Devils Among Us (Devin Dushane Series Book 1) (7 page)

You have got to be kidding me! This jerk cannot be
thinking of hitting on me after he just quizzed me on my financial status. How
do I always attract these God’s gift to women types? Why not someone like Adam,
clean cut, stable…? No not me. I get Mr. Smooth.

She had to admit that even if Adam was interested, he really
wasn’t her type. Where was the danger, the excitement in someone so…khaki.

Before she could laugh out loud at the conversation in her
head, Devin decided to cut the whole thing off at the pass. “The sheriff has
been so hospitable. I don’t want him to think I’m taking advantage of his
kindness by keeping you two from your work. We’d best get back.” She could tell
Shane was getting ready to object so she added, “And I still have a lot of
files to go through this afternoon.”

Two hours later Devin was wishing she was back at the diner
enjoying her root beer float. The case files were full of holes and unanswered
questions. She was pressing her fingers to her temples, reading the Medical
Examiner’s report, when Shane walked in with a diet soda for her.

“Need a break or an Aspirin?”

She took the drink from him and cracked it open. “Oh, bless
you.” He waited while she took a long swig. “I think I could actually use one
of each. This case had so many dead ends. None of the evidence leads anywhere,
and forensic science was basically nonexistent back then. You should see the
ME’s report.” She tossed the file onto the table.

Shane picked up the report and started reading over the
first page. “Blunt force trauma? I thought she was stabbed.”

“She was, but she took a brutal beating first, and the ME
believed she was already dead when she was stabbed seventeen times.”

Shane let out a low whistle. “Seventeen times? After she’d
already been beaten to death?”

“I know, my criminal psychology professor would say that’s a
lot of rage.” She set down her drink and took the file back from him, flipping
into a few pages. “My gut tells me this was personal, not a random stranger.
Look at this—” she pointed to a section in the report “—six broken ribs, a
broken pelvis, cracked skull, shattered jaw and cheek bone…it would be easier
for me to tell you what wasn’t broken. The ME believed one of the first blows
knocked her unconscious, so all of this was just for the sake of violence. Take
a look at these crime scene photos, they’re brutal.”

She dug the photos out of a box and slid them over to Shane.
“Whoa!” His gasp and look of shock were understandable.

“I know, I know. It’s disturbing. It looks like a younger
version of me just broken and bloody, but look beyond that to the state of the
crime scene and her body. This was a very violent attack fuelled by rage.” He
was still looking a little green as he flipped through the images, but he was
able to regain himself enough to provide an opposing argument.

“It still doesn’t mean it was personal. Lots of serial
killers have pent-up rage issues that they express through killing.” It was
true and logical, but Devin still didn’t like this almost stranger playing
devil’s advocate.

“I know that,” she snapped. “I did my thesis on the
psychology behind serial killers. It’s just that this girl was so beloved, so
perfect, that for her to be singled out would be a pretty strong coincidence.
There were a lot of girls there that night. If it was random the killer could
have picked any one of them, and it would have been a lot more difficult to cut
her from the pack.  People would notice her absence.”

Shane rolled her statement around in his mind a bit. “True,
but maybe the killer had been spurned by a girl like Laney. Maybe the perfect
beloved teen is the victim type he was searching out. That’s why he was at the Summit—he was searching out the popular teen queen in her natural element. The Summit back in its day would have been a perfect hunting ground.”

She scowled at him. That had been her next line of logic.
The Summit was well off the beaten path, and there was only one road in and
out, it was your destination, not a pit stop.

“Still, to find out about the Summit, he would have had to
be in town scoping for just such a spot. It wasn’t the kind of place that
advertised. He would have had to ask about it out right or done some serious eavesdropping.
Either way it would have been very suspicious behavior, and strangers don’t
exactly blend in around here.” Devin had been twirling a pen in her hand and
turned it to point to herself at her last words.

Shane grinned. “Maybe you just stand out.” He couldn’t keep
a straight face when she cocked an eyebrow at him. “All right maybe we do a
head count every night before bed time to make sure no one has snuck in or
out.” Her snort was very unladylike, but he went on. “How do you propose to
find this very personal killer after all this time?”

