Promises in the Dark

by D. K. Hood

  “When her killer is behind bars, you’ll have to keep your promise.” Wolfe laid a hand on his shoulder. “Start living again, Dave, before it’s too late.”

  After Wolfe examined his eyes and gave him the all clear, he searched his pockets for the pills he carried in an emergency and took a couple. They worked fast restoring his equilibrium and the headaches usually faded away. He noticed Wolfe looking at him. “Did you find anything else?”

  “Not yet.” Wolfe ran a hand down his face and removed his smoke covered mask. “The local deputies are with Webber. They’re photographing the explosion scene and marking evidence. The entire area will need to be cordoned off so we can come back in the morning.” His shoulders sagged. “I’ll have six people to assist me. I’ll work the scene as soon as Carter has cleared around the house for explosives.” He turned to Jenna. “There’s nothing else you can do here.”

  “Okay.” Jenna looked at Carter. “You go and clear the area around the ranch house if it’s safe. I know it’s late but I’d really like to stop by and see if our suspects have been tucked up in bed tonight.”

  Forty-Three

  Anger had replaced the glow of satisfaction at the direct hit on the deputy’s cruiser. He punched the door of his truck. How had anyone survived the explosion? He’d gaped in astonishment when the drone’s camera had picked up the two FBI agents through the smoke, one aiming a weapon at his drone. It was as if the gun was pointed directly at him and he’d used every evasive maneuver in the book to avoid being shot down but the man aiming the weapon was good. The first shot had the drone spinning out of control and the second obliterated his camera. Detonating the explosive and destroying his prized possession was his only way to conceal his identity. The explosion had been spectacular, one of his best, and lit up the sky like a firework and spread his drone all over the ground in a thousand pieces. Nothing would remain to trace the drone back to him and if necessary, he could build another.

  Seeing the orange flames jump high in the sky had energized him. The danger he’d faced to complete another part of his plan had been worth the risk. Sheriff Buzz Stuart was already a distant memory, as was Pamela. He chuckled. To think, the sheriff’s granddaughter had been twenty yards away from his house all the time he’d been inside. The drive to Black Rock Falls to return the old sedan had been necessary, but the fire had called him back to Blackwater. Following the firetrucks into town behind the usual group of sightseers had been exhilarating. The crackle and roar of the fire, the clouds of thick smoke and the smell had thrilled him.

  He leaned back in his seat to watch the firefighters soak the last dying embers. The team of firefighters from Black Rock Falls had already headed for home. He glanced toward the group of FBI agents, all huddled around. Shaken but uninjured unfortunately. It would seem even a near death experience wouldn’t slow them down.

  He took one last look at the smoldering blackened shell of the sheriff’s house, catching the image and setting it deep in his mind. He often recalled his memories of destruction, and could call on them at any time, day or night. He wouldn’t forget the satisfaction of telling the sheriff and his wife he’d killed their granddaughter. Sending the explosives inside the house and then watching the couple burn had triggered an emotion in him, he’d thought long gone. He’d found pleasure in destroying the happy families on his list and making them suffer mental and physical pain. It had been a long time since he’d experienced any emotion other than anger but now, he understood how to turn his anger into an actual feeling. He craved more, needed more and deep down inside he’d come to realize his craving would never be satisfied.

  He opened his social media page and thought for a time about what to say. He smiled into the darkness.

  I enjoyed an eventful night with old acquaintances. There’s nothing better than sitting around a kitchen table and chatting about family.

  With reluctance, he closed the page, scanned the area, and inhaled the exotic flavor of wet blackened wood. The lights would be extinguished soon once the medical examiner removed the bodies, if anything remained of the sheriff and his wife. His gaze followed the dog and FBI handler as they moved around the perimeter of the house. He hadn’t set any devices in the yard. He’d noticed dogs running loose in the area and didn’t want them tripping an IED and spoiling everything. His attention drifted to the other agents, standing close together in animated conversation. They would be leaving soon and he didn’t plan on being on the highway when they headed home. He’d had his fun and now it was time for him to vanish in the wind with the smoke.

