Pretty Broken Dolls: An absolutely gripping crime thriller packed with mystery and suspense (Detective Katie Scott Book 6)

by Jennifer Chase

  Looking around, she didn’t see Cisco.

  “Cisco! Here!” she called.

  Within five seconds, his large head and perked ears came into view. He ran faster and stayed next to her as she kept her jogging pace.

  The strange sounds continued as she decided to up her pace again, still moving down the hillside. She didn’t stop to look, suddenly realizing that what she could hear was the sound of—

  A massive pine tree with a huge trunk fell in front of her and Cisco, making the ground give way.

  Katie stopped abruptly, startled and catching her breath as the tree blocked her path, but it didn’t stop there: the trunk kept moving. It made her dizzy, trying to keep her eye on the shifting ground.

  Taking hold of Cisco’s collar and keeping him close to her left side, there was nothing that she could do except watch the massive tree trunk slowly begin to slide down the hillside.

  That’s when it happened: her footing crumbled beneath her. Katie jumped up as far as she could toward higher ground, but it was no use. Both she and Cisco began slipping down the side of what was left of the running path. She felt the world collapsing beneath her, as if in slow motion.

  Grabbing hold of Cisco with one arm around his neck and the other around his body, she held him as they both began to drop, slowly at first, and then the earth took them as if they were shooting down a slide. Dropping into a sitting position, still holding tightly to Cisco, she shot down twenty feet before there was a large enough place to stop—abruptly.

  The groaning and cracking of the tree began to subside.

  Katie had closed her eyes tight and held onto Cisco for dear life. She had no way of knowing how their ride would end, but the silence was both deafening and frightening. It was like nothing she had ever experienced or seen before and that unknown moment scared her the most.

  She was completely covered in mud and cold earth, making her shiver. Opening her eyes, she checked out Cisco and he was muddy too but hadn’t sustained any injuries. Still gripping him tight, she was grateful they were both okay.

  Looking around, she saw they were surrounded by branches that had miraculously missed them as the tree’s weight finally settled into softer soil.

  “Well, Cisco, I guess we’re going to have to climb up,” she said softly.

  The dog got to his feet and headed upward, sliding backward and then pushing uphill again.

  Katie did the same. She made progress, but it was slow going, having to climb over branches and then navigate the slippery areas. She had more dirt, mud, and forest debris on her than she would have thought possible as they neared the top.

  Cisco stopped abruptly. His tail lowered, along with his body stature. A low guttural growl emitted from him as his hackles rose along his spine, concentrating between his shoulder blades.

  Katie knew there was some type of danger. It wasn’t insurgents, but she knew how to read the dog well enough that something was terribly wrong—unnatural. She didn’t have to wait long before she saw what Cisco had sensed.

  Standing at the top, about fifteen feet away, along what was left of the hiking ridge, was a large mountain lion. The sizeable tan cat fixated its yellow eyes down at them. Its strong forequarters were poised, its ears alert against its round head. Katie could see from this range just how powerful were its neck and jaws. She knew it was unusual for them to attack people, but their numbers were strong and more reports of attacks had been documented.

  Cisco began to bark rapidly—it echoed around the hillside and down into the valley.

  “Cisco, platz,” she said, trying to get the dog’s attention in his trained German command for stay in place. “Platz,” she said again until the dog obeyed. Slowly he backed down and positioned himself in a low crouch between Katie and the lion with his hackles raised.

  Katie had seen a few mountain lions in her life, but they were never aggressive, merely curious or territorial. She could tell that the cat was a male—he was largest one she had ever seen. She moved slowly toward her ankle holster. A warning shot should snap the cat out of its fixation and make it flee. That was the plan, anyway.

  The mountain lion opened his mouth and began to pant, but never took its yellow eyes off them.

  Gently unsnapping her holster, she was just about to withdraw her weapon when the sound of a gunshot rang out, instantly startling the mountain lion as it disappeared from Katie’s view. Shocked that there was gunfire—whether it was friendly or not—she stayed in her position next to Cisco, ready for whatever would come next. Her rapid heartbeat battered her chest. Her hands shook and cold perspiration trickled down her back. Her vision blurred and then cleared. Blinking her eyes rapidly to stay focused, she remained in the same position. Feeling the dog’s own rapid heartbeat next to her side, she flashed back as she detected the smell of expelled gunfire—an odor that was forever rooted into her memory.

  Her platoon had walked into an ambush because of incorrect intel they had received. Half of the group had made it to safety with sufficient cover and the other half with limited safety, but she and Cisco were caught in between. The last barrage of gunfire had ceased, but the air was filled with smoke and gunpowder, along with an unnatural quiet. It was difficult to see anyone until the dust settled. The next onslaught could mean rockets and bombs, but the silence was more terrifying than bullets. She was in an unknown, foreign place, thousands of miles from home and no help available in the near future. They had to rely on each other, their wits, and calmness to focus on what had to be done. She heard “Katie”. It was faint at first, but then it was louder, “Katie”… ”Katie”…

  “Katie!” the voice yelled. “You alright? Katie!”