“First I want to know how the killer got her away from the
pavilion. The report says she was found in the woods more than 300 yards from
the pavilion. It’s unlikely that a teenage girl that likes to be the life of
the party would go walking alone, in the woods, in the dark. To take her by
force was risking exposure in a crowd that size. The police report can account
for 123 people that were there that night. I think it’s more likely that she
went willingly with her killer, more than that I think she trusted her killer
to walk off into the darkness with them.”

Shane had no argument for her this time, he looked stumped.
“You rely heavily on the psych, huh?”

Devin grinned at him. “Psychology, evidence and gut, but not
necessarily in that order. I wouldn’t be so good at my job if I didn’t look
where no one else thought to. Mostly, though, I’ll start where I always do—motive.
Who would have wanted Laney dead? We already said she was beloved and popular.
I mean she was the prom queen for Pete’s sake, but there was obviously someone who
hated her enough or was enraged enough to brutally kill her.”

At that moment Devin had no idea the surprising number of
people she was about to uncover that had reason to murder Laney Bennett. Nor
did she realize that she was already becoming a target herself, because there
was someone in Fenton who wanted this secret kept with the dead.

Devin had been sitting in her car for almost fifteen
minutes. She was eyeing the bar across the street. Since she didn’t drink very
often, she rarely hung out in bars, and she didn’t relish going into this one,
either.  In just about any type of community, though, the local pub was the
best spot for getting the gossip, both old and new, and this was the bar both
Henry and Adam had recommended for getting to know the locals. So with a sigh,
she slid out of her car and set the alarm.

The Lucky Ox gave you the feeling that thousands of beers
had been consumed at the long, dark-bar top, and by the smell of it, ten times
that many cigarettes had been smoked there. The ceiling was low, and Devin
couldn’t decide if it made the room cozier or more like a dark, dank dungeon.
She had developed the habit of taking stock of her surroundings any time she
was in a new setting. It was a survival instinct. She took note that it was
fairly empty for a Monday evening, only about a dozen patrons. Henry was
sitting at the bar chatting with the bartender and two other customers that
appeared to be in their early sixties. None of them were paying attention to
the sports replays on the small color TV above the bar. There were four pool
tables in the first half of the long room then a worn juke box that had seen
better days. She doubted if the young blondes playing pool were a day over 17.

I wonder where kids get good fake I.D.s in Fenton.
The rest of the customers were sitting at the tables in the back of the bar,
becoming louder with their freedom from the work day and the more beer they
consumed.

Devin made her way to the bar and hiked up onto the stool
next to Henry. “Hi, neighbor.”

He had been engrossed in his conversation and hadn’t seen
her until that moment. “Devin! Here I thought I’d surprise you by meeting you
here this evening, and you’re the one that sneaks up on me.”

She couldn’t help but like Henry, and she grinned at him.
“Your truck parked out front kind of gave you away.”

Henry glanced over his shoulder to where his friends sat.
“Guys, this is my lovely new neighbor I was telling you about. Bobby Bennett’s
girl, Devin Dushane.” She didn’t know if she would ever get used to being
introduced as “Bobby’s girl,” but she kept her smile in place. “Devin, this is
Roger Lawson and Pete Meadows.” He motioned his head to the two behind him. “And
the big teddy bear tending bar is Chuck Rinker.”

The last name struck a cord in Devin’s memory. She scanned
through the files from today in her mind to make the connection. It took only
seconds to click. “Chuck Rinker, as in the Rinkers that owned the Summit?” He was only in his forties, so she knew it couldn’t be the same man.

“That was my Daddy, as a matter of fact. I’m Charles, Jr.,
but I prefer Chuck. We do still own the property out at the Summit, but it’s
mostly a day use facility for picnics and such. It was never the same after
Laney.”

Devin could see why Henry had recommended this place. There
were a lot of locals and a lot of memories.

“Did you know my aunt?”

“Knew of her is probably more accurate.  On Saturdays we
used to ride our bikes down to the diner and get milkshakes just so she would
wait on us.” He smiled at the memory. “She never treated us like the bunch of
snot-nosed kids we were, she treated us like we were grown. Boy, if you got a
wink from Laney or if she ruffled your hair…whew-ee! That was bragging rights
for a week.” His smile faded a bit. “It was a real shame what happened to her,
there was never a nicer person.”

Everyone at the bar nodded in agreement and stared into
their drinks, drowning in their memories of Laney for a moment until Chuck blew
out a rush of air.

