Deadly Relations (17 page)

Brianna handed them a couple of menus and filled their cups with coffee. “Do you two know what you want this morning?”

Jennifer ordered scrambled eggs and bacon. Blake said, “I’ll have the same. What we’d really like is a few minutes to talk to you. Think your boss will let you take a quick break?”

“
It’s going to have to be a very short break. We’re busy this morning. Let me turn in your orders and I’ll ask him.”

A short time later, she returned, sliding in next to Jennifer. “We’ve been watching the search on TV all morning. It’s a shame about that Tiffany girl going missing.”

“
We think so too, Brianna,” Jennifer began. “Do you know Evan Hendricks?”

“
Sure, I’ve known him for several years.” Brianna brushed her bangs out of her face.

“
Did Evan know Catherine Thomas?”

She glanced at Jennifer as if her question was the dumbest one she’d ever heard. “Of course, Evan knew Catherine. The two dated for at least a year. But that was before she met Nicholas. Between you and me, I thought Catherine and Evan would get married, but once she met Nicholas, she broke up with Evan. That was that.”

Jennifer shot a glance at Blake who nodded, before she asked her next question. “Do you know Evan well?”

“
Yes, my parents, my little girl and I attend his church. He’s the youth minister so we don’t hear his sermon, but we talk to him every Sunday. Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind dating him. But I hear he’s engaged to that girl that’s missing.”

A great clap of thunder boomed through the restaurant, so loud it shook the windows. It wasn’t long before the wind bent the trees outside and rain slicked down the windows.

Brianna squirmed uncomfortably as she looked back at the kitchen area. “Your order is ready. I’ll be right back.”

She returned with two plates of scrambled eggs, bacon and some biscuits still hot from the oven. “Listen, if you don’t have any more questions, I really need to get back to work.”

“
Of course. Good to see you, Brianna,” said Jennifer. She turned to Blake, “Gee, why didn’t Evan mention that he used to date Catherine?” Jennifer wondered aloud.

“
We need to pull up his financials and phone records to determine his whereabouts the day Catherine and Tiffany went missing. His alibi, “home alone reading the Bible,” is crap if there are no witnesses, phone calls or something to back it up. If we can get a warrant, I also wouldn’t mind looking at his computer. But right now, I don’t think we have enough solid evidence to get one granted. Even so, Evan Hendricks just jumped to the top of my suspect list,” said Blake.

“
Mine, too,” she agreed.

<><><>

From Jennifer’s seat, she could see Lane enter the cafe. The wind caught the door, letting the rain rush in soaking the floor before he could pull it shut. A waitress ran out with a mop, as Lane tugged his yellow rain slicker off and hung it on the coat rack. He spotted Jennifer and Blake and headed toward their booth. He slid in beside her.

“
Glad you two are here,” Lane said as he grabbed a menu. Brianna arrived with hot coffee, took his order and rushed back to the kitchen.

Blake turned to make sure Brianna was not within hearing distance, then said, “We’re interviewing the waitresses about Evan Hendricks to see if there is a connection between Evan and Catherine Thomas and we just hit pay dirt.”

“
No shit?” Lane’s eyebrows rose inquiringly.

“
Catherine and Evan dated and she broke up with him when she met Nicholas,” Jennifer offered.

“
Sounds like Evan has some more questions to answer.” Lane’s cell phone sounded and he glanced at the display. “Got to take this. Hope that area over there has better reception. I sure don’t want to take the call outside in this weather.” He headed toward the coat rack.

Jennifer, chewing on a piece of bacon, noticed Blake steal a biscuit from her plate. He sliced it in two, like he did before, smothered it with apple butter and placed one slice on her plate and the other on his. Then he caught her eye and grinned. The act seemed intimate and touched her heart. If they had been anywhere else, she would have kissed him.

Jennifer glanced at the television. The local news was being broadcast, but now with a weather warning about strong wind and rain on the ticker tape that ran at the bottom of the screen.

Lane returned, “You are not going to believe this.” He took a gulp of his coffee then continued, “That search that Evan Hendricks organized out at Rocky Cliff State Park has turned into a clusterfuck of monumental proportions.”

