Page 27 of Good Girls Don't Cry

“Yeah, we have everyone sorted. We’ll head back to the office and hunt down suspects, but I want to be at the autopsy. I need to see what murder this links to. It’s obviously a copycat. We need to pull up files and check out the details.” She sighed. “Rio had Kalo hunting down the whereabouts of the suspects and if they’re anywhere near town, I’ll need to call him before we head off to the morgue.”

Kane opened the door to the truck and helped Jenna inside. “Yeah, and I need to talk to Jo. This case has taken a twist and she might have a better idea of who we’re dealing with.” He blew out a sigh. “That poor girl was tortured before he murdered her. That was no thrill kill. It was cold and calculated. This is a new breed of monster.”

Thirty-One

The Mine

Refusing to give up the fight to survive, Olivia washed her face and hands and dried them on her tattered dress. Convinced that their captor had a day job close by, going on the almost regular times he dropped by to bring them food and bottled water, he wouldn’t be back soon. So far, he’d check on them at least twice a day, and each visit had been harrowing. He enjoyed intimidating them and taunting them. One time he sat at the desk in the vestibule and ate a burger and fries knowing they were starving. Sometimes he spent his time choosing which one of them to give all his disgusting attention to. It was as if he enjoyed making the others witness her humiliation and then he’d put her back in her cell and leave. She’d hoped that was the end of it, but it never was. He was a creature of habit and would return to spirit away his brutalized captive at night—never to return.

It surprised her that he’d allowed her to keep the pendant hanging around her neck. He hadn’t checked it. Inside held a watch—it had been a gift from her grandma for her sixteenth birthday—and she could gauge when he’d return. She could almost set her watch to the time he came and went. If he dropped by early in the morning, it was before five and he stayed for only a very short while to give them water and military supplies before dashing out. This meant he worked for a boss and was expected to arrive at a certain time each day.

She assumed they were still in Black Rock Falls because it was miles to the next town. As their journey had been in the dark, she hadn’t seen any landmarks, but they hadn’t gone up the mountain. She believed they’d headed into the lowlands and she tried to recall any places where there were mines. The only old mineshafts she could recall were out of town on the south side of the industrial area between Black Rock Falls and Blackwater. She remembered a lesson at school about mining in the area, and many years ago some of the old mines produced millions of dollars in gold.

Being locked in a small cell for so long, boredom had made her examine her surroundings closely. She understood how the cell had been made. It was very old, and from the marks on the walls, the cell had been hewn out of solid rock using hand tools. She recalled that the miners a century ago had made the cells to store their tools. They’d probably kept their gold locked up in one of the cells as well. When she’d arrived, she’d noticed the tunnels went away in different directions, but this one went only to the small vestibule with the office area, shower, and cells. The entrance had two strong metal gates, so it made sense that he was keeping them in part of an ancient gold mine. She recalled that at some time in Black Rock Falls history a mineshaft with similar cells had been used as a makeshift prison during the gold rush.

Olivia blew out a long sigh. Knowing their location wouldn’t help them unless she could escape and that wasn’t happening anytime soon. The monster would be back in the next few minutes and she wondered if it would be her turn to suffer the humiliation and abuse before being dragged off in the darkness to an unknown future. The isolation was getting to her, and her imagination was taking control, feeding her mind with unspeakable images. Trying hard to keep it together, she sat on the mattress and leaned against the damp wall, not caring if the cold seeped through her thin dress. Nothing she could do would stop the monster. She’d tried to talk to Chloe but her friend had been hysterical all day. This morning, the monster had stood staring at her through the bars of her cell for a long time before he left as if he was considering what terrible things to do to her. The sounds of vomiting in between sobbing in terror had echoed through the caves all day and nothing Olivia could say would get her to talk to her.

The footsteps came slow and deliberate as usual, but this time the monster whistled an old country tune. He must be in a good mood tonight. Olivia stood and went to peer through the bars and the strong smell of takeout wafted toward her. Her stomach rumbled at the aroma, but if he planned to torment them by eating in front of them again, she’d ignore him. Hunger gnawed at her belly and right now she’d be happy with the Army rations. They were way past their best-by date and disgusting, but it was better than starving to death. She blinked as he came into view. He looked different tonight. Instead of the coveralls, he’d chosen a dark blue hoodie with matching sweatpants. The balaclava was different too. She could see his thin lips through an opening over the mouth and noticed when he smiled at her that one of his front teeth was crooked. Her stomach dropped. Why is he smiling at me?

Thirty-Two

Black Rock Falls

As Jenna reached the Beast she turned to Kane. “You mentioned that the victim walked to the park bench. Do you believe that Duke will be able to follow her trail? I know there’s glass there, but Zorro managed to get through it okay without hurting himself. Do you figure it’s worth taking the risk to find out where she came from?”

“I guess so.” Kane rubbed his chin. “Duke isn’t stupid and I’m sure he knows not to walk on broken glass.” He lifted the dog from the back of the truck and attached a long leash to his harness. “We need to get to Wolfe before he leaves and grab something that belongs to the victim so that Duke can use it for a scent.” He handed her the leash. “You head on toward the bench and I’ll run and catch up with Wolfe. Don’t trip over the broken bricks and tell Duke to heel. I don’t want him pulling you over when he gets excited.”

Jenna sometimes wondered if Kane figured she had a brain at all. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” She gave him a shushing gesture with her hand and led Duke, who was being extremely quiet, beside her toward the bench.