“I thought bartenders were supposed to be good listeners,
and here I go prattling on letting a pretty lady go thirsty. What can I get you,
dear?”

Devin eyed the draft beers that Henry and his friends were
enjoying but ordered a bottled light beer instead. It was much easier to nurse
a drink in a dark bottle, because it was harder to see how much you had
actually consumed, especially if you kept your hand wrapped around the bottle.

After an hour Devin was glad she was only through about half
of her beer. With a clear mind, she could better keep track of all the stories
she was hearing about her dad and her aunt. No details had emerged that could
crack the case by any means, but she was getting a great feel for the community
around the time of Laney’s murder.

A few of the boys from the back of the bar had made their
way up to the two young blondes playing pool and were getting increasingly loud
and pushy. Devin turned around on her stool and rested her back against the bar
to keep an eye on the situation. No one else seemed particularly concerned
about these three drunken Romeos, but the two girls were beginning to look like
they were in over their heads. Devin was just turning to ask Henry who these
guys were when the loudest of the three tried to wrap his arms around one of
the girls.

“Get off me, creep!” The girl’s shrill cry tore through the
noise of the bar. Despite her struggles, he was not letting go, a fact which
his friends found hilarious. The second blonde looked like she was about to
bolt.

Devin glanced down the bar to see who was going to break up
this little interlude, but apparently the sports clips on TV had become
mesmerizing and no one would make eye contact with her.

“Seriously?” Devin asked the room at large and then pushed
off her stool, leaving her beer on the bar. As she made her way over to the
little group everyone in the bar turned to watch.
I guess the sports program
must have gone to a commercial.

Easing into a situation was not exactly her style, so she
walked straight up to the couple tapped the guy on the shoulder and used his
moment of surprise to slide in between the two as if she were cutting in on the
dance floor.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked brightly. It took his
alcohol-fogged mind a moment to realize that Devin was moving backwards with
his intended behind her.

“Hey! This is a private moment, if you don’t mind. You can
have your turn in a minute, sweetheart.” Devin rolled her eyes as her new
drunken friend raked his eyes over her.

In your dreams, slug.

Someone had entered the bar and taken the stool next to her
empty one. She didn’t look over, but she just knew who it would be—Shane. Trust
Adam not to be able to keep his mouth shut.

She focused her attention on the leering redneck in front of
her. “Yeah, well, I don’t think she really wanted to be part of your little
moment, so you need to head back to your corner of the bar and find someone
else to harass.”

Devin reached back with her left hand to push the girl further
away, but when she did, the drunk caught her right wrist and yanked her towards
him. “I’m gonna need a little entertainment, so if you wanna take her place…”

At that moment she was aware of every sound in the bar, the
snickering of his drunken friends, the sharp intake of breath at the bar, and
the retreat of the two girls behind her. She went completely still and fixed
him with her blackest stare. “Didn’t your mama ever teach you to keep your
hands to yourself?”

“No, but my daddy taught me how to handle mouthy little
wildcats.” He took another step closer. “You just need to know your place.”

Devin still hadn’t moved. “Second warning—take your hands
off me.” In her peripheral vision, she saw Henry stand up, but before she could
tell him to stay where he was, someone pulled him back. Shane, maybe?
How
chivalrous.

“Baby we could have some fun.”

She was going to have to take a shower later just to get the
smell of his alcohol off of her. “This is your last warning to take your hands
off of me before you wind up bleeding on the floor crying for your mama.” Her
voice was even and cool, and her stare never faltered.

“Now, sugar don’t…” He didn’t get to finish. Her movement
was as quick as the strike of a viper.

She twisted her hand around to grab his forearm and yanked
him forward using her left hand to grab the back of his neck and smack his face
into the pool table behind her. His nose exploded in a gush of blood.

She heard Shane drawl “Well there’s the bleeding.”

It was hard to understand the drunken curses behind the
broken nose as she yanked him up by his hair and then sharply brought her knee
up into his groin. His two hundred and twenty pound six foot one frame dropped
to the floor into the fetal position.

Another voice chimed in, “And there’s the crying on the
floor.”

For a half a second, everything was frozen, Devin could tell
his buddies were trying to decide if they should just drag his crumpled body
away or put her in her place.

