* * *
The names of the victims of the Groom Killer were written on a large whiteboard in the front of the room. The first name was Bo Gage and Elle’s heart ached as she saw his name up there. Unfortunately, his name wasn’t the only one.
Michael Haydon, Joey McBurn, Jack Parkowski and Zane Godfried were all men who had been killed the night before their weddings by a gunshot wound to the heart. Cummerbunds had been shoved in their mouths, identifying them as victims of the serial killer now known as the Groom Killer.
As a result, the town of Red Ridge had become anti-wedding. Engaged couples didn’t go out in public, and Elle believed some of the public breakups between couples were staged and fake to hopefully make the man in the relationship less of a target.
Businesses relating to weddings were also taking a big hit. Nobody was rushing out to buy wedding dresses or ordering wedding cakes. Printers weren’t printing wedding invitations and the popular venues for a marriage ceremony remained empty. June was the month of brides, but there were no brides in the town of Red Ridge right now.
Finn Colton stood at the head of the room. Dark-haired and with piercing dark eyes, Elle knew him to be smart and