Jenna read the horrific details of Kate’s death from Wolfe’s autopsy report and reached for her coffee. Exhausted, she needed the caffeine to keep on her toes. Breaking down in front of Kane was unforgivable, and waking up in his bed a total disaster. All her years of training to withstand torture had vanished and she had fallen to pieces in front of him. Everyone has a breaking point but she had woken up angry with herself—in Kane’s arms. Worst of all, Kane felt sorry for her. Sorry. Holy shit, he had held her all night. She had to pull herself together before he lost confidence in her leadership.

Her rudeness after waking was inexcusable, especially as she had forced her problems on him. She had seen a different side to him, a gentle, caring side he kept well-hidden. He had treated her with the utmost respect and tried to help her rationalize the situation. In the last six months, he had become a close friend but she needed to remain in control at work. She had to think about how best to handle the situation. Later. I have murders to solve. She pushed to her feet and strode to the office door. “Wolfe, Kane, in my office now!”

Dragging down the whiteboard, she stared at the notes she had listed under each photograph. When the deputies entered the office and the door clicked shut behind them, she turned slowly and regarded them down her nose. With the two massive men in the room, the area appeared filled to capacity. She cleared her throat and moved her attention to Wolfe. “Are you 100 percent sure there are only two sets of prints on the pool padlock?”

“Yes, it was wiped clean but I found Kate’s and I collected Chad’s this morning on the way here and they are a match.” His blond eyebrows rose. “The gate must have been open when Kate arrived, and Chad admitted trying to open the padlock to get to her.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin, the sound like sandpaper. “I don’t think Chad can be classed as a suspect. When I went to his house this morning, I asked what time he left and his father confirmed the time as eight fifteen. What the killer did to Kate took, I would say, fifteen to twenty minutes but I would say he took his time and made it last as long as possible. Add the fact Chad was clean and wearing the same clothes his father described him as wearing when he left home puts him in the clear.”

“I agree.” Jenna sucked in a deep breath. “You are certain Kate was alive most of the time?”

“Affirmative. The injuries inflicted to her eyes prevented her from closing them. The killer wanted her to see what he did to her. She died from blood loss and shock.”

“So, different from both the other murders?”

“Only in a few instances.” Wolfe’s gaze narrowed. “He planned Felicity’s and Kate’s murders. They were calculated and he took his time. Joanne’s murder was different, rushed. It was a quick thrill-kill and messy, proving he didn’t have his tools of the trade with him. If we had released Felicity’s murder to the media, I would have considered Joanne’s murder a copycat.”

She moved her attention to Kane, who had his secret-agent blank expression in place. “In your opinion as an expert on psychopathic behavior, when do you believe he will strike again?”

“He is escalating and could strike again anytime.” Kane rolled his wide shoulders and his blue gaze rested on her. “If he is still in the area. So far there have only been two murders of the same type in each town, and he has done three here. He might think it’s time to move on.”

“Yes, but those murders were spread all over the media, and they called him the Waterside Ripper. Here we have the local newspaper’s consideration to keep the main details of the murders under wraps until we close in on the killer.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m wondering if this is the best thing to do—maybe he’ll escalate even more to see himself in the press and on TV?”

“I don’t agree. Feeding his ego by releasing the details of the crimes is a mistake. Killers love to relive every moment, and seeing this on TV makes him feel powerful. He’ll kill again and again until we stop him, media coverage or not. The parents of the victims know we are working on the cases and all agree they would rather not see the intimate details of their kids’ rapes and murders splashed all over the news. Saying we suspect foul play is good enough for now.” Kane’s mouth turned down at the corners. “My guess is if he is in the area he’ll be watching everything we do and planning his next move.”

Jenna stared at the whiteboard. “I’ll need one of you to speak to the janitor.”

“The janitor is on vacation.” Kane raised a dark brow. “He left the first day of the summer break, so you can rule him out. The dean and his family are in Europe for the duration. I found out at Aunt Betty’s this morning. Susie Hartwig is a good source of information.”