“Boys, let’s not do it like this. I’m an off-duty police
officer, and I don’t want anybody else getting hurt.” Apparently they took her
warning as an invitation, and she saw the very moment they made their decision.
Their expressions changed from shock and confusion to hard-edged anger.

Devin braced her stance for what was to come and murmured
under her breath, “Perfect, let’s do it exactly like that.”

They probably thought they were very tough bar fighters, and
truth be told, they were both very burly and probably packed quite a punch.
However, they were a very poor match for Devin. The one to her right lunged
first, and she planted a kick to his gut that sent him reeling backwards and sucking
air. It bought her enough time to deal with bachelor number two’s frontal
assault. He was a little more agile than his friend and thought he knew some
martial arts, judging by his stance. A fact which maybe kept him on his feet an
extra two seconds. His right hook came hard and fast, but Devin was able to
tuck to her left and in the process he over extended leaving her a nice window.
She grabbed his right arm, jerking it behind him, and wrapped her left arm in a
lock around his throat. Two quick jabs with her knee into his kidney had him
reeling and off-center when she released him. She helped him to the floor with
a clothesline to the windpipe with the inside of her thumb and forefinger. The
ring leader was still bleeding on the floor, but bachelor number one had come
back up with a broken beer bottle, apparently outnumbering her in bodies and
poundage was not enough. As they circled he tried a couple of swipes and jabs
at Devin with the beer bottle, but couldn’t get close enough. When an attacker
is armed, the first rule of thumb is to disarm them as quickly and safely as
possible, this particular attacker was way too intoxicated to keep up with
Devin’s quick reflexes, she threw her left arm up, knocking the bottle out of
his hand, and clocked him with a right hook. He was unconscious before he hit
the floor.

The ringleader was still gushing blood out of his nose, but
was trying to get up now while screaming at her. “You crazy witch!!” It was
hard not to laugh, because it came out sounding like “u cwazy wisch,” but she
resisted making the situation worse. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with!
This is assault, and I’m gonna see you hang for it!”

What is this the Wild West?

“My daddy’s cousin is the sheriff and my uncle is the mayor,
you can’t get away with crap like this around here!”

Fabulous, one of those.

Devin stepped forward and pushed him back to the floor,
planting her foot on his throat. Not enough to do real harm, but enough for him
to take her seriously. “You want to play that game? Well let’s play this. Those
two girls are underage, so sexually harassing them constitutes statutory rape.
Now, when you start throwing around words like ‘rape’ and ‘underage minor’
friends in high places start disappearing very quickly, especially in an
election year. So I suggest you and your friends pick yourselves up off the
floor and call it a night. Because I would hate for your family to be so
inconvenienced and embarrassed over such a stupid little incident. Wouldn’t
you?”  She was done playing games and her tone told him so. It was not a
threat, it was a reality that she was fully prepared to rain down on them if
need be.

She pushed off of him and took a few steps back, keeping her
chilly gaze on them as they got up and made their way out of the bar. Just as
they got to the door, Romeo called out, “Hey, Chuck, you better watch who
you’re letting in here. Head case lesbos could be bad for business.” He was
trying to sound threatening, but the effect was completely ruined because he
had pulled off his outer shirt and was holding it to his still bleeding nose,
the t-shirt he was wearing underneath had a line from a country song “I Ain’t as
Good as I Once Was”. That, paired with his muffled lisp, had the entire bar
roaring with laughter as he slammed out of the door.

Once they were out the door Devin turned to the two blondes,
holding out her hand to cut off their babbling appreciation.

“Give me your I.D.s.”

“Excuse me?” The taller of the two looked confused, but her
friend was turning three shades of red.

“Your fake I.D.s, hand them over.”

She continued to wait with her hand out. The two girls stood
in stunned silence for a moment, and then simultaneously dug the cards out of
their back pockets and handed them to Devin. She snorted when she glanced at
them.

“And here I was wondering where kids around here got good
fake I.D.s. Obviously you don’t, these are horrible. Are these your real
names?”

The two girls couldn’t even speak at this point, they just
nodded.

“Okay, Ashley Haller?” She glanced at the taller girl who
had gone white. “And Madison Dillon?” That was the blusher. “Well, ladies, I’m
going to confiscate these terrible excuses for fake I.D.’s, you should really
ask for your money back by the way, and I’m never going to see you in here
again. Isn’t that right?”