Follow Me Home_An unputdownable crime thriller that will have you hooked
Page 28
“The evidence was right under our noses.” Kane’s gaze met hers over the desk. “She owned a late-model white Ford and it has small blotches on the paintwork. If you recall on the night Ely Dorsey was murdered, Rosa, the cleaner at the motel, noticed a white sedan parked under trees prone to drop berries.” He sighed. “She was in town at the time of the murders and had access to the property where Amos Price died. Her car was seen heading to where we found Chris Jenkins.” He frowned. “What we didn’t have was motive so she slipped under our radar.”
“I had no idea she had history here. I thought she was new in town.” Jenna leaned back in her chair and avoided Rowley’s pained expression. “Didn’t she come from Blackwater?”
“Yeah, she did, but she used to live in Black Rock Falls as a kid. She never mentioned she’d been abused.” Rowley rubbed his chin, clearly still distressed. “She returned when she heard the Rockfords were selling their properties. She had a real estate license and contacted Davis when he advertised an opening.”
“When was that?” Jenna looked at him. “You seemed to know her pretty well the day we found Amos Price’s body.”
“A couple of weeks before then, I guess.” Rowley’s cheeks pinked. “We’d been out to dinner is all.”
So, a nice show of affection and tears as well. Alison had “found” the body because no one had been by and she wanted the world to know he was dead. She cleared her throat. “I’m afraid no one has spotted Alison’s body. I’ve notified everyone living in the vicinity of the river, and the team of volunteers have been searching without luck.”
“She couldn’t have survived.” Kane’s expression was solemn. “It’s probably for the best.”
“You all think she was an unfeeling killer but I know better.” Rowley lifted his chin in a stubborn manner. “I know she had to pay for what she did, but after what she went through, I wonder what a jury would have made of what happened.”
Kane flicked a sympathetic look at Rowley. “It’s obvious she took her own life so none of the women involved in this case would be dragged into court to relive the abuse.”
“I guess.” Rowley ran a hand down his face. “She obviously thought they had suffered enough.”
Jenna pushed to her feet. Getting everyone motivated again after such horrific crimes would be difficult. “Okay, Webber and Bradford, head out on patrol. Kane, check up with our FBI contact and make sure he has all the necessary files.”
“And me, ma’am?” Rowley lifted his brown gaze to her.
She offered him a sympathetic smile. “You can take an early lunch.”
Jenna held up a hand to halt Kane and waited for them to leave. “I hope life settles down in Black Rock Falls for a while. I sure need a break.”
Epilogue
When Alison Saunders’ body washed up on the edge of the river on the following Sunday, Jenna arranged for burial in unconsecrated ground. As Rowley had been so upset at the loss of his girlfriend, she had insisted Alison’s plot lay under the only tree in the small cemetery and well away from a line of killers stretching back over one hundred years.
Driving by the cemetery with Kane two weeks later, she spotted Lizzy Harper, Angelique Booval, and Pattie McCarthy bending over Alison’s grave then walking quickly out the gate. “What are they doing in there?”
“I haven’t perfected the art of reading minds yet, ma’am, but I would imagine they are visiting a grave.” Kane smiled at her. “Do you want me to stop and ask them?”
She ignored his dry sense of humor and nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want to speak to them. One of them was placing something on Alison’s grave. I want to see what it is.”
Jenna was aware Rowley had erected a gravestone and laid flowers on Alison’s grave, but seeing the three other victims of child abuse there spiked her curiosity. All had been suspects in the brutal murders before Alison’s confession and she had wondered if they knew each other.
“Jenna. I know what you’re thinking.” Kane touched her arm. “It’s not a conspiracy. Those women were not involved in the murders. We cleared them all. Alison acted alone.”
“I thought you couldn’t read minds.” She slid from the car and walked beside Kane to the gravesite. Her gaze drifted over the white marble stone, with Alison’s name carved in simple script. Jake Rowley’s flowers had wilted in the sun but on the dry earth, a small bunch of flowers sat in a pretty, pink vase.
Attached to it was a card with just two words: Thank you.
Want to read more in the Detectives Kane and Alton series? Sign up here to find out when the next book is out!
Sign up here!
Hear More From D. K. Hood
If you’d like to keep up to date with my latest releases, just sign up at the link below. We’ll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Sign up here!
Also by D.K. Hood
Don’t Tell A Soul
Bring Me Flowers
Follow Me Home
A Letter from D.K. Hood
Dear Reader,
Thank so much for choosing my novel and coming with me on another thrilling adventure with Kane and Alton in Follow Me Home. If you enjoyed it, and would like to find out about all of my latest releases, you can sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Sign up here!
Writing this story has been chilling for me but I hope it sheds light on the dangers children face inside seemingly innocent online chatrooms.
If you enjoyed my story, I would be very grateful if you could leave a review and recommend my book to your friends and family. I really enjoy hearing from readers so feel free to ask me questions at any time. You can get in touch on my Facebook page or Twitter or through my blog.
Thank you so much for your support.
D.K. Hood
http://www.dkhood.com/
https://dkhood-author.blogspot.com.au/
Don’t Tell a Soul
Detectives Kane and Alton Book 1
The floor was stone cold on her bare skin. Her heart pounded in her chest. ‘Not a soul knows where I am,’ she thought as she took in the darkness around her. And then she heard his footsteps…
When a body is found stuffed into a barrel at the local dump, covered in long red cuts, Detective Jenna Alton and her new deputy, David Kane, rush to the scene.
Nothing ever happens in the small town of Black Rock Falls, so Jenna believes the victim must be one of two recent missing persons, and she fears for the life of the other.
Both were strangers to the town, but there’s nothing else to link them. Jenna knows someone must have seen something, but no one’s talking; how well does she really know the people around her?
Then a disturbing clue makes Jenna suspect a connection with other disappearances in the town’s history. Just when she begins asking the right questions, she realises she’s being followed. Is she next on the killer’s list?
In a race against time, Jenna and David must unlock the dark secret at the heart of the town, before it’s too late…
A completely addictive detective thriller that will have you guessing right to the end. If you love Robert Dugoni, Karin Slaughter and Rachel Abbott, you’ll love Don’t Tell a Soul.
Get it here!
Bring Me Flowers
Detectives Kane and Alton Book 2
Get it here!
She didn’t know he was watching. Until it was too late.
She’d walked this way hundreds of times before. She knew every twist and turn. She didn’t know this was the last time she’d ever walk this path.
Hidden deep in the forest, schoolgirl Felicity Parker is found carefully laid out on a rock with nothing but a freshly picked bunch of flowers next to her. The body lies just off a popular hiking route, and Detective Jenna Alton thinks the killer might be a visitor to the town, until another girl’s body is found at the local swimming pool, once again posed with a bunch of flowers.
Jenna recognizes the signs of a serial killer, and thinks it could be a local. As the town is gripped with fear, Jenna must examine each person the girls knew, and trust between neighbors starts to crumble.
Both girls went out on their own, and were found where they shouldn’t be. Were they taken by chance, or did they know their killer? How were they lured so far from safety? And can Jenna and her team find the killer before another life is lost?
An absolutely nail-biting thriller that will keep you up all night. If you enjoy Robert Dugoni, Karin Slaughter and Rachel Abbott, you’ll love this!
Bring Me Flowers is available now!
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to all the wonderful readers who took the time to post great reviews of my books and to those amazing people who hosted me on their blogs.
I must give a shout out to Daniel and Gary for being incredible sounding boards for my story ideas, and to Veronica and Wes for their love and support.
Published by Bookouture
An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © D. K. Hood 2018
D. K. Hood has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-78681-512-5