Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon

by Rita Herron

  “I want to thank you all for coming,” Justin said.

  “Did you find Kelly?” Mr. Fisher asked.

  Justin shook his head. “I’m afraid not, but we did find her car.”

  Raymond jerked his head up, while the others exchanged worried looks.

  “Where?” Ernie Fisher asked.

  “Out on Old River Mill Road.”

  “What was she doing there?” Raymond asked.

  Justin crossed his arms, studying the group for their reactions—any sign that one of them might have already known about the car. But he caught no signs of deceit on their faces, only fear and worry.

  “Our tech department studied the text that you received, Mr. Fisher, the one supposedly sent from Kelly telling you she was spending the night with Betty.”

  “What do you mean, ‘supposedly sent’?”

  “That text was sent from a burner phone, not from Kelly’s. That same phone sent a message to Kelly asking her to meet the person out on Old River Mill Road.”

  Fisher’s eyes widened in horror. “Someone tricked her into going out there.”

  “That’s correct,” Justin said. “Whoever it was sent you that text so you wouldn’t realize she was missing until the next day.”

  Gasps and whispers rumbled through the group.

  Raymond paced over to Justin, his breath wheezing out. “Someone kidnapped her, didn’t they?”

  Justin swallowed hard. “It appears that way, Mr. Fisher. Her car had been run off the road and crashed into a ditch. We also found a small amount of blood on the seat.”

  Fisher’s face crumpled with emotions. “Oh, my god. She might be...hurt or gone like those other women.”

  “Why her?” Betty sniffled. “Everyone loved Kelly.”

  “She was so excited about her wedding,” the girl named Anise said.

  “And the shower,” Eleanor added. “She couldn’t wait to open the gifts and move into her new house.”

  Mona wiped tears from her eyes and hugged Eleanor.

  Justin made a low sound in his throat. “Can any of you think of anyone who’d want to hurt her?”

  Heads shook, mumbled nos resounding through the room.

  Amanda stepped from the back with Lambert who looked ashen-faced and distraught. “Please call us if you receive a ransom call,” Amanda told him.

  He nodded, then looked over at Fisher, pain radiating from him. “Have you heard anything, Ray?”

  Raymond shook his head no, rubbing his bleary eyes.

  Amanda rapped her fingers on the desk. “Ladies, I’d like to talk to you individually.”

  “And I need to interview each of the groomsmen,” Justin added.

  Mumbled questions and protests sounded.

  One of the groomsmen, Lance, scowled, his arms crossed. “You think one of us had something to do with her disappearance?”

  “That’s not what we’re implying,” Amanda cut in. “But you might be able to help in some way. You do want to find Kelly, don’t you?”

  Heads nodded, everyone piping up with yeses.

  Amanda gestured toward Betty. “Why don’t you come with me first? It’ll only take a few minutes.” She glanced at Justin. “You can use my deputy’s office to interview the men.”

  Justin pointed to Raymond. “Come on, Fisher. There are a couple of things I need to ask you.”

  He looked sullen and nervous, but he followed Justin without a word. The moment Justin shut the door, the man turned on him.

  “What else can I tell you? I don’t know who would send me and Kelly that text. And I sure as hell don’t know anyone who’d want to hurt her.”

  “Mr. Fisher,” Justin said calmly. “You mentioned that Kelly’s ex wanted to get back with her. I’m going to question him as soon as I leave here. But Sheriff Blair pointed out another possibility.”

  He hesitated, giving the man a moment to gather himself. “Do you have any ex-girlfriends that were unhappy about your upcoming wedding? Maybe a woman who wanted to get back with you? Or...one who wanted to get revenge against you for some reason?”

  Fisher lapsed into a stunned silence for a moment, then dropped into a chair. “I don’t think so...I mean...”

  “What? There’s something you remember?”

  Fisher wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “I did break up with my old high school girlfriend to date Kelly our senior year,” he said. “But that was ages ago. Renee wouldn’t do anything to hurt Kelly because of it. She’s probably already moved on.”

