Kitabı oku: «Scene Of The Crime: Means And Motive»

Chapter One

FBI Special Agent Jordon James hated two things—winter and murder—and she was about to be immersed in the middle of both. She frowned and stared out the small window of the helicopter that had carried her from Kansas City to the rousing tourist town of Branson, Missouri.

When they’d left Kansas City the ground had been winter brown and the temperature had been a balmy forty-five. Unfortunately, as they approached the Branson airport, the temperature had dropped into the teens and four inches of snow had fallen in the small vacation destination overnight.

As the helicopter circled for the landing, visions of a beach with a bright sun, a chaise lounge and a fruity alcoholic drink flirted in Jordon’s head. She’d booked a long-awaited vacation in Florida for the end of next week. Hopefully, this mess in Branson could be cleaned up soon enough that she wouldn’t have to postpone the long-awaited vacation.

She was here only in an advisory position as a favor between her FBI director and the Branson mayor. All she knew was that there had been three murders in as many months committed in a popular bed-and-breakfast. The latest murder victim had been stabbed to death and discovered by a maid in her room the day before.

Jordon played nice with others when it was absolutely necessary, but she preferred to work alone. She had a feeling that Director Tom Langford had tapped her for this job, knowing that she would have to try to work with a police chief who probably didn’t want her here.

“It builds character to step out of your comfort zone.” She wished she had a dime for every time Tom had said that to her in the last couple of years. “Don’t be a cowboy, Jordon. That’s what nearly got you killed a year ago,” he’d reminded her right before she’d left.

The heart-shaped pattern of cigarette-burn scars on her left hip itched as memories of an old cellar and a serial killer named Ralph Hicks flashed in her head.

It had been nearly a year since she’d almost become the sixth victim of the man who had tortured and killed five other women over a six-month period in the Kansas City area. Thankfully, she had been the one who had walked out of that dank, terrifying cellar and Ralph Hicks had come out in a body bag.

The bump of the helicopter touching down snapped her back to the here and now. Jordon thanked the pilot, grabbed her two bags and climbed down to the tarmac, where a uniformed police officer greeted her.

“Agent James, I’m Lieutenant Mark Johnson.” He shouted above the whoop whoop of the helicopter blades as the aircraft took off once again.

He grabbed her bags from her. “Good to have you here. My car is parked over here.” He turned and headed for the parking lot in the distance. An icy gust of wind half stole her breath away as she quickly followed behind him.

Within minutes they were in his patrol car with a steady flow of heated air blowing in her face. “Have you been to Branson before?” he asked when they pulled away from the airport.

“Never, although I’ve certainly heard a lot about it from coworkers who have been here,” she replied. She held her hands up to the air vents and squinted against the late-afternoon sunshine that glared off the snow cover.

At least the highway they traveled had been cleared, but as he turned onto a narrow snowpacked street that headed straight downhill, her breath caught in the back of her throat.

They had gone from city highway to thick woods and a precarious country road with a simple right-hand turn. “Diamond Cove is down this way,” Mark said. “Chief of Police Gabriel Walters is waiting for you there.” He eased up on the gas as the back end of the car slid ominously to the left.

Every muscle in Jordon’s body tensed and didn’t relax again until they had turned into a driveway in front of a cozy-looking log cabin. He parked next to a police car that was already there and shut off the engine.

“Welcome to Diamond Cove Bed-and-Breakfast,” Mark said. “This is the main office and dining area.” He pointed to the right. “As you can see through the trees up on the ridge there are four cabins that hold two suites each. The latest victim, Sandy Peters, was found in her bed in unit three yesterday morning by one of the housekeeping staff.”

Jordon gazed at the four small log cabins with front porches. With the lack of leaves on the trees they were easily visible. Outside each doorway were two rocking chairs for the guests’ pleasure.

In the spring and summer the thick woods that surrounded the cabins would hide them from view. The air would be filled with birdsong and squirrels would provide comic relief with their antics. Those rocking chairs would make perfect perches to nature-watch.

On the surface, the Diamond Cove resort appeared to be nestled on a secluded mountainside and promised peace and seclusion for the city-weary. But the peace had been shattered by three horrendous murders.

Mark opened his car door and Jordon did the same. A gust of frigid air greeted her and snow crunched underfoot as she got out of the car. Once again she thought of the beach and released a frosty, deep sigh.

“Follow me,” he said after grabbing her bags from the backseat.

He bypassed the front door and instead led her around the building on a wraparound porch. They passed a beautiful waterfall that was obviously heated as the water trickled merrily over rocks and into a small pond despite the below-freezing temperature.

