Wolf Creek, Alaska
Annie was outside splitting wood when the sound of a snowmobile reached her. She sank the axe head into the stump, then moved her hand to the butt of her gun clipped to her belt. She kept her back to the house while she waited for her visitor to appear. In no time at all, she recognized Dawn’s purple jacket. Having company out here at all was not the norm, but seeing Dawn again so soon-something was definitely wrong.
The engine had barely shut down when Dawn tore off her helmet and raced toward her.
Annie met her halfway. “What is it?”
She grabbed Annie by the arms, she was shaking.
“Dawn, please, is it your folks? James?”
She shook her head. “The woman they found in Draper’s pond. It was my friend, Allison.”
“Oh, Dawn, I’m so sorry.” Annie hugged her. “Come in, I’ll make us some tea.”
They walked inside the cabin. “I think I’m going to need something stronger,” Dawn said.
“Of course, what was I thinking? How about a Baileys and coffee?”
“Make mine strong.”
“You got it. Baileys with a splash of coffee.” Annie began fixing the pot when she noticed Dawn visibly trembling. “Go sit by the fire and warm yourself.”
“I’m not cold, in fact, I’m boiling up.” She threw off her jacket.
“Must be the adrenaline. What have you heard?”
“Just that she was murdered. Her roommate called and told me the police were at their apartment gathering all of Ally’s belongings. They told Candy she might be in danger and to stay elsewhere, so she went to her parents’ house.”
“How horrible.” Annie got down the bottle of Baileys. “Are there any leads?”
“Not that they told Candy. Annie, you have to help them find her killer.”
“Dawn, I can’t do that.”
“Why not? It’s not like you’re busy or anything.” Dawn’s sarcastic tone felt like a punch in the gut.
Annie gawked at her friend. She had to remind herself that she’d just had a horrible shock. “It doesn’t work that way. I can’t just walk into the police station, flash my badge and say I’m here to save the day. Trust me, it would not be appreciated.”
“You’re FBI. Of course you can. They do it on TV all the time.”
“This isn’t TV. The FBI has to be invited, or the killer needs to have murdered in more than one state or have carried the victim across state lines.”
“I saw a movie once where the FBI agent came in and took over the case of a serial killer.”
“There are extenuating circumstances in which the bureau might get involved without an invitation. But the bottom line is, I have not been ordered to give my assistance. There is a chain of command which must be followed.” Annie sighed and walked over to her friend, placing a hand on her arm.
“Dawn, don’t worry. I’m sure Stone has everything under control. He knows how to get in touch with me if he has any questions. Besides, Anchorage has an FBI office, and if he needs help, he’ll call them.”
Dawn’s face dropped. “I want you to help him. Matt said you are the best. I want the best to find who killed Allison.”
“How about I call Stone and see how the investigation is going?”
Her eyes brightened. “Yes!”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I can’t tell him I’ll work the case.”
“But he’s a man. He’ll never ask for help, you know that.”
Annie laughed. “You could be right. Maybe I’ll just remind him I’m available if he needs to bounce ideas off someone.”
Dawn wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Annie finished with the drinks and turned around with two mugs in hand. “Now let’s get shit-faced.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
They clinked their mugs.
Stone sat in the manager’s office of the Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union waiting on his last interview, Katherine Tanaka, the rival of the vic. While interviewing the manager, he learned that Kat was next in line for the Operations Officer job. That’s motive.
After talking with the rest of the employees, two things became abundantly clear: they loved Allison, but Kat… not so much. In fact, two women stated matter of fact that they would quit if they had to work under her.
The search for Allison’s cell phone came back to a tower close to the credit union as the last place it was used. Probably to call her roommate about being late. After that, nothing. The phone was either off or had been destroyed after the last call.
He searched the trash receptacle outside, but it had already been picked up. From that he deduced that the killer may have abducted her here or somewhere close. Maybe as she walked to her car, which was still missing. Was he waiting nearby, or in the car itself?
The door opened. He looked up to find a petite woman in five-inch spiked heels with black opaque hose. She wore a black polyester skirt-suit. The skirt hit just below her butt, the satiny white blouse showed cleavage, and the jacket’s buttons stopped just below the bust. In his experience, Asian women had small breasts, but this one must have had a little help in that department.
Her long black hair was straight with red stripes. Black rimmed her eyes and her lips were a shiny scarlet. She turned all the way around to shut the door gently. When she faced him, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly. The expression was seductive. There was no doubt in his mind, this woman was a man-eater. Her gaze never left his as she made her way across the room. She reminded him of a panther stalking its prey.
