Promises in the Dark

by D. K. Hood

  “Never have.”

  A whistle came from behind them and Duke did his happy dance and took off bounding toward the gate. Kane turned to see Atohi Blackhawk heading in their direction. He raised his hand in a wave. “Now there’s a man who understands Duke.” He frowned. “I wonder what’s happened, he doesn’t look too happy.”

  He heard a growl and beside Carter, Zorro was baring his teeth. “You’ve met Atohi before, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah, sure. Nice guy.” Carter flicked his fingers and Zorro sat beside him not making a sound. “Zorro senses people’s emotions. I figure Atohi is here to deliver some bad news. It looks like playtime is over.”

  Kane walked toward his friend. “Problem?”

  “You could say that.” Atohi fell in step beside them as they headed back to the gate. “I went with Rowley to Dead Man’s Drop, a fishing hole out at the bottom of the falls. They pulled a young woman’s body from the rockpool and Wolfe figures she’s the missing girl you’ve been hunting down in Louan. He’s taken the body back to the morgue and is running a DNA comparison against the bodies from the explosion.”

  “Why didn’t he call one of us?” Carter went over to a tap and rinsed his hands. “If it’s Sophie Wood it’s an FBI matter and Rowley shouldn’t have been involved. Did they process the scene?”

  “Trust me, Rowley is a by the book guy.” Blackhawk stopped walking and balled his fists on his hips. “He and Wolfe have worked together many a time and Wolfe’s team doesn’t miss anything.” He snorted, clearly agitated by the slight on his friends. “The call came in from the forest warden, the information Rowley received was he found a body floating in the lake is all.”

  Kane slapped him on the back. “I appreciate you letting us know. Wolfe wouldn’t bother us unless he has a positive ID and that will be an hour or so away. We’ll head back to the office and wait for his call.” He smiled. “I’ll give Jenna and Jo the heads up.”

  “See that you do.” Blackhawk grinned at him. “I’m heading to Aunt Betty’s to grab some takeout and then I’m heading home. You know where to find me if you need me for anything.” He turned to Carter. “Nice seeing you again, Agent Carter.” He gave them a wave and hurried across Main.

  “I figure we head straight for the ME’s office. We have those mud samples from Cleaves’ shoes to give him and I don’t plan on waiting for information on the girl.” Carter wiped his wet hands on his jeans. “If she is Sophie Wood, how the hell did she end up dead in Black Rock Falls?”

  Twenty-Five

  It was getting late in the day by the time Wolfe had the body of the young woman safely inside the refrigerated drawer in the morgue. He’d set up the DNA machine and processed the samples from the body, before he removed his gloves and called Jenna. “Hey Jenna. Where are you?”

  “At the hospital. We had to rescue a young woman from an abusive situation.” Jenna sounded exhausted. “We’d hardly headed off when Kane called to inform us that the guy that had her in his house was heading our way. We’re holed up at the secure ward at the hospital. The girl is still undergoing tests. She’s been abused, Shane, and sent to this monster by her father to be trained as his next wife.”

  Hearing the anger in Jenna’s voice, Wolfe frowned. “How old is she?”

  “Fifteen but naïve. She gave me a note asking for help when we dropped by to interview Roger Suffolk.” Jenna gave a long sigh. “I was going to place her in the Her Broken Wings women’s shelter but with Suffolk making trips into Black Rock Falls, Jo thinks she’d be safer in Snakeskin Gully. They have foster homes available and it’s far enough away no one will find her.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. I guess Jo will sort out the legality of removing her without a court order.” Wolfe leaned against the counter. “The reason I called is we pulled a body out of a fishing hole in one of the smaller lakes in Stanton Forest, this afternoon. She resembles Sophie Wood. I’m running a DNA profile to see if she’s a match with the Woods. If she is, I strongly suggest you all come by for the autopsies.”

  “You found her in a lake in Black Rock Falls?” Jenna sounded incredulous. “What makes you believe it’s our missing girl?”

  “There’s a close resemblance to the image we have on file.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “The other reason I’ve withheld from everyone but our team and Rowley, is she has a zip-tie around her ankle. Same type and color as the ones we found on the bodies of the Wood family.”

