Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (57 page)

It would all work out,
giving him time to disappear into the background, like any good skinwalker.

There was one more man left that needed to pay for his crimes against the Native community
, and then he’d be done.

This man had b
een a little too helpful in trying to hunt his own people. Don’t get him wrong, he was a good guy, but there came a time when even the best men in the world needed to be accountable for their sins.

Now was that time.

Sneaking onto the property, he knew his schedule and was aware he wouldn’t be home.

It was time to point the finger and start the ball rolling.
The skinwalkers that had passed would be so proud to call him one of their own as he balanced justice.

             
                            *   *   *

The store was empty of customers
and sitting behind the counter reading a book was the town floozy. Elizabeth had no intention of being overly kind to a woman that poached married men. To her, that was a line that you never crossed.

Not now or ever.

How it all unfolded would come down to Carly Kester and her behavior. Polite would beget polite and viciousness would bring a world of hurt from an agent with raging pregnancy hormones on her side.

Carly glanced up and rolled her eyes. “Great. They let you off your leash
. The local pound is down the street. Why don’t you wander there and find a different home,” she stated, dropping the book and staring down Elizabeth. “How you ever got a man to knock you up is beyond me. You’re about as pleasant as a rash.”

“I have no doubt you know a great deal about communicable disease
and itchy red bumps,” stated Tori, defending her friend.

“Good one! I’m
so going to miss you,” Elizabeth stated, handing out a fist bump. Then she placed her focus back on the woman behind the counter. “Trust me, Ms. Kester; this isn’t a social call to discuss me or my pregnancy. We’re here to ask you a few questions.”

“
That’s terrific because I love dealing with you. It just makes my day complete,” she sipped her coffee. “I’d offer you some, but frankly I don’t really like you. So you can kiss my ass, and so can your red headed underling.” Now her animosity was focused on Tori.

“She must mean me,” stated Tori, looking around. “I don’t see any
other redheads. Then again, I find her tossing out hair color funny, since we all know she’s not a real blonde.”

“Well, WE don’t know that, but I’m sure half the men in this town do,” added Elizabeth, stirring the woman up.

“Half? You think it’s not more like two thirds?” continued Tori.

“What do you two comediennes want? Shouldn’t you have
something better to do with your time than come in here and spread your sunshine? Hey, how about you go back to your Indians.” Carly crossed her arms across her chest. How she wished she could punch them both in the face.

“Yeah, let’s get
down to business, shall we?” Elizabeth answered ignoring the Indian comment. “Where were you last night?”

Carly didn’t look impressed. “I don’t believe I have to tell you
what I spend my time doing.”

Tori shrugged. “Can we PLEASE handcuff her and take her into the police station? I’d love to beat the smug off her face.”

“Answer the question, Carly or we’re going to get out the cuffs and slap them on you. When the damn FBI comes asking questions, you don’t get to decide if you want to answer. It’s pretty much a requirement.”

“Kiss off.”

“One last time, Carly. Where were you last night?” Tori asked, pulling out her cuffs.

“No way!
I get to cuff her this time. You got the last round,” interjected Elizabeth. “I’m sure there’ll be more turns. You know how much Carly likes handcuffs.”

Tori snickered,
tossing them to Elizabeth. As she moved towards the woman, Carly backed down.

“I was a
t Sal’s all night.”

Elizabeth pulled out her phone and started making notes. “You were there until what time approximately?”

Carly thought about it. “I was there until maybe eleven and then I cut out of there.”

Tori stared at her. “Were you cutting out alone?”

She shook her head.

“Want to share with us the finer details, Ms. Kester?” requested Elizabeth. “We aren’t here because we give a damn about your social life. Trust
me; I have a more exciting one waiting for me at home.”

Carly gave her a dirty look.

“Come now, Ms. Kester. Why are you hesitant about giving us girls some info?” inquired Tori. “It can’t be that you’re shy. You chase every man in the town around. You obviously don’t care what people think. So spill the details.”

Elizabeth watched her friend work. They needed Carly to admit she was with James Duffy. “We promise it’ll stay between us girls, oh and the report we have to file for the official record.”

The women didn’t get why they were even there. “Last I looked it’s not illegal to have sex in this country. You’ve obviously been doing it yourself or is your spawn still afraid to come out and see its mother?”

Elizabeth laughed. “You’re funny for a woman that chases down married me
n. What we call that back where I grew up is a home wrecker.”

Tori shook her head. “We call them
slut bags where I’m from. Damn the North and their colloquialisms.”

Carly had enough. She just wanted them out of her business and far away from her. “I got a ride home with Jimmy. Okay? Anything else I can do for you two?”

“Time line it for us Carly. We need to know when Sheriff Duffy dropped you off last night.” Elizabeth waited patiently.

“One
in the morning.”

Tori stared at her boss. “Huh, two hours unaccounted for then. Were you taking the scenic route of Red River?”

The woman fumed. “No, trust me, there was no tour going on, and what happened between us isn’t any of your damn business. Jimmy and I can see each other. Neither one of us is married.”

Elizabeth nodded. “True. When he dropped you off was he inebriated?”

“What’s the point of all this? Did Jimmy have an accident and hit someone?” She looked concerned.

“Again, was the man drunk when he dropped you
off?”

She shrugged. “We had a few in his truck
and a few at Sal’s.” There was no way in hell she was going to implicate Jimmy in anything.

