Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton #2)(60)
“Enjoying a coffee with two of my pupils in plain sight.” Rogers gave him a condescending stare. “Am I breaking the law?”
“Nope.” Kane leaned down to look at the cellphone. “I noticed Aimee’s attention was fixed on something on her cellphone and was wondering what is so interesting. I’ve seen quite a few young people running around as if their lives depended on it.”
“It’s the new game app. See, it interacts with the camera.” Aimee held up the screen. “The idea is to collect the characters or whatever to go up a level. The final level apparently unlocks a bonus game.”
Kane glanced at the screen and saw the interior of the café, and right in the middle was a green character waving at him. He looked at the room then back at the screen. “That is incredible, digital interaction via the camera and the navigation system on the cellphone.” He glanced at Rogers. “You’d know all about this type of game, wouldn’t you?”
“My skills are not quite up to this standard or I wouldn’t be teaching, I’d be a billionaire.” Rogers gave a sarcastic laugh. “But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“I bet you do.” Kane smiled at Aimee. “Remember what your mom told you about going straight home.”
“You don’t have to worry, Julia’s mom is in town and Mr. Rogers will make sure I get back to my car, he is parked right behind me.” Aimee smiled sweetly. “We had to use the parking lot at the library, everywhere else is packed today.”
Deciding to make Rogers aware someone would be watching his every move, Kane nodded. “That’s a good place to park. The library has a CCTV camera in the parking lot and a security guard keeping a close watch on everything over the next few days. You should be safe but stay alert just in case someone is lurking about.”
“I thought it was your job to keep the townsfolk safe, Deputy.” Rogers’ mouth turned up in the corners into almost a smirk.
Kane rolled his shoulders and noticed Susie Hartwig waving at him to collect his coffee. “Yes, but I’m sure these young ladies know not to go out at night alone during the rodeo especially as three young women have been found dead in the area.” He plucked cards out of his shirt pocket and gave them to the girls. “If you need help anytime day or night, that’s my cellphone number.” He smiled. “Stay safe.”
“Don’t I get a card?” Steve Rogers glared at him. “Or don’t you think all Black Rock Falls citizens are in danger during the influx of the rough types?”
“You don’t look like a teenage girl to me, Mr. Rogers.” Kane bit back a smile and bent down so only Rogers could hear him. “Trust me, I’m the last person you should call. I’ve met men like you before and I see who is lurking behind the mask.” Satisfied by seeing the color drain from Rogers’ face, he strolled toward the counter. You’re up to something, you smug son of a bitch.
Thirty-Five
Back at the car, Kane pulled out his cellphone and contacted Jenna to explain his observations. “We need eyes on Steve Rogers. He stinks on ice right now.”
“I agree he should know better than to hang around with his students.”
“He tried to make me look like an incompetent idiot.” Kane sipped his beverage and sighed. “He makes my skin crawl, he is up to something. My gut is never wrong.”
“Okay, I’ll give the info to Wolfe and he’ll keep an eye on our Mr. Rogers. I think we need to do a bit of surveillance on him too. I’ll ask Rowley if he will take the afternoon off and spend a few hours this evening keeping an eye on Rogers’ movements. I’ll call Rogers’ house and see if his wife is back from her sister’s yet. She might tell me when he went out last night. She was very cooperative the last time I spoke to her.”
“Good idea.” Kane started the engine. “We’ll talk later, ma’am. I’m heading for the fairgrounds now.” He disconnected and turned his SUV toward the fairgrounds.
As he approached the Black Rock Falls Motel, he noticed a cowboy dressed in fringed chaps leaning against the wall outside one of the rooms, smoking. Kane pulled into the driveway and slid out of the car. He approached the man with a friendly wave and a smile. “Morning. Is Lucky around?”
“Nope, he has a steer-roping event about now.” The cowboy dropped the stub of his cigarette and extinguished it with a twist of one well-worn boot. He tipped back his hat and his brown eyes narrowed. “You can’t be a friend of his, Lucky don’t like cops.”
Kane chuckled. “Sometimes we do good deeds, like finding the owners of valuables. I’m pretty sure the ring handed in to the sheriff’s department this morning belongs to him but he’ll have to prove he was at the right place at the right time to claim it.”
“He was out last night with Storm. They went to the Triple Z Bar, left ’bout six, came back sometime after ten.” His mouth turned up into a cocky grin. “Tell Lucky Zeke expects a reward.”
Not familiar with the place in question, Kane nodded. “Sure. I’ll go and find him at the fairgrounds. Thank you for your time.”
On the way back to his SUV, he called Rowley to ask about the Triple Z Bar. Raised in Black Rock Falls, the young deputy was a fountain of local information. “What else can you tell me about the place?”