Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“She was pretty, wasn’t she?” He stared down at the picture. “It’s quite a pity that Huck Rivers killed her just to protect you. The captain is quite the alpha male, isn’t he?”
Would Zeke go to this much evil trouble just to hurt Huck? That didn’t fit with his psychopathy. She could see him hunting and shooting Huck, one on one, but not kill him with an elaborate game.
Perhaps she needed to speak with Pastor John again. For now, she pulled out a picture of Rachel Raprenzi. “What about her?”
Zeke cocked his head. “I saw her show earlier. She is such a brave young woman. How in the world did she escape your boyfriend? Perhaps Huck still has feelings for her and couldn’t go through with the murder?”
“Were you at Rachel Raprenzi’s crime scene?” she asked.
“I’ve never been to a crime scene,” Zeke murmured.
“Were you present at the search and rescue effort last night?” She needed to tie somebody else to the scene and, from there, to taking the blanket out of Aeneas’s crate.
His mouth opened and then closed. “Of course not. I was busy praying at my church when I heard those girls were missing last night.”
“Do you have anybody who could corroborate that?” she asked.
He looked sadly around. “No. I worked by myself at the church, then at my cabin. My phone will reflect that, I’m sure.”
So he’d left his phone either at the church or his cabin. A man who was smart enough to steal a blanket out of Huck’s truck and use it himself wasn’t stupid enough to take his phone with him on a kidnapping and murder. Or he actually wasn’t the killer. How badly did she want to put him in prison? Could her anger with him be coloring her actions?
He sighed. “Laurel, it appears as if Captain Rivers is a killer with some serious problems. I do wish you’d take heed and protect yourself from him.”
“You have access to a lot of trucks, don’t you?” she asked suddenly.
“Oh, no, I have an SUV.” He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “You’re not going to connect me to any of these crimes, Laurel. I’m a man of the cloth. I would never harm a woman.”
She pulled out a picture of Teri Bearing and pushed it across the table. “What about Teri Bearing?”
His eyes flared and for a second, the lines of his face shifted.
She’d have to study the video later to try to determine what that movement meant.
“I’m very sorry about the mayor’s wife.” He stared as if transfixed by the picture. “I cannot believe Captain Rivers dumped her body outside of our church.”
“Hypothetically, if the captain didn’t kill her, who do you think did?” she asked. Zeke no doubt knew his parishioners.
“Hmm.” His lids lifted and he stared at her. “I don’t know. Is there something different about this death?”
She reached for comparison pictures of the holes made in the ice. “The ice is different. The killer didn’t use crampons for Mrs. Bearing’s drowning.”
“Oh, yes, crampons.” He nodded. “I do know what that means. Don’t you climb icebergs with them?”
“You can,” Monty said.
Zeke didn’t look at him, keeping his focus solely on Laurel. “Isn’t that odd? Don’t serial killers often stick to their rituals?” He stared at the different photos.
Laurel pulled back the pictures and shut the file folder. “Yes, they do.”
Zeke rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if in deep contemplation. “I don’t really have an answer, but what if somebody wanted to disturb the church? What if they wanted to stop me from going national? It would make sense to leave a body there, right?”
“Go on,” Laurel said.
“Or Pastor John was having an affair with this poor woman. He took advantage of her. I would take a hard look at him or at her husband, of course.” He shrugged. “Unless somebody just wanted to mess with me and ruin my television debut. You don’t suppose Huck Rivers had it in for me, too, do you?”
Laurel studied him. “No, I don’t suppose he did. So your theory is that Teri Bearing’s killer is either Mayor Saul Bearing, Pastor John Govern, or Captain Huck Rivers?”
Zeke held out both hands and smiled, looking her directly in the eyes. “Well, now, Laurel, who else could it possibly have been?”
* * *
Laurel’s mind spun after Zeke Caine had left her office. Her emotions might be clouding her judgment. Why would he kill Delta and Haylee, then kidnap Rachel but let her go, and possibly kill Teri Bearing but use something else to break the ice?
She couldn’t find his motivation.
The downstairs door buzzer sounded, and then heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Laurel took several deep breaths and sat back in her chair, keeping her shoulders straight.
Special Agent in Charge Norrs walked into her office, pulled out a chair and sat. The agent had dark circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot.