What She Saw
Author
Barb Han
Reads
15.4K
Chapters
19
Chapter One
Deputy Courtney Foster sat at the oblong wooden conference table in the sheriff’s office, clicking a pen. The distraction helped her focus on work and not the sick feeling swirling in her stomach, building, threatening to send her racing to the trash can. She’d skipped her usual early-morning cup of coffee in favor of salted crackers.
“I just got a call from the Meyers,” her boss, Zach McWilliams, said on a frustrated-sounding sigh. “They’ve decided it’s not safe in Jacobstown anymore. Trip Meyer made a point of telling me that he’s afraid for his daughters to come home from the university over spring break.”
“I’m sorry,” Courtney offered.
Deputy Lopez shuffled into the room with coffee in hand and took a seat next her.
“Morning,” he practically grumbled.
“Does 5:00 a.m. count as morning? Or is it still the night before?” She tried to lighten the heavy mood.
“Technically, I think it’s still the night before,” Lopez agreed.
Everyone was up early and taking extra shifts in order to ensure the town’s safety.
“Do we know the exact timeline for when the small-animal killings began?” she asked Zach. He’d been working on the case with a volunteer. Lone Star Lonnie was also a close family friend and foreman of KR, Kent Ranch, one of the largest and wealthiest ranches in the state of Texas.
“We’ve been able to reach back as far as a year ago with the help of a forensic team out of Fort Worth,” Zach responded.
The twisted psycho who had been dubbed the Jacobstown Hacker had begun killing small animals a year ago? The man had moved onto a heifer, butchering its left hoof and then leaving the poor animal to bleed out and die near Rushing Creek on the Kent Ranch.
There’d been more heifer killings after that, spaced out over weeks. It appeared that the twisted jerk had begun on small animals like rabbits and squirrels before moving on to bigger game. All the animals he’d butchered had been females, which had been a warning sign to all the women in town. And he graduated to killing a person—Breanna Griswold.
An investigation revealed that the twenty-seven-year-old victim had been in and out of group homes in Austin for the seven years of her life leading up to her last. She’d grown up in Jacobstown but had moved away during high school. Courtney remembered her from years ago. Breanna had moved back to town a couple of months before her murder.
She was a loner, known to sleep in random places around town when she was on a bender. She was murdered with the same MO as the animals—a severed left foot.
With Breanna’s recent murder and the fact the killer was still on the loose, everyone seemed on edge. Courtney started working the clicker on the pen in double time.
“Do you mind?” Deputy Lopez motioned toward the noisemaker in her hand. Lopez was average height, in his mid-thirties and had dark hair and eyes. He was medium build and had a pronounced nose.
“Sorry.” Courtney released the pen, and it tumbled onto the desk. Her unsettled stomach made all kinds of embarrassing sounds. For the second time this morning, Courtney thought she might throw up on the deputy who was seated next to her.
She was pretty certain that Lopez would not be amused. She’d been on the job a few weeks now and was still getting her bearings in the small, tight-knit sheriff’s office. Coming home to Jacobstown was supposed to be a safe haven from her stressful job working for Dallas Police Department as a beat cop...
An involuntarily shiver rocked her as she thought about the past, about what had happened in Dallas.
“We’re no closer to finding answers. Breanna deserves better from us.” Zach tapped his knuckles on the table. Everyone knew the victim and her circumstances. Her only family, a mother and a brother, had walked away from her and moved to Austin years ago. Breanna had tracked them down there, but rumor had it she became homeless shortly after.
Her mother had a reputation for drinking and using physical violence on her children. Even so, every mother—even the bad ones—deserved justice for a murdered daughter. Breanna had been a grown woman who made her own mistakes, but people cared that she was gone. The horrific murder had rocked the bedroom community.
Another bout of nausea struck, and Courtney’s breakfast threatened to make another appearance. She glanced up in time to see Zach staring at her.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine.” She could only hope this would pass soon. “I’m sure I ate something bad at the potluck yesterday. I should know better by now, but I can’t resist beef and bean taco casserole.”
“You’re braver than I.” Lopez cracked a smile, breaking the tension. Courtney glanced at the scar on his neck. He’d taken a bullet trying to protect a mother and daughter a few months ago, when the quiet town had experienced its first crime wave since the Hacker began his work.
“I stick to vegetables and dessert. No one ever got sick from eating raw carrots,” Lopez touted.
“No one ever enjoyed them, either.” Courtney smiled, but it was weaker than she wanted it to be. She couldn’t force it right now through another wave. Acid burned her throat, and it was taking all her energy to keep from losing it.
“Tasted fine to me.” Lopez shrugged.