  Forty-Four

  It was getting close to daylight by the time they arrived at the Crazy Iron Forge in Louan to speak to Roger Suffolk. The adrenalin rush from the explosion had gone leaving Jenna exhausted, but she had to act now before a suspect slipped through their fingers. When Kane killed the Beast’s headlights, they rolled along the driveway and the truck became invisible in the darkness. Ahead, a light set above the forge, illuminated Suffolk’s truck. Jenna hadn’t noticed any CCTV cameras but instructed Kane to park in the shadows and douse the interior lights. She planned to look through the windows of Suffolk’s truck for anything incriminating. Easing her way out of the door as quietly as possible, she walked around the Beast but behind her Carter cleared his throat. She spun around to look at him. “What?”

  “It’s the middle of the night and we’re poking around a place of business.” Carter had removed his helmet like the others and his hair stood up in all directions. “Don’t you think it would be safer if we went to the front door and left Kane and Jo to do a quick recon of the area? I’ll take Zorro with me, and he’ll give me a sign if there are any explosives in the house.”

  Seeing the wisdom in his idea, Jenna nodded. “Okay. As far as I’m aware, Suffolk doesn’t have a dog, so we’ll be able to surprise him.”

  “Before you go.” Kane moved to her side. “If this is the bomber and he built the drone, it’s likely he has created some type of security around the house. He could already know we’re here. He has some expensive equipment inside the forge and that light is not a deterrent.” He glanced over toward Jo. “Take Jo with you, she’ll pick up any change in his mannerisms or mood. I’ll do the recon.”

  “Are you okay with that, Jo?” Jenna looked at her in the dim light.

  “Yeah, let’s go. We have two more suspects to visit.” Jo pushed her fingers through her hair. “We’ll need to be on scene tomorrow to follow up on the girl’s disappearance and check out the sheriff’s house. We need a couple of hours’ sleep or we’ll be no good to anyone.”

  “Okay let’s go.” Glad Carter had found her flashlight unbroken in the field, Jenna switched it on and led the way past the forge to the garden path. They congregated on his porch. “He’s not going to be happy being woken up at this hour.”

  “Too bad.” Carter hammered on the front door. “FBI, open up, Suffolk, we’d like a word with you.” He hammered again. “FBI.”

  Jenna could see a glow through one of the windows, and then the porch light came on in a blinding flash of white. She blinked as the door opened an inch or two and a young woman poked her head out.

  “Roger is in the shower. I’ll go and tell him you’re here.”

  The door shut and Jenna raised her eyebrows at Jo. “It didn’t take him long to replace Dawn. I wonder if he knows we took her? I doubt the Louan Sheriff would keep it to himself.”

  “We’ll ask Suffolk how old she is, seems he likes them underage.” Jo had dark circles under her eyes and yawned. “Sorry, I’m beat.”

  Heavy footsteps came down the stairs and the door flew open. Suffolk glared at them wide-eyed. “It’s late, why are you here? Someone die or something?”

  “Who is the girl?” Jo squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.

  “None of your business.” Suffolk moved close to Jo and stood menacingly over her. “This one is seventeen, so you can back off, lady.”

  Jenna pulled her weapon and beside her Ca
rter did the same. A low growl came from Zorro. The dog’s lips had pulled back from his teeth forming a brilliant white line of threat. She straightened. “Step back, Mr. Suffolk. We’re not here about her. We need to ask you a few questions and they won’t wait until morning.”

  “Get on with it.” Suffolk glared at her. “But I’m never too cooperative when someone is pointing a gun at my chest.

  Jenna holstered her weapon but Carter only stepped back a pace out of the light, his Glock raised in both hands. She nodded. “Where were you around nine tonight?”

  “Blackwater.” Suffolk stared down at her, with his eyes boring through her. “I was stuck on one side of a housefire. I couldn’t get through, so had to wait until the fire department cleared out.”

  A tingle crawled up Jenna’s spine. “What took you out there so late?”

