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Forty-Three

Thursday

Jenna stood at the window in her office staring at the mountains.

Set against a clear blue sky, they stood majestically like sentries protecting their town.

The forest spread out in dense green foliage.

The tall trees, their trunks straight, marched up the mountainside in a seemingly endless battalion.

It was so vast that people could walk in and vanish without a trace.

She’d spent the entire morning searching through all the files of previous cases trying to get her head around what was inside the killer’s mind.

“Where are you, and where are you keeping Olivia?”

Her voice caused Duke to yawn, stand up from his basket, and walk toward her.

He’d recently returned from a long walk with Kane, which had obviously included a few snacks from Aunt Betty’s Café, and he’d been sleeping in his basket.

Jenna rubbed his ears and smiled at him.

“Sorry to disturb you. I was just talking to myself.” She shook her head and went to sit at her desk.

“Now I’m holding conversations with a dog. Is that a sign of madness?”

It was strange being in the office alone, but Kane, Raven, and Rio had insisted on attending the autopsy of Chloe Bennett.

All hoped that Wolfe would discover something to pin the murder on one of their suspects.

The error that placed all the murders on the one serial killer was yet to be determined, but Wolfe had explained to her earlier that they’d worked the opposite way around.

The more recent murders matched the MO of the cold cases, and as the killer hadn’t denied murdering the cold case victims, they were attributed to him.

Not that adding another two murders to his body count would have made any difference to his prison sentence.

Her phone buzzed but it wasn’t Wolfe calling about his autopsy results. It was Emily. Surprised, as Emily worked long shifts at the hospital, Jenna’s first instinct was that something was wrong. “Hi, Em, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Everyone is fine.” Emily was wearing her squeaky rubber-soled shoes that made strange noises when she walked on tile.

“Dad mentioned that you required the results from the moss examination ASAP. They just came through and Dad is still conducting the autopsy on the poor girl who was murdered yesterday, so I figured I’d give you a call. ”

Relieved, Jenna took a pen from the cup on her table and pulled her notepad in front of her. “Shoot. You can upload the details to the server so I can show the team.”

“Okay. Well, the moss is Seligeria campylopoda , a moss that grows in dark places, so caves or similar, but they also found soil in the sample. Let me see.” Emily paused as she read the results.

“They believe it’s tailings, and the residue would suggest it came from an old gold mine. Does that help?”

Head spinning, Jenna stared into space. “I need to look at something to make certain, but I figure I know where the killer is hiding Olivia. When Dave comes out, ask him to call me. If I’m correct, we’ll need to move on it right away.”

“Okay. I’ll go inside now and see him. I hope you find her.” Emily disconnected.

Scanning through the murder case files, Jenna found the one involving a killer who used an old mineshaft that had been converted into cells for prisoners during the gold rush.

As this murderer was apparently following the crimes depicted in the true crime series written about Black Rock Falls, he’d know the location.

It was isolated and the last time she’d seen, it had heavy chains and padlocks on the gates.

None of which couldn’t be broken with a heavy set of bolt cutters.

Her stomach twisted at the thought of sending her team down the dark mineshaft.

She looked at Duke. “Here I go again stressing out again like a mother hen. I have three highly trained deputies, Kane, and a Navy SEAL. They could take down a serial killer trapped in a mineshaft with one hand tied behind their backs.”

Duke whined and the top of one eye lifted to look at her before he turned around three times and flopped down in his basket.

Jenna tapped her pen on the desk thinking.

That’s if the killer was in the mineshaft, but what if he wasn’t?

What if Olivia was alone? If so, they’d get her to safety first and then lay a trap for the killer.

They wouldn’t be able to drive to the mineshaft.

She recalled the area and from the foothills to the road lay miles of open lowlands covered with wheatgrass.

They’d be seen and heard from a mile away.

Unable to contain her excitement, she stood and went to the supply closet and checked the combat gear.

They’d need camouflage, their Kevlar vests, and weapons.

She nodded, seeing the stacks of clothes, all neatly piled on the shelves behind signs depicting the sizes.

She turned and walked to the gun safe. Everything inside she’d stripped down with Kane and cleaned just days ago.

The ammunition boxes were full. Everything was good to go.

She stared at her phone. Had Emily told Kane yet?

As if on cue, her phone buzzed. She sighed with relief seeing Kane’s name on the caller ID. She explained her theory. “I remember Wolfe dropped us there by chopper, but we’ll need Carter for the takedown. This guy is dangerous.”

“Yeah, I’ve just watched an autopsy. He must be stopped.

” Kane’s boots clattered on the tile in the morgue.

“We could do what we did last time. Wolfe can pilot the chopper, and he has everything we need to rappel down some ways away from the mine and come in with stealth. The only problem is that if the killer’s read the book about the case, he’ll be expecting us to do that.

So we’ll need to be sneaky. I’ll bring everyone up to speed and we’ll head back to the office. I have a plan.”

Jenna stared at the clock. “If Olivia is there, there’s a chance this guy is still at work. It would be better to get her clear before he arrives.”

“Yeah, that’s a given, but we’ll play the cards we’re dealt. This is still a hunch, right?” Undaunted, Jenna shook her head. “No, I’m convinced. It fits. Olivia is there. I’m sure of it.”

“Okay, we’re on our way.” Kane disconnected.