Stolen Innocents (The Shadow Series Book 2) (27 page)

“I don’t know what to believe out of that guy’s mouth.”

“At least he was willing to assist,” added Jenna.

“True.”

“Out of curiosity, what do you know about this case?” Liam asked Jenna with a serious look on his face.

Jenna sighed as she gave Joe a weary look. They didn’t like digging up old memories as much as Angie and Amos.

“I was friends with both Angie and Tiffany, so I guess I’d be the best person to tell you this. Tiffany had pissed
a lot
of people off.  Tiffany was popular, and flirted with all the guys in school. She even tried to flirt with Joe once, and I told her off. Even though she was popular, she didn’t have a lot of good friends. She had stepped on too many toes.”

Joe grew serious at the memory.

“There were a lot of people who Tiffany had walked on to get her popularity and social status. Angie, her sister, was one of them. Tiffany was
really
nasty to her. Tiffany was also fairly mean to her boyfriend at the time, Ethan Quiver.”

“Old man Quiver’s son,” added Jack.

“I remember she tortured Angie by flirting with Angie’s boyfriend at the time, Hunter McCord.”

“McCord?” Liam asked with a question in his voice.

“Oh, yeah. Apparently, they are back together.”

“Interesting.”

“Wouldn’t it look bad to date a suspect in your sister’s murder investigation?”

“Yeah, but look at his record, too. Violence… Drug dealing…She doesn’t seem to mind that.”

“What’s her deal?” asked Adam.

“I’ve known Angie for a really long time. She has always been a bit aloof. From what I remember she was really tightly wound. When Tiffany died, she was distraught. On the night after Tiffany was murdered, Angie left and didn’t come back until last week. We thought she was missing, but it turns out she just ran off.”

Jenna looked at Adam as a thought entered her head. Twenty years. Angie left after her sister was murdered, and just two days after she returned another sister is murdered. That girl either had some serious bad luck or some major skeletons in her closet.

“Let me look over the case file tonight…” DiNolfo suggested.

“We’ll look it over with you. We’re not going to sleep.”

***

“The murders aren’t the work of a woman…” said Liam.

“No, but what if it’s someone connected to her?” suggested Adam.

“What makes you think it’s not the work of a woman?” DiNolfo probed.

“All the evidence points to a man,” said Adam and Liam in unison.

“The shoes, the shirt, the brute force needed to throw a dead body from a moving vehicle…”

“Then there’s Trafford…”

“He lied about his whereabouts after leaving the precinct that morning and he was spotted on Mountain Road at 5:30 A.M.” Jenna said.

“Tommy said he had an intense interest in Courtney,” Liam remarked with piqued curiosity.

“Trafford claims he stopped at the house because Roger’s car was in the shop,” added Jenna

“He’s obviously trying to cover his ass,” said Adam brusquely.

“What about McCord. He seems to be the most likely candidate…” Liam remarked.

“He’s got an alibi. He was in jail at the time of the first murder,” Jenna said dismissing Liam’s comment.

“It wasn’t Tommy. You’ve got five people inside that can vouch for his whereabouts.”

“That’s obvious, “admitted Jenna.

“What if it’s someone else? Someone not on our radar?” suggested Adam.

“That’s always a possibility. Let’s keep digging,” Jenna said as they continued to read through the contents of the file.

***

DiNolfo went to sleep around 4 A.M. after combing through Tiffany O’Mara’s case file for hours on end with Adam and Liam. They weren’t any closer to finding the culprit, but they did know that whoever was responsible was likely the same person who committed the murders of Courtney O’Mara and April Dearing. Jenna was nearly able to rule out Jesse Trafford as a suspect. The only thing keeping her from doing so was that no one could vouch for his whereabouts from 6 A.M. – 7 A.M. on the morning of June the seventeenth.

At 6:04 A.M., DiNolfo’s cell phone rang loudly. Joe was in the shower at the time, and wasn’t able to reach the phone in time to silence it. He wanted her to sleep at least until 8 A.M. so that she could function. Two hours of sleep simply would not cut it. Jenna woke up with a start as she reached for her phone. She didn’t recognize the number that was blinking on her screen.

“Who is calling me at this hour…?”

Jenna answered her phone, “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Jenna DiNolfo?”

“This is she. Who is calling?”

“My name is Nurse Mary Wells. I am a nurse at Pittsburgh Medical Center. I am calling because your father Charles is a patient here.”

“A patient?! What is wrong with him?”

“Mr. DiNolfo suffered a heart attack last night. Your mother asked that I call and inform you.”

“Thank you. I will be there soon,” said Jenna as she hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” Joe asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.

