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Andrea felt a slight chill when Senna walked in to work the next morning. “Hey, there, how are you feeling?” Andrea was sincere in her inquiry. She cared deeply about Senna and hoped that she was better.
Senna’s smile was tight when she said, “I’m fine. It was all just a really big fuss for nothing.” She quickly put her things away, her purse in the drawer and her lunch in the fridge, and went straight to the overnight deposit box and began sorting.
Confused as to what to say or do, Andrea left her alone and went back to her work. She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that she had inside. Something wasn’t right, and she didn’t know what or how to fix it. Patience, she thought, patience is the key.
It was the day before the book fair at the school and having worked efficiently up to that point, there was very little left to do. Andrea got the boxes of books together by the back door where they would load them when it was time to head to the school.
Lunchtime came and even though Senna had always brought her lunch before, they had fallen into the habit of getting something and eating together in the office. The fact that Senna had brought her lunch today disappointed Andrea. She thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill, maybe Senna’s budget was getting tight.
At precisely eleven twenty-nine, one minute before her scheduled lunchtime, Senna went to the fridge, got her lunch and headed for the door. “I’m going to lunch now,” was all she said as she left. The front door swung shut at exactly eleven thirty.
Andrea had such a sick feeling inside. Since no one was currently in the library and Senna was out, she thought she would call Blake.
Blake quickly answered. Andrea told him how the morning had gone and of her concerns.
“When was the last time you spoke to her?” asked Andrea.
“Last night. I called her about seven to check on her. She seemed fine. Quiet, but fine.” Blake concentrated on replaying the call in his mind. Had she really been fine?
“You know, now that you mention it, she did seem a little off. I just chalked it up to the stress of the ordeal. She sounded tired, so I didn’t keep her on the phone long so she could rest.”
“I’m assuming she’s gone to the park to eat her lunch the way that she always used to do. If you aren’t in the middle of something maybe you could check on her,” said Andrea. She stood behind the counter fiddling with the pencil in her hand.
Blake moved to his office window that overlooked the park. “Yes, she’s there. I’ll go check and let you know how she is.” Blake was already heading out the door when he hung up the phone with Andrea.
As Blake crossed through the park to the bench where Senna sat, he was hopeful that he and Andrea were wrong. But passing out like she had done was not normal, and neither did this seem to be.
He slipped onto the bench next to Senna. “Hi there,” he smiled at her as she turned her head to look at him. She did not smile back.
“How are you?” Blake asked with concern creasing his face.
Senna looked back out into the park. “I’m fine. You know Blake I really think we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”
Blake wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “Why?” He was crushed. Her statement seemed so cold and hard. He’d never heard her speak so matter-of-fact and to the point.
“I just can’t do it. I don’t want to do it,” she said still looking out across the park.
He sat with his elbows on his knees and looked down at his hands. This was a blow out of left field and he had no idea how to handle it. What had he done? Was it church? Had taking her to church rekindled the trauma, setting her back, erasing all the strides she’d made?
“I don’t understand,” he said quietly.
“I don’t care if you understand,” she said. Her voice was curt and short.
Blake’s head snapped around to look at her. What he saw was a cold and indifferent Senna, not the sweet and charming lady he had fallen in love with. But to love meant you loved all of a person no matter the mood or emotion they were dealing with. He did love her and he had to find a way to help her.
She turned her head to look at him and said, “Seriously Blake, you need to leave me alone.”
Her cold eyes bore into his and he quietly nodded in agreement. He knew this was not the time to try to convince her otherwise. He stood up and started to remind her that he loved her, but stopped himself. He knew right now it wouldn’t help.
He turned and walked back toward his office, stunned, broken and bewildered.
~~~
“It’s a day earlier than I had planned on releasing you,” the doctor said, “but if you’ll promise me, you’ll take care of yourself and follow my instructions, I’ll let you go home.” He looked at Carrie over the tops of his reading glasses. She felt like she had many times in the past when her SAC had scolded her.