They entered the building and stepped into the main dining room. The air smelled of a hint of cinnamon, wood smoke and rich, freshly brewed coffee.

It was a small, cozy area with two long tables draped in elegant white cloths. Fat white candles and crystal salt and pepper shakers marked the center of each table. A bookcase holding preserves, jellies and cookbooks for sale was against one wall, and a fireplace with two chairs added to the homey atmosphere.

Jordon took all of this in with a single glance, for it was the man seated in one of the chairs by the fireplace that captured her full attention.

Chief of Police Gabriel Walters held a cup of coffee in his hand and stared into the flames of the crackling fire. He was apparently so deep in thought he hadn’t even heard them come in.

His black hair was neatly cut and broad shoulders filled out the dark blue uniform shirt. His profile indicated a strong jawline and a perfectly straight nose.

“Chief?” Mark said hesitantly.

He shot up out of the chair and a touch of annoyance flashed across his handsome features. It was there only a moment and then covered by a smile that warmed Jordon right down to her frozen toes.

He might not mean the smile, but it didn’t matter. He wore the gesture well even though it didn’t quite light up the depths of his intense blue eyes.

“Special Agent James... I’m Chief Walters,” he said and took her hand for a firm, no-nonsense shake.

“Please, make it Jordon,” she replied.

He nodded and released her hand. “Jordon it is. Please, have a seat. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“That would be great,” she replied. She unzipped her coat, shrugged it off and sat in the chair next to his in front of the fireplace.

He walked over to Mark and spoke so softly to the man that Jordon couldn’t hear. Mark nodded a goodbye to Jordon and left the way they had come.

She watched as Gabriel moved over to a small table that held a coffeemaker and all the accoutrements for all tastes. “Cream? Sugar?” he asked.

“Black is fine,” she replied. The man was definitely hot. He boasted not only wonderfully broad shoulders, but also slim hips and a stomach that didn’t appear to hold an ounce of body fat.

He hadn’t offered her the choice of calling him by his given name and that alone told her he might not be happy to see her. She’d seen him for only a minute and already she had him pegged as intense and probably uptight and rigid.

His physical attractiveness definitely stirred a little fire of heat in the pit of her stomach, but if her suspicions about his personality were right, then she had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before she might want to pinch his head off. Time would tell.

He held the coffee cup out to her and she took it with a murmured thanks. Then he returned to the chair next to her. “I don’t know how much you know about what’s going on here.”

“No real specifics. I was only told that there have been three murders here, the most recent victim discovered yesterday morning.”

He nodded. “Sandy Peters. She was thirty-four years old and a mystery writer. According to the owners of the resort, she came here every year in January to spend a couple of weeks holed up and writing.”

“Married? Divorced?”

“Single, and according to everyone I spoke to yesterday who was close to her, she wasn’t dating anyone,” he replied. “Besides, she was killed in the same manner as the other two victims.”

“Stabbed to death,” Jordon said.

“That’s right. My investigation hasn’t turned up anything the three victims have in common other than they were all guests here at Diamond Cove at the time of their deaths. In fact, they were the only guests here at the time when they were killed.”

Jordon took a sip of the coffee and leaned back in the chair. The warmth and scent of the fire combined with the deep smooth tone of his voice would make it easy to be lulled into a semicoma if they weren’t talking about murder.

She leaned forward and caught a whiff of his pleasant, woodsy-scented cologne. “So, this doesn’t sound like it’s about any specific victimology, but tell me about the other victims anyway.”

“The first one was twenty-five-year-old Samantha Kent. She and her husband had rented a suite just before Thanksgiving to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. She was stabbed to death on a trail near their cabin on a Tuesday morning.”

He grimaced and then continued. “The second victim, Rick Sanders, booked a room a week before Christmas. He was found stabbed in the guest shed. Samantha was a schoolteacher from Kansas City. Rick was a restaurant owner from Dallas who had come here to check out some of the local food. Sandy was from St. Louis.”

Jordon was impressed by how easily he rattled off the pertinent information of each victim without any notes. It meant he’d embraced the victims. They weren’t just dead bodies to him... They were people. She liked that.

She took another sip of her coffee as he continued. “When Samantha was found on the trail, the first person we looked at hard was her husband, Eric. But he had a solid alibi. He’d been here having breakfast with the owners when she was killed and I could find no motive for him wanting her dead.”

“What was she doing outside all alone?” Jordon asked, mentally taking notes of all the information he was giving to her.

“She was an amateur photographer...a nature buff, and according to her husband, she’d decided to skip breakfast on that particular morning to take some photographs. She had a quick cup of coffee here with the owners and her husband to start the day and then she left by herself.”

