Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood
Forty-Eight
The buzz of the steakhouse hummed around Jenna as she finished her meal. With the killer locked up, she could relax at last. It had been a wonderful evening, and seeing Kane and Carter in animated conversation on every topic from hunting to engines made her realize how much he must miss his friends. The coffee arrived and she chatted with Jo. It was as if she’d known her all her life and it was good to have someone with the same interests to talk to. She would miss her when she returned to Snakeskin Gully. “How was Jaime tonight?”
“She is coping better than I am.” Jo smiled at her. “I’ve been so worried and yet she loves the house, has made friends at school already, and is talking about having a puppy.”
“That’s wonderful.” Jenna glanced at Carter. “Do you have anyone at home, Ty?”
“Nope, it’s just Zorro and me.” Carter shrugged. “There’s never been room for a wife in my life up to now. I like to commit one hundred percent, and being away all the time makes relationships difficult.”
Jenna nodded in agreement but had noticed the admiring looks women gave him. “I’m sure there’s a special someone out there for you.”
“I’m not in any hurry.” Carter flashed her a brilliant smile. “I’m kinda married to the job right now.” He looked at Kane. “You know the feeling, right?”
“Sure.” Kane leaned back in his chair and smiled. “I’ve only had one vacation since I arrived. The murders keep us pretty busy.”
“Then let’s not end the night here.” Carter pushed his coffee cup to one side. “I hear there’s pool and card rooms at the Cattleman’s Hotel.” He looked at Kane. “How long since you’ve had a night out with the boys?”
Jenna grinned at Kane. “Oh, go on, Dave, you know you deserve a night out.” She looked at Jo. “We’ll be just fine on our own.”
“These things go late.” Kane shook his head. “I don’t like leaving you out at the ranch alone.”
Jenna picked up her phone and wiggled it at him. “I have a phone and a safe room. We’re both armed, plus the ranch is like Fort Knox and we have Duke and Zorro.” She looked at Jo. “We’ll be fine.” She waved a hand at them. “Go, we’ll be at home, probably soaking in the hot tub.”
“You have a hot tub?” Jo’s eyebrows shot up. “Count me in.”
Jenna watched as Kane and Carter strolled out the door. She slipped the keys to her cruiser Carter had left on the table into her purse and returned to her coffee. “Oh, I should’ve asked Kane for his house key. The dogs are in the cottage, I could’ve brought them up to the house.”
“They’re probably sound asleep by now.” Jo sipped her drink and sighed. “It’s getting late and I’m exhausted. Ready to head home now?” She handed the waiter her credit card and waited for him to swipe and return it.
Jenna’s phone chimed and she frowned at the 911 ringtone. “Dammit, it’s an emergency.”
“Do you want me to call Kane?” Jo pulled out her phone.
“Not yet.” Jenna accepted the call. “911. What is your emergency?”
“Oh, hurry please, there’s a woman out back of the beauty parlor, I think she’s dead. She sure looks dead.”
It was a man’s voice. Jenna took a pen from her purse and wrote on a paper napkin. “Okay, what is your name and contact number?”
“Errol Stack. I was walking my dog along Alpine, and he found her. Her eyes are just staring and she has ants crawling all over.” He gave her his number.
“Okay, Mr. Stack, this is Sheriff Alton. I’m in town, I’ll be there in five. Wait out front in the light, don’t touch anything. Stay on the line. I’ll get back to you in a moment.” She glanced at Jo and muted the call. “Call Wolfe. Mr. Stack has found a body out back of the beauty parlor on Alpine. I’m not spoiling Kane’s night out. We’ll handle this one ourselves.”
“Okay.” Jo made the call. “Wolfe is on his way.”
“Great.” Glad she’d worn her shoulder holster, Jenna stood. “The beauty parlor isn’t far.” She hustled out the door and ran knee deep in mist to her cruiser. “The weather is really making the town spooky this year. This mist is getting thicker by the day.”
