Be Mine Forever

by D. K. Hood

“Me?” Sandy shook her head. “Not at all. The ranch keeps me busy, now we have chickens and horses to tend. It is remote though and I’m a town girl but I have the dog to keep me company. Dave was saying he’s going to help Jake beef up the security. The house is safe enough but with the baby and all, I’d like a perimeter fence alert as well.”

  Jenna nodded. “Well, once we’ve solved this case, Kane’s your man and I’m sure if Shane’s not busy, he’ll be over to help as well.”

  “That would be good.” Sandy took the cup Jenna offered. “Thanks. I hope I’m not holding you back from working?”

  Jenna sat down and shook her head. “No, we’re just taking a few minutes to regroup and it’s been a long time since breakfast for Kane. He’ll be here soon with armfuls of cakes to keep himself going.” She grinned. “I had no idea men ate so much food.”

  “Yeah, since Jake built the gym out at the ranch and with his visits to the dojo, he is always hungry as well.” Sandy chuckled. “But he sure looks good.” She sipped her coffee.

  “Who looks good?” Kane came into the office and dumped bags onto Jenna’s desk. “Hmm coffee.” He went straight to the counter to pour a cup and then dropped into a chair.

  Jenna pushed the cream and sugar toward him. “Girl talk.” She winked at Sandy. “What did you buy?”

  “Everything.” Kane pulled a bag toward him. “You can have anything you like but the banana cream pie is mine.”

  “I hear Jake’s voice out in the hallway.” Sandy finished her coffee. “I’ll have a quick word with him and be on my way. Thanks for the coffee.” She gave them a wave and hurried out the door.

  “Jake has everything under control here.” Kane dug into his pie with a plastic spoon and sighed in delight. “The cheerleaders are in a group in the park and waiting for the football team to arrive. We can catch them before they start the parade. It doesn’t begin until twelve. They’d planned for eleven-thirty but they have some problems with the sound system at the podium set up for the mayor, so we have plenty of time.”

  “Good.” Jenna scanned her notes. “I want Rowley and Rio checking the MVD for green Chrysler sedans in the area.”

  Jenna stared at the mound of food on the table. It smelled wonderful but, she wasn’t hungry. She peered into a bag containing individual caramel pecan pies. Maybe just the one.

  Twenty-Three

  He found his girl in the crowd of people heading into town and pulled her into an alleyway. “Are you sure you want to do this? Becky seems like a nice girl.”

  “A nice girl, huh?” His girl’s mouth turned down and her eyes flashed with anger. “Of course, they’re nice to your face but she wants to make you look a jerk. She’s probably asked one of her friends to follow you to take pictures to plaster all over her Facebook page to prove a bet or something. You’re a trophy to them, nothing more, all you guys are. They don’t care about your feelings they just want to bring you down. They’re just like your ma.” She leaned into him. “I’m the only one you can trust. We have secrets between us and they bind us together. I’ll never treat you bad but if you love me like you say you do then you’d care that they’re mean to me. My life would be better without them. I can’t kill them without you.”

  A shiver of excitement curled in his belly. It was like dropping down real fast on a rollercoaster. She always made him feel the same rush, as if he’d been strapped to the front of a freight train. “Okay. Are you sure no one will be at home? I don’t see any for sale signs outside, are you sure it’s empty?”

  “I’m sure. I’ve been by a few times and its empty. The people that lived there leave the key in the same place each time. I figure it’s for the handyman or someone to get in to fix up the place.” She grinned at him. “I’ve been inside. It’s perfect. There are new mattresses on all the beds still wrapped in plastic. There’s cleaning products in the laundry, we can clean up real good before we leave.”

  He nodded trying to show enthusiasm but he liked Becky, she didn’t seem at all nasty and he’d gotten on well with her. Becky had been very enthusiastic about a date with him and had kissed him passionately under the bleachers. He hadn’t dared mention the kiss. His girl would go crazy and stab Becky a hundred times. He could handle watching the girls being strangled but the stabbing made him sick to his stomach. He lifted his girl’s chin and looked at her to convince himself he couldn’t live without her. “I’m worried, killing someone in the middle of town with so many people around, that someone will see us leaving.”