“We’re short on solid leads.” Zach steered the meeting back on track, and the mood immediately shifted to all business. Zach had mentioned that she’d be a good addition to his team when he hired her. The Jacobstown Hacker was all anyone could think about, he’d said. The town needed someone with big-city experience. People were getting anxious. Everyone was willing to pitch in to help, which created a whole different kind of chaos. A volunteer room had been set up in the office down the hallway, where folks volunteered to man the tip line.
The fact that people cared about each other was one of the many reasons Courtney had moved back to Jacobstown. She’d missed that small-town feel when she lived in a big city. The sheer volume of cases in Dallas caused law enforcement to focus most of its energy on high-priority cases. Whereas here at home, even the marginalized were cared for. People looked out for each other as best they could, and that included every resident. Even the ones who seemed intent on harming themselves.
Courtney had friends here. She’d been good friends with Zach’s younger sister, Amy. She’d also been close to Amy’s cousin Amber Kent at one time. But Courtney didn’t want to think about the Kents. Especially not Jordan, who’d been two years ahead of her in school when they were all kids. He’d also ignored her for most of her life and teased her as teenagers. And then there were those few days at the cabin six weeks ago.
That week, great as it had been, was over. He’d gone back to Idaho and the property his family owned there, and she’d moved on to start her new job as a deputy for his cousin.
“Is there no one besides Reggie Barstock on our suspect list?” Courtney asked.
Zach shook his head.
“There have to be others,” she continued.
“No one as strong as Reggie,” Deputy Lopez said.
“Because he has a criminal record?” She didn’t see how burglaries catapulted him into the category of serial killer. “How old is Reggie now?”
“Thirty-three.” Zach clasped his hands and rested them on the conference table.
“I didn’t know him very well growing up. He was quite a few years older than me, but I’m picturing someone with a higher IQ here. Am I alone?” From everything she knew about serial killers, they were intelligent, lacked a conscience but could be incredibly charming when it served them. At least, the ones who got away with their crimes were. And this perpetrator had the presence of mind to ensure he left no DNA behind. That took some calculating on his part.
The first heifer had been found near Rushing Creek, and the other animals had eventually been found near there. Breanna had been discovered two miles up the creek on the Kent family property. Courtney would have to speak to family members as part of the investigation. She figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to bypass Jordan, since he lived out of state. The last thing she wanted to do was run into him again while she still felt so vulnerable after their fling.
“Do you have any other ideas for suspects?” Lopez leaned toward her.
“No. But the Jacobstown Hacker is careful, calculating. He’s methodical,” she continued. “I’m not completely convinced that I’m seeing that in Reggie’s file.”
“I feel the same way about Gus Stanton.” Lopez snapped his fingers. “He’s been home on worker’s comp after an accident a few years ago unloading his rig. He lives on the outskirts of town on a couple of acres. Keeps to himself mostly.”
Having returned to town a month and a half ago, Courtney had to defer to Lopez and the sheriff for up-to-date information about residents. She hadn’t heard of Gus Stanton growing up, so he must’ve moved to the area after she’d left.
“Why don’t you go out and check on him? See if you can get a feel for his emotional state,” Zach said. “If he has a bad left foot from the accident, I want to know about it.”
“Does Gus have a family?” Courtney asked. The guy she was looking for was a loner.
“He’s divorced with two kids. I believe his ex moved the kids to New Braunfels to be with her folks a couple of years back,” Zach supplied.
“Sounds like we’ve doubled our list of suspects,” Courtney said. There were half a dozen names that had been submitted and cleared almost immediately. The pair of suspects they had didn’t exactly fit the loose profile they’d developed. It was impossible not to feel like they were letting the community down.
All the townsfolk were antsy, sitting on pins and needles in anticipation of another strike. People had taken to locking their doors and looking at their neighbors twice. Tips were coming in, but most people were on the wrong track. Every kid who’d ever thrown a rock in the wrong place at the wrong time had been named as a possible lead.
Zach leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose as though to stem a headache. “Since Lopez is taking Gus, why don’t you interview Reggie’s former teachers, friends, neighbors. See what you can come up with about what kind of student he was. If he’s smarter than we’re giving him credit for, I want to know that, too.”
“Will do, Zach.” It was habit to call him by his first name after growing up friends with his sister, and yet it felt awkward after the formality of working in a big-city department.
Courtney picked up the pen and started clicking it again. She caught herself this time and set the pen down. She stretched her long, lean fingers over it.
“Go see what you can find out, and we’ll meet again tomorrow.” Zach glanced up at the whiteboard on the adjacent wall, where there were two names.
“Have there been any new Reggie sightings?” Courtney stood up, got hit with another wave and had to plant a hand on the table in order to steady herself.
“You sure you’re okay to work?” Zach’s brow creased with concern.
