Missing in Conard County Read online

  It struck her, as they eased their way out toward the door, that their cover was useless. Spence or whatever his name was had made her as law enforcement. So sitting in this damn tavern was probably a waste of time. Hell. Sure, they were trying to make it look like they were dating, but how many believed that?

  “Hey,” Spence called after them, “you ever find them girls yet?”

  At that instant the bar grew immediately silent. Even the live music from the small stage trickled away.

  Kelly felt herself stiffening, wanting to turn around and give the idiot a piece of her mind. Those missing girls were no joking matter. Not even for a drunken jerk. Still, she refused to yield to her baser impulse.

  “Pretty damn bad,” said Spence, “when the law can’t find three girls. Bet they’re right under your noses somewhere.”

  “Let it go,” Al said quietly.

  Oh, she didn’t want to let it go. The anger that had been growing in her in response to weeks of worry wanted to erupt into vesuvian proportions, to flatten the guy’s face just for the pleasure of wiping that smirk away.

  But Al kept her moving toward the door. “We’ve got some girls to watch,” he murmured.

  “Dammit, Spence,” she heard Revell say from behind. His tone still sounded a little nervous, but few people wanted to argue with the law. “You tryin’ to get yourself in trouble? You’re still on probation, remember?”

  “So announce it to the world,” Spence said angrily. “Just pointing out that cops shouldn’t be out havin’ a good time when them girls is missing. Get off my case, Reve.”

  Kelly focused on the door and the girls they were going to keep an eye on. They mattered, not some drunken blowhard who couldn’t resist poking at a cop. Almost as if on cue, the band on the stage burst into a rowdy rendition of “Friends in Low Places,” singing it about as well as anyone could except the original artist. Which meant poorly.

  She drew a steadying breath of icy air as they left the stale beer and noise behind them. Without a word, Al hustled her into her car in the passenger seat. When he held out his hand, she gave him the keys. He hadn’t been drinking and frankly, given her response to the idiot back inside, she wasn’t at all sure how much she’d put away. Two bottles? She usually had her temper on a tighter tether.

  Al wheeled the car around and started down the state highway, following the only visible taillights, the ones that must belong to the young women who’d just left the bar. At least no one else had tried to follow them. Not yet, anyway.

  “That Spence guy was right.”

  “No, he wasn’t. He thinks we were there having fun. Far from it, and you don’t need me to remind you of that.”

  “No,” she admitted. “But we still should have found something about those girls by now.”

  “This situation stinks,” Al announced.

  “No kidding.”

  “You’re certainly tied up in knots. I’m getting there.”

  She twisted in her seat to better see him in the light from the dashboard. “It’s not like I can forget those girls. I’m positive my imagination has been doing its worst.”

  “It has for all of us.” He surprised her and reached out, covering one of her hands with his.

  She watched the taillights ahead of them, then squeezed her eyes shut briefly. “You know, I’ve been a cop for nearly ten years now. I’m good at separating the job from the personal. Usually. This time I can’t do it, Al! Those girls are haunting my every waking moment. Yeah, I’m still doing my job, but I’d like to be a whole lot busier. Instead I spend a lot of time driving back roads hoping for a glimpse of something useful. Anything. And I keep praying the girls are alive and all right.”

  For long minutes he didn’t speak. The car ahead of them reached the edge of town, turned down a street, then pulled into a driveway. Clearly these young women were getting home safely tonight.

  “Job accomplished,” he remarked before turning onto another street and heading for her place. “What’s getting you wound up,” he continued, squeezing her hand, “is that it’s been so long and the outcome is not at all promising. You didn’t need me to say that, did you?”

  No, she hadn’t needed to hear it. She felt it in her bones. Since the night she’d wakened from a dead sleep to sense that one of the girls had died, she hadn’t been able to believe this would end in any way other than tragically.

  “I guess I’m begging for closure,” she said after a pause.