“Miss Tanaka, please take a seat.” He pointed to the chair opposite him.
She slithered over slowly, smoothed her skirt, then eased herself down. “Call me Kat, everyone does.” She crossed one leg over the other. No doubt drawing attention to her muscular calf.
“Let’s keep this professional, shall we?”
A frown creased her face. “If you say so.”
“Tell me about your relationship with Allison Monroe.”
“I didn’t have a relationship with Allison, I don’t do women.” She giggled. The high pitched sound reminded him of a child, which perverted the scenario even more, if that was possible.
“Let’s try this again. What was your professional relationship with Allison Monroe?”
“You’re no fun.” An exaggerated pout followed.
“I’m not here to play games, Miss Tanaka. Please answer the question.”
The smile slipped from her face. “Fine.” Her straight backed posture slumped and her body molded to the back of the chair. “She was my boss.” She started twirling her hair with her finger. “I was the operations assistant.”
“Would you say you got along?”
“She was a bitch. Always telling me what to do. Making me stay in the back office. Never letting me visit with the customers.”
“As your boss, wasn’t it her job to tell you what to do?”
“I know my job.” She spat the words. “I’d been doing it long before she was hired.”
“Let’s talk about that for a moment. As operations assistant, naturally you thought the job of operations officer should go to you. Am I right?”
“Well, yeah.” She sat up. “That tramp took my promotion.”
“Why do you think that is?”
She leaned forward and whispered. “She’s screwing Bill.”
“You think Allison was having an affair with the manager, William Gold?” Stone kept the incredulity from his voice. The man was short, fat, bald, twice her age, married and had the personality of Santa Claus. From everything he’d learned about Allison Monroe, this was not even a remote possibility.
“Of course. That’s the only reasonable explanation for her getting the job over me.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I see. So, the fact that she was the first one here every day.” He read his notes. “Had a perfect balancing record. Helped out her fellow employees extensively. Had a knack for calming irate customers. Had substantial computer knowledge. Didn’t join in on office gossip. Was generally well liked.” He glanced back up at her. “You don’t think those things had anything to do with her receiving the promotion?”
Her face contorted. “The way you talk, she was the next coming of Christ. Don’t tell me you drank the Kool-aid too.”
“It’s not true then? What part?”
Her eyes squinted. “Who told you this bullshit, Krista? She’s such a little kiss-ass.”
“Actually, these comments came from everyone who works here. Mr. Gold backed it up.”
She jumped out of her chair, slapped her hands on the desk and leaned toward him. “Liar!”
Stone glanced through the window behind her. The shout drew the attention of everyone within sight. He addressed her calmly.
“You have a bit of a temper, don’t you Miss Tanaka?”
Her head twisted toward the prying eyes. She sat back down, smoothed her skirt and folded her hands in her lap as if the outburst never happened.
“The way you talk, everyone here hates me.” Her demeanor was back to flirty.
“I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. I was merely quoting the comments I’d received about Ms. Monroe. I’m not here to judge a popularity contest.” He stared at her a moment. “Tell me, Ms. Tanaka, where were you Friday night?”
Her hand flew up to her chest dramatically. “You can’t possibly think I would have anything to do with Allison’s death.”
“Let’s take inventory, shall we? Your feelings toward her are not exactly a secret; you basically hate the woman. You blame her for losing the promotion you thought you deserved. And, now that she’s dead, you finally got the job. We call that motive.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
Spoken like a true lady. “No, Ms. Tanaka, I’m not shitting you, as you so eloquently put it. Can you tell me where you were Friday night?”
Her face turned red as she glared at him. “I was at home. All night.”
“Was anyone with you?”
She took a deep breath and exhaled. “No.”
“Can anyone corroborate your story? Did you talk to any neighbors? Phone a friend?”
“Not that I recall,” she ground out.
“I see.” He pulled out his card. “If you think of someone who can vouch for you, please notify me.”
She stood and snatched the card from his outstretched hand. “You’re a real son-of-a-bitch. You know that?”
I’ve been called worse. “That hurt.”
She made a rude noise, threw open the door so hard it hit the wall and stomped out.
As Stone watched her grand exit, he wondered if Kat Tanaka could be the killer. She struck him as more of a Norman Bates type, big knife slashing away until the corpse was unrecognizable and she was covered in blood.
He could however see her convincing someone to do the job for her. The way her personality suddenly changed when she realized her sex-kitten act wasn’t working told him she was used to getting what she wanted from men. He had no doubt there were plenty of suckers out there willing to do her bidding.