Promises in the Dark

by D. K. Hood

  “There is indication of forced sexual activity.” Wolfe’s eyes held a deep sorrow. “You have your hands full with this murderer.”

  “I wonder exactly what happened to him to trigger another violence spree.” Jo shook her head. “If this is the DC bomber, to him it’s history repeating itself but, before, the clean way he killed made it almost impersonal. More of a payback. This time, the raping and torture of his victims, means someone else is involved. Someone was taken from him of great value and revenge is the only motive I have for this twist in his MO.”

  Mind reeling with the implications, Jenna’s mind wandered during the rest of the autopsy. The findings would arrive neatly in a report but what Jo had said concerned her. Both of their main suspects had very personal reasons as motives but had the killing of Sheriff Stuart been the end of the vendetta? She allowed the evidence to filter through her mind. What did social workers, sheriffs, lawyers, and magistrates have in common? She turned to Jo and gripped her by the arms. “I have it! I’ve been thinking this guy must have done time, got out of jail, and wanted revenge on the people who put him there but apart from Cleaves spending three months in jail, the social worker part of the puzzle doesn’t add up. Okay, they might assist an ex-con but where are they most active? Child protection.”

  “So, you think one of our suspects was placed in the system and they went batshit crazy and decided to killed everyone involved?” Jo looked astonished. “That should be easy enough to hunt down but why go off on a killing rampage now? This doesn’t look like the work of an eighteen-year-old?”

  Excited, Jenna shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe dealing with the Woods triggered an old memory or something. We need to get back to the office and find out if any of our suspects were in foster care.” She whirled around and looked at Wolfe. “Is that okay?”

  “Yeah.” Wolfe’s eyes sparkled over the top of his mask. “Go get ’em, Jenna.”

  Fifty-Three

  Julie Wolfe checked the time. She didn’t want to be late at the Colemans’ house. Now she had her own vehicle, a rather tattered but sound SUV her father and Kane had practically built from scratch, and a shiny new driver’s license, she could do odd jobs at the weekend. Her sister Anna had a friend at school, Lucy Coleman, and Julie had met her mother a few times. When Lucy’s mother asked if she could babysit Lucy and her baby brother, Peter, for three hours on Saturday night, she’d jumped at the chance. The Colemans wanted to celebrate their wedding anniversary at the new tavern in town. Her father had agreed, as Mr. Coleman was the local magistrate, although she expected him to run a background check on the entire family. She went to look in on Anna. With her dad and Emily at the morgue playing with dead people, Anna would be happy with the housekeeper, Mrs. Mills, who’d become almost like a grandma since they’d arrived in Black Rock Falls. She headed into the family room and smiled, recognizing the songs to a popular movie. Mrs. Mills and Anna were engrossed staring at the screen. Julie raised her voice. “I’ll see you later. Tell Dad I should be home by ten and if not, I’ll call.”

  She headed for the front door, swinging her car keys. The new freedom was a curse as well as an advantage. In the last week or so, she’d taken on all Emily’s driving chores, and her phone was filled with messages to stop by stores to buy groceries or pick up or drop off dry cleaning. It was as if she’d suddenly become an adult and although it kind of felt good, she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to give up her childhood just yet. Would her dad still throw hoops with her now or was his catchphrase of “Where are you going?” becoming the new normal in her life?

  The workouts in the gym her dad and Uncle Dave had built in their downtime, had made her aware of the dangers of living in Black Rock Falls. Her dad had trained them like a drill sergeant, even little Anna had been given instructions on how to run away from a threat. Then Uncle Dave had had a long talk with them, telling them that bad people look just like everyone else, and all the ways a bad person might try to lure young women into bad situations. She understood more than they gave her credit for, most kids of sixteen knew the way of things and she’d heard Emily discussing cases with her dad and Uncle Dave. Unlike some, she didn’t spend all her time gazing at her phone or on social media. She had plans and they included becoming a pediatrician, which meant good grades and hopefully a scholarship to a good medical college. She’d promised her mom she’d work hard at school, and she never broke her word.