“I promise I will,” Carrie overzealously agreed. Her mind was racing ahead to what she needed, well wanted to do. First she would call Randy to come get her.
The doctor was writing on her chart and then on a prescription pad. “I’m prescribing you some painkillers, but I want you to try not to take them unless you absolutely must. Take ibuprofen if you can get by with that. If you only moderately exert yourself, you shouldn’t need them.
“I better not see you back in here because you have re-injured yourself.” It was a stern warning and Carrie fully understood the repercussions. She nodded her head in sincerity. There was no way she wanted to wind up back in the hospital.
As soon as the doctor left, Carrie was on the phone with Randy. “Come get me.”
“Now?” Randy asked surprised at the immediacy in her tone.
“Yes. The doctor has released me and I’ve got to get out of here. But I need clothes. What I came in with are a mess. I can tell you where to go get some stuff at my house.”
“What if I just stop at the Dollar Store and get you some sweats? I don’t want to go digging around in your undies looking for clothes for you.”
Carrie almost laughed at Randy. “That’s fine. I think the undies I have are fine. Hurry up.”
“Okay, Okay, I’ll be there soon,” Randy said. He was glad that Carrie was being released, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she had not been released to go back to work, only home.
By the time the wheels that churned, had churned out the hospital release paperwork, Randy had arrived with a beautiful pair of purple sweats.
“Really?” said Carrie when she looked in the bag. “Are you kidding me? Purple?” She looked at Randy and she thought she almost saw a smile creeping in.
“Never mind, I would wear a pink tutu just to get out of here.” She was heading to the bathroom still shuffling a bit. Soon, she emerged like a purple gumdrop.
“Don’t say a word,” she warned Randy.
“I say nothing,” he said as he moved his fingers across his lips mimicking a zipper.
“I’m just going to wear these rubber bottomed socks out of here. My boots are a mess and I’m not sure they go with my outfit,” Carrie smiled back at Randy. “I’m ready; let’s go.”
The euphoria of being released from the hospital gave her the strength she needed to ride down to the car in the wheelchair and get into Randy’s car. She wanted to will herself to be at one hundred percent, but she just couldn’t.
She knew she’d made considerable progress when she thought back to when she was first injured. That was only four days ago. In another four days, she would be even better.
Randy drove her to the pharmacy to fill her prescription and then straight home. She didn’t want to admit it, but the jostle of the car ride was rough on her. Randy helped her into her house and got her settled on the sofa in her living room. She popped a pain pill without water and gently laid herself down.
Randy nervously looked around not knowing what to do next. “What can I do for you before I leave?” he asked.
“Sit down and let’s talk about the case.” Carrie was raring to go, but she knew right then all she could do was talk.
“Nope. I’m going to leave and you are going to rest. I promise that after you’ve rested, we can talk. You aren’t fooling me. The car ride was hell and you need to rest.”
“Well, I’ll call you when I wake up,” said Carrie. “Wait, I don’t have my phone. Did you guys try tracking my phone?”
Randy tilted his head at her with his eyebrows raised. “Really? You had to ask? It was dead. No signal and no trace.”
“What about the last place it showed it was on?” Carrie was eager to hear.
“The cabin,” said Randy. “I’m guessing he busted it or took out the card and tossed it in the woods on his way out. I bet if we go looking we’ll find it out there somewhere.
“The forensic team went out on Monday and went through the cabin getting fingerprints and bagging anything they felt might be a clue.” Randy had not told her that until now. He knew what her reaction would be.
She groaned. “Oh, no. I don’t want them out there!” She was distraught. “Randy, there are going to be so many fingerprints, it will take them decades to go through. I don’t want everyone knowing all about my life.” She wanted all this to stop.
“Too late. They’ve already come and gone.” His matter-of-fact attitude irritated Carrie.
“Found the car yet?” She raised the elbow that she had slung over her eyes to look at him.
“Not yet,” he said. “You really kept that hidden from everyone.”
“For obvious reasons. A law enforcement official on a government salary driving that.... Not only would I have never heard the end of it, but Internal Affairs would have been all over me wondering where the money came from.”