  “Has she been in the water long?”

  “I don’t think so.” Wolfe’s attention moved to the stainless-steel drawers set into one wall. An entire murdered family were lying within a few feet of him. The idea chilled him to the bone. He forced his mind back on track. “The body temperature taken on scene was inconclusive. The water was very cold but the skin didn’t appear to have been submerged for long. Maybe two or three hours. I haven’t completed a preliminary yet, I haven’t had the time. I’ll get the results of the DNA test and schedule the autopsy for first thing in the morning. I’ll call you when I have the results.”

  “Sure, we should be through here soon and heading back to the office.” Jenna yawned. “I have to go over the case with Kane and Carter. We split up to cover more ground.”

  Wolfe frowned. “Any suspects?”

  “Yeah, a few but we don’t have enough evidence to charge anyone.” Jenna covered the mouthpiece and Wolfe could hear a muffled conversation. “I’ve gotta go, the doctor wants to speak to us. Talk soon.” She disconnected.

  Wolfe glanced at the clock. He’d promised to take Anna, his youngest daughter, to her ballet class and stay to watch. He had absolutely no interest in ballet but if Anna enjoyed the classes, well he would too. He pushed a hand through his hair. He needed a haircut but hadn’t had time. In between working with Emily on all aspects of forensics, he’d had the task of teaching Julie to drive. She’d passed her driving test yesterday and he’d given her a slightly battered SUV to drive. Anna was comparatively easy, she loved to ride which meant most weekends and school holidays revolved around Jenna and Kane’s workload. He could drop her at their ranch for a couple of hours and collect her later, overloaded with sugar and smelling of horses. The ballet was a new passion for his little girl, and if it made her happy that was fine by him, although he had to admit becoming one of the stage “moms” was slightly uncomfortable at times, with four divorced mother hens clucking around him batting their eyelashes and squeezing his muscles. He rolled his eyes just thinking about it but as usual Kane had come up with a plan. If the women harassed him too much, he’d bore them with gruesome facts about forensics. The body farm story had become a favorite.

  He contemplated making coffee and headed into the hallway. The sight of Kane and Carter heading toward him stopped him in his tracks. “If you’re here for results, I won’t have my report on the Woods’ autopsies until tomorrow. I’ve been flat out all day and I’m busy tonight.”

  “We have samples of mud from a suspect’s boots.” Kane held out an evidence bag. “And a sample of C-4 taken from his house.”

  Wolfe looked over the evidence bags to check the labels were filled out correctly. “I’ll run tests on these first thing in the morning. Did you have a search warrant?”

  “Nah.” Kane smiled at him. “I have a signed statement. Thanks, man, we’ll stop by in the morning.”

  Wolfe nodded but he could see there was something else troubling Carter. He opened the door to the lab and dropped the bags into a container. “If you’re planning on dropping by for the results of the autopsies on the Wood family tomorrow, you’ll need to be here no later than ten.” He frowned. “Anything else on your mind, Carter?”

  “The body you pulled out the lake, we want to see it.” Carter removed a toothpick from between his teeth. “We ran into Blackhawk downtown, he mentioned being there.”

  Wolfe looked at Kane. “At this moment, this isn’t your case. Rowley was the lead investigator. Did he call in the FBI for assistance because I didn’t?”
<
br />   “Come on, Shane, we know you figure it could be Sophie Wood.” Kane removed his black Stetson and slapped it against his thigh. “We’re all part of the same team.”

  Wolfe looked from one to the other. “You’ll have to wait for the DNA result for a positive ID. If she’s Sophie Wood then I’ll do a preliminary examination but I’m leaving here at six. I have an appointment at seven and I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He glanced down at the dogs. “We’ll wait in my office and you’ll have to leave the dogs in there. I’m not having dogs in my examination rooms.”

  “Is everything okay at home?” Kane searched his face. “Girls okay?”

  Wolfe smiled at his friend. “The girls are fine, more work than I had ever imagined, even with a live-in housekeeper. They all deserve my time but so does my work. There are only so many hours in the day. I’ll be glad when Em is qualified to take some of the load. Being the ME for four counties now is time consuming.”

