Page 44 of Whisper Through the Pines

“Don’t worry about it.” Kane exchanged a knowing look with Jenna and shrugged. “If anything happens, we’ll worry about it then.”

As it would be unlikely that the government would haul Kane over the coals for a rogue com, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, we’ll have the new ones soon and then these will be in the trash.”

“I’m going to make sure we have everything we need in the truck.” Kane turned to Carter. “What about the dogs? I figure Duke would be better left at home. He makes a lot of noise in the forest.”

“Zorro will be an asset.” Carter slipped his gun into the holster and checked the ammo he had stacked on the table. He looked at Jo. “What do you want to do, Jo?”

“Do you need me in the field?” Jo looked at Kane. “If not, I’ll stay here and watch over the kids.”

“Jenna?” Kane turned to her. “It’s your call.”

Jenna smiled at her. “I’d be happy if you’d stay and watch the kids. We have no idea when this will go down. I’ll make sure you have the Louan sheriff’s number. He’ll send us backup if we need it.”

“I’ll go and check I’ve got everything I need in my truck as well.” Carter followed Kane out of the door.

Stomach churning, Jenna went to put on another pot of coffee. “I guess we’ll need to stay alert for a couple of hours.” She turned and leaned her back against the kitchen counter. “This killer concerns me. He doesn’t act like anyone we’ve encountered before. I know they’re all different, but this one is peculiar in a spooky way. Honestly, he terrified me when I saw the girl in the forest. It seemed so real and then my truck stalled and I could hear him coming and dragging the ax along the blacktop.”

“Did you get to see him?” Jo took plates and cups from the dishwasher and placed them back on the shelves. “There was a heavy mist that night as well?”

Shaking her head as dread crept over her as the memory took hold, she looked at Jo. “No, I didn’t see him. I wasn’t really looking. I was trying to start the truck.”

“I figure he wasn’t there, close to you at all.” Kalo leaned back in his chair, his fingers dancing over the keyboard of his laptop. “From what I know about creating images and sounds for displays, he’s using very old technology, likely stolen or taken from the dump. The sound you heard was more than likely a recording played loud to frighten you. I know the mist is thick, but it can be enhanced by a fog machine. All these old things come battery-operated.” He barked a sarcastic laugh. “If he had any brains, he’d be using AI to create his videos. There are many ways to display them.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Jo snapped her fingers. “This might date our killer. He’s old-school, so his knowledge might be too. So maybe we’re looking at someone in his late forties.”

Running the three suspects through her mind, Jenna nodded slowly. “That takes in all three suspects.” She moved her attention back to Kalo. “This means he might be controlling things from afar, like on his phone for instance.”

“Or an old-type remote control.” Kalo nodded slowly. “From what I’ve heard, I’m assuming maybe a 2.4-gigahertz radio frequency, or RF. That works a long way, say, sixty-five to one hundred feet.” He met her gaze. “There are other controllers, but many lose strength if they pass through obstacles and others require an unobstructed line of sight to the device, which would mean the forest would be a problem.”

“He likes to frighten people and see their reaction.” Jo poured coffee and looked up as Kane and Carter came back into the kitchen. “You need to hear this.”

As Kalo explained, Jenna dropped into a chair and added fixings to her coffee. “Does this make him more dangerous?”

“It makes him more elusive to catch.” Kane took an Aunt Betty’s cherry pie from the refrigerator and placed it on the table and then reached for a stack of plates. “Like I said, he’s smoke and mirrors. The problem is he seems to be able to sneak up behind people and decapitate them.” He took a knife from a drawer and added silverware. “We’ll need to be on our game to catch him.”

“I figure we should wear camouflage.” Carter sliced the pie into eight slices. “We have trained men in our team and Jenna, of course, and he won’t see or hear us coming. It’s an advantage and we need to catch him.”

The new insights hadn’t calmed Jenna’s nerves, but she nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’ll text the others. Camouflage it is—vests and rifles.”

The moment Jenna sent the messages, her phone chimed, but it wasn’t one of her deputies. “Sheriff Alton.” Beside her Kane pushed his empty plate away and stood. She shook her head. The tension in the room had risen and all eyes were on her. “Okay, go ahead, I have you on speaker.”

“It’s Tonie Pacey. Remember, we came by to tell you about the white pickup hanging around the school?”

Jenna lifted her gaze to Kane. “Yes, Tonie, I recall our conversation. Has something happened?”

“Yeah, I’m driving home along Stanton. I’ve just gone past the welcome to black rock falls sign and I saw the same white pickup creeping alongside the forest on the grass without its headlights on.” Alarm came through Tonie’s voice. “I recall the license plate. It’s the same truck, and as I went past, I’m sure I saw a kid running into the forest. It’s like he’s following the kid.”

“When was this?” Kane nodded to Carter, who sprinted to the door and took off to the chopper parked in the yard to grab his camouflage gear.

“Just now.” Tonie’s car engine roared. “I called right away. If that’s a serial killer, I’m getting as far away from here as possible.”

Concerned about a child alone in the forest stalked by a serial killer, Jenna stood. “That’s a good idea. You go home and we’ll leave right away and check it out. Thanks for calling it in.” She disconnected and, with her mind racing with next steps, she looked at Kane. “It’s Durnell.” She bit her lip. “We need to move, now! I’ll be ready to leave in two minutes.” She ran into the bedroom with Kane at her side.

“He’s hunting.” Kane pulled on a thick camouflage jacket and added his vest. “It may not be a kid. It could be another illusion he’s created to lure a potential victim.”

Adrenaline pumping through her, Jenna took the jacket he tossed to her. “Whatever, we need to be there fast.” She moved toward the door pulling on her vest. “I’ll call everyone once we’re rolling.”

After everyone had dragged on camouflage gear and vests and grabbed rifles, they headed outside. Carter had already climbed into Jenna’s truck with Kalo and his dog, Zorro. The heat from the truck’s engine added to the clouds of mist in the driveway. The icy-cold night hit Jenna as she sprinted after Kane through the fog to the Beast and climbed in. Moments later, engines roaring, they raced along the highway. As they drove, she messaged Rio and Raven. They’d all head to the location as quietly as possible. She turned to Kane. “If Durnell was on the move, how come we didn’t get a warning?”