“I get it.” And he did. He was antsy to leave though. He was excited about the new leads and wanted to pow-wow with Mike and Rick, and even Darren. He felt they were finally really getting somewhere.
“Okay, well, I’m out of here, if you’re sure you don’t need anything else.” He stooped down and awkwardly planted a kiss on her forehead. “Please don’t get up and do anything stupid.”
“I will.”
“You will do something stupid? Or you will not get up?” Randy asked.
“I will take it easy and rest. I promise,” she said.
“Oh, hey,” Carrie suddenly remembered, “I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon at three. Do you mind taking me?”
“Nope, not at all.” Randy gave her a wink and headed out the door. Carrie watched him leave and heard his car pull out of her driveway. She should’ve asked him to bring her laptop to her, she wanted to order a new phone, but she also wanted to do some research. She was just as eager as Randy to learn more.
Resigning herself to lie where she was for the time being, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep. The facts of the case were floating in the back of her mind and a face drifted by, and then she was out.
~~~
“Did you have a good lunch?” asked Andrea when Senna came back. Blake had called her the minute he was back at his office. He had described to Andrea what Senna had said and the changes in her. He’d been devastated. Andrea would have liked to say she had been shocked, but from what she had seen that morning, she wasn’t.
“It was fine.” Cool and aloof. Andrea had absolutely no idea what to say or do. Her gentle offering of friendship had worked before. Maybe she would just slide back into her bubbly self and win Senna over again.
“What did you think of church on Sunday?” Andrea asked. She held her breath waiting for a reply. She had told herself she would stay away from that topic but she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“Honestly, I won’t be going back. They have an intoxicating way of manipulating people's emotions with lights, music, and an eloquent delivery. I saw right through it.” Senna was working at the counter looking at the overdue book list.
Andrea just stood looking at Senna. From what she had witnessed on Sunday she couldn’t fathom that Senna felt that way. What Andrea had seen was a genuinely emotional outpouring from a broken woman. What on earth could’ve happened to her that day? pondered Andrea.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ve attended that church for years. I know most of the people who go there. It would break their hearts if they knew someone felt that they were being manipulated. I know their hearts and they have a genuine love and concern for people,” Andrea was choosing her words carefully.
Senna turned her now cold eyes on Andrea and said, “How can you know anyone’s heart—truly know?”
It left Andrea speechless. She simply shook her head and walked away. It was true, how could anyone truly know what was in the heart of another person.
~~~
When Carrie awoke, she felt much better. She’d slept for over two hours on the sofa. It felt like more rest than she had gotten in several days. She had the urge to check her cell phone for messages, but of course no phone, no messages.
She slowly got up from the sofa, went to the bathroom and then realized she was hungry. She decided to order a pizza online with her laptop. Pulling the chair out at her desk she sat down and turned on her computer. The first order of business was to order a pizza, then a new phone. The confirmation code said her phone would be delivered the day after tomorrow. Good enough.
She was interested in the castration knife that was on the list of stolen goods from the Big Horn. She’d known what ‘working cattle’ was, but there were several tools used in castration. Her grandfather had always used a Newberry-style castrating knife. That type of knife was a tong type apparatus with curved ends, one side with a sharp blade pointing in towards the other curve. The other side had a slim v-shaped end for the blade to slide safely into when cutting. It certainly wasn’t something that could easily be used to slit a throat with.
After researching and reading for the next thirty minutes her doorbell rang. It was the pizza delivery. Her wallet had been in the car, but she kept some cash stashed at home, thank goodness. She ate almost half the pizza ravenously. It tasted so good after eating hospital food that she had no restraint.
Carrie could feel herself getting antsy. She wasn’t exactly house-bound; she had her old Honda Civic which she drove to the office each day, but her doctor had said no driving. Honestly, she didn’t feel like leaving, anyway.
She wanted to call Randy and felt very frustrated that she had no phone. For lack of anything better to do, she sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. She flipped channels until she found a movie and settled in to watch it and wait for Randy.