  “We all are. I can’t imagine the hell those parents are living. Our share of it is nothing by comparison.”

  At that she felt embarrassed. “I’m being selfish.”

  “I didn’t say that. I’d be worried about you if you didn’t care this much. We aren’t robots, Kelly. We do what we do because we give a damn, you know? There’d be something wrong with you otherwise.”

  She remembered her dad speaking about a case that had tormented him for years. “Maybe you’re right. My dad had some cases that haunted him.”

  “Let’s just hope this one doesn’t have to haunt us. There is still hope.”

  But not much, she thought grimly. “The glove didn’t tell us much.” Their one clue. Basically useless.

  “Well, we know it touched one of the girls. Bugle was right about that. But whoever wore it...”

  Whoever had worn it wasn’t in the database anywhere. So no criminal history, at least not since law enforcement had started to keep such records. “Useless,” she said aloud.

  “Not if we find the guy. The DNA can tie him to the girls, right?”

  “To one of them, at least. Yeah, that could be useful.” But only if they found the perp.

  She sighed, thinking this was very unlike her. Hope was usually the last thing she tossed overboard when the seas grew choppy. Yet here she was, arguing with every possible strand of hope Al tossed her way.

  “I need an attitude adjustment,” she said. “Some separation and a tighter focus on solving the crime.”

  He didn’t argue. He turned into her driveway and switched off the engine. “Shall I stay or go?” he asked.

  “Stay. Please. Talk me down.”

  He gave a mirthless laugh. “Maybe you can talk me down, too.”

  Once again she felt embarrassed. She’d been so busy thinking about how she felt that she hadn’t given enough thought to how he must be feeling, as well. The idea that men didn’t feel anything...well, her own dad had raised her to realize otherwise. No stoic stiff upper lip for Hector Noveno. He was a man who hadn’t been afraid to shed a tear.

  As soon as she opened the car door, she knew something was wrong. She could hear Bugle barking, something he rarely did, and he sounded...seriously disturbed.

  She hit the ground running, then realized Al had the keys. Had she locked the front door? She didn’t think so. She heard the pound of his feet right behind her.

  “He doesn’t usually do that, does he?”

  “No. No.” He was upset and communicating it in the only way he could.

  She was sure she’d left the front porch light on, but it was off now. Burned-out bulb? Maybe. Criminy, she’d come out for the evening without most of her usual gear, not even a flashlight. Only her service pistol rode on her belt, hidden by her jacket and a bulky sweater. But the streetlight offered almost enough illumination to see the door and try the knob. If they needed the key they’d probably need the car headlights, as well.

  But the knob turned under her hand and she threw the door open only to have Bugle launch himself at her and push her backward.

  “Is someone inside?” she asked as she staggered back and regained her footing.

  “He doesn’t want you in there,” Al agreed. “All I’ve got is my baton.”

  She lifted her jacket and tucked it back. “I’m armed.” Unsnapping her holster, she drew her Glock. “A flashlight could be
useful.”

  But that would take time. She had plenty of them inside, and a couple of good Maglites in her official vehicle, but how long would it take to get them?

  “Bugle.”

  The dog immediately came to her side. “Find.”

  Well, that didn’t get his attention. “Seek,” she commanded.

  She could have sworn he shook his head but marched forward. Something in the way he moved told her the threat was gone but that something else had seriously bothered him. As soon as they were inside her small foyer, which gave a view of everything on the ground floor except her bedroom, she flipped the overhead light on.

  Then she saw what had upset her dog, and wondered how someone had managed to do that without Bugle latching onto him.

  A stuffed toy rabbit lay on the floor, and wrapped around its neck was a ragged piece of pink cloth. She didn’t want to think about where the cloth had come from. “Time to call for help.” Her voice had flattened with tension.

  Then she moved slowly back through the house while Al called for reinforcements. She saw the damage before long.

