problem was I didn’t have any excuse not to go by if they requested a dog. They knew it’s part of my business and they have every right to purchase one of them. I told them they would be available to people on a most needed basis: that is, women living alone in an isolated area. I know I upset a few of them by refusing to go by to check on their home safety, but Dave insisted I just give them a card to get a professional out there to give them an estimate on how much it would cost. I explained that the Her Broken Wings Foundation has a fund to help anyone in need of assistance securing their property.”
Lights and sirens flashed in Jenna’s mind. She’d had it all wrong. None of the suspects fit the profile she’d just formed in her mind. The killer wasn’t a man after all—she would place her reputation on it. Most of the women in the group were very lonely and had already hit on their instructors numerous times to an extent of making the men uncomfortable. Had she been looking at this all wrong, and the killer is a woman? “Do you mind holding for a second?” She looked at Jo. “In this type of situation, could one of the women Raven refused be jealous enough to commit murder?”
“Yeah, if she believed she was eliminating the competition.” Jo raised both eyebrows. “Jealousy is an extremely strong motive for murder. It is a component of coercive control. My problem with it is Raven hasn’t been involved with any of these women, as in taking them on a date. I believe most of them are completely aware that he is seeing someone.”
“Murders I’ve seen by women when jealousy is involved”—Kane leaned forward in his chair clasping his hands together on his knees—“involve extreme violence. Frenzied attacks usually on the women’s face or breasts. Women like to disfigure their competition. Pushing someone off the edge of the mountain trail did a lot of damage and could have happened in a frenzied attack. I’m not so sure about the drowning in the tub.”
“I disagree.” Jo picked up her coffee and sipped it, eyeing Kane over the edge of the rim. “Leaving the body exposed in a very undignified position is just as bad as disfiguring her face.” She placed her cup in the saucer. “The car wreck was again very violent. It must have been planned meticulously and with stealth. The killer was aware of the location of Roxanne’s vehicle and knew which route she would drive on the way home. From what Wolfe explained, if the brake fluid lines were loosened enough for them to leak, it wouldn’t take long for the brakes to fail. The killer also knew she’d be traveling through floodwater on the way home, so she must have been in contact with her in the hours before her death.”
Everything suddenly made sense. Jenna nodded. “They all meet at Aunt Betty’s Café on a regular basis and did so even during the storm.”
“Wait up.” Raven’s voice came through the phone. “There is one very important link between the three women I hadn’t considered. Each of them was earmarked for the next available dogs. I’d spent some time after the class talking to six women: the three victims, and Lila Crane, Maya Trent, and Jolene Hurst. I told them that I’d be working with Jan at my ranch and later would go to her home to make sure that she handled the dog well and understood all the commands. I explained I could only do this with one dog at a time as my other dogs are still in training. I made it clear there will be delays as I don’t send a dog out until I’m one hundred percent sure it’s ready to go. I mentioned at the time that I would be visiting Sierra and Roxanne to advise them of any changes they might need to make to their properties. I’d spoken to Maya as she was next on the list. I actually suggested she should take a dog, even though she lives with her grandfather. As he is frail and she is working alone on the homestead, I figured any protection would be better than none and a dog would be with her all the time. We made plans for me to drop by next week.”
Suddenly concerned, Jenna shot a look at Kane, who had already pulled out his phone. “We’ll call Lila, Maya, and Jolene to see if they’re okay.”
“One of them could be the killer.” Jo stood suddenly. “The killer is escalating. I figure one of these three women is in danger. She could strike again tonight. We need to have them under surveillance.”
Forty
