Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton #2)(62)

“Sure.” Lucky took the pen, rested the book against the shed wall, and wrote the statement, signing it with a flourish. “Here you go. Anything else?”

Kane read the statement, signed as a witness, and pushed the notebook back inside his pocket. “Yeah, thanks, where can I find Crawley?”

“In the tack room, where you spoke to us before.”

Kane nodded and headed across the crowded venue, weaving around people and avoiding the piles of horse and cattle dung. Fairgrounds had the same smell no matter what state or country: fried onions, horses, sweat, and cow shit. He wiped the sweat from his brow and strolled into the stables. As Lucky had predicted, Storm Crawley was in the tack room cleaning his saddle for the following day’s events. He took the same line of questioning and he remembered seeing Kate as well.

“Do you remember the time?”

“Must have been around six thirty.” Storm’s lips thinned into a line. “She was on Lucky’s side of the car. I didn’t get a good look at her but I remember long legs and a hoodie. I didn’t see her face at all.” He rubbed his chin. “I did see a dark sedan heading off the road into the forest, some ways along Stanton Road. I thought it might be a couple looking for some privacy, if you know what I mean.” He smirked.

Holy shit! “What time would this have been?”

“I’m not sure, but it was still there when we went by later. We only stayed at the Triple Z for a couple of hours. Lucky was hungry and we got to Aunt Betty’s Café around nine.” His mouth slashed into a white smile. “Saw you there too picking up some takeout for the sheriff.”

“We all have to eat.” Kane smiled and pulled out his notebook.

He asked Crawley to write a statement and then thanked him. Dodging kids with balloons on sticks or eating huge hotdogs dripping with ketchup, he headed for the car then reached for his cellphone and called Jenna. “I have a witness that puts Steve Rogers within walking distance of the college around six thirty and two eye-witnesses who saw Kate walking on Stanton Road at the same time.”

“With what we have, that’s enough to arrest him on suspicion. I’ll start the paperwork.”





Thirty-Six





The man’s mind was on the task of choosing his next girl. The thrill of killing Kate thrummed through him and the smell of her still lingered in his nose. He moved into the entrance to an alley and slid into the shadow of the bank then took out his cellphone. The images of his girls, all his girls, were a touch away, hidden in a special folder. He had to take a quick look and enjoy the surge of pleasure, seeing his work at its best.

The images of Kate lit up the screen and his heart pounded at the memory of a knife pressed in his palm. The fear in her eyes and the taste of her. He flicked through the images, and sweat trickled down his spine. Each time he looked at them, he wanted to add another to his collection. Breathing heavily, he relived every tiny detail.

So many girls, so much exquisite fun.

He lifted his head to gaze at a group of girls chatting close by and smiled. After the thrill of finding a girl in the forest and taking her, his skill had proven invincible. He would snatch a girl off the street soon and display her for all to see, then the media would not ignore his art. He bit back a groan, remembering the intense satisfaction of killing his forest gift. Oh, she had fought well but none had ever escaped his knife.

No one ever would.

His mind shifted to the sheriff. A pretty woman and worthy of his art but she would take the brunt of his anger. He would have her soon and enjoy every second. The way she strutted around as if she owned the town made him more determined to tame her. They all beg in the end. Her deputies were no match for his skill, and he would be able to deal with them one at a time in his own special way.

Reluctantly, he closed the file on his cellphone. He had plans to make. He ran the faces of his chosen girls through his mind and trembled with anticipation. Who will be next?





Thirty-Seven





With the statements from Aimee Fox and Kate Bright plus Steve Rogers’ account placing him in Stanton Forest around the time of Felicity Parker’s murder added to the signed accounts from Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley, Jenna’s application for an arrest warrant went through in minutes. She arrived back at the sheriff’s department to find Kane waiting in anticipation. Waving the document, she smiled at him. “Good work. I think we have our killer.”

“Just in time too, he was in town chatting to Aimee Fox and one of her friends, Julia Smith, earlier. I wouldn’t mind betting he is still in town. Wolfe is going through the surveillance footage for the last hour or so. I know he parked his car in the library parking lot, so he would have to return there eventually.” Kane’s mouth turned down and he cracked his knuckles. “I can’t wait to arrest him.”

“I know where he was about five minutes ago.” Wolfe strolled out of the back room. “He was buying a newspaper from the stand near the church.”

“It sounds like he is searching for information.” Kane’s blue gaze rested on her face. “That’s typical behavior for an exhibitionist psychopathic killer, he wants to read about the murder in the newspapers so he can relive the thrill. Not seeing his kills on the news must be driving him crazy.”