  Katie tensed. Her hands felt sweaty against the gun grip as she wondered if someone was really calling her name.

  Cisco barked three times.

  “Katie!”

  She knew she heard someone calling her that time. “We’re here!” she yelled back.

  Carefully, with Cisco following, she managed to get to the top of the hill where there was a small flat ridge and sat down—waiting still with her gun in a prone position. The dog hunkered down next to her side.

  “Katie!”

  “We’re here!”

  She still didn’t recognize the man’s voice. There was some thrashing just on the other side of the downed tree and climbing to the top was Special Agent Campbell.

  “Agent Campbell?” she said completely stunned. “Where did you come from?”

  “Let’s get you out of here first,” he said.

  “How did you know I was here?” Immediately, she was suspicious: why had he happened to be there just when she needed help to scare away the mountain lion? “Why are you here?” she demanded as her usual senses came back to her.

  “A long story,” he lamely answered. “Let’s get you to safer ground.” He was dressed in jeans and a heavy jacket. His blond hair was perfect, considering they were outdoors.

  Katie was uneasy about the situation, but she took him up on his assistance.

  It took about fifteen minutes for Katie to climb over the tree trunk, but it was much simpler for Cisco because he had trained for all types of agility moves over the years.

  When Katie got on solid ground and shook off the thought of that tree sliding down the hillside taking her and Cisco with it, she realized and was grateful that someone knew that they had taken a fall.

  She felt one hundred percent better as they walked to the parking lot and she saw two SUVs—one was her Jeep. Turning to Campbell she said, “Why are you here?”

  “I was following you,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “What?”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “Oh, now you know what I think?”

  He laughed and turned to her. “I had some questions for you. I called you twice. Go ahead and check your cell.”

  Katie had forgotten all about her cell phone. She pulled it from her pocket, relieved that it was still in one piece, and to
her surprise saw that he had called her—twice. “You did call.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Why did you call, and on a Sunday?”

  “I needed to talk to you,” he said calmly.

  She scrutinized him for a moment, trying to decide if he was as innocent as he was making it sound. “You still haven’t told me how you found me.”

  “That’s easy. I tracked you by your phone. It’s easy these days…”

  “Isn’t that—”

  “Illegal? No, not really. I wanted to know where a homicide detective working my cases was and I found her.”

  Katie walked to her Jeep, opened the back and pulled out some water for Cisco. She looked down and realized what an incredible mess she was. “Agent Campbell, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing…”

  He took a breath. “Dane.”

  “Dane?”

  “Yes, that’s my name. If I can call you Katie, then you can call me Dane.”

  “I prefer Agent Campbell.”

  “As you wish.”

  She tried to clean her running pants with a towel. “Look, I’m not one that tattles, but you’re treading on thin ice. I don’t think it’s appropriate to spy on colleagues.”

  “Look, Detective Scott, I’m sorry that this offends you. But I assure you it’s in good faith.”

  Katie was beginning to dislike the agent even more—he wasn’t helping his case.

  “I followed your cell phone signal and then I thought I’d take a trail. I heard the horrible tree crash, I came across the mountain lion, and well, I scared it away.”

  Katie concentrated on cleaning her clothes and didn’t look at him. She was still deciding whether or not she wanted to speak to him again. She was angry, thankful, and annoyed all at the same time so she didn’t want to say something she would regret.

  “New Jeep?” he asked.

  “Yes, it’s actually the second one in a few months.”

  “I see. What happened to the other one?”

  “It was in a… well, it got rain and mud damage, which ruined the engine, dented the doors,” she mumbled. The truth was that her car was damaged working a previous missing persons case during a torrential rain storm.

  “Look, I have some blankets you could wrap up in. Why don’t I give you a ride home?”

  “Oh, no thanks. I’ll be fine. I don’t want to leave my Jeep here.”

  “Well, let me at least lend you the blanket so you won’t wipe out your seats.”

  Katie was tired and didn’t want to play the agent’s games. “Sure, that would be great.” She forced a small smile.

  Agent Campbell went to his SUV and retrieved a gray blanket and brought it to Katie.

  “Thanks,” she said and wrapped it around her as she was beginning to shiver.

  “I mean it. I wanted to talk to you about the cases.”

  “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

  “I know you have quite the schedule, I just wanted to share some information.” He kept his focus on her, making her somewhat uncomfortable.

  “Well…”

  “Unless you’re busy for the rest of the day?”

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly.

  “Meet me at Tiny’s Diner. Do you know where that is?”

  “Yes. In an hour?”

  “That sounds good.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sunday 1345 hours

  Katie made it home and quickly jumped into the shower to heat up and to relieve her sore muscles. It took several minutes to feel warm and back to her usual self. The heat and steam wiped away any anxious symptoms she had.

  She couldn’t get Agent Campbell out of her mind. He was acting strange. His explanations were smooth and gave the impression he was honest—but was he?

  Was he still following her?

  Why did he really want her and McGaven on the case?