“No doubt the kids will love it when they go trick-or-treating.” Jo climbed in the passenger seat. “I hope we get this case wound up in the next few days. I would love to be home with Jaime for Halloween.”
Jenna started the engine and put her phone on speaker. “You okay there, Mr. Stack?”
“Yeah, waiting out front under the streetlight. I’m armed and I’ll shoot if anyone jumps out at me.”
Jenna shot Jo a glance. “Okay.” She flicked on her wig-wag lights. “You should be seeing my cruiser soon—I’m coming down Main and will turn onto Alpine in two minutes.”
The mist had gotten thicker as she turned down the side road, she spotted Mr. Stack, an elderly man with a black Boston Terrier wearing a bright red coat. She drove past, turned around, and then pulled the cruiser to the curb, but before she had the chance to get out, Jo touched her arm. Jenna disconnected the call and looked at her. “Problem?”
“If you’re planning on getting out before Wolfe arrives, I’ll keep the vehicle between me and Mr. Stack and watch your back.” Jo pulled her weapon and slid out the cruiser, looking all around.
Fog crawled across the sidewalk toward the man and his dog. The orange glow from the streetlight and the dangling skeleton hanging from the crossbar gave the scene a spooky atmosphere. A cold breeze brushed Jenna’s cheek as she stepped out of the cruiser, drawing her weapon. Apart from the light spilling across the man and his dog, and the intermittent blue and red flashes from her wig-wag lights, all around the stores and bank had vanished into darkness. She kept the open door between herself and the stranger. “Mr. Stack, please remove your weapon and lay it on the ground.”
“Why?” Stack took a step closer. “I’m the one who called you. I found the body.”
Jenna aimed her weapon at him, dead center of his chest. “Yes, but if you’re armed, I need you to place your weapon on the ground and step away from it. This is normal procedure, Mr. Stack. Please cooperate.”
“Oh, I see.” Stack reached inside his coat.
“Use two fingers, take out your weapon nice and slow.” Jenna held her breath and her weapon steady as he complied and placed it gently on the ground and then stepped away.
Jenna holstered her Glock and walked toward him. “I have to pat you down, Mr. Stack.”
“Oh, very well.” Stack turned around and placed his hands flat on the wall of the beauty parlor. “If I ever find another body, I’m walking right by.”
“Clear.” Jenna turned to look at Jo, who had her weapon aimed at the stranger. She cleared her throat. “Okay, Mr. Stack. Where’s the body?”
“Down there.” Stack pointed to an alley. “By the dumpsters out back of the beauty parlor. As we were walking by, my dog started barking and then ran off. I went to get him. I thought he was chasing rats and I nearly had a heart attack when I found the woman.”
A shiver of warning went through Jenna as she peered into the darkness. She did not intend to walk into a possible trap. “How did you see her? I don’t see a flashlight.”
“I used the flashlight on my phone.” Stack turned it on and waved it around. “See?”
At that moment, the sound of a vehicle coming down the road caught Jenna’s attention. She heaved a steam-filled sigh of relief as Wolfe pulled up outside the beauty parlor. “Wait here, Mr. Stack.” She picked up his weapon, slipped out the clip, and checked the chamber before placing it into her pocket.
She pulled out her phone and activated the powerful LED beam. It pierced the darkness to reveal a pair of legs sticking out from behind a stuffed garbage bag. As Wolfe came to her side, scanning the area in big sweeps, she pointed to the alley. “She’s down there.”
“So I see.” Wolfe pulled out his flashlight and moved forward. “Webber is on his way. Cover me.” He headed into the darkness.
Jenna waved Jo forward. “Let’s see what we have here.”
They followed Wolfe, moving their flashlights and weapons in all directions. The wall to the alley ended at the back of the beauty parlor, and a quick sweep of the area told her they were alone. Jenna turned to Wolfe. “All clear.”