  The drive to the Colemans would take twenty-five minutes. They lived in one of the ranches recently built out of Glacial Heights. It was a secluded area for the more affluent people in town and not far from the new ski-resort. She drove a little slower than necessary, not risking the possibility of having an accident the first time she’d traveled this far alone. It was dusk and the forest loomed on one side of the road, hiding the trails in deep shadows. This far from town the streetlights were non-existent and the idea of getting a flat or being stranded alone sent shivers up her spine. She pushed the thought away; her car was mechanically sound and her dad, Uncle Dave, or Jake Rowley were not far away if she needed help. By the time she arrived at the Colman’s ranch, she’d gained more confidence and negotiated the treelined driveway with precision. Small lights led the way to the front of the house, a huge redbrick, with a riot of flowers in garden beds.

  She parked beside the magistrate’s silver SUV and climbed out. A cool breeze brushed her legs and rustled the leaves on the trees. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the shriek of an owl and the flapping of wings. Looking over one shoulder into the darkening night, she shook off the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, collected her bag, and headed for the steps. The idea to bring her laptop to complete her school assignments had been Emily’s. Once the kids went to sleep, she’d have a nice peaceful place to study. She didn’t have time to ring the doorbell before the door flew open and Lucy stood in the doorway, dressed in PJs with a broad grin on her face. She smiled at the little girl. “Hello, Lucy.”

  “Come in, Mommy’s getting dressed.” Lucy hurried along the passageway. “She said to wait in the family room and she’d be down soon.”

  A wonderful aroma of fresh baked cookies wafted on the air. The house was modern and a polished floor she could see her face in ran the length of the hallway. The family room was huge with a fireplace big enough to roast a pig. Overstuffed leather sofas sat around a coffee table and a flat screen above the mantel was the biggest she’d ever seen. An elk’s head stared at her from another wall and on a bookcase, pictures of the family, wedding photos, fun holiday times and baby photos all in silver frames. A box of toys sat in one corner, piled up high and spilling onto the carpet. She looked at Lucy. “What would you like to do tonight?”

  “Well, Mommy said I have to be in bed by seven-thirty so could you read me a story?” Lucy looked at her expectantly. “Daddy doesn’t like me watching TV before bedtime but I like bedtime stories.”

  Relieved she would be easy to care for, Julie nodded. “I’d like that fine.”

  When Mrs. Coleman came into the room, bringing with her the scent of perfume, she smiled at her. “Is there anything special I have to do for John tonight?”

  “No, he’ll sleep right through now.” Mrs. Coleman patted her hair. “Just check on him every hour or so, Lucy will go straight to sleep. She has a routine and falls asleep without a fuss. You have my number and my husband’s but if anything bad should happen, call 911 first and then us but I’m sure with a medical examiner for a father, you know the drill.”

  Wondering what could possibly go wrong for her to call 911, Julie nodded. “I have all the sheriff’s department’s numbers if necessary but is there a problem I should be aware of?”

  “No, not at all.” Mr. Coleman came into the room. “It’s a precaution is all. The children will be asleep, you can watch TV, help yourself to whatever you need.”

  “I baked cookies and they’re still cooling on the counter.” Mrs. Coleman smiled. “We’ll be about two to three hours is all.”
She turned to kiss Lucy on the cheek. “Off to bed with you.”

  “Julie is going to read me a story.” Lucy blinked up at her parents.

  “Just the one.” Mrs. Coleman smiled at Julie. “Then she’ll go straight to sleep.” She followed her husband to the front door.

  Julie stood for a moment, watching the Colemans drive away. She closed the door and stared out the window. It was almost full dark now and the trees seemed to close in around her. All alone, with two children to care for and for some reason the gnawing feeling of someone watching her just wouldn’t go away.

  Fifty-Four

  Exhausted, Jenna rested one hip on the edge of the table and stared at the notations on the whiteboard. No matter which way she looked at the circumstantial evidence, she couldn’t find enough to put forward a solid case against a suspect. She took the pen and swiped a line through two names on the board and then turned and looked at her team. “Taking all the evidence, I think we can remove, Dexter and Haralson from the suspects list. We already discounted Peter Huntley, the other person who had a problem with Wood, earlier on, so I figure we need to concentrate on Cleaves and Suffolk.”