  “How much longer until Em does her finals?” Kane walked beside him toward the office.

  Wolfe sighed. “December. Colt finishes this semester; he only required an associate degree to work here but Em wants to become a certified medical examiner.” He scratched his cheek. “It’s been four years come December since she started college. Time has gone by so fast.”

  Carter followed them inside Wolfe’s office.

  Wolfe went to the coffee machine, popped in two pods and placed cups under the dispenser. “I love this machine. No wait, no delay.” He waited for the cups to fill and handed them to Kane and Carter before repeating the process.

  “Thanks.” Carter removed his hat and dropped it on the desk before taking a seat. “If this is Sophie, how did she get into a lake out of Black Rock Falls?”

  Wolfe took his cup from under the machine and sank into his office chair. “I don’t know. It’s too far to walk and she was naked. Even if she’d made it to the falls there are forest wardens and tourists all over the forest, she could’ve asked for assistance.” He sipped his drink and allowed the rich taste to spill over his tongue. “The fishing hole is part of a small lake deep in the forest, it’s called Dead Man’s Drop. From what I understand, people who explored the Whispering Caves and got turned around, headed toward a light source believing it was a way out. According to Atohi, the falls run in to the caves there from a fissure in the rocks causing a whirlpool effect. Once someone is in the water they’re washed out and over the falls. Before entry to the caves was prohibited, some twenty years or so ago, deaths frequently occurred there.”

  “So, I guess it’s not a particularly popular fishing hole?” Kane looked at him over the rim of his cup. “You’d never know what you might haul out of there.”

  Wolfe leaned back in his seat. Oh, Kane was good, in fact they both were exceptional detectives, and the way they were extracting information from him was very subtle but he wasn’t planning on giving up any vital information just yet. After all, Jenna had taken the lead in the case and would be pissed with him if he gave the information to Carter before her. He smiled at Kane and heard a buzzer sounding from the laboratory. “Exactly. Wait here, I need to check on something.” He emptied his cup and hurried out the door.

  He collected the data from the DNA sequencer machine and ran a comparison on his computer to all three of the Wood family. There was no doubt, the young woman in his morgue was Sophie Wood. He pulled out his phone and called Jenna. She picked up after a few rings. “Hi Jenna, it’s Shane. I have a match for Sophie Wood. Kane and Carter are waiting in my office. Carter wants to see the body. I haven’t given them the result yet.”

  “Yeah, show them the body. We’ll stop by soon.” Jenna cleared her throat. “Did you get a chance to look at the blue Ford yet?”

  Bone weary, Wolfe rubbed the back of his neck. “Not yet. The vehicle is locked up out back of the morgue. I’ll get to it tomorrow.” He leaned against the counter. “I know you need the information yesterday but I’m going as fast as humanly possible. I’ll do the sweep and have answers late tomorrow afternoon.”

  “That’s fine. I do understand your workload, Shane.” Jenna sounded sincere. “We shouldn’t be too long. Jo is sorting out the legal side of keeping a minor in a secure ward. She’s already organized around the clock security.” She laughed. “I’d forgotten how fast the FBI moved. I’m hanging around here doing nothing but waiting. I’ll call Rowley and give him the results. He’ll probably be glad to hand over the case to us.”

  Wolfe scratched the stubble on his chin and made a mental note to shave before taking Anna to ballet classes. “That will save me the trouble. If you’re planning on dropping by to see the body, I must be out of here by six. I’m taking Anna to ballet this evening and I promised to stay back and watch.”

  “Sure. Ah. It looks like Jo is ready to leave. We’ll see you soon.” She disconnected.

  Wolfe stood and pushed his phone back inside his pocket. He walked out the lab and grabbed scrubs, facemasks, and gloves for the three of them. When he walked into his office, he dropped them on the desk. “Suit up. The DNA is a match.”

  Twenty-Six

  Jenna pulled her SUV into an empty space beside Kane’s truck. She turned to Jo. “I hate this part of an investigation.”