“
What happened?”

“
What didn’t? First of all, he recruits a search and rescue team of thirty people. About fifteen of the thirty are some of his senior parishioners who haven’t hiked a trail in forty years! The other fifteen are teenagers, ages ranging from fifteen to seventeen, who have no business being on a search team.”

“
Did anything....”

Lane interrupted, “That idiot, Evan Hendricks, sent all of those people onto the trails, rugged or not, without any of the basic search tools like
flashlights, walkie-talkies, maps, water, just to name a few. No one knows which searchers have cell phones, not that they’re going to be that helpful because there are widespread areas of the park where there’s no reception.

“
Someone called nine-one-one because
Emma Jo Smith, who is eighty-freaking-years-old, slipped and rolled down a hill near Inspiration Point, landing on a tree root and breaking her hip. Emma Jo weighs over 200 pounds. The EMTs had a helluva time getting her out of the park to the ambulance in the parking lot. Once they got to the hospital, her son, Jack, arrived, exploded and threatened to kick the reverend’s ass, or at the least sue him.”

Jennifer had never seen Lane so angry. Most of the diners in the cafe seemed focused on him. She placed her hand on Lane’s, “You might want to lower your voice; people can hear you.”

Lane ignored her and continued, “The organizer of this mess, Evan Hendricks is out somewhere in the park and no one can locate him. There’s no command post. Even if there was a command post, none of the searchers have walkie-talkies to communicate back to the post anyway.

Brianna arrived with Lane’s breakfast. “I’m sorry, but would you please put that in a to-go box,” Lane asked. I’ll have to take it with me.”

“
No problem,” she said.

Lane drained his mug of coffee. Shaking his head with disgust, he said, “I can’t believe that no one took into consideration that overtired, hungry or physically exhausted search volunteers are not only liable to miss important clues, but they could also endanger themselves or other volunteers if they are too tired to continue searching, or find themselves alone and unable to get back or call for help.”

“
Unbelievable,” Blake said as he shook his head.

“
There’s no way to keep track of anyone, so the six deputies I sent out there will probably still be out there looking until tomorrow morning for searchers who haven’t returned to their cars. Keep in mind, these six deputies could be out searching for the missing girl, Tiffany Chase.

“
What bothers me the most is that no one bothered to contact law enforcement, because if they had, we would have told them that we’d already searched that park with a fine-tooth comb. This whole thing is so fucking needless.” With that, he slapped a twenty on the table, grabbed the box of food from Brianna, and left.

Jennifer and Blake worked in their respective offices the rest of the morning and periodically checked the break room television for news about the search effort calamity.

Scanning Evan Hendricks’ bank records on her computer screen, Jennifer noticed that on the day that Catherine disappeared, Evan had used his VISA to pay for a delivery of flowers. She made a note to contact the florist to find out to whom he sent flowers. The rest of the purchases made through VISA or his back account were innocuous actions like buying groceries or gas for his car. Nothing else stood out as suspicious for the entire week of Catherine’s disappearance.

On the day Tiffany went missing, Evan had used his cell phone to make five calls to Tiffany. He couldn’t have been very happy that his calls to his fiancé went unanswered. Later that afternoon, Evan made a call to Allison Wade, and then no calls were made the rest of the evening. So Evan’s alibi was still unsubstantiated.

On the day of Tiffany’s disappearance, the cell tower report revealed that most of Evan’s cell phone calls were made in the vicinity of his church. There were two exceptions. One was a call he made to Allison Wade, which pinged the cell tower closest to his home, five miles away from the church. The other was a call made at eleven o’clock that night to Tiffany; the closest cell tower pinged was the one near Rocky Cliff State Park. “Bingo,” Jennifer whispered as she leaped from her chair to tell Blake.

Blake, holding his cell to his ear, glanced up to see Jennifer and winked when he caught her eye. He finished his call and said, “You look as if you’ve discovered something.”

“
You could say that. Evan Hendricks made a call on his cell phone at eleven o’clock the night Tiffany disappeared. The cell tower pinged was the one near Rocky Cliff State Park.”