  Justin gritted his teeth. “Where does she live?”

  “Some small town north of here.” He drummed his fingers on his knee, thinking.

  “What else?”

  A muscle twitched in his jaw. “She chaired the committee to set up the high school reunion.”

  “So she knew you were coming back for the reunion and to get married. Perhaps facing old friends as a single woman while you two were together pushed her buttons?”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” Raymond said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “Although I just can’t imagine it.”

  Justin shoved a pad toward him. “Write down her contact information. You do have it, don’t you?”

  A sliver of guilt streaked the man’s face. “Yes, but only because of the reunion.”

  “Right.” Justin watched him scribble the woman’s name and number, wondering if she could have kidnapped Kelly out of jealousy.

  Now they had two feasible suspects, Kelly’s ex-boyfriend and Raymond’s ex-girlfriend.

  His cell phone buzzed, and he checked the number. The ME.

  “Excuse me,” he told Fisher. “I have to take this. You can go now.”

  Fisher looked wary as he rose. “You want one of the other guys sent in?”

  Justin nodded. “Send Lance Stephens in.” He’d start with the guy who’d protested. Maybe he had a reason to avoid questions.

  His phone buzzed again, and he hit Connect. “Sergeant Thorpe.”

  “It’s Dr. Sagebrush. We have an ID on the body from the creek.”

  Justin held his breath. “Her name?”

  “Tina Grimes.”

  “Cause of death?”

  “As we first thought—strangulation,” Dr. Sagebrush said.

  “Any sign of sexual assault?”

  “No, she wasn’t raped,” Dr. Sagebrush said. “But there’s something else that I noticed, too. I don’t know if it’s important, but her high school class ring was clenched in her hand.”

  Justin frowned. What did that mean? That she’d hung on to it as the perpetrator killed her?

  Or had the perp put it in her hand as part of his signature?

  * * *

  THE YEARBOOK ANNUALS were all laid out in a row on the top of the dresser. All the high school students from Sunset Mesa, four years’ worth of girls who’d finished their high school degrees and gone on to plan their futures.

  They were successful, married, had babies of their own. One had even become a reporter who covered human-interest stories.

  Ironic since the little witch had no sense of humanity.

  Flipping the pages brought a sea of females who had to be punished.

  Amanda Blair’s photograph stood out. She wore her softball uniform and was grinning from ear to ear after Canyon High won a game. Amanda had been a star player.

  She’d also abandoned one of her friends, someone who’d needed her.

  And she would have to be punished for that.

  But there were others that had to be dealt with first. So many others...

  Who would receive their penance next?

  Chapter Six

  Amanda had interviewed two of the bridesmaids and had two more to go. According to Betty and Anise, Kelly adored Raymond, couldn’t wait until the wedding and had intentionally planned the ceremony the week after the reunion so more of her former classmates could attend.

  Amanda studied Mona, aware the blonde was only a year younger than her. Man, she felt old. More
worried about dead bodies and missing young women rather than a date for a mani-pedi and highlights.

  “Did you sense any trouble between Raymond and Kelly?” she asked.

  Mona twisted a strand of hair around one finger, reminding Amanda of the way the girl had behaved in high school. She had been a huge flirt. All the guys had eaten out of the palm of her hand.

  “They were the perfect couple,” Mona said, blinking back tears. “I just can’t believe she’s missing.”

  “Raymond said that her ex-boyfriend, Terry Sumter, wanted to get back with her. Did she mention that to you?”

  Mona sighed. “She said she’d heard from him, but she blew it off. Every couple of years, Terry would contact her and want to get together, usually after he’d broken up with his latest conquest.”

  Amanda zeroed in on her word choice. “Conquest?”

  She laughed softly. “Yes, he could be charming, and whenever he met someone new, he poured it on. But eventually the girls wised up to his slick moves. When he was drinking, he had a bad temper. That’s why Kelly broke up with him years ago.”