“So it would seem.” She turned to the list of suspects. “We have Steve Rogers in the area and I noticed Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley in Aunt Bettys Café last night as well. We have two positive sightings of suspects from Felicity’s murder in the area the night of Kate’s murder. I suggest we find out when the cowboys arrived at the café. I want to re-interview the suspects in Felicity’s case and see if they have alibis for the time of Joanne’s murder. Get Rowley to call them and check on their whereabouts. If they seem in any way suspicious, we’ll follow up.” She turned to Wolfe. “Rowley picked up Kate’s laptop last night and it is in the evidence locker. Maybe you can cross-reference their logs or something and see if anything matches. There has to be a connection.”

“I’ll get on it straight away but you can be sure the same killer murdered the three girls.” A flash of worry crossed Wolfe’s face. “It is a case of who is next. If we take Joanne out of the equation, the killer has chosen two friends. I think we need to be keeping a close eye on Aimee Fox and the rest of the group who hang out together.” He gave her a long, considering stare. “This has now become a personal problem for me because apparently yesterday, Aimee and another girl, Julia Smith, came by my house with their mothers as a welcoming committee. Emily takes after me. She is not a social butterfly and more of a nerd, so the opportunity to be accepted into a group of girls who spend a great deal of time at the computer store was attractive to her.” He let out a worried sigh. “She is meeting them at Provine’s store after her shift this morning.”

Her mind re-ran a photoshoot of the victims’ mutilated bodies and she blinked to force the images away. Maybe she was suffering from PTSD after all. She cleared her throat. “You should take the time to walk her to the store and pick her up when she is ready to leave.”

“Thank you for your concern but I’m not sure that would work, ma’am.” Wolfe raised one blond eyebrow. “She would lose face in front of her friends if her daddy treated her like a two-year-old. I have a fail-safe in play with my kids and they understand the meaning of stranger danger. I’m obviously telling you this in the strictest confidence. Each of my daughters carries a number of tracker tags, much like the ones I gather Kane made for you, but mine are lightyears ahead of the simple device he used in your earrings.”

“I’d like to know what new technology you have developed.” Kane stretched out his long legs and folded his arms. “I agree what I gave Jenna was a simple tracker much like the ones available for luggage and the like, but it worked.”

“Not good enough though, was it? These days, people are more aware of technology and criminals will be looking for anything suspicious. Jenna couldn’t contact you because the men who kidnapped her knew about the device.” Wolfe’s pale gaze moved over her face. “My girls have something similar but installed in their earrings and necklaces, and if all else fails one that looks like a teddy bear pin. I made them waterproof as well, so they never have to remove them. The difference with my invention and the one Kane placed inside your earrings is the devices have a mic, and once activated, not only am I alerted but I can hear what they are saying. I decided not to include a speaker because if any of my girls are in danger any communication might be detected.”

Astounded by Wolfe’s abilities, she smiled at him. “Absolutely brilliant. I think if I had kids I would have a permanent tracker installed under their skin.”

“Ah, I think that is going a bit too far. I had a subdural one to allow HQ to track me and it felt like a huge invasion of privacy.” Kane’s long fingers clenched and unclenched. “But I would recommend allowing Wolfe to make something similar to his kids’ devices for all of us. He can make the tracker so only the wearer can activate it, so at other times privacy is assured.”

Needing to be in control, she straightened. “I gather the earbuds and power packs have arrived? We will implement them during any suspicious callouts but if you believe a tracker alert button or whatever you call the damn thing is advisable, then I’ll agree, but I want mine placed in a ring this time. I have a tight one at home and it’s very difficult to remove. Will that suffice?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Wolfe’s lips lifted at the corners. “But it will have to be opaque, like a cameo or similar?”

“Fine.” She sat in her chair, placed her elbows on the table, and rubbed her temples. “Emily is a very intelligent girl and not the clique-type, I assume?”

“She is very independent and thinks for herself.” Wolfe gave her a worried look. “Good Lord, you’re not asking her to go undercover and report on her friends, are you? Absolutely not, she’ll have a hard enough time finishing her final year here without ratting out her friends.”

Jenna lifted the phone and asked Maggie to ask Emily to join them. When she stepped into the room, head high and confident, Jenna could certainly see her father in her. “Take a seat. I would like to ask you a few questions. I gather your father has informed you in confidence about the murders this week?”

“Yes, and I haven’t told anyone.” Emily shot a gray gaze at her father. “I do understand the meaning of confidential.”