“Jo, give me some light.” Wolfe placed his bag on the floor, pulled out gloves, and handed her a pair.
“Sure.” Jo lit up the body with her phone. “Dang, she’s young—what, eighteen or so?”
Jenna took in the figure, arms and legs in disarray like a rag doll tossed away by a child, and examined the horrific expression on the young woman’s face. A jolt of recognition went through her and she bent closer. “I know her. This is Ann Turner. She had an affair with Lucas Robinson. I interviewed her recently. When did this happen? The beauty parlor closes at five.”
“I’d say she’s been dead for about four hours.” Wolfe handed Jenna a pair of gloves. “I’ll take some shots of the scene and then you can check her purse for ID.”
As Wolfe took the shots, Jenna searched the area using a grid technique Kane had taught her. The ground was damp but no footprints led from the faucet attached to the wall. Cigarette butts littered the ground around the bottom of the steps. From the lipstick on most of them, she decided the steps must be a favorite place for the women working inside to sit and smoke. After searching the small area, she found nothing at all and returned to Wolfe and Jo. “No evidence. There’s a pile of cigarette butts at the bottom of the stairs; want me to collect them?”
“Nope.” Wolfe examined Ann’s eyes. “I doubt this killer would’ve waited for her casually smoking. Criminals aren’t usually that stupid.” He rolled the body over and did a cursory examination. “She doesn’t have a mark on her. She has something under her nails, so I’ll bag them but it doesn’t appear to be flesh. This looks like asphyxiation due to strangulation. There wasn’t a fight. From the dropped bags and her purse, the killer surprised her, likely as she was opening the dumpster.”
“This is another hit.” Jo stared at the body. “Men who strangle women do so for power. It’s most usual in spousal abuse. It’s used to subdue a woman for rape as well. Both are acts of power over women.” She pursed her lips. “I don’t see that here at all. He hasn’t touched her. Her clothes appear to be in order. It’s as if he just walked up and killed her in the most undetectable way possible. No blood. A man of average height and weight would’ve been able to strangle her away from him and avoid coming into contact with her clothes, but I’d look for any trace evidence on her.”
“She was a hair stylist.” Wolfe frowned at her. “I can see a ton of hairs on her skirt; the likelihood of proving one of those belongs to her killer is remote. If this is a hit, he didn’t leave any evidence behind.” He looked at Jenna. “Brad Kelly had time to do this before you arrested him.”
Footsteps running made Jenna reach for her weapon. Heart pounding, she stood her ground as Webber came into sight. “Oh, good, it’s you.”
“Go get my van and back it into the alley. I’m done here. I’ll get her back to the morgue.” Wolfe picked up the purse on the ground and tossed it to Jenna. “You’ll have to contact her family.” He sighed. “I’ll do a preliminary tonight and leave the post until Monday. I’m pretty busy right now.”
Jenna nodded. “Sure.” She opened the purse and found a small amount of cash, car keys, and her driver’s license. She shone her flashlight on the contents. “Ann lives out on Stoney. I’ll get a statement from Stack and then we’ll head out to speak to her family.”
“Where’s Kane?” Wolfe pulled out a body bag from his kit and gave her a curious look.
“He’s at the Cattleman’s Hotel with Carter.” Jenna replaced the items in the purse and slid it into an evidence bag. “I have to give him time off sometimes. This can wait for the morning. I have everything under control.”
“Ah, I see.” Wolfe waited for his van to arrive and looked at Jenna. “We’ll take it from here. If you need me, I’ll be awake for some time yet.”
Jenna pulled off her gloves with a snap and tossed them into the dumpster. “Thanks.” She looked at Jo. “Handled many death notifications?”
“No.” Jo followed her between the van and the wall. “I’m usually called in after that chore has been done. It would be one of the worst things to do, I imagine.”
Jenna grimaced and headed for her cruiser to grab a statement pad. “Yeah, it is.”