“I’m good,” she responded a little too quickly. “No more potluck for me.”
“To answer your question, yes. There’s a new sighting almost every day. Nothing has panned out so far,” Zach said.
Getting out of the stuffy office where she could grab some fresh air was her top priority. The department-issue SUV assigned to her was at the opposite end of the parking lot.
Taking in a lungful of crisp late-morning air, she was reminded how good it felt just to breathe. She’d taken a new job in a new city—not technically new, but she hadn’t lived in Jacobstown in almost a decade—and this was supposed to be a fresh start after what had happened in Dallas when a protest turned into civil unrest. Eight officers had been killed that day, three of whom she’d been very close to. One of whom she’d been intimate with.
Courtney had barely escaped with her life. She’d gone back to the job after a three-month recovery and counseling stint after being shot. But living in the city, doing that job had lost its appeal. Since law enforcement was all she knew and at one time had been her passion, she’d called Zach and asked if she could come work for him.
The rest, as they said, was history. Courtney climbed up and slid behind the wheel of her SUV. Her white-knuckle grip did little to calm her churning stomach. She already knew a few teachers she wanted to speak to, and Zach had said he’d have his secretary, Ellen Haiden, send over their home addresses. School was still in session, and only one of Reggie’s teachers had retired in the last decade.
But Courtney had something to do first.
The drive to the big-box store in Bexford took a solid forty-five minutes from the office. She could only pray she wouldn’t recognize anyone once she got inside.
Courtney parked her vehicle off to the side of the building and took the walk to the front door while fighting against the urge to vomit. She walked past the row of neatly stacked carts. She didn’t need one but didn’t exactly want to hold a pregnancy test out in the open, either. She picked up a handbasket instead, figuring she could load it with a few items.
Part of the reason she’d come to this store was the fact that it had self-checkout stands. That and the point that she didn’t want the whole town of Jacobstown to know she thought she might be pregnant. If she was, then, yes, she would have to have an awkward conversation with the baby’s father, but she’d rather not deal with the gossip if she turned out to be stressing over being late on her cycle for no reason.
Walking through the aisle caused her pulse to race. A man walked past. She froze, pretending to be interested in a feminine napkin package. She mentally chided herself for being ridiculous. But this felt so much bigger than she could handle. If word got out, there’d be questions, and there was no way she wanted this tidbit getting around.
Her heart played a steady beat, hammering her rib cage.
It was then she realized she should’ve bought the other items first so she could immediately cover what she came for.
Taking in another deep breath brought enough calm over her to pick up the pregnancy test and drop it into her basket. She moved over two aisles and randomly threw in any item that she might ever need. Allergy pills. Stomach acid reducer. Cotton balls.
It shouldn’t be a big deal to get from where she stood in the middle of the store, and yet it felt like miles away.
She turned and out of the corner of her eye caught sight of a youngish man who favored his left leg when he walked. The hairs on the back of her neck pricked. She told herself that her reaction was most likely because of the conversation she’d had with Zach and Lopez a little while ago and not because the Jacobstown Hacker was in The Mart walking twenty feet in front of her.
His back was to her, but she could see that he was average height and build, maybe even a little wiry. She’d learned the hard way that wiry guys could be surprisingly strong. His hair was light brown in a short cut, commonly referred to as a buzz. He wore Carolina-blue basketball shorts and a dark hoodie.
There were all kinds of logical reasons that could account for his slight limp, Courtney reminded herself as she kept one eye trained on him. He turned at the end of the aisle toward the sporting goods section. This guy could be coming from the gym. He could have strained a muscle in a workout. Or he might play sports and could have tweaked his ankle during a game. It could’ve been a pickup game. How many of her colleagues in Dallas had done the same during last-minute lunch-hour basketball rounds?
She was being paranoid, but with no answers in Breanna’s murder after weeks of investigating, everyone with a limp was worth checking out. The reality that the killer knew the area struck. He really could be any guy she’d just walked past in order to follow Blue Trunks. Ice-cold creepy-crawlies trailed up and down her spine when she really thought about it. A familiar shot of adrenaline jacked her heart rate up a few notches. She used to get a burst of excitement when that happened. Now, it felt a lot like dread as she reminded herself to control her breathing. Her stress response was out of whack after what had happened on her last job.
Courtney increased her speed as she rounded the aisle. She ran smack into a hard, male chest that felt more like a wall.
Before she could tell the man to watch where he was going, she blinked up. Jordan Kent.
“What are you doing here?” The words flew out, and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. If he saw the pregnancy test in her basket...
No, he could not see that. She subtly shifted her elbow backward in order to use her body to block the contents in the basket. Her skin still sizzled from the weeklong fling they’d had a month and a half ago.