Jenna folded her hands on the table and smiled at her. “I’m sure you do. If your father agrees, I wondered if during your time with your new friends, you would take note of any interaction you have with any of the men listed on the board over there.” She pointed to the whiteboard and the photographs of the suspects lined up under their names. “Lionel Provine is the man who owns the computer store, Derick Smith was Felicity Parker’s boyfriend, and Steve Rogers is the teacher at the high school. Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley are local cowboys currently in town for the rodeo.” She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want you to get involved other than making a note of the time and name of the person you notice hanging around or speaking to the girls, then report to your dad.”

“I can do that, no problem at all.” Emily’s attention moved to Wolfe. “If it’s okay with you, Dad?”

“Absolutely no interaction. Any one of those men could be the killer.” Wolfe narrowed his pale eyes. “Understand?”

“Yes.” Emily’s hair fell over one shoulder as she nodded in agreement. She took out her cellphone and snapped a picture of the suspects. “Don’t worry. I’ll crop the image so the other information is not visible, just in case I lose my cellphone.” She smiled and patted Wolfe on the arm. “I’ll message you if we go to Aunt Betty’s Café and when we leave and return to the computer store. As far as I know the girls are restricted to those areas the same as I am.” She frowned. “Since Kate’s murder they are scared but no one knows what happened to them. They are sticking together but no one seems to know anything about Joanne Blunt.”

Jenna leaned back in her chair. “Joanne was a visitor to town and we believe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She has no connection to the other victims or any of our suspects, which makes our killer all the more dangerous. Take care this afternoon and I will look forward to your report.”

She waited for Emily to leave the room and turned to Kane. “I want to keep a close eye on her. Is the new CCTV camera system installed near the computer store?”

“Yeah, it gives a clear view of the computer store and Aunt Betty’s Café and there are six others along the street. The interview room I converted into a command center also gives the ability to move the cameras, zoom in, et cetera.”

She tapped her pen on the table. “How long do the discs run? Do we have to change them or do they re-write every twelve hours or so?” She heard Wolfe make a strange sound halfway between a snort and a chuckle. She glared at him. “Okay, what’s so funny?”

“Everything is digital now, ma’am. We have terabytes of storage and keep them for six months, then if no crimes have been committed, we overwrite them.” Wolfe’s mouth twitched into a half smile. “The hard drives have approximately ten years’ life before we need to replace them but well before that no doubt they will be able to hold enough data for a year or more.” He raised one blond brow. “I can add an app to our cellphones to allow us to view the footage in real time. It might come in handy.”

She nodded. “Do it as soon as possible. I’ll get Rowley on phone interviews with our suspects but I gather we’ll have to chase up Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley. It’s unlikely they will have their cellphones on hand if they are competing. The events at the rodeo did start today, I believe?”

“I can take a ride over there if you like?” Kane leaned nonchalantly back in his chair, his large hands resting on the arms. “I’ve organized four deputies from Blackwater to patrol the fairgrounds from Thursday through Sunday as we’ll be there undercover, so to speak. The new mayor is paying them so we don’t owe them our time.”

Annoyed he had taken charge again, she narrowed her gaze at him then a memory dropped into place. She had asked him to speak to the mayor about spending money on the town’s safety. He had informed her about funding for the CCTV cameras but not the extra help. The anger she had for him melted like last winter’s snow. “Yes, I remember asking you to speak to him. Thank you.”

“We can hire another full-time deputy as well, but a rookie. The mayor said the budget won’t stretch to another ex-marine.” Kane’s blue eyes searched her face. “Would you like me to place an advertisement once we have caught the killer or go ahead and start looking for someone now?”

She shook her head. “No, you have enough to do at the moment and a rookie to watch as well will be more trouble than he is worth. In any case, we have Maggie to do the grunt work. I can’t expect you to do her duties as well.”

Last night, he had let down his guard by showing her his gentler side. Rather than push him away she should encourage him to relax with her in their downtime. Their evening together had been natural as if they fit together, and the fact he cared enough to cuddle her all night meant a lot to her. She smiled and caught his relieved expression. “Thanks for handling the mayor, I find him a bit condescending. Then most of the old-school types in town think being a sheriff is a man’s job.”

“Trust me,” Kane smiled at her in a slash of white, “everyone knows who is in charge.”