The movie finished, and he still hadn’t come by. Tired of the TV noise, she shut it off and laid back down on the sofa. Her mind was clearer than it had been in days and she was eagerly analyzing the facts of the case.
The missing ranch-hand could be victim number five. If that was true, then he was not the killer. Maybe victim number five was not the missing ranch-hand, but just another victim and the ranch-hand was the killer of all seven.
So if the thief was the victim what could have happened? He stole the stuff and then it was stolen from him? Someone had him steal the stuff, and then they killed him? Someone paid him to steal the stuff? What was the most likely scenario?
She heard a car pull up and realized it was Randy. Thank God he was back. She’d thought she would go stir crazy.
“Do you want some pizza? I got pizza,” Carrie offered.
“Sure,” Randy replied.
They sat in the living room and Randy pulled a slice of pizza out of the box which was still sitting on the coffee table. “That’s so good, even cold. I’m starved.”
“So what have you got?” Carrie just couldn’t stand it anymore.
Randy attempted to chew the huge bite of pizza he’d just bitten off and swallow it down. “Okay. Okay. Got anything to drink?” he asked.
“A beer in the fridge,” Carrie half-heartedly motioned towards the kitchen. She let him settle back down and finish the slice he had started. She was forcing herself to be patient when it was the last thing she wanted to do.
Randy wiped his hands on a paper towel he’d also retrieved from the kitchen. He sat back in the chair and took a long swig. “None of the other ATVs panned out. As of right now, the Big Horn Ranch’s stolen ATV is the closest bet.
“The missing ranch-hand slash thief’s name is Anderson Cooper. They called him Andy. We have requested his dental records and they’ll be here by tomorrow. He was thirty-nine years old, about 5’ 10” tall and 160 pounds. He was slight of build just like Justin and Keith.
“I took the knife to the medical examiner and Henry said he felt strongly that knife or one just like it could have been the murder weapon. He still has it and is doing further tests, but on initial examination, he felt like it would be a match.”
Carrie was filing away each detail mentally as Randy gave them to her. Her mind was categorizing them with great efficiency. Then something occurred to her.
“Randy we’ve been searching for a male killer all this time. We’ve assumed that because men were the victims that it would’ve had to have been another man to move the bodies.
“But if the men were slight of build and a woman was strong and fit, she could’ve nearly had as much strength as a man. It could also be possible she could devise ways to move a body.”
Barely slowing down, she continued, “What if a woman enticed the man to drink with her in a remote place where she already had the blue poly-tarp, let’s say the top of Crown Rock Mesa. Then when he passed out in the car seat from the ketamine, she could place the tarp on the ground outside the passenger door, open the door, and tilt the body out onto the tarp.
“Once on the tarp, she could use the castration knife to slit his throat. Then she could roll the body up like a burrito, blood and all inside, and move it to the edge of the cliff. Holding the edge of the tarp, she could unfurl it tumbling the body to the ground below.”
“Okay,” Randy was listening. “What about the first body we found? There was no tarp. The body was killed right where he lay.”
“I’ve thought about that. Why move the body at all there? It was a remote area and maybe she had to improvise. Maybe it was spur of the moment and she didn’t have the tarp with her.”
“In that case she could’ve left the body on the top of Crown Rock,” said Randy.
For a few minutes they both sat thinking. “Let’s go back to the first five bodies. They were all five done the same, from what we can tell. I’m guessing she used a tarp, rolled them up and then used a wench on the ATV to drag the body up onto the bed in the back. She then drove out to the woods and dumped it with the lift on the bed. That model has a hydraulic bed which can be used to dump dirt, gravel, and such. Easy peasy.” Carrie snapped her fingers for added impact.
“How did she cover her tracks at the two scenes in Kachina?” asked Randy.
“I don’t know. You have to figure part of this out,” Carrie said with a wink.
“It still could be a man,” said Randy.
“Could be, but to me it feels like a woman. She could entice a man to do about anything she wanted if he was drinking. Trust me, I know.”