Page 24 of Good Girls Don't Cry

Unsure of what to do, Olivia raised her voice. “You don’t need to tell them everything that happened. Just tell them he beat you. We won’t tell will we, Chloe?”

“No, we won’t say anything.” Chloe cleared her throat. “He murdered our boyfriends and kidnapped us, and that will get him life in prison. No one needs to know the rest unless you want to tell your mom. We’ll keep your secret. Just get help so we can all get out of here.”

Olivia leaned back against the wall. No one had come yet to save them and two of her friends had been released, or so the man had told them. She didn’t believe him. He was a monster and she’d never see her friends again. I just know I’m never getting out of this place alive—none of us are.

Twenty-Eight

Monday

Rowley sipped at his to-go cup of coffee as he drove along Stanton toward the office. As he’d completed his chores early this morning, the air had been crisp and the ground still held the moisture from the storm, but the sun had risen into a clear blue sky. He didn’t mind the rain or the fresh green grass growing all over his ranch and supplying his horses and the new cattle with fresh feed for the summer. It never ceased to amaze him how the seasons changed dramatically each year. Last year had been dry and everyone was fearing the brushfires in the forest. This year had been the complete opposite, with major rain since the melt, floods, mudslides, and rockfalls.

When Rio’s voice came over the radio asking for his position, he figured something was wrong. Rio never contacted him before they got to the office. “Copy, I’m on Stanton heading toward town, a mile or so from the Triple Z.”

“I received a 911 call about a body on the bench outside the old library not far from your position. Two women are on scene, Ginger Phipps and Mo Helm. I’m five minutes away. I’ll take a look before I call Jenna.”

Rowley grimaced and his ham and eggs breakfast formed into a solid ball in his gut. “A body, huh? I’m coming up to them now. I’ll go and take a look.”

He pulled his truck up behind the women’s vehicle and twirled his fingers to indicate them to wind down their window. “You called in about a body? What’s your name?” He pointed to the driver.

“I’m Ginger Phipps and this is my friend Mo Helm.” The woman’s voice rose a little and her hands shook on the steering wheel. “I called 911. The body is over there on the bench. It was there when we drove past a couple of hours ago and it’s still there now. At first, we figured it was just someone taking a rest, but when we took a closer look, we can see that she’s dead. It looks like she has something tied around her neck.”

“Do you figure she’s been murdered?” Mo Helm’s eyes grew wide. “We need to get out of here. It’s not safe.”

At that moment, Rio pulled up and climbed from his truck. Rowley looked at the women. “You’ll be safe with me and my partner here. Give him your details and I’ll go and take a look at the body.” He walked up to Rio. “Do you want me to go and secure the scene?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Rio took out his notebook and pen. “I’ll get the details and then give Jenna a call.”

Rowley stared across the road to the woman sitting on the bench. He swallowed hard. Even from a distance, he could make out the blueish hue to her skin and the cord wrapped around her neck. Already vehicles were slowing down to gawk and he waved them on as he moved across the blacktop. He’d walked about ten yards toward the body before the smell hit him. He stopped, took out his phone, and captured the scene, moving his phone in a one-hundred-eighty-degree sweep. He checked the ground searching for footprints, but even after the rain, the rock-packed ground was as hard as concrete. He circled around a wide distance away and took a few shots of the body from every angle, zooming in. It was the procedure that Jenna had taught him many years ago to avoid contamination of the scene.

As he approached the ruins of the old library, he tripped over a wire a few inches from the ground. As he bent to untangle it from his boots, a flash of light blinded him. The next second a massive explosion erupted from the old building sending a cloud of red dust into the air. He staggered back as a rush of heat overwhelmed him. He needed to get out of there, but before he could take a breath, the shock wave blasted him backward and then lifted him into the air. Heart pounding, he didn’t have time to think. Everything was moving so fast. Dust and debris swirled around him as if he’d become part of a tornado.

Disoriented, he tumbled, helpless to do anything. The force of the explosion pushed the breath out of his lungs. He couldn’t breathe and his ears buzzed so loud the spinning world had gone silent. As he twirled, grit filled his eyes and crawled up his nose. He flew through the air on his back, colliding with small rocks and glass fragments that glittered around him in the sun, making rainbows. The next moment, the wind vanished and he dropped. His mind went to Sandy and the twins—would he ever see them again? Bracing himself for the crash to earth, he fell back-first and spread his arms for the impact. The ground came up fast and he slammed into the debris-covered dirt. Pain shot through his body as bricks and glass showered down around him, covering his face and chest. Stunned, he tried to move and then a gush of blood ran into his eyes. He looked up as a massive chunk of concrete came hurtling toward him. Shit!

Twenty-Nine

Jenna picked up the call from Rio at five after eight. By mutual agreement, he’d taken the 911 calls overnight so she could get her rest. The call had come in from two women driving into Black Rock Falls from Louan earlier that morning. They’d noticed a woman sitting on the park bench outside the ruins of the old library not far from the Triple Z Roadhouse. On their return trip after picking up feed from the local produce store, the woman had still been sitting there. It seemed strange that someone would be sitting alone on the side of the road for a little over two hours as no buses stopped in that area, and they decided to pull over and check to see if she needed a ride. From Rio’s account, the women were close to being hysterical and he had ordered them into their truck to wait for him to arrive. He’d called Rowley as they were both en route to the office to meet him there. Jenna drummed her fingers on the desk. “Did they go and talk to the woman or establish if she was actually dead?”

“Nope.” The engine of Rio’s truck roared as he raced along the road. “They said they didn’t need to go close, as they could plainly see she was dead. The body has blue lips. One of the women believes she has something tied around her neck. We’ll check her out when we arrive. Rowley is on scene.”

Taking a pen from the mug on her desk, Jenna raised her eyebrows at Kane, working at his desk. She turned her attention back to Rio. “Who are these women? Have you got their details? If this is a homicide, we’ll come down and take a look. If it doesn’t look suspicious, call Wolfe to come and collect the body.”

“Copy that. The women’s names are Ginger Phipps and Mo Helm.” He gave Jenna their contact details. “I’m coming up to the old library now and Rowley’s truck is here. I’ll keep you on speaker.”

Jenna listened to the conversation between Rio and Rowley and looked at Kane. “Rowley will be able to tell without contaminating the crime scene. He hates dead bodies.”

“I’m having a déjà-vu moment here.” Kane stood and went to sit in front of Jenna’s desk. “Do you recall the body we found on that same bench?”

Leaning back in her chair, Jenna nodded. “Vividly, I figure we still have the aches and pains from the explosion.” Her stomach dropped. “You don’t think?—”

An almighty explosion came through the phone and Kane jumped to his feet. “Jesus, they’ve hit a tripwire.” He headed for the door. “Come on, Duke.”

Getting to her feet slowly—it was her only speed right now—Jenna grabbed her things and followed Kane through the door. She moved as swiftly as humanly possible down the stairs. As she passed Maggie on the front counter, she waved her over. “Call Wolfe. There’s been an explosion at the old library, same place where someone tried to kill us once before. Carter’s with him. Tell him to bring him and Zorro to check the scene for explosives.”

“I’m on it, Sheriff.” Maggie picked up the phone.

Concerned, Jenna kept her phone pressed to her ear as she climbed into the Beast. “Rio, is everything okay? Rio?”

Nothing.

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