Chapter 16

“Mayor and the County Judge have been on the phone for you,” said Sheila as Linda entered the office, her usual morning cup of coffee in hand.

“Gee, now what could they want?” replied Linda, wincing knowingly.

“The media outlets downstate have gotten the story and...”


“And the local officials need a scapegoat,” chimed in Brad.

“Sometimes Iʼm glad you won that election and not me.”


“Right now I might be willing to trade places with you,” grimaced Linda.

“Anything new?” she asked, turning to Sheila.


“A couple of teenagers were reported missing last night.”

“Who?”


“A Virginia McGraw and her boyfriend David Hemmings. Heʼs a senior and sheʼs a sophomore at Jademore High. Wait, here comes Nikki. She came in early so I asked her to do some checking.” The pert deputy entered, a frown across her face.

“What about these missing teenagers,” asked Linda.

“Any chance they just ran off together?”

“Possibly,” said her young deputy,

“but according to what I could find, heʼs not the eloping kind, more of the love-em-and-leave-em type. They were supposed to be at the movies last night but no one remembers seeing them there.”

“What about a car?” Brad asked.

“The boy drives a dark blue ʻ97 Mustang,” replied Sheila.

“I sent the license number to the Lawton P.D., asked them to keep a lookout.”

“One step ahead of me, as usual,” smiled Linda.


“Thatʼs why you pay me the big bucks.”


“What do the parents have to say?”


“Theyʼre baffled,” said Nikki.

“Seems the girl has never done anything like this before. As a matter of fact sheʼs described as pretty but shy. The boy is a different story. Heʼs the school Romeo. Hardly a good looking girl in the entire school he hasnʼt put the moves on. He lives with his mother. I talked with her briefly. Heʼs been out late with lots of girls but never overnight.”

“Any places he especially likes to visit?”

“You mean like to... ? Uh, Iʼll check. The kids at school may know,” said the cute deputy heading for the door.

“Maybe they had car trouble and got marooned,” offered Sheila.

“Possible,” mused Linda.

“Anyway, anything new on the case?”


“Not really,” said Brad.

“I did some more background checking on the Connors woman. Her mother and father live over in Culverton. They lived here until about eight years ago. Havenʼt kept in close touch since she married. Apparently they donʼt think much of the husband.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, they think heʼs the guy who raped her and got her pregnant. Both the husband and wife deny it, but the parents arenʼt buying it.”

“But if he got her pregnant, why would he later adopt the child?”

“Doesnʼt make much sense, does it? But Iʼll keep...”
Sheila picked up the ringing phone.


“Kiowa County Sheriffʼs office...” There was a long pause. Her eyes widened.

“Oh my god! Yes, weʼll have someone out there right away!” She met their expectant looks.

“About four miles out on the road to the abandoned Silver Dagger Mine, Bill Dooley from over on Cantoo Creek was out hunting this morning and came across a dark blue Mustang. The driver is a dead teenage boy, shot twice in the head.”

“Sounds like our missing couple. Anything on the girl?”

“Bill said the boy was alone in the car. Both driver and passenger side windows were broken. No sign of anyone else.”

“Okay, weʼre on our way,” said Linda motioning to Brad and Nikki.

When they arrived at the scene, the doctor had just finished examining the boyʼs body.

“Two gunshots to the head, small caliber, Iʼd say a .22, possibly a .32. Iʼll know more when I get him back to the lab.” Brad looked over the interior as did Linda. There was some blood spatter from the head wounds but little else to go on other than the broken windows. Getting back into the cruiser Linda looked over to her deputy.

“Did you notice the drag marks outside the passenger side door?”

“Sure did. That and the passenger side window being smashed means that kid did not go willingly. So you think this missing teen is related to the other murders?”

“No way to know yet, but for years the worse thing we see is an occasional bear mauling and now within a few days we have two women murdered, a third kidnapped and a teenage boy shot in the head. What do you think?”

“I think we better nail this SOB and soon.”