  “Did he ever get physical with her?”

  Mona chewed her lip as if debating on her response.

  “Mona, just tell me the truth. If you think he might have hurt Kelly, I need to know.”

  “Well, I can’t imagine him actually kidnapping her. But Eleanor and I saw him at the pub one night and he was pretty trashed, mouthing off. He blamed Kelly for his life falling apart.”

  “Falling apart?”

  “Yeah, he said she abandoned him, and after that his life spiraled downhill. Said he’d always wanted her. When she left, he didn’t trust women anymore.”

  “That was her fault?”

  “According to him, yeah. I think he just lost his job, too.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He worked in construction. I think he was about to get his own crew,” Mona said. “But it wasn’t Kelly’s fault he lost his job. He probably got caught drinking at work.”

  Maybe. Still, if he blamed Kelly for his problems, maybe he had come after her to get revenge.

  * * *

  JUSTIN FINISHED INTERVIEWING the three groomsmen, not surprised that the men all vouched for Raymond. After the phone call identifying Tina Grimes, he was looking for a connection between the two cases. But Raymond had no reason to hurt Tina.

  Of course the killer, Raymond or otherwise, could have murdered Kelly, hoping the police would assume she’d been taken by the same perp who’d kidnapped the other girls.

  Glen Cates and Danny Latt had attended high school with Kelly and Raymond as well as Amanda, and, as teens, had formed a bond that, according to them, could not be broken. Lance Stephens had met Raymond in college and they were frat brothers, making their bond just as tight.

  They also adamantly refuted the suggestion that Kelly might have cheated on Raymond, saying she was as devoted to him as he was to her.

  Justin had never experienced that kind of devotion and wondered what it would be like.

  Dammit, don’t let the case get to you. You like being alone.

  Sure, occasionally he wanted a hot body to warm him at night. Amanda’s sexy face flashed in his mind, and for a brief second, he allowed himself to indulge in the idea of taking her to bed. Stripping her naked and tasting every inch of her. He’d bet his next dollar that she’d be as fiery and passionate in the sack as she was about police work.

  But reality interceded. Facing the same woman day after day wasn’t on the agenda.

  His job was his wife.

  And the last thing he needed was to get his butt fired for making advances toward a female sheriff. These days a man had to be careful.

  Had to protect his reputation.

  He’d learned a long time ago that the only person he could count on was himself.

  Turning his thoughts back to the case, he left the men in the front office, strode to the back and knocked on Amanda’s door. A second later, she opened it, ushering the young woman named Eleanor out.

  “I’ve finished with the men,” he said.

  “Let’s send them all home and interview Kelly’s ex-boyfriend, Terry Sumter.”

  He agreed, but as his gaze met hers, his earlier thoughts taunted him. He’d tried to ignore those enormous eyes before, but now they intrigued him. Made him wonder what had made her so tough...and sexy at the same time.

  An incredibly lethal combination.

  She grabbed her jacket, and he dragged his mind away from sex and to the case.

  “Thanks for coming in, everyone,” Amanda said. “Go home and get some rest.”

  “Just let us know if you hear from Kelly,” Justin said.

  Bleak faces stared back, the young women’s expressions full of fear as if they realized that they could become a victim just as easily as Kelly had. Especially if this criminal was choosing random women.

  But he’d intentionally avoided linking Kelly’s disappearance to the others to avoid panic.

  Raymond stood on shaky legs. “Please find her, Sergeant Thorpe and Sheriff Blair.”

  Justin nodded and Amanda murmured she’d be in touch.

  Raymond’s father guided his son out, talking in a hushed voice, trying to offer words of comfort that Justin was certain fell on deaf ears.

  “God,” Amanda said as the door closed and they were left alone. “I’m afraid we may not be able to give him what he wants.”

  Justin gritted his teeth. He knew exactly what she meant. Because Fisher wanted his fiancé back alive, saying her vows at their wedding. He and Amanda both knew that might not happen.