Moments later, Kane came back carrying something contained inside an evidence bag. On closer inspection it turned out to be one of the victim’s slippers. Jenna handed the leash to Kane as he opened the bag. She gagged as the stink of death wafted out and she turned away as he held the bag in front of Duke’s nose and gave him the order to seek. Duke wandered around for a few minutes sniffing the ground going back and forth in front of the bench and then took off in a northerly direction. They followed a line of trees alongside the road opposite the forest for some ways before crossing the road and heading along a narrow trail. Jenna recognized the trail as one that many off-road vehicles used to gain access to the many fire roads running through Stanton Forest. A little out of breath, she stopped walking and turned to look at Kane. “The killer must live locally to know these trails through the forest. Remind me to ask Kalo if any of the suspects were raised in Black Rock Falls.”

“Do you need to take a break?” Kane pulled Duke to a halt.

Waving away his concern, Jenna shook her head. “I’m fine. I just get a little out of breath when we’re walking fast.”

The trail opened up onto the fire road and Duke wandered around and then sat down in the middle of the road. Jenna walked up and down searching the hard-packed gravel road for any signs of tire marks or footprints but found nothing. “Absolutely nothing, no signs of her even coming this way.”

“I believe I have something.” Kane pulled an examination glove out of his pocket and stretched it over his large hand. He plucked a few strands of long hair hanging from a branch of a pine tree and held it up to show her. “This must belong to the victim. I figure it shows the direction that the vehicle went. So not toward the mountains. This guy is either in town or farther afield, maybe in Blackwater.”

Jenna pulled out a small evidence bag from her backpack and opened it for him. “It certainly looks the same color. I’ll take any evidence right now, even if it means a directional one.” She straightened, pressing her fists into the small of her back. “I’m sure looking forward to not carrying this extra weight around.” She smiled at him. “At least I’ll be able to carry it in one arm or another.”

“Looking at the size of your bump, I figure you’re going to need two hands.” Kane gave her a wide smile. “I’m not sure whether I should be sorry or pleased.”

Jenna snorted. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a big healthy baby.” She slipped her arm through his and stared through the forest. In the summer it was glorious, with many shades of green and the fragrance of pine mixed with the wildflowers scattered in patchwork colors all across the ground. “It is a lovely afternoon for a stroll through the forest. It’s such a shame that this beautiful place is the choice for many murderers. It should be a place where people can come and be happy and not looking over their shoulder all the time for someone determined to end their lives.”

“People are happy here, Jenna.” Kane strolled along beside her. “We’re happy here, aren’t we? I figure you can’t let a few people spoil your life. Whatever the tragedies that occur here, we should rise above them and still enjoy the beauty of this place. I’m grateful every time I wake up and look out of the window. Almost every day the landscape is different. The changing colors of the sky, the trees, and mountains are all so amazing. I’ve lived in many places throughout my life, and I’ll admit I love the beach. Walking along wide stretches of golden sand with the sea lapping against your toes is relaxing, but this place has a peace about it. I figure we’re here to protect it and the people from the monsters who want to destroy everything beautiful in our lives.”

Leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked, Jenna blew out a long sigh. “I have no idea who sent me here. It wasn’t a choice I made myself and I’m sure it wasn’t for you either, but whoever did obviously knew something that we didn’t. I figure that Black Rock Falls has a very dark past that’s been hidden for a long time. We know from the lack of documentation that criminal behavior wasn’t recorded and many of the cases never investigated. I know many people came back from wars over the years, disturbed and likely suffering from PTSD. We know many of them lived off the grid in the forest. I figure local law enforcement turned a blind eye to what they did.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m not saying that all these people turned out to be serial killers, but maybe years ago it became common knowledge that Stanton Forest was a good place to hide. Being so vast, with many old mining cottages throughout, plenty of available water, and good hunting, it’s a perfect place to live off the grid whether you’re somebody wanting to be away from people because of the wars or because you intend to kill people.” She looked up at him. “Maybe during the time that we’re at home on parental leave we should take the time to look through some of the old newspapers that are now online that go way back to the first broadsheets that were published in the area and see what we can find. I figure in the ten or fifteen years prior to my taking office, murders were happening all over, and the local sheriffs were putting them down to animal attacks. It will be interesting to see how many we discover.”

“Yeah, I’d like to know.” Kane walked backward along the trail and then turned back around to walk beside her. “It makes sense. I don’t believe all this just started happening when we arrived. I figure we were the first cops to enforce the law, is all.”

When they reached the Beast, Stanton was empty apart from the odd vehicle passing by. Every member of her team had departed. Wearily, she climbed into the passenger side and fastened her seatbelt. She tapped her bottom lip, thinking. “We’re going to be one man short for a while and I believe the next couple of days are going to be crucial to finding this killer. I’m going to call in Johnny Raven again. He is a great help and has a good investigating mind, plus he is a little intimidating when it comes to questioning suspects.” She shot Kane a grin. “Much like you, huh?”

“I figure the dog helps.” Kane slid behind the wheel after putting Duke in the back seat. “A K-9 is good to have beside you when you’re interviewing a suspect. It often keeps their attention on what you’re saying. Although the dog can just sit there as placid as anything, everyone knows it only takes a hand gesture and they’ll attack.”

Jenna took out her phone and made the call. “Hey, Raven, how are the dogs going?”

“I have a couple of rescues coming along for personal protection at the moment and they’re doing just fine.” She could hear strange little snuffling sounds in the background. “I’m at Blackhawk’s ranch on the res. We are looking at a new batch of puppies especially bred for the K-9 program. There are eight in the litter and they are all even in size. With luck they’ll all be good enough to train, but you never know until the time comes if they have the right temperament to be a K-9.”

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