  The more she rehashed every meeting she’d had with him, the more she thought that things didn’t ring true. She couldn’t figure out how or why the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department was brought into the cases. Her uncle didn't give her any indication that there was more she didn't know.

  Katie quickly dressed and took care of Cisco, leaving him home.

  “I’ll be back in about an hour,” she said as she closed the front door.

  Katie drove in the small parking lot for Tiny’s Diner and immediately spotted Campbell’s large white SUV along with several other cars. She parked and quickly got out, heading to the front door.

  It had been a while since she had been to the diner, but it had been around for as long as she could remember. Ever since she was a kid, they’d had the best milkshakes and cheeseburgers.

  She pushed open the glass door with an old “Open” sign that had been hanging there for years. It was crinkled and worn around the edges from years of being exposed to the sun. As she stepped inside she was greeted with the smell of coffee and the daily chili special. She saw Campbell right away. He waved to her as she approached the red booth. She quickly rethought the wisdom of meeting him outside of typical business hours. She felt a drop in her stomach and a familiar tension in her neck and back that usually meant trouble—but she was also curious about what he had to say.

  “Detective,” he said. There were already two menus on the table. “Nice of you to make it. I thought maybe you would stand me up.”

  Katie sat down. “No, I gave you my word so here I am. What do you have to tell me?”

  “No ‘Hello, how are you doing?’ first? By the way, you look great considering I just saw you barely an hour ago.”

  Katie remained quiet, staring at him.

  “You want to look at the menu?”

  “Just coffee.”

  “Okay,” he said and waved over the server. “Two coffees please.” Turning back to Katie, he said, “Good?”

  She nodded but thought that she was making a mistake meeting him like this. Thinking that McGaven should be there hearing the information too, perhaps she should excuse herself and reconvene the meeting tomorrow. “I think it would be—”

  “I have reason to believe,” he blurted out, interrupting her, “that we’re looking at two killers. Let me rephrase that… an original killer and a copycat.”

  That was not what Katie had expected. It was like he dropped a bomb on her and the investigation.

  “Wait a minute. How long have you known this?” she asked as their coffees arrived.

  “We had our suspicions, but nothing solid. That’s why it wasn’t in the paperwork.”

  “Suspicions? Did you think about letting us in on it?”

  “There was nothing concrete—yet. I don’t like spinning tales or spreading gossip that will run investigators down false paths.”

  “What changed?” Katie kept her composure, glancing around at the restaurant and noticing that no one was paying them any attention—most were engaged in their own conversations.

  “I know you have had your hands full,” he said. “I wanted to update you as soon as possible so that nothing would slow down the current investigation. It’s another angle that you might want to entertain.”

  Entertain?

  She waited to hear more details.

  “You haven’t spent much time on the first two victims, Nancy Day and Gwen Sanderson.”

  Katie shook her head. “Just through the military K9 facility, but not much information that would help us.” She had skimmed the material but decided to start with the cold case in her county jurisdiction—a decision with which Sheriff Scott had agreed.

  “Our second victim Gwen Sanderson killed Nancy Day.”

  “What?” Katie managed to say. It was a stunning, but an interesting realization. But she didn’t know how they could have come to that conclusion. It seemed to be pulled out of thin air.

  “A couple of us had our suspicions when Gwen Sanderson was killed. Some things didn’t look right with the execution of the murder, despite the general theme being close—the
pose, a dramatic scene, and the jewelry being highlighted.”

  “What convinced you?”

  “One of my investigators noticed that Nancy Day’s scene was neat and tidy, the makeup was perfect, her hair was styled, whereas with the second and third murders, the makeup was poorly executed and the victims were made to look ugly. Also, the bruising to Nancy’s chest looked accidental, but the others seemed deliberate.”

  Despite her mistrust of the man, Katie was intrigued because she had noticed some anomalies herself.

  Campbell added more sugar to his coffee than he should. “We were checking what these two women were doing on the day each was murdered, and a few days before—a victimology timeline. And that’s when we noticed some strange things that led us to analyzing Sanderson and what she was doing on the day of Day’s murder.”

  “What made you check Sanderson’s schedule?”

  “Gwen Sanderson’s alibi for the day that Nancy Day was murdered seemed legit—three investigators checked on this. But, everything that she told her friends and family was a lie. She seemed to be leading a double life. When so many small things began to fall apart, we looked further.”

  “What evidence makes you think that Gwen Sanderson killed Nancy Day? What proof?” she said, still not believing that this was a solid lead.

  He leaned back, almost as if he couldn’t believe that she didn’t immediately agree with his findings. “One, Sanderson had no alibi and she was within the vicinity of the crime scene during the time of the murder. Two, knives were found near her residence that had Day’s blood on them.”

  “Why wasn’t she arrested at the time?”

  “Her possible involvement wasn’t brought to our attention until after her murder.”

  “Theoretically, the only way that could happen is if the women knew each other. But why the copycat? Who would do that? Someone following the cases?” Katie felt like she was on an amusement park ride with all of the information spinning around her at breakneck speed.

  “I knew you’d understand what I’m talking about.”