Page 25 of Good Girls Don't Cry

“Dammit, I should have warned Rio about possible explosives.” Kane dashed a hand through his hair. “We should have known it was another copycat.”

They took off, lights and sirens. Bewildered, Jenna looked at Kane. “How does this killer know so much about our cases?”

“How does he know?” He turned to glance at her before returning his gaze to the highway. “It really doesn’t take a genius. Everyone knows about the true crime series written about our cases. They’re bestsellers and they bring thousands of tourists here. He’d only need to pick up a copy and everything apart from the details we withheld are there. If he is one of our suspects, he could have borrowed it from the prison library. Serial killers love reading about their crimes.”

Jenna stared ahead as the Beast ate up the highway. “I hope Rowley’s okay.”

As they rounded the bend and hit the straightaway, a cloud of red dust stained the air and Jenna tried Rio again but got no response. She could hear noise in the background. The phone had survived and she imagined it was inside Rio’s pocket. “Rio, can you hear me?”

Nothing.

Panic gripped her as they raced past the Triple Z Roadhouse at high speed and then Kane slowed at the sight of Rio in the middle of the highway moving traffic. Jenna stared at the debris-strewn highway and searched for Rowley, but she couldn’t find him. Worried for his well-being, her stomach clenched. Had he been injured? Had anyone called the paramedics? She stared at the faces of the people anxious to get through the gridlock of sightseers as Kane took the Beast off-road to get to the crime scene. “Rio’s fine and there’s Rowley’s truck.”

“I see it.” Kane weaved around bricks and other debris strewn across the ground. “I believe I can see him inside. I’ll pull up alongside.”

The moment the Beast stopped, Jenna climbed out and headed straight toward Rowley with Kane close behind. She reeled back in shock at the sight of his blood-soaked face and shirt. She turned to Kane. “I can help him. Can you go and assist Rio? We need to get the road cleared and get these people on their way. I’ve noticed a few of the locals in the line of traffic. They’ll probably help out if you ask them.”

“Sure.” Kane frowned at the sight of Rowley. “You’ll be fine, Jake.” He gripped his shoulder. “Do you know what happened?”

“Yeah, after everything you taught me, I tripped over a wire. It was green and I didn’t see it.” Rowley wiped at his blood-soaked eyes. “It tangled around my feet and when I bent down to free it, there was a flash of bright light and then everything went to hell.” He frowned. “A huge lump of concrete missed me by an inch. I rolled away just in time.”

“That’s why they call them tripwires. Even trained soldiers miss them. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Kane looked back at Jenna. “I’ll leave Duke in the truck. There’s glass everywhere.” He headed toward Rio.

Concerned, Jenna examined Rowley. He looked awful and was having trouble opening his eyes. No wonder with all the blood. “Hang in there, Jake. I’ll grab a few things from my truck.”

Jenna went back to the Beast and grabbed the first aid kit and then hurried back to Rowley. He was sitting in the driver’s seat of his truck with his legs hanging out of the door, pressing a bunch of tissues to his head. She opened the back door and rested the first aid kit on the seat and pulled out some wads of cotton. She handed them to him. “How are you doing?”

“I wasn’t knocked out.” Rowley dropped the tissues into an evidence bag at his feet and then pushed the wads of cotton onto a gash on his forehead. “It happened so fast. I was taking photos and tripped. I bent down and, whoosh, what was left of the old library exploded. It threw me into the air, tossed me around some, and then dropped me.”

Having experienced explosions more than once, Jenna understood. “Are you badly hurt anywhere else?”

“No, bruised is all.” Rowley tried to smile, his teeth looking bright in his blood-soaked face. “And I’ll be coughing up brick dust for the next year.”

Pulling on examination gloves, Jenna unwrapped bandages from the first aid kit. The cut on his head needed sutures but for now all she could do was to try and stop the bleeding. Wolfe would be along soon, and he carried everything he needed for emergencies. “I’ll wrap a bandage around your head and clean you up. Wolfe is on his way.”

“I don’t need the paramedics.” Rowley wiped at blood-soaked eyes. “I didn’t even feel what hit me. I figure it must have been glass that cut me.”

Jenna lifted his chin. “Let me take a look.” The cut poured blood and Jenna pressed a thick pad on it. “Put pressure on the cut. It needs a few stitches.”

Once she had bandaged his head, she went about cleaning the blood from his face. She used saline solution to wash the blood from his eyes and opened a packet of wipes for his hands. “There, now you look a little more presentable. How is your eyesight? Can you see everything clearly?”

“My eyes are fine now you’ve cleaned out the blood, but my ears are ringing something awful.” Rowley checked his pockets. “I’ve lost my phone. I took photos and a video of the scene. The explosion picked me up and threw me over there.” He pointed north of the body. “I figure whoever set the explosion wanted to take us out.”

Maybe not. The killer hadn’t set the explosion near the body. It was another attention-getter and Rowley had walked right into it. He was lucky to be alive. Jenna patted him on the shoulder. “I believe it’s another copycat. You’ll recall when Dave and I found a body here, there was a tripwire and we were blown sky-high? Don’t worry about your phone. They can withstand shocks. I’ll call it as soon as Dave and Rio have cleared the spectators. We’ll hear it for sure.” She handed him a bottle of water. “Wash out your mouth and sit tight. Carter is on his way with Zorro, and they’ll clear the area for us and then we can take a look at the body. I see the explosion didn’t touch it.”

“It knocked it sideways. She was sitting upright. The bomb was set in the building behind. They used just enough explosives to throw a few broken bricks and glass around. Those left from the last time, I guess.” Rowley sipped water and spat and then sipped again. “It’s just as well. If anything bigger had hit me, I wouldn’t be talking to you now.”

Thirty

The one thing Kane loved about living in Black Rock Falls was the townsfolk. The moment he started moving rocks, vehicles pulled over onto the grass and people climbed out to help him. Two gardeners had wide brooms and were industriously sweeping glass from the blacktop and collecting it in garbage cans. He glanced over at Jenna to see her speaking with the two witnesses and turned around as Wolfe arrived with Carter driving Jenna’s sheriff’s department vehicle close behind. Wolfe had positioned his medical examiner’s van to obscure the view of the body from the road. As usual, Carter was all business. Dressed in a Kevlar vest and a riot helmet, he opened the door for his dog, Zorro. The dog also wore a protective coat and on Carter’s instruction headed toward the explosion site.

Kane deposited a few large rocks onto the side of the road and then headed toward Carter. As he watched Zorro go through his paces, Wolfe came up beside him. He kept his attention on the dog as it moved back and forth, covering the ground between the bench and the damaged building.

“This looks a little too familiar for my liking.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “It’s another copycat, isn’t it?”

Nodding, Kane flicked him a glance. “So far, they all are. If this one has the same message, we’ve become involved in some type of morbid game.”

“Jo believes he’s trying to make a point.” Wolfe rubbed his chin. “So far, all of these cases are mine. I produced the evidence needed to convict. I stood up in court to deliver my evidence to the best of my ability, but what if I’d gotten one wrong? I find it hard to believe as I check and recheck every result.”

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