“
What a coincidence,” Blake muttered sarcastically. “Didn’t the good reverend say he was at home all night reading his Bible?”

Blake’s office phone rang. It was Lane. Blake tapped the speaker button.

“
A hiker with a dog just found Tiffany’s body in Shawnee Canyon on trail number eight in Rocky Cliff State Park. It’s still a fucking mess out here. The rain hasn’t stopped and there are five searchers unaccounted for. Don’t come out here without proper gear and dress. I’m setting up a command post. Stop there first for walkie-talkies and other supplies you may need.” Lane ended the call and Blake slammed the receiver down.

“
Jennifer, I need to go to my condo first for my hiking gear, then we’ll hit your house before we go to the park.”

“
No need,” Jennifer said. “I put my gear in your SUV the day they made us partners. I don’t like surprises.”

<><><>

Jennifer sat in the passenger seat, lacing up her hiking boots as Blake drove toward Rocky Cliff State Park. The rain slapped against the glass as the wipers struggled to keep the windshield clear. Closer to the park, there were cars pulled over to wait out the storm. Jennifer and Blake didn’t have that luxury.

Jennifer wrapped her arms around herself and thought about Tiffany Chase. She bit her lower lip and blinked to prevent the pooling tears in her eyes from falling. If only they could have found her sooner.

Blake pulled into the park and flashed his badge at the deputy and conservation officer at the gate house.

“
Blake Stone? Sgt. Hansen wants you to stop at the command post before you go to the crime scene. We set up at the picnic shelter near the trail entrance.” The deputy pointed to far end of the parking lot where emergency vehicle flashing lights could be seen through the curtain of rain.

Blake parked the SUV. Jennifer threw on her yellow slicker along with her backpack filled with supplies, and jumped out of the vehicle. Rain hammered against her face as she buttoned up the front of the slicker and pulled up its hood to cover her head. She felt Blake walking next to her as she pushed against the wind toward the picnic shelter.

They found Lane giving instructions to a small group of deputies. When he saw Blake and Jennifer, he broke away. “The park service loaned us a couple of ATVs. They’re over there.” Lane pulled out a map of the park. “I highlighted the service road that runs near Trail #8. It stops near Sugar Creek. Then you’ll have to hike the rest of the way to the crime scene, which is about a quarter of a mile away. The crime scene techs are already there and Doc Meade and his team are on their way.”

The ATVs plunged through the muddy service road as they made their way to the swinging bridge that crossed Sugar Creek. Below them was a deep canyon nestled on both sides by sandstone cliffs. Jennifer held on tight as she and Blake trekked across the swinging bridge. Each time the bridge moved, her stomach clenched tight. On the other side, they followed the trail through the wooded thicket as the rain continued to pour.

Jennifer’s mind was working overtime. How did the killer carry a body through this mess? Even if he had an ATV, he had to hike the remaining quarter mile, just like they were now. The terrain wasn’t as rough as it was along Sugar Creek, but it was no cake walk, especially if one was carrying the dead weight of a body.

Jennifer heard voices and knew they were close to the crime scene. Following the bend of the trail, they came to a clearing where she saw crime scene tech, Karen Katz, taking photographs of the nude body of Tiffany Chase. Jennifer and Blake inched closer but stayed on the outside of the yellow tape that circled the perimeter of the crime scene.

Tiffany’s body was posed as Catherine’s had been, with her arms bent, her hands pressed into a prayer position. Jennifer felt sick and swallowed hard. Blake squeezed her hand. She dared not look at him. The thought of being surrounded by his strong arms was too tempting.

Jennifer circled the body until she could bend to clearly see Tiffany’s neck, which had the same deep grooved ligature marks and bruising as Catherine’s. Jennifer shivered, more from the visual of the killer straddling this young girl from behind as he choked the life out of her, than the chill caused by the rain that was still falling. If this was the work of Evan Hendricks, she would make him pay. That Tiffany’s body was posed as if in prayer did not escape Jennifer. Is this the youth minister’s way of communicating something about the girls?