  Bugle had been in the bedroom, the door closed. Yeah, she must have done that. He liked to sleep on the bed while she was out, and closing the door was an almost automatic response on her part to dampen winter drafts.

  But someone had taken advantage of that, and now her bedroom door had been clawed until Bugle had managed to get free. Long after the miscreant was gone.

  Then she set the safety on her gun and sat in her armchair with her hands dangling between her legs, staring at the toy rabbit.

  A message? A taunt? A threat? But why?

  * * *

  INSTEAD OF COOKIES, Reve’s next reward to the girls was slipper socks. He worked weekends at the hospital as a janitor and had access to plenty of them. He also had access to the drugs he was giving the girls, but nobody would notice such small amounts missing. He didn’t need much; it wasn’t like he was going to perform surgery.

  Anyway, he’d been hearing their complaints about how cold their feet were and it finally dawned on him that neither of them would be very useful or attractive without feet.

  He’d seen a gangrenous limb at work once, and he was absolutely positive that he wouldn’t want it in his bed. Besides, it would stink.

  It was a good thing he’d decided not to let Spence in on his plans because after tonight it was obvious the guy couldn’t keep his yap shut. Taunting a cop? That was a good way to get arrested and maybe worse.

  The wrong cop, too. People thought Reve was dumb. He kept his head down, didn’t say much and often pretended not to hear even when he had. He made himself invisible.

  But Spence had drawn attention his way, however indirectly. And that cop Noveno with the dog...she wasn’t giving up on the girls. He saw her prowling even when she wasn’t on duty, crisscrossing the county like she hoped to spy something.

  It might be necessary to get rid of her, he thought as he popped the top on another beer and settled at his own creaky kitchen table. Nearly everyone else seemed convinced those girls were long gone, vanished into some shadowy trafficking organization.

  Which, now that he thought about it, might have been a good way to make some money. But no, he wanted those girls for himself. The guys with money could get plenty of girls to enjoy, but Reve...he didn’t have the money. He had to find and catch his own or do without.

  The catching part had come to him only lately, but after some thought and planning, he’d thought he’d done pretty well. Only one girl lost, and that was because he’d grown too impatient.

  He’d learned something and was putting it into practice right now. A few more days, a week maybe, and those girls would be putty, willing to do whatever he said to get out of that basement, to get warm, to eat real food. Yeah. It was working.

  But Spence had better just keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want that cop’s laser gaze trained his way. He swore that Noveno woman had the evil eye or something.

  Regardless, if she started hanging around too much, he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate her. See, he wasn’t dumb. He knew words like eliminate, and that’s exactly what would happen to Kelly Noveno if she started hanging around this end of the county too much.

  For that matter, Spence, too. He’d better just stop giving the cops a hard time. No need for that crap. Reve had waited too long to fulfill his dream. He wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way, including Spence.

  Damn, what had possessed the man, anyway? It was almost as if he was taunting Reve rather than the cop. But Spence didn’t know what was going on, so how could he?

  Reve rubbed his head, trying to ease a growing headache. Maybe he ought to just stay home for a while, avoid the tavern. Maybe he ought to let the girls be for a couple of days. They had enough water. Didn’t matter if they didn’t eat for a few days.

  Yeah, time to lie low.

  Chapter Nine

  Day 18

  Having the crime scene team crawl all over her house wasn’t the most enjoyable experience in the world even though Kelly understood it all. It had to be done. The furry bunny with the odd bow had long since been bagged, but someone had entered her house and perhaps left traces behind them.

  She patiently answered questions, but there were no real answers. Al stuck around and explained, too. They were hanging out at the tavern on weekends like a dating couple—two whole weekends, thought Kelly. Some dating—and keeping an eye out for anyone acting strangely.

  Which led to the overwhelmingly huge report that they’d watched over several girls, making sure they’d returned home safely. Gigantic effort. Maybe they’d get a medal for valor.

