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THIRTY-TWO

Thursday

The insistent chime of her phone woke Jenna, and believing it was Kane, she sat up in bed and grabbed it from the bedside table. Seeing on the caller ID it was Rio, uneasiness crawled over her as she accepted the call. “I’m assuming this is something really bad if you’re calling me at one in the morning?”

“Afraid so.” Rio didn’t sound the least bit apologetic. “We have a homicide in an alleyway beside the Chinese restaurant on Main. A female approximately twenty-five years old. Evidence of knife wounds to the chest, face, and neck. There are no footprints in the blood apart from a dog’s and no obvious evidence. The victim was discovered by Fatima Hagerstrom walking her dog. She is currently with Wendy at Aunt Betty’s Café. She ran there after she discovered the body, and Wendy locked the door and kept everyone inside as Ms. Hagerstrom believed she saw someone lurking in the shadows.”

Placing her phone on speaker, Jenna stifled a moan. Her back had been aching all night. She slipped from the bed and dressed. “Have you secured the scene? Did you call Rowley?”

“Yes and yes. Rowley has just arrived.” Rio’s footsteps echoed on the sidewalk. “I’m currently clearing the alleyways between the Chinese restaurant and the beauty parlor, but we haven’t seen anyone else on the street at all since we arrived. A few eighteen-wheelers rumbled along Main and one truck. We’ve waved down the truck and spoke to the driver. They were leaving home for night shift. I have his details and verified his movements with the security company that employs him.”

Jenna pushed her feet into her boots and hurried into the kitchen. “I’ll call in the team. You and Rowley stay on scene until we get there. Is there anything else you need?”

“Nope. Wendy from Aunt Betty’s Café has been supplying us with Thermoses of coffee. There was an old couple in the café taking shelter and I sent them home, but I asked Ms. Hagerstrom to wait in the diner until you can speak to her. She did see someone near the body. Just a second.” Muffled voices came in the distance before Rio returned. “You don’t need to call in Norrell. She just showed with Colt Webber and Emily. I’ve already taken photographs of the scene without getting too close to the victim. Do you want Norrell to go ahead and process the scene?”

Sighing with relief, Jenna turned on the coffee pot. “Yeah, sure, I’ll wake Raven and ask him to drive me into town, and maybe one of the FBI agents will want to come along and take a look. I’ll call them at the cottage now.”

“Okay. Don’t worry, Jenna, I’m on it.” Rio disconnected.

Being chief deputy now, Rio was more than capable of handling any situation. He’d processed many murder scenes in his time with the team and as a gold shield detective in LA, but Jenna wanted to be involved for as long as possible. However, this murder would give her a good idea of just how well the team worked without her. Once the baby arrived, she’d be on leave for six months along with Kane and needed to be sure the office would run without her. She called Carter first, mainly because he had his nose out of joint when Kane asked Raven to look out for her. When he answered his phone, she gave him the details of what had happened. “I’m not calling you to come with me. I do understand you all need your rest after what happened in the forest, but I can’t drive there alone. Do you mind very much waking Raven and explaining?”

“Yeah, sure I’ll wake Raven for you, but I’m coming too.” Carter cleared his throat. “Dave was concerned Souza might come after you to get back at him. I know you’re not mentioning where Kane and Wolfe vanished to and I don’t expect you to, but I’m not stupid. If Dave has decided to go after Souza, he should have taken me with him. I don’t figure a medical examiner is going to watch his back like I would.” He sighed. “Right this moment, we don’t know if this murder is a setup to get you out of the house—do we? I mean, Souza did escape with three serial killers and he doesn’t do anything without a good reason. We know someone is in contact with the prisoners, which means Souza could be directing traffic. Are you sure you don’t want to stay home and leave this one to us? I mean, being pregnant and all?”

Jenna lifted her chin and stared out of the kitchen window into the darkness. She’d faced many dangers in her lifetime and never shown weakness. Pregnant or not, she could do her job well and bring down serial killers. “Don’t worry about me, Ty. I can assure you, I might not be able to take a perp down in a fistfight right this moment, but I can darn well shoot straight.”

“That’s good to know.” Carter sighed. “But I’m here if you need me. Don’t hesitate to call if you need assistance when the baby arrives.”

Getting Thermoses out of the cabinet, Jenna cleared her throat. “My job as sheriff is very important to me and I can assure you I will still give a hundred percent to any case that I’m on. I have already made provisions for my children that allow me to do this without interrupting their care. If I can’t do my job to the fullest extent, that is the day I walk away from this town forever.”

“I understand.” Carter blew out a breath. “Can you tell Jo and Beth what’s happening? I don’t want to be accused of not including them in the case. I’ll go and wake Raven now.” He disconnected.

Suddenly missing Kane, Jenna stared at the phone. Had she been too harsh with Carter?