  “We’ll leave by the backdoor, it’s surrounded by trees and I already have a key. They left two hanging in the lock and I just took one. I’ll put it back later and I left the other one on a nail beside the door. I’ll kill the power when I go inside so bring a flashlight. Take Becky upstairs, there’s a bedroom on the left at the top, it has a big closet and I’ll hide in there. Get her with her back to the closet and I’ll do the rest.” She giggled. “Then we can strip her off and make her sit and watch us. We’ll clean up, I’ll return the key, and we’ll slip out the backdoor. You can burn her things like before and no one will know a thing. She can stay there until they sell the house and by the time they find her, we’ll be hunting down Vicky Perez.”

  He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and shuffled his feet. “The sheriff has been talking to everyone who was at the gym on Saturday night. Do you figure she suspects us?”

  “Us?” She barked a laugh. “No, of course not. We are just as sweet as pie and much smarter than they think. They’ll be looking for an old man, a pervert, a sex offender. Everyone knows Laurie was easy and so are the others, so it will show up they were playing around.” She grinned. “In any case they’ll be hunting down the guy who owns the briefs and blame him.” She ran a finger down his cheek. “Don’t forget, we need more of them, so select carefully. By the time we’ve finished, the sheriff will have so many suspects she won’t know what to do.” She pouted at him. “I want to stay here with you but we have to go, or we’ll be missed. I’ll walk around the back of the building and come out behind the bank. We can’t be seen together.” She went on tiptoes to kiss him. “I’ll see you tonight.” She scampered away down the alleyway turning out of sight.

  He stared after her, a mixture of excitement and dread crawling over him like an ants’ nest. He pushed all doubt from his mind and imagined Becky propped up against a wall, naked, eyes staring into nothingness watching him with his girl. All of a sudden, sunset couldn’t come fast enough.

  Twenty-Four

  Jenna looked at Kane over her desk. “Hand over the thumb drive, we might as well scan the images while we’re taking a break.”

  “We won’t have time.” Kane collected the remaining purchases and took them to the small refrigerator in Jenna’s office. “We’ll have to walk to the park if we want to speak to Collins and Moore. Main is closed off for the parade as of five minutes ago.”

  “Okay, I’ll upload them to our files and we can look at them later.” Jenna finished her coffee and sighed. “My cruiser’s parked around back, we could take the backroads?”

  “It would be quicker to walk.” Kane washed up the cups and turned them upside down on the sink.

  “Hey.” Carter knocked on the door. “You planning on eating tonight?”

  Jenna smiled at him. “Yeah but we have to head home and tend the horses plus we have an ongoing murder case.”

  “Well, you have to eat and I’m inviting you both to join me, Jo, and Jaime at The Cattleman’s Hotel Restaurant for dinner at seven.” Carter shook his finger at Jenna. “Don’t tell me you have nothing to wear, I know you both keep numerous changes of clothes here at the office.”

  “It’s lovely of you to ask but we can’t.” Jenna shook her head. “We’re still hunting down suspects. We just don’t have the time to go back to the ranch and then to eat out at The Cattleman’s Hotel, it takes an hour to get a meal there.”

  “Yeah you do.” Carter rested one hip on the edge of her desk. “I’ll
go tend your horses. If you let me take your cruiser, I’ll be able to get through the security and be back here in time to shower and change for dinner.” He glanced down at Duke. “I’ll even let Duke into your backyard. He likes me, he’ll come no worries.”

  Jenna raised an eyebrow in question at Kane and he shrugged. She looked at Carter and nodded. “Well, I guess we do have to eat and it means we’ll be in town if we’re needed.” She took the cruiser keys out of her desk drawer and tossed them to him. “We’ll see you at seven.”

  “You sure will.” Carter looked at Kane. “I’ll drop by and collect Duke around five, that should give me plenty of time.”

  “I’ll leave him with Maggie.” Kane smiled. “He doesn’t like the fireworks, so will be more than happy to be at home tonight.” He looked at Jenna. “We need to go.”