The tall, over-the-top handsome rancher took a step back. His dark curls were barely contained underneath a black Stetson. A slow grin spread across perfect lips and straight white teeth in one of those smiles that had been so good at seducing her. He had the sexiest dimple on his right cheek. He was one seriously irresistible, hot package. Another bout of nausea struck. She didn’t want to be reminded of exactly how tempting he’d been.
Jordan quirked a dark brow. “Shopping. Why? Is it against the law now?”
COURTNEY STARED AT Jordan like he had two foreheads. He’d been used to teasing her when they were kids but running into her in the least likely place a month and a half ago, he’d seen her in a whole new light.
“Why aren’t you still in Idaho?” She blinked at him like he might be a mirage or something.
“Family business. I was asked to come home.” The last time he’d seen Courtney ten years ago, she’d been the cute but young friend of his little sister. Running into her after a decade of absence had caused him to see that she’d grown into an intelligent, strong and beautiful woman. An attraction like wildfire had spread through both of them, and they’d been consumed by the flames for a solid seven days and nights.
But their time together wasn’t all incredible sex and lighthearted teasing. She woke in the middle of the night many times shaking and crying. He’d comforted her until she fell back asleep. When he’d tried to sit her down and talk about it on the seventh day, she’d made it clear that she had a job to begin and a new life that didn’t involve him.
He’d thought about her more times than he cared to admit in the past thirty-seven days. Her quick wit. Her soft curves. Those pink lips.
Hell, he had no business appreciating those anymore. She’d been real clear on where they stood. It was most likely his bruised ego that had him thinking about her more than he knew better than to allow. Usually he was the one walking out, not the other way around.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as she tried to look around his shoulder. Did she have a boyfriend? The only thing he’d known for certain about her during their fling was that she wasn’t married. He should’ve asked about a relationship but assumed she wouldn’t have spent the week in bed with him if she’d been dating someone else.
He’d also thought about that haunted look in her eyes when she first woke from a nightmare. That, he might never forget.
She was almost a foot shorter than his six feet three inches. She had to come in at five feet six, maybe seven. Her shiny auburn hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She had just enough curves to be a real woman, and his fingers itched to get lost on that silky skin of hers again.
“Sorry. I was just watching someone, and...” Her face twisted, and she took a step to the right in order to get a clear view of the person.
Jordan had never felt awkward with a woman before. Normally, he spent time with people who didn’t expect much in return. After a few rounds of hot sex and mutual enjoyment, they’d part ways. Neither side tried to drag out the fling or make a big deal out of walking away.
He told himself that he felt a pang of jealousy with a strong dose of heartache seeing her again because he knew Courtney, but that wasn’t completely true. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why this felt different from the many others he’d spent time with. It just did.
“Well, I should get out of your way, deputy,” he said to her. Her cheeks flushed, and her tongue darted across full pink lips. Jordan ignored the warning shot to his chest.
It didn’t matter. Courtney seemed to have no interest in him. But the week he’d spent with her had felt like a homecoming. Not since he’d lost his parents—and maybe even long before then—had Jordan felt like he belonged somewhere. Sure, he and his five siblings had taken over the family ranching business along with associated mineral rights. Their inheritance was spread across three states, with significant holdings in Texas.
No one in his family needed to work another day for a paycheck. They got up at 4:00 a.m. to face a long day of work because ranching was in their blood and they loved the land. Jordan was no different. But the ranch didn’t feel like home to him anymore.
He stepped aside.
Courtney grabbed his arm and motioned for him to scoot back over.
Well, he really was confused now. “What’s going on, Courtney?”
“I’m sorry. I was watching a possible suspect.” She glanced at Jordan, and those eyes with cinnamon-colored flecks sent a bolt of lightning straight to his heart. He needed to develop a thicker skin when it came to her, because right then he wanted to haul her against his chest and welcome her back home properly. But that ship had sailed when she’d refused to speak to him again.
Damned if she wasn’t distracted now. Sure, his ego took a hit. Most women made themselves a little too available for the youngest and only single Kent brother.
He told himself that was the reason he felt a sting in his chest and not because he had stronger feelings for Courtney.
“Don’t let me stand in the way of your job.” Hadn’t those been the words he’d used when she’d told him that their time together had been special, but she needed to focus on her work at his cousin’s office?
“I’m sorry, Jordan. It’s a case I’m working on. It’s getting inside my head a little bit,” she said by way of apology. “I should go.”
Courtney turned toward the front of the store. He should’ve walked away right then and there. It was his fool pride that had him standing his ground like it didn’t matter. His bruised ego wanted to say otherwise, but that’s all it was.
Jordan glanced down, and then he saw something in her basket that gave him pause.
Was this the reason she’d rejected him?
Evidence that she had been in another relationship stared back at him.