It was time to tell the woman the bad news. “We need a timeline for his last whereabouts last night.”

Carly didn’t understand. “Is he missing?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Last night after leaving you at your home, James Duffy
was abducted and murdered. We’re investigating his death.”

That was the nicest Elizabeth could possibly say it. Despite Carly being a bitch, she wasn’t going to hurt the woman with the bad news.

“What?” she asked, mouth open. “What are you talking about?”

“James Duffy is deceased.” Tori stated in a calm voice. “We’re here to find out when you saw him last.”

The tears started.

“You have to be lying. I just had sex with him last night. He was fine, laughing and very much alive.” Carly, wiped at the tears. This all had to be some mistake. Her heart ached
at the woman’s words. Surely, they couldn’t be right.

“I’m sorry Ms. Kester, but it’s not a mistake.” Elizabeth answered, softly. “I’m sorry for the loss of your friend.”

She nodded as all the hate drained from her, and she was filled with intense sorrow. “I loved him.”

The women listened
, trying to offer her some sort of support and solace in her time of pain. Honestly, Elizabeth didn't believe the news would affect her this way, since Carly was a notoriously known to not give a damn about anyone but herself.

“I’ve loved him since we were in high school, but Jimmy didn’t ever want to settle down. I took whatever part of his life he was willing to share with me.”

“We’re going to find his killer,” Elizabeth guaranteed. “It’s a matter of time.”

“He told me it was some Indian doing the killings. Jimmy was pretty pissed off at the FBI. Now he has to rely on them to find the person that did this. That’s poetic.”

Elizabeth cut her a break, since the fire in her had banked. “We don’t conclusively know if it’s a Native American or not. Right now we’re working on it.”

Carly nodded, crying more. “When can I
claim his body? I want to get him buried.”

Tori took over. “Not until the investigation is done and then you can have his remains.”

“Jimmy didn’t have any family left, since you killed his brother. I’ll make sure he’s buried alongside him.” Carly would do that for her friend and the man she loved.

“We’ll clear it for you when we can.”

Carly glanced up. “How did he die?”

Neither woman was planning on dropping that information. No one had the details on that. They were holding that close to the vest as their main information.

“He was stabbed in the heart.”

Carly nodded. “I can’t help but find that ironic. A man that never shared his heart was killed by it.”

Elizabeth slid her card across the counter. “Did anything happen at Sal’s last night? Someone start a fight with Jimmy or follow you two out of the bar?”

She shook her head. “No, we
left there, because he wanted to head out and have sex. I was up for it and agreed.”

They nodded. “We’re sorry for your loss, Ms. Kester. Call
us if something comes to mind or you need anything.”

Carly Kester followed them to the door and flipped the closed sign. She wasn’t in the mood to face the world.

“I’ll miss you, Jimmy, and I love you,” she whispered to no one, as she locked up and shut off the lights.

This
wasn’t the first time she lost her heart to James Duffy.

The crime scene was just about complete. The techs gathered up all the samples and were loading up the evidence to be taken back to the lab. There wasn’t much there that they didn’t expect. Blood, skin and human matter was scattered by the fire. If they found anything different, they’d be shocked.

Julian eyed the crowd that was beginning to form outside the crime scene tape by the driveway. “Someone’s been talking,” he stated, pointing at the five or six people standing there. “Jimmy doesn’t have any neighbors close enough to see us in the back yard.”

Blackhawk nodded. “I’d put my money on one of the deputies or Sheila Court. This is going to explode soon.”

“Great! I can’t wait to have to deal with the Natives, the outsiders and now the media,” stated
Whitefox, knowing it was going to suck.

Just then,
Elizabeth laid on the horn, scattering the bystanders. When she hopped down with Tori, she was entertained at how they scrambled out of her way. “Who invited the ants to the picnic?” she asked, nodding her head towards the people.

“Someone
must have spilled the news.”

She shook her head. “Are we ready to get out of her
e?” Elizabeth wanted to get them back to the reservation before the media arrived and began asking questions they didn’t have the answers to at that moment.

“Christina, you ready to wrap the scene?” Blackhawk shouted to his tech.

“Yeah boss, we’re ready.”

“Okay, let’s saddle up t
eam. It’s time to get back to the lab to get to work. I need everything possible at this point.” Elizabeth meandered to the Denali, ignoring the questions from the people gathering.

Once inside the confines of the car, she spilled everything that she and Tori learned from Carly Kester. It wasn’t much, but at least it gave them a timeline to begin working with.

“So she had sex with him, they drank beer, and he dropped her at her door.” Callen reiterated.

“Yeah. So our killer hung out here and waited for the man to arrive home?” Elizabeth didn’t buy it. “I think he probably was following
Duffy. It wasn’t like the sheriff was a man that deviated from his plan. Every Friday he got drunk and tried to get laid. The killer would have to know that. If he was at Sal’s watching him, how’d he know he wouldn’t bring Carly home or go to her house?”

“He wouldn’t without knowing his basic routine.”

“Exactly,” she stated. “Our killer is patient and watching the victims. He knew what would get Andrew Sumner to the fence. The killer knew that Jeff Hopper was truffling on Native land. Then toss in the big one with William Boyd. We had our best tracker at his house, and although Julian was feeling something was off, he didn’t notice the hidey hole.”

“So he knew his
targets personally, or he was stalking them,” stated Callen.