  “Really?” Jo unclipped her seatbelt. “I find the forensics fascinating. The tiniest discovery can link a criminal to a crime and solve murders.” She sighed. “Although, I have to admit since I’ve had Jaime, detaching myself emotionally from child victims during an autopsy has been difficult.”

  Understanding, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, kids are difficult but I have a different response and it’s probably unhealthy.” She collected her things and stared at Jo. “Seeing a murdered child makes me angry. I should be feeling sad but it’s never sadness. I feel this welling up of anger and feel like screaming.” She looked away. “I’m not normal, am I?”

  “You’re a sheriff and you’re responsible for the lives of the people in your town.” Jo squeezed her arm. “Of course, you feel angry. You want to bring the criminal to justice. I figure Kane feels angry too. He doesn’t show it but I’ve seen his combat face. He hides his emotions well but not from me.” She waved to the ME’s office doors. “I guess we’d better view the body.”

  Jenna used her card to access the door. The reception area was empty, Emily and Webber had left for the day. They went through the next set of doors and the cold chill of the morgue greeted her with its normal unearthly smells of antiseptic laced with a hint of decaying flesh. She headed for the examination room with the red light glowing and peered through the glass window to see Kane’s wide back blocking the view. “They’re inside.” She grabbed scrubs, facemask, and gloves and suited up.

  “Okay, I’m ready.” Jo pulled on her gloves. “Let’s go.”

  Jenna flashed her card over the scanner and the doors whooshed open. All the men’s eyes turned to her but she was focused on the young woman lying on the metal autopsy table covered with a white sheet. “Okay, what do we have here?”

  “I’ve been X-raying the body and taking samples from under her nails so far.” Wolfe turned to examine a slide under a microscope. “No skin or fibers.” He looked at Jenna. “From a preliminary examination of her skull, I’d guess she struck her head during the fall and drowned. Of course, as you know, I’ll have to do a full autopsy to determine COD but I can’t see any other reason for her death. There are no signs of strangulation, ligature marks, or pressure marks around her throat.” He pulled back the sheet and examined the girl’s body under the light. “Help me turn her over.”

  “Sure.” Kane stepped forward and they rolled the body over.

  “No stab wounds.” Wolfe narrowed his gaze as he laid Sophie back on the gurney. “These bruises on her face are at least twenty-four hours old.” He looked down the body. “Same with her inner thighs.”

  Jenna stared at the girl’s body and felt the anger rising. “He raped her, didn’t he?” She pointed to the distinct finger marks on So
phie’s thighs. “I’ve seen that before on rape victims.” Her gaze moved to the girl’s ankle and the deep welt in the skin around the zip-tie.

  “I’ll examine her.” Wolfe proceeded to a pelvic examination. He straightened and nodded. “Yeah, there’s clear evidence of rape. I’ll process the swabs in the morning.” He took a sample and smeared it on a slide and then went to the microscope. “No evidence of semen. I doubt we’ll find anything to tie one of your suspects to the kidnapping and rape. I’d say the waterfall washed away any trace evidence on her skin but I’ll check during the autopsy.”

  Gathering her thoughts, Jenna nodded. “Thanks, we’ll get out of your hair. What time tomorrow?”

  “Ten.” Wolfe covered the body and slid it back into the drawer. “Try and get some rest, Jenna.”

  Exasperated, Jenna tore off her mask and threw her hands in the air. “We have a psychopathic pyromaniac murderer running loose who likes to kidnap and rape girls. I won’t be able to rest until he’s behind bars.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Blackwater

  Pamela Stuart made a habit of dropping by her grandma’s house to take her fresh milk on the way home from school. Her grandpa, Sheriff Buzz Stuart, was always too busy to remember, and grandma was still recovering from hip replacement surgery. She loved Grandma’s house because it always smelled of fresh baking. She had a bag of cookies in her school bag for later and her mouth watered to eat them on the way home. It was a long walk to her home if she kept to the sidewalk but if she used the cut-through that went through the woods, it wouldn’t take long. It wasn’t dark yet and nothing bad ever happened in Blackwater.