Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton #2)(25)
“Why not the boyfriend? We can’t rule him out yet.”
“I’m not leaning heavily toward the boyfriend. The profile doesn’t fit a teenage killer—it says older man to me, probably late twenties or older, Caucasian and has killed before.”
“Her boyfriend is twenty and on the college football team, so he’ll be big. At that size, age doesn’t come into it, does it? He would be more than capable of killing her and we haven’t had time to check him out.”
“For me, he remains a suspect mainly because of motive. I would like to know why they argued —what if she was pregnant?”
“The laying of flowers too.”
“Yes, and not jealousy or a crime of passion.” Kane stretched and yawned. “We need her phone records pronto to see if she made or received a call before or after leaving home.”
“I’ll have them by the morning but until we get the lab results we’re flying blind. I understand your concern—I want to catch this monster too.” Jenna sighed. “It’s late and I’m exhausted. You must be too and we all need to be on our toes right now. I’m done for the day, I’ll see you in the morning.”
The line went dead.
Kane stared at the call-ended message on his cellphone in disbelief. He had so many theories to discuss with her. The meeting they had planned for the morning had ruffled her feathers. With luck, what he planned to reveal about her two deputies should smooth them back down.
Sixteen
The moment Jenna’s cruiser, with Deputy Wolfe at the wheel, drove past her house, she opened the front door, set the house alarm and stepped onto the porch. The morning chill refreshed her on the walk to Kane’s cottage. The secrecy of the meeting troubled her. What had Wolfe discovered about her? Damn well nothing. The DHS had sealed her file in concrete. She straightened, needing to appear confident and in charge, although weariness dragged at her. After receiving Kane’s call, she had not slept and spent long hours going over the images of the crime scene. How many times before Kane arrived in town had she failed to notice important details? No wonder he’d been frustrated with her after the incident at the fairgrounds. Three years ago, she had been at the top of her game. Am I losing my edge?
Kane had failed to arrive for their usual workout at six. Perhaps now Shane Wolfe was in town, he had made other plans. She had enjoyed going through a routine of punishing exercise with him, and of late, he had taken her defensive skills to a higher level by showing her different moves. Letting out a long sigh, she stepped onto his stoop and knocked on the door.
“Come in, Dave is pouring the coffee.” Wolfe smiled at her. “The live-in nanny is already settled, I moved her in last night. You were right, she is a gift and my kids love her, she reminds them of their grandmother.”
She returned his smile and strolled past him through the family room and into the kitchen. The rich smell of Kane’s favorite coffee filled the room and she relaxed a little. “That’s wonderful and such a weight off your mind.”
“Take a seat.” Kane handed her a steaming mug.
“I feel as if I’ve entered the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Nothing of the sort.” Wolfe sat beside her and reached for his coffee.
“We decided it would be better if we had everything out in the open.” Kane turned a chair around and straddled the seat, resting his arms on the hooped back. “We have to work together and it would make life easier if we told you how Shane and I know each other.”
Kane lied to me. Jenna adopted her best blank expression then looked from one to the other. “Oh, so why tell me you’d never met?” Both men remained silent just staring at her. Annoyed, she pushed to her feet. “Oh, never mind, we don’t have time for this. In case you’ve forgotten, we have a homicide to solve.” She headed for the door.
“Jenna.” Kane sprang to his feet. “Wait! We know you’re in witness protection.”
Fear gripped her throat. She stopped mid-stride and turned slowly to face them. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about but do go on, this story is better than fiction.”
“Please sit down.” Wolfe pulled out the chair beside him. “We believe you should be aware of who we are and why we know about your situation.”
Dropping into the seat, she glared at Kane. “You knew about me all this time?”
“Nope.” Kane shrugged nonchalantly. “This was a shock for me too. Until Wolfe arrived, I was under the impression I was here to start a new life.” He lifted his troubled gaze to her. “He used to be my contact at HQ. I didn’t know his real name and yesterday was the first time we met.”
Heart pounding like a marching band she eyed them suspiciously. “How much do you know about my situation?”
“Zip.” Kane sipped his coffee and eyed her over the steaming rim. “Other than if you’re compromised it will open up a can of worms.”
“What’s your story?” She massaged her temples. “Is the head injury a lie too?”
“Unfortunately, it’s true and I honestly believed I came to Black Rock Falls to semi-retire.” Kane rubbed his chin and dropped his blue gaze to the table. “But if I disappear one day it’s because I’ve been compromised.” He gave her a long look and a nerve in one cheek ticked. “That’s all I’m prepared to tell you.”