“A nurse from Pittsburgh Medical Center. My dad had a heart attack.”

***

Joe didn’t wait for Jenna to say anything further. He put on his shoes, grabbed his wallet and his keys and he was ready to go. Jenna breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she didn’t even have to ask Joe to come along for moral support. He gave it automatically. Jenna pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, slid on a pair of sneakers, pulled a brush through her hair and they were off. Joe had staff that could hold down the restaurant for the day. Natalie had a set of master keys to lock everything up, and Cole had offered to pick her and Tristan up when they were done their shift. Joe wanted to be there for Jenna, just as she had been there for his family for the past three years.

***

Cole loaded everyone into his Jeep as he drove to school. Finals started today, and no one was looking forward to the task at hand. Even Tristan was nervous.

“What if they don’t sit me near you?” Shane asked Tristan worriedly from the backseat.

“You didn’t study at all?”

“No. That’s your job.”

Tristan rolled her eyes.

“What if I fail?!” spazzed Natalie.

Now it was Cole’s turn to roll his eyes.

“You’re a junior. It’s not that serious.”

“Dad will kill me…” Natalie insisted.

“No he won’t,” Cole reassured.

“For the love of God, would you all chill out?!” yelled Tommy.

Tristan smiled.

That is a nice change; Tommy telling everyone else to calm down.

***

Edna Harrow stood on her front porch with a nervous look on her face. Her eyes shifted from side to side and she clenched her housecoat as if she was afraid that someone might steal it from her. In reality, no one on earth would want to steal Edna’s ratty housecoat. Adam Morrow stepped onto Mountain Road from behind Monte’s Café and his eyes locked on Edna. He stared at her for a moment as he tried to refrain from laughing at the woman. Edna saw him and waved him down.

“Officer Morrow!”

Oh dear, God.

“Oh, Officer Morrow!”

What now?

“Good Morning, Edna,” said Adam politely.

“Could you help me with something?” Edna begged with an uncomfortable look on her face.

“Uh, sure… It has to be quick though. I’m in the middle of an investigation.”

“It will be
so
quick.”

Adam followed Edna inside, still wondering what it was that he was supposed to be helping her with.

“More raccoons have gotten into the store, but now there are birds too… I just don’t understand!” Edna squealed dramatically.

“Has anyone checked the basement for holes?”

“No.”

“Well, there’s your problem.”

Adam walked down the rickety wooden staircase that led to the basement of Harrow’s General Store. The stairs creaked and moaned as Adam descended the staircase. When he reached the bottom, he was shocked at what he saw. There were animals
everywhere
.

“Jesus Christ!” he yelled. “Edna! You have an infestation of animals in your basement!”

“An infestation?! There aren’t mice, are there?!”

“No, not that I can tell, but you do have a basement full of pigeons and raccoons. There’s a couple dead birds on the floor. It looks like the raccoons got to them.”

In one corner of the basement, several raccoons had crowded and were hissing and swiping at the birds. Meanwhile a large flock of pigeons had gathered in the opposite end of the basement and were scuttering about nervously. Adam tried to be careful where he stepped, but there were animals and their leavings everywhere. A raccoon swiped at his foot as he tried to get by. He noticed that there was a board at the end of the basement nearest the gaze of raccoons that appeared to be covering a hole.

“Well here’s your problem, Edna!” Adam yelled up to her through the floor boards.

“This board is loose and all the animals are getting in through here.”

“Can you fix it?!”

“Probably not today, but I can bring some plywood down tomorrow or Friday.”

Adam pulled at the damaged wood panel and immediately noticed that there was a sizable hole in it. On the opposite side of the board appeared to be a tunnel of sorts. Adam grabbed some steel wool that was sitting on a storage rack on the adjacent wall and stuffed some in the hole so that no more critters could climb through. Adam turned to leave the basement but the pigeons had followed behind him, blocking his path.

“Git!” Adam yelled as the pigeons scuttled away neurotically again.

Edna looked almost as crazed as the animals when Adam emerged from the basement.

“Just keep the basement door locked for now. You might want to call animal control to come out. Today. Don’t wait. I’ll come back and fix that hole. I stuffed some steel wool in the space for now.”

“Oh, thank you, Adam!”

“No trouble. I must be going now.”

Adam couldn’t get away fast enough.

How the hell does one basement manage to get so many animals trapped inside?!

Adam was thrilled to be out of Harrow’s when suddenly he looked at his foot. One of the pigeons left him a present.

“Ugh! Bird shit!” He reached down to clean it off with a napkin as a look of disgust formed on his face.