  Ah, damn, she thought, letting her head fall back in the recliner. As a cop she was messing up. Her stakeout at the tavern wasn’t helping a damn thing. She was too emotionally involved, so much so that a piece of evidence could possibly walk right under her nose without attracting her attention.

  And what was with the stuffed rabbit? Somebody’s bad idea of a joke?

  Gage had dragged himself out of a warm bed to come over here and keep eyes on things. He’d headed up the CSU before he’d been elected sheriff when Nate Tate retired, and he probably knew damn near as much as anyone in this room.

  “The rabbit,” Gage said, pulling the stool over to sit on.

  Kelly came to herself. “Want this chair, Gage? You’ve got to be miserable on a stool.”

  “I’m probably less miserable than you are right now. The rabbit.”

  “Yeah, the rabbit. I have no connection with rabbits, Bugle doesn’t especially want to chase them, and...” Suddenly she looked at Al. “There was that guy we spoke to about his rottie. You mentioned the dog had killed some pet rabbits.”

  Al nodded and shrugged all at once. He was perched on a bar stool. “If Spencer Hays wanted to make a statement about that, my place would make more sense.”

  “I was with you when you talked to Hays.”

  “And you stayed well out of it. No, this is something else. Damned if I know what.”

  Gage bent, wincing as he did so, and picked up the rabbit now safely encased in a clear plastic evidence bag all marked up for the chain of evidence. He stared at it, turning it over a couple of times. “That ragged cloth bothers me. It’s impossible to tell if it’s supposed to be a bow, or a noose.”

  Kelly felt her heart skip. “A noose?”

  Gage didn’t answer her, but instead looked at Al. “How well you know this Spencer Hays? Had many dealings with him?”

  “Not many, unless you count the number of times I’ve had to warn him to keep his dog under control. The dog, by the way, is with Cadel Marcus right now. Time for some decent training before a little girl loses a hand or her face.”

  Gage nodded thoughtfully. “Well, we’ll take a closer look at Mr. Hays. If he thinks you two have been going to the tavern tog
ether often, this could be his roundabout way of getting to you, Al. I can’t see any other reason to leave it here.”

  “I’ve been spending quite a few evenings here,” Al said. He didn’t offer an explanation, for which Kelly was grateful. He had been spending a lot of evenings here when she wasn’t working, but she didn’t place much importance on it except they were growing a friendship. A very special friendship, she believed, closer than she’d enjoyed in a while. But still just a friendship. How could anyone hope to get at him through her?

  After a moment, she decided to bring up the scene at the tavern. “Hays did have something to say to me tonight about not having found the girls yet. He was loud and noisy about it. But I can’t imagine when he could have left the rabbit.”

  “He had time,” Al said. “While we followed those girls home. How long do you suppose he needed to dump a stuffed toy here? Was your door locked?”

  “No.” So maybe he did have time. “It still doesn’t make sense. It’s hardly a threat. A taunt? But why?”

  Gage spoke quietly. “Or just to say he knows how to get to you.”

  Aw, hell, thought Kelly. Aw, hell. “But why?”

  The answer to that was a ringing silence.

  * * *

  IT WAS NEARLY one in the morning. Kelly needed to be on duty at seven. She ought to be sleeping but sleep appeared to be far away.

  Al examined her bedroom door. “Gotta hand it to Bugle. You’re going to need a new door.”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  He sat cross-legged on the floor and looked across the room at her. “You’re a beautiful woman, Kelly Noveno.”

  She caught her breath, morose thoughts flying away to be replaced by astonished wonder. “What brought that on?”

  He smiled. “I’ve been thinking it for ages.”

  She shook her head a little. “You’ve avoided me for ages. Come off it, Al.”

  “Sorry, lady. Been avoiding you because I’m a bad bet for a relationship. But that didn’t mean I didn’t notice. Anyway, sometimes I’d see you and it was like I lost my breath. But...beauty isn’t a foundation, and my foundations are shaky anyway.”