  Jenna stood and pulled on her jacket. “I’m right behind you.” She followed Kane and Carter out the office.

  Main had transformed into a promenade filled with people, kids with balloons and cotton candy. Brightly colored bunting hung across the road and from every store front in town. The sidewalk was packed with stalls selling everything imaginable and townsfolk and tourists moved from place to place in swarms like bees attracted to the bright colors. Loud music blared over speakers attached to streetlights interspersed with announcements from the festival committee. They walked by a hastily built podium for the mayor to address the crowds and passed the vans used by local media stations.

  She kept close behind Kane. His size was an advantage in a crowd and people parted to let him by as he strode along. If she kept directly behind him, she had a clear path. Sheriff or not, her small frame was lost in a sea of people. She sidestepped a mother with kids trailing behind her holding hands, their mouths ringed with the unmistakable red of a toffee apple. One small girl had the stick from her cotton candy stuck in her hair. Excitement thrummed through the town and everyone had a smile for her as she walked by.

  They finally reached the park and Jenna stared in amazement. Football teams stood at one end waiting to head to their float. A marching band was warming up with an awful assortment of sounds and the cheerleaders fussed over their uniforms and pompoms, some practicing moves or doing pointing and giggling. Inside the perimeter of the park, it was easier to move and Jenna pulled out her phone and located the images of Collins and Moore. She showed the screen to Kane. “Normally I’d say split up but I’ll get lost in the crowd. I think it’s best we stay together.”

  “The cheerleader squads are close, so we’ll see if Marlene Moore is with them.” Kane peered over the top of his sunglasses and narrowed his gaze. “Darn, they all look the same.”

  Jenna headed in the squad’s direction. “Then we’ll ask, the girls will know her.” She walked up to the first girl she came to and held out her phone. “Have you seen Marlene today?”

  “Yeah, she’s over there with Vicky.” The girl pointed. “Standing next to Becky.”

  Jenna thanked her and led the way around the group of girls. As they approached, Becky and Marlene stopped talking and nudged Vicky in the ribs. Jenna pasted a smile on her face and pulled out her notebook and pen. “Marlene Moore, may I have a word with you?”

  “Sure.” Marlene shrugged and followed her out of earshot of the others.

  “I believe you were at the gym on Saturday night speaking with Dale Collins and Laurie Turner. Can you remember what you were talking about?”

  “Maybe.” Marlene stood with her pompoms on her hips. “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead but Laurie was a flirt. She had been talking about seeing Wyatt watching her in the crowd, so she dragged me over to speak to Dale. He only opens the kiosk for us during practice and I figure he gets tired of girls hitting on him all the time.” She looked away with a bored expression. “His aunt usually runs the kiosk but she doesn’t think it’s worth her time to open it for a couple of hours for us, so Dale opens it.”

  “Really?” Kane gave her a quizzical stare. “Don’t all the members of the football team have admirers?”

  “Yeah, but they only go with cheerleaders.” Marlene touched her hair. “Is that all?”

  Jenna shook her head. “Can you recall anything at all that was said? Did Dale make a date with Laurie, or plan to meet her?”

  “No, he hasn’t asked anyone to the Fall Festival Ball as yet.” Marlene rolled her eyes. “He likes to keep his minions waiting, I guess.”

  Jenna smiled. “So, he’s not your type?”

  “Dale?” Marlene laughed and looked up at Kane. “I prefer tall, dark, and handsome.” She pointed in the direction of a tall blond teenager. “As you can see, Dale is the opposite.”

  “Okay.” Jenna folded her notebook. “Thank you for your time.” She handed her a card. “If you can think of anything else, call me.”

  “Sure.” Marlene walked away and Jenna saw the card flutter to the ground.

  “The football team is getting ready to head to the float.” Kane hustled through the cheerleaders.

  Jenna ran behind him and they reached the football team as they congregated at the far end of the park, in the dog walking enclosure. She made out Dale Collins’ blond hair and headed in his direction. As she made her way through the team, Kane moved ahead of her and led him over to the fence. She smiled at the confused look on the young man’s face. “You’re not in any trouble. We want to know if you can remember speaking with Laurie Turner last Saturday night in the gym.”

  “Yeah, sure I do.” Collins frowned. “It’s terrible about Laurie. Have you found who killed her yet?”

  Jenna shook her head. “Not yet. What did you talk about?”

  “The specials.” Collins stared at his shoes. “I asked her how her truck was going. I teased her a bit about it being a guy’s ride. She laughed. The next thing Marlene came over and told her Wyatt was spying on her again, and Laurie went back to sit with the squad.” He lifted his gaze to Jenna. “I didn’t see her after that, I have to clean the kiosk after the break. I count the money and lock it up. I went home soon after.”

  “So, you don’t hang back to chat to the cheerleaders after practice?” Kane was watching him closely.

  “Nah.” Collins grinned. “After the game is the best time, when everyone is all pumped up and wanting to celebrate. I try and keep as far away from them as possible during the week. I need to keep my grades up and they’re a distraction.” He glanced over his shoulder as the decked-out float pulled up at the curb. “I gotta go.” He turned and jogged away.

  Jenna looked up at Kane. “I wanted to have a chat with Wyatt Cooper as well.”

  “That will have to wait for later.” Kane was peering over the heads of the crowd. “As soon as the mayor does his speech, the floats head down Main and do a turnaround at the showgrounds before coming back. We’ll catch him then.”

  As they headed back to the sidewalk, the crowd squashed in around Jenna. A sensation of claustrophobia gripped her and she pulled on Kane’s arm to stop him disappearing into the throng. “Dave, I’m getting swamped back here.”

  “Hang onto my belt, we’ll cross Main before the parade starts and take the backroad to the office.” Kane turned and grinned at her. “Unless you want a piggy back?”

  Rolling her eyes, Jenna twirled her fingers to make him turn around. “The belt will be fine.” She gripped his belt and they moved through the crowd and the next thing she found herself inside Aunt Betty’s Café. “What are we doing here? You have enough cakes to feed an army at the office.”

  “Yeah but as we were passing, I thought I’d drop in while everyone is outside watching the parade.” He grinned at her. “We can work anywhere, and it’s a nice quiet place to sit and go through the image files. We can access them on our phones and I know you don’t like eating cake for lunch, so you’ll be able to get something here.”

  Jenna sniffed the air. “And you smelled the aroma of chili wafting down the sidewalk.” She shook her head. “Okay, you win.” She waved him to a table. />
  Twenty-Five

  They spent the next couple of hours going through a ton of images of cheerleaders. Jenna had to admit, some of the photographs bordered on unsavory but then some people would look at them as action shots of a cheerleading squad’s routine. It was all in the eye of the beholder. She looked up wearily from her phone. “Find anything suggesting Williams is a pedophile?”

  “Nope but if I had a daughter and I thought men were sharing some of these shots, I wouldn’t be too happy. The routines happen in a split second and are innocent enough but Williams somehow makes them indecent.” Kane rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’m still not convinced there’s not more to him than meets the eye. He is obsessed with cheerleaders and it could easily lead to murder.” He opened his hands. “Thinking out of the box here. If he lured one to his apartment and she refused his advances, strangling her to keep her quiet is something that I’ve seen before.”

  Jenna closed the files and looked at him. “That will be hard to prove. I did notice he had a set of pompoms on his desk but assumed they were props for his photographs but now we know Laurie’s are missing from her backpack it throws suspicion on him.”

  “We’ll need to get closer to Stan Williams and see how he ticks.” Kane leaned back in his chair. “I’ll call Carter and convince him to come with me to pay Williams a visit tonight after dinner. You’ll be wanting to chat with Jo, I’m sure.”

  Jenna nodded. “It’s going to be the only time we have free. If Rio and Rowley find any Chrysler sedans in town similar to the one that gave Laurie a ride, we’ll be spending the rest of the week hunting down their owners.” She stretched and glanced at her watch. “We’ll go find Wyatt Cooper and then head back to the office. I guess you’d better grab something for Duke as Ty is going to take him home soon.”

  “See, you do care about my dog.” Kane tucked his phone inside his pocket and stood. “I knew he’d grow on you eventually.”