  “With the suggested link between social services, cops, magistrates, and lawyers, I’d keep Peter Huntley on the list.” Kane collected the scattered statements and tapped them into a neat pile. “He might appear to be living quietly here in town but we don’t know what’s going on inside his head and we don’t know if he was in DC at the time of the bombings. In fact, we don’t know anything about him.”

  “My head is spinning.” Jo rubbed her temples. “Instead of going around in circles, and going over these files again, could we just make a list of the main points we have on each suspect?”

  “That would help, with all of us working on different suspects it’s hard to keep track.” Carter looked at Jenna. “Do we have contact info on Peter Huntley?”

  Jenna nodded. “Yeah, it’s in his file along with everything Phelps from the social services told us about him.”

  “I’ll ask Kalo to run a background check on him. He might be the sleeper.” Carter stood up and went outside the room to make the call.

  Jenna stared at the whiteboard. It had notations everywhere. She moved to one end and placed the names, Suffolk, Cleaves and Huntley on the top of the board and separated them with vertical lines. “Okay this is what we have so far:”

  Roger Suffolk.

  Spousal abuse.

  Prefers underage girls.

  Was in DC time of the bombings.

  Was in Blackwater and Louan time of bombings.

  Has experience with explosives.

  Had a fight with Wood.

  Wife died in accident caused by brake failure.

  Unremorseful.

  Jenna turned to look at them. “Then we have the secretary of DC magistrate Graham Lindley died in the car bombing. Lindley was the friend who reported him for chasing underage girls and caused his family to leave Blackwater.” She sighed. “So, what’s missing? Suffolk had no other dealings with Sheriff Stuart.”

  “Did we look?” Kane lifted his gaze from his tablet. “His wife wrecked her car in Blackwater. That would’ve come under Sheriff Stuart’s jurisdiction.” He scanned the files. “Yeah, Stuart handled the case and he had a question mark on the brake failure. He hauled Suffolk in for questioning. From the case file Kalo sent, Suffolk’s lawyer wanted an expert opinion and it was placed into the hands of a Louan brake specialist and later went on to a car insurance assessor. He passed the claim.”

  “Wonderful.” Jenna snorted. “All members of Suffolk’s sect, no doubt. He did mention he thought her death was divine intervention.”

  “Most likely they belong to his sect for it to be blatantly swept under the carpet.” Kane shook his head. “It’s quite clear from Sheriff Stuart’s notes he made a lot of noise in an effort to find justice for Suffolk’s wife.”

  “Then we come along and poke at the wasps’ nest and likely caused Stuart’s death. Suffolk knew we were checking out his wife’s death from our questioning. His church grapevine would have informed him we’ve been all over asking questions. Suffolk wouldn’t have wanted Stuart joining forces with us and reopening his wife’s the case, so he removed the problem.” Jo looked from one to the other. “Suffolk fits for the local bombings and he didn’t like us poking around but apart from the fight way back with Graham Lindley we don’t have any physical evidence to link him to the DC bombings.”

  “Not yet.” Carter stood in the doorway. “Kalo is chasing down links now. Still no DNA match. It could take days or never.”

  Jenna added to Suffolk’s list:

  Investigated by Sheriff Stuart after wife’s death and the underage girls’ accusation.

  She chewed on the pen scanning the notes. “Okay, next we have John Cleaves:”

  Fined for stealing C-4 from workplace.

  Fined for starting fires.

  C-4 found in house is the same batch as DC bombings.

  On scene at Luan and Blackwater bombings.

  Had a dispute with Wood over Sophie.

  Arrested in DC for stalking his girlfriend.

  Jailed for 3 months in DC. Had a problem with his counsel and magistrate.

  The lawyer representing him, died in the bombings.

  Was in DC at the time of bombings.

  Had a run-in with the Blackwater sheriff for stalking his girlfriend again but walked when he agreed to counseling.

  Likes underage girls.