“Who found her body?”

“Billy Bond, the groundskeeper. When he found her she was still breathing but unconscious and bleeding out. She died on the way to the hospital. According to the doctor, she had been attacked only minutes before she was discovered.”

“So, the killer is probably local and you have no clue as to the motive,” Jordon said.

Gabriel’s lips thinned slightly. “No clue as to who or why. I guess that’s why Mayor Stoddard thought it was important to bring in the big guns.”

A small laugh escaped her despite the obvious displeasure on his face. “Don’t worry, Chief Walters. This gun doesn’t intend to get in your way. You’re the big Uzi and I’m just a little backup handgun.”

She held back a sigh. She’d been here only half an hour and already the very hot chief of police appeared to be attempting to engage her in a spitting match.

* * *

SHE DIDN’T INTEND to get in his way.

But something about FBI Special Agent Jordon James was already under his skin.

As Gabriel led her out of the main cabin and toward the smaller cabins so that she could see each of the crime scenes, his gut twisted tight in frustration.

He hadn’t been happy when the mayor had insisted they get help from the FBI, even in just an advisory position. He’d taken it as a vote of no confidence from the man who was his boss.

Jordon James had said nothing out of line. She’d been a complete professional so far, but while they’d talked he’d had some very unprofessional thoughts roll through his head.

She was strikingly pretty with her short curly dark hair and green eyes that sparked not only a keen intelligence, but with what he sensed was also a glimmer of humor.

When she’d shrugged out of her coat it had been impossible not to notice the length of her legs encased in the tight black slacks and the thrust of her full breasts against the white cotton of her blouse. Even the holster around her waist didn’t detract from her innate femininity.

He’d been living and breathing murder since the first body had been found here almost three months ago. His instant, sharp physical attraction to Jordon had momentarily shaken him.

He now followed her up the wooden stairs that led to the ridge where the cabins were located. At least out here in the cold air he couldn’t smell the enticing flowery perfume that had permeated the air the moment she’d sat next to him in the dining room.

She reached the top of the ridge and turned back to wait for him. When he joined her he pointed to a small structure just to the right.

“That’s the guest shed where Rick Sanders was found.” She fell into step next to him as they approached the building where a cheerful hand-painted Welcome sign hung over the door.

They stepped inside to the tinkle of a little bell, and even though he’d been in the shed at least twenty times since the night that Rick’s body had been found, his gaze took everything in as if it was the very first time he’d been inside the small building.

A bifold door to the left hid a stackable washer and dryer. A round table and chairs to the right invited the guests to sit and relax. Beyond that was another closed door that led to a small storage room.

A counter held a fancy coffeemaker with a carousel of little flavored coffees, and beneath the counter, a glass-doored refrigerator displayed a variety of sodas and bottled water for the guests to enjoy at no cost.

“What a nice idea for the people staying here,” Jordon said.

Gabriel nodded, although his head filled with the vision of Rick Sanders dead on the floor, his back riddled with stab wounds. “He never saw what was coming. It appeared that he was standing in front of the coffeemaker waiting for a hot chocolate when he was attacked from behind.”

She looked up at the bell hanging over the doorway. “He didn’t hear it coming?”

“The bell wasn’t hung there until after his murder,” Gabriel explained. He watched Jordon closely as her narrowed gaze once again swept the room. He couldn’t help but notice the long length of her dark eyelashes and the slightly pouty fullness of her lips.

She opened the door to the storage room, where Gabriel knew the space held only cases of soda, boxes of the little coffee pods, paper napkins and other supplies.

“Okay,” she said and gazed at him with eyes that gave away nothing.

“See anything me and my men might have missed?”

“Yes. In fact, I think I’ve solved the case. It was Colonel Mustard in the library with a wrench,” she replied flippantly. He stared at her in stunned surprise. “Where to next?” she asked before he could even begin to formulate a response.

They exited the guest shed and he led her down a path that would eventually take them to the place where Samantha Kent’s body had been found.

“There’s about seven acres of trails here,” he said.

“Good grief. I hope we aren’t walking them all now.” She pulled her coat collar closer around her slender neck. “I hate this weather. I’ve got a date with a beach in Florida at the end of next week and I can’t wait to get in a bathing suit and enjoy a fruity, fun alcoholic beverage.”

“Then I guess you’ll need to hurry to solve this case in time to get to the beach,” he replied. He took another couple of steps then halted when he realized she wasn’t with him.

He turned around. She stood stock-still, her green eyes narrowed as if he was a puzzling crime scene she was analyzing. “Are you normally a jerk or are you just acting like one especially for me?”