  He might be burying her instead.

  That is, if they found her body. So many victims had never been found or their bodies recovered.

  Amanda rubbed the back of her neck, and he realized she looked tired. Hell, she was probably exhausted. It had been a long day.

  And it wasn’t over.

  Justin propped one hip against the desk. “We need to talk before we go.”

  A streak of panic darkened Amanda’s face, and she poured another cup of coffee. She handed him a cup, then took hers and sank into her desk chair with a resigned sigh as if she knew he had bad news.

  “The medical examiner called. They identified the body from the creek. Her name was Tina Grimes.”

  The color faded from Amanda’s face, emotions clouding her eyes for a minute. “Jesus.”

  “You knew her?” he asked softly.

  She nodded, then shoved a strand of hair away from her cheek. She was such a tough woman, but that one gesture seemed utterly feminine and made her look vulnerable.

  Made him want to pull her into his arms and console her.

  “We went to grade school together, then high school,” she said. “Tina was a year ahead of me. The last time I saw her was at her mother’s funeral.”

  And now she would have to attend Tina’s.

  “Were you good friends?” Justin asked.

  “Not really. Tina was popular, more of a girly girl. Me...I was a tomboy.”

  “You played sports,” he said, not surprised.

  “Softball and I ran track and was on the swim team.” She rolled her shoulders. “My father once asked me if I wanted to try out for cheerleading and I said, ‘Why would I cheer for a bunch of boys when I could play my own sport and people could cheer for me?’”

  In spite of the somber mood, Justin chuckled. He liked Amanda more and more every second.

  Dangerous.

  “Her father will be devastated,” she said lost in her thoughts.

  He simply nodded, giving her a moment to assimilate her feelings.

  Finally she gave him a determined look. “Cause of death?”

  He tapped his foot. “Strangulation. Killer used a belt. No sexual assault.”

  She sipped her coffee, mulling over that information. “So the killer is not driven by sex.”

  “Or he’s impotent,” Justin offered. “Although it could also sugges
t that the killer is a female. Strangulation is a common choice for murder with females. It also usually implies that the kill was personal.”

  Amanda jerked her head up. “Then again, we don’t know if Kelly’s disappearance is related to Tina’s yet. They attended the same school but the first girls who disappeared did so as teens. Kelly is in her twenties.”

  Justin nodded. But there were too many disappearances for them not to be connected.

  They just hadn’t found the connection yet.

  “We need more information,” Justin said. “Who investigated Tina’s disappearance?”

  “The former sheriff, Lager. But I inherited the files.” She rose, reached for a whiteboard on a swivel stand and turned it to face him. His eyebrows shot up. She had methodically listed each disappearance over the past nine years in chronological order along with details of the individual cases.

  A map also showed highlighted markings. “The green indicates where the girls lived, the red is where they disappeared from or were last seen.”

  He studied the map, searching for a commonality. “The first two victims were Melanie Hoit and Avery Portland. Both grew up in Sunset Mesa although Melanie moved to Amarillo after graduation and was last seen at a shopping mall. Tina lived in Sunset Mesa at one time, as well.”

  He checked the map for Carly Edgewater and Denise Newman. “What about Carly and Denise? They went missing from neighboring counties. Did they ever live in Sunset Mesa?”

  Amanda flipped through the file on her desk. “Hmm, Carly did when she was younger. She and her parents moved to Austin when she was fourteen.”

  “And Denise?”

  She skimmed another file, her mouth thinning into a frown when she looked up. “Actually she lived here for a couple of years when she was fifteen. When her parents split, her father took her to a small town east of here.”

  She tapped the folders. “If all the girls lived here at one time, then Sunset Mesa is the connection.”

  “It looks that way.”

  “But why? What about this town triggered the unsub to kill?”

  Justin remembered the rest of his conversation with the ME. “Dr. Sagebrush found a high school class ring in Tina’s hand.”

  “So you think—”