  “I work all day and make deliveries after five most times.” Suffolk shrugged and his immense shoulders seemed to heave. “My last delivery was out at a ranch. The man I spoke to was Dan Springer, his ranch is south of town. I’m sure he’ll verify I was there. I’d gotten caught up in traffic so I parked and waited. After an hour or so, I discovered the road was closed ahead. I walked to the local café and spent my time there and when the smoke cleared, I went back to my truck and waited for the road to reopen. I haven’t been home long.”

  “Did you see the explosion?” Carter moved out of the shadows with his weapon holstered. “It was Sheriff Stuart’s home.”

  “I heard them. I figure the entire town heard them.” Suffolk narrowed his eyes and peered at them. “Is this why you’re here? Someone saw me in town and you figure I had something to do with the explosions?”

  “We’re interviewing everyone on scene, yes.” Jenna refused to be intimidated by him. If he believed someone had seen him in town that would work in her favor. “So, what did you see?”

  “Nothing.” Suffolk thought for a beat. “Three explosions close together and then two more a long time after, maybe an hour or more. When I came out the café the sky glowed red and the smoke was thick.”

  “So, you just sat in your truck surrounded by thick smoke and waited?” Jo raised one eyebrow in question.

  “No, I waited in the café.” Suffolk looked down his long nose at her. “I had my laptop with me and it’s free Wi-Fi in the café. I watched some shows and played some games to pass the time.”

  “Did you know about Pamela Stuart’s abduction?” Jo wasn’t backing down. “The young girl who went missing in Blackwater yesterday?”

  “Well, it’s all over the news, so yeah, I heard.” Suffolk sighed. “So what? Kids go missing all the time.”

  “Do they?” Jenna did not break eye contact. “Do you own or have you ever owned a drone?”

  “No.” Suffolk glanced at his bare feet. “Is that all?”

  Jenna had a thought. “Just one more question. Did you do the repairs on your wife’s vehicle?”

  “Nope, I had it serviced at the garage in town.” Suffolk leaned against the doorframe, fully in control and relaxed. “I don’t have time to service vehicles.”

  The car servicing would be easy to check and she wondered why it hadn’t been mentioned in the report, after a fatality. Jenna glanced at Carter but he didn’t have a question. “Okay. Thank you for your time.”

  As the door shut in their face, Jenna hurried back along the pathway. She turned to Jo. “What do you think about Suffolk?”

  “He’s overconfident, and like before has a solid alibi.” She frowned. “His job affords him the perfect excuse for moving around. It seems too much of a coincidence we have him in DC at the time of the bombings and both here.”

  “The problem is, if everything checks out, we’re back to circumstantial evidence again.” Carter walked behind Jenna. “We need more to charge him with murder one.”

  Jenna thought for a beat and turned to look at him. “Would it be enough to pull his phone records and see if he made a call around the time the explosives were detonated?”

  “I figure that would be a waste of time.” Carter bent to rub Zorro’s ears. “He’s using burner phones to trigger the detonations. Only a fool would use their own device and leave a record of the call.”

  “I agree, he’s way too smart for that.” Jo looked at her. “But I figure a judge would authorize a search and Kalo could work on it for us.” She buttoned her jacket and shivered. “It’s up to you.”

  “Okay.” Jenna headed toward the driveway. “I’ll leave it for now.”

  Jenna found Kane leaning against the Beast sipping coffee from a to-go cup. “Find anything?”

  “Nope.” Kane shook his head. “You?”

  “Yeah.” Jenna pulled open the door and inhaled the smell of coffee. In her absence, Kane had filled three to-go cups from the Thermos. “He was in Blackwater and had his laptop with him.”

  “And he’s so confident, he admitted being there.” Jo climbed into the back seat and reached for a cup with a sigh. “He has an underlying aggression and right now, I’d place him on the top of our list.”

  Forty-Five

  As they rolled into Prairie View, there wasn’t one light from any of the homes. It seemed everyone was tucked up in bed. Aggravated clouds of moths surrounded the streetlights in a frenzy and as they passed below, the trees lining the side of the road cast zebra shadows across the blacktop. Exhausted and dangerously close to falling asleep, the light and dark stripes flashed like a don’t walk sign. Jenna shook her head to dispel the hypnotic effect and as Kane pulled up outside Simon Dexter’s house, she fixed her attention on the gray sedan parked in the driveway. She finished her coffee, hoping the caffeine burst would keep her awake and ran through the suspect’s file on her phone. “Okay, Dexter lives alone, was on scene of the Woods’ fire, has been in DC, and is a firebug. He had a hankering for Sophie but was warned off by Wood, same as Cleaves. At this time, he is only a person of interest. We don’t have enough on him right now.”

  “He seemed nervous to me when we interviewed him.” Kane looked at her. “He doesn’t act confident enough to bust into people’s homes.”

  “I agree.” Carter leaned forward from the back seat. “Most folks around here have weapons in the house. The only way I figure Dexter could have gotten inside uninvited would be if he was known to the family.”

  “I’d like to go this one alone with Jenna.” Jo was staring at her phone. “From Kane’s notes, Dexter was intimidated by them, he gave up Cleaves at the get-go. It would be interesting to see how he acts with us. Maybe we’ll get to see the other side of Simon Dexter.”

  Jenna forced her lips into a smile. “Okay, but poke me if I fall asleep on his porch waiting for him to come to the door.”

  She climbed out the truck and they made their way up the driveway. Jenna ran one hand over the hood of the old gray sedan and turned to Jo. “It’s warm, he hasn’t been home long either.”

  “I sure hope he’s not involved with Suffolk.” Jo unbuttoned her jacket and touched her weapon as if to reassure herself. “This case would make more sense, if two men were involved.”

  As old case files percolated through her mind, Jenna stared at her. “We’ve had them all, brothers, one leading the other into crime, and then there was the pedophile ring. Now we have three men, all up to the necks in underage girls. All of them would have remained under the radar if Woods hadn’t made a noise about his daughter and chastised Suffolk about the treatment of his wife.” Suddenly fully awake and energized, she nodded slowly. “Maybe one of them noticed Pamela Stuart on their travels, maybe members of the Louan sect, church or whatever, are in Blackwater as well. Sheriff Stuart is an honorable man, he’d never have allowed a group of men to use underage girls in this way. This would have made him a threat and they’d have needed to remove him.”

  “It sure makes a lot of sense.” Jo smiled at her. “Although proving it will take a ton of detective work.”

  Jenna marched up to the front door and thumped hard on the wooden p
anels. She noticed a doorbell and leaned on it, hearing a constant buzzing inside the home. “FBI. Open the door, Mr. Dexter.”

  The door opened and a ruffled bleary-eyed man stood before them. With a receding chin, his hooked nose seemed to take up all his face. The smell of smoke was heavier on his clothes than her own. By the look of him, he’d been sleeping in them. “Mr. Simon Dexter?”

  “In the flesh.” Dexter’s mouth curled into a yellow toothed grimace. “This is the second time the FBI have dropped by. I want to see your IDs. This is police harassment.”

  “I’m Special Agent Jo Wells.” Jo held out her cred pack. “This is Jenna Alton.”

  “I know you.” Dexter pointed a finger with a dirty nail at Jenna. “You’re the sheriff out of Black Rock Falls. What are you doing in my county, chasing after the guy who beat you up? Nasty cut on your neck there, Sheriff.”

  Unperturbed, Jenna stood her ground. “Investigating a crime. Where were you tonight, Mr. Dexter?”

  “Out.” He scratched his belly and yawned. “You’d better come inside. I made a pot of coffee and fell asleep waiting for it.” He turned around and headed down a hallway, stopped, and looked at them. “If you want to talk, I need to sit down.”

  Concerned by the way he’d dismissed them as a threat, when the sight of an FBI agent would normally have most people worried, Jenna shook her head. “Not this time. Come back here. It will only take a few minutes of your time and we have other folks to visit tonight.”

  “Go to hell.” Dexter kept walking.

  Surprised by his attitude, Jenna straightened. “If I step inside your house, it will be to take you in for questioning.” She waited a beat. “Your choice, Mr. Dexter.”

  When he turned slowly and eyed her with contempt, she eased her Glock out of the shoulder holster and dropped it to her side. She noticed the flicker of doubt in his eyes at her action and she wondered if he had the same opinion of women as Suffolk.