Page 25 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)
Twenty-Four
Jenna dropped into a chair in front of Wolfe’s desk and took the cup of coffee Emily handed her. “Thanks, I need this.”
Kane and Raven took cups from Emily and sat down just as Wolfe walked into the office.
“First up, we received a DNA sample from Darlene Travis’ mother along with a recent photograph of her.
” Wolfe met Jenna’s gaze. “I’ve sent a copy to your phones and uploaded it to the files.
The DNA is a match.” He waved a paper in his hand.
“I also have the results of Darlene Travis’ blood tests.
” He spread a document on his desk and sat down to read the results.
“There are traces of ketamine in her stomach contents, none in her blood. This would suggest she’d had her food or drink spiked.
Ketamine causes confusion and is used as an anesthetic for animals.
It’s a veterinary drug easily obtained by horse and cattle breeders, likely available to ranch hands.
I know obtaining it illegally in Black Rock Falls is difficult, but it’s easy to buy on street corners in Blackwater.
” He looked at Jenna. “This proves this was well planned and premeditated.” He scanned the documents again.
“Hmm, there’s also small traces of fentanyl in the blood.
” He looked up. “I’ll have more information later but it might be a few weeks.
I tested specifically for these drugs as they’re the most popular street drugs right now. ”
Before she could discuss anything, Jenna’s phone chimed. It was Rio. She looked apologetically at Wolfe. “I need to take this. It’s Rio.” She stood and went out into the hallway. “Yes, Rio.”
“A call just came in on the hotline. A couple of hikers say they believe there’s a body hanging in the forest, close to the old footbridge over the river, about a hundred yards from Stanton.
They entered the forest on the trail opposite the roadhouse.
” Rio cleared his throat. “We’ve just gotten back to the office after interviewing Bryce Withers.
I sent Maggie and the volunteers to grab a bite of lunch. We’re kinda stuck here at the moment.”
Jenna checked her watch. “We’ll go. We’re just about done here. We have Raven with us as well. His dog will find a body if it’s there.”
“Rowley is taking their details. They’re on Stanton waiting in a blue Silverado. They’ll give you directions.” Rio cleared his throat. “I’ll tell them you’re on the way.”
As Rio disconnected, she sighed. It was Halloween week and there’d been two murders.
People often saw things that didn’t exist. Jenna hoped this wasn’t a waste of precious time as she had suspects to interview.
She headed back to Wolfe’s office to bring them up to date.
“As we’ve left Duke in the office, I’ll need you to come with us, Raven.
I assume Ben will be able to track down a body? ”
“Yeah, he’s good.” Raven rubbed the dog’s ears. “I’ve trained him well over the years. The only thing he has difficulty in is being a dog.” He grinned at Jenna.
“I’m coming too.” Emily jumped to her feet. “Give me a minute to change and to pull on my hiking boots. I have my backpack ready to go.”
“She’s right. Y’all might need a medical examiner to process the scene if it’s a body.
” Wolfe stood. “Make sure you take your satellite phones and call me. I’ll bring the van around to collect the body.
” He looked at Raven. “I have spare survival packs. I’ll grab one for you.
” He looked at Jenna. “I assume you have yours in the truck?”
“I have mine in my truck too and my phone.” Raven smiled at Wolfe. “I’ll follow Dave.”
“Here, take these.” Wolfe took down a box of energy bars from a shelf and handed them to Kane. “I can hear your stomach growling and Raven’s is trying to outdo it. You’ll miss lunch. You can eat some of these along the way.”
Jenna opened the box and handed a pile to Raven with a roll of her eyes. “Now I have two hungry deputies to worry about. Are you ever full?”
“After Thanksgiving dinner.” Kane chuckled. “You?” He looked at Raven.
“Same.” He handed Jenna her coat and then Kane his before slipping on his own. “Come on, Ben. We have work to do.”
Cold wind buffeted Jenna as she ran to the Beast and jumped inside. She pulled on her gloves and shivered. “The temperature is dropping so fast I wouldn’t be surprised if we had snow before long.”
“I just hope it holds off while we’re in the forest.” Kane started the engine and they headed along Main and onto Stanton.
Thick clouds had stolen the sunlight, making the midday drive more like late afternoon as the forest closed in around them.
The vehicle was just where Rio said it would be opposite the roadhouse.
They all climbed out and approached the two women seated inside.
One held a rifle across her knees. Whatever she’d seen in the forest had disturbed her.
The door opened and one of the women climbed out.
Jenna approached her. “You called the hotline about seeing a body?”
“Yeah, we believe we did, although it’s quite dark in there today.
” The woman pointed to the entrance to a well-known hiking track.
“We took this track and as we passed that old bridge that goes over the river, we went past a huge boulder and noticed something in the trees. It looked like the pink back of someone hanging by their legs, head down. We turned around and ran back to our truck and then called 911. Someone from the hotline picked up the call.”
“How long ago was this?” Kane had moved beside her. “Did you see anyone on the trail?”
“Maybe twenty minutes, maybe less, and no, we didn’t see anyone.” The woman’s hand trembled as she brushed hair from her face as the wind twirled it around her head.
Jenna nodded. “Okay, thank you. Did you give your details to Deputy Rio?”
“Yes, we did.” The woman backed away. “Can we go now? That vampire slayer might be close by.”
Trying not to roll her eyes, Jenna glanced at Kane and then back to the women.
“Yes, we’ll take a look but vampires don’t exist. That’s just a rumor set off by people to spook everyone over Halloween.
” She looked from one woman to the other and handed them her card.
“If we need any more information, one of my deputies will be in touch.”
Jenna waited for the women to drive away and turned to the others. “Okay, let’s go.”