Despite the cold air, a wave of warmth filled his cheeks. “No, I’m not normally a jerk,” he replied. He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “But I guess I have been acting like one since you arrived and I apologize.” He had to admit to himself that he’d been a bit antagonistic with her. It wasn’t her fault she was here. She was just doing her job like he was trying to do his.

“Apology accepted,” she said easily and grinned. “Can I expect more jerk from you or are you over it now?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets. “It’s not you personally.”

Her grin widened. “Trust me, I didn’t think it was about me personally. You haven’t known me long enough to have attitude with me, although I’m sure if I’m here for a few more days that will eventually come.”

He gazed at her curiously. “Why? Are you difficult to work with?”

“I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.” Her smile fell and she wrapped her arms around her chest. “Look, I get it that you probably aren’t happy about FBI presence here. But I am here, and we might as well try to work together to solve these murders. Now, can we get on with this? I’m freezing my tush off.”

And a fine tush it was, Gabriel thought as they continued walking on the narrow trail. Within minutes they were at the spot where Samantha Kent’s body had been found.

“The trees were still fairly full of leaves when she was killed,” he said. “Although you can see the cabins from here now, they weren’t visible at the time of the murder.”

Once again Jordon silently surveyed the scene. “She didn’t scream or cry out for help? Nobody heard anything?”

“Nobody admitted to hearing anything. She was attacked from behind like Rick. She didn’t have a single defensive wound and Billy didn’t see or hear anyone else in the woods when he found her.” The frustration of the cases burned in his stomach as once again his mind provided a memory of this particular crime scene.

Samantha had already been carried away to the hospital by the time Gabriel had arrived on scene, but her blood had stained the autumn leaves where she had fallen, transforming this piece of beautiful woods to a place of haunting, violent death.

“I’ve seen enough,” Jordon said softly.

They were both silent as he led her to unit number three, where Sandy Peters had been found stabbed in her bed.

“Wow. Nice room,” Jordon said after they’d stomped the snow off their boots and stepped inside. They both had donned gloves and bootees, as the room was still officially a crime scene.

“All the rooms are this nice,” he replied. He stood by the door as Jordon wandered the area.

A king-size log bed was the center focal point, along with a stone fireplace and a sunken Jacuzzi tub for two. The bed had been stripped down to the mattress, but Sandy’s suitcase was still open on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, and a thick pink robe still hung on a coat tree next to the dresser.

He’d kept things intact in the room as much as possible for Jordon’s perusal, although his men had already taken Sandy’s cell phone and computer and the bedclothes into evidence. The room had been gone over with a fine-tooth comb and fingerprinted, so this evening he’d have some of his men clear the rest of Sandy’s things from the room.

Jordon disappeared into the adjoining bathroom and then reappeared and stared at the tub, where a little basket held packets of bubble bath and two wineglasses with a bottle of white wine perched on the tile.

“There was obviously not a struggle.” It was a statement of fact rather than a question.

“And the door wasn’t forced,” he replied. “It appears that she opened the door and was immediately stabbed. She fell backward to the bed and the attack continued there. She was stabbed a total of twelve times.”

A frown danced across Jordon’s features. “Overkill... That indicates a rage.”

He nodded. “The same kind of rage was evident with the other two victims, as well.”

“And the time of death?”

“The coroner placed it between around midnight and five in the morning,” he replied. “Hannah, the owners’ fifteen-year-old daughter, saw Sandy leaving the guest shed at around nine in the evening. She had a soda in her hand and told Hannah she planned on being up late working.”

“What was Hannah doing out and about at that time of night in this weather?”

“One of her jobs here is to make sure the refrigerator is restocked each evening. She was later than usual that night.” He looked toward the window where dusk had moved in. “I’ve arranged interviews with all the staff here to start in the morning at eight. In the meantime, we should get you settled in for the night. I’ve made arrangements for you to stay at a motel not far from here.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Why would I stay at another motel? I’m assuming there are vacant rooms here?”

“Yes, but there is also a killer using this bed-and-breakfast as his personal playground.”

“All the more reason for me to stay here,” she replied.

Gabriel frowned. “I really don’t like the idea. I think it would be much better if you stayed somewhere else.”

“I’ll be fine here. I’m armed and I’m trained. Just get me a key and point me to a room.”

The burn in his gut intensified. Even though he barely knew Jordon, he recognized the stubborn upward thrust of a chin, the resolute shine in her eyes.

The killer was savvy enough not to leave any evidence behind. In savagely murdering three people he hadn’t made any mistakes that Gabriel had been able to find.

The last thing Gabriel wanted was for FBI Special Agent Jordon James to become the fourth victim.