  She turned to the team. “Anything I’ve forgotten?”

  “Nope.” Kane was scanning his files.

  Jenna looked at him. “Okay next, Peter Huntley:”

  Involved with social services due to unemployment.

  Children removed by Connie Wood and placed in care.

  Children put up for adoption.

  Huntley contacts Sam Cross who represents him pro bono and gets the children back with parents.

  “I can find no other charges against him but I would say he’d be very resentful toward the Woods.” She shrugged. “He’s been a model citizen since moving to Black Rock Falls. Unless we can find anything to implicate him, he’s way down on my list of suspects.”

  “Okay. We all know this isn’t finished, we’ve established a link between social services and the sheriff’s department in all of the suspects.” Jo stood, placed her hands on her lower back, and leaned back with a groan. “Looking at the main points who would you place on a list for possible targets?”

  Trying to make her brain focus, Jenna stared at the lists, going down each one. She turned around. “A magistrate?”

  “Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Kane scratched his cheek. “The problem is which one in which county? There are two here in Black Rock Falls, two in each of Louan and Blackwater and at this point we’re just guessing.”

  “The suspects seemed to have brushed shoulders with at least three of them at one time or another.” Carter moved his toothpick across his lips. “We can put them on alert, inform the local law enforcement of a possible threat?”

  Thinking of her own depleted department, Jenna nodded. She pulled out her phone and went to her contacts list. “I’ll call our local magistrates and give them the heads up. I don’t have the resources to have an around the clock surveillance on their homes.” She looked at Kane. “You contact the deputy sheriff at Blackwater and Carter, you’ve got Louan.” She made the first call to Rowley. “Hi Jake, we’ve been looking at the case files and believe a magistrate might be the next target. It’s likely to be one from Louan or Blackwater but I’m contacting ours just in case they see anything suspicious around their homes. If you get a call, contact me immediately.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about Abe Coleman. He’s just sat down at a table at the tavern near us.” Rowley paused a beat. “I heard that Daryl Chatsworth is off on a fishing trip this weekend.”

  Relieved she had two of the magistrates accounted for, she sighed. “That’s great. If you
could give Coleman the heads up before he leaves, it will put my mind at rest.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Fifty-Five

  It was full dark when Julie heard a noise. She picked up her phone like a security blanket and listened. Had Lucy slipped out of bed and crept downstairs? No, the house was so quiet she could hear herself breathe, and it wasn’t soft footsteps on the stair carpet she could hear, the crunch on gravel was coming from outside. Heart pounding, she closed her laptop and switched off the kitchen lights. Without hesitation, she called her dad’s phone. It went to voicemail. He was still busy in the lab. Fingers trembling, she dropped her voice to a whisper and left a message. “Someone is outside the house. I’m calling 911.”

  Glass shattered in the panel beside the front door and seconds later the door flew open with such force it slammed against the wall. Heavy boots clattered on the polished floor toward her. Someone was checking the rooms. Terrified for her safety and the two sleeping children upstairs, panic gripped her. She had a split second to react. Out of the confusion, the drill she’d performed with her dad a million times fell into place. She closed her phone and pressed her emergency tracker pendant. The alert would go to not only her dad’s phone but to Uncle Dave and Jenna’s phones as well. A predator might check her phone to see if she’d dialed 911 and kill her and the tracker was immediate contact to help and unrecognizable. She had no time to hide, a man carrying a Glock in one hand with a backpack slung over one arm charged into the room, bringing with him the smell of sweat and cigarettes. She willed the children to remain asleep. If he didn’t know they were in the house they’d be safe.

  “I saw the light go out.” The room flooded with light and a tall man with broad shoulders, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, pointed his weapon at her head. “Where is everyone?”

  Petrified, Julie’s throat closed, she tried to speak but her heart pounded so hard, she just stared at him until the press of the cold metal of the gun’s muzzle at her temple freed her tongue. She hardly recognized her squeaky voice. “They went out to visit a friend.” She looked into his dark eyes. Feeding information to anyone listening to her one-way communication tracker was paramount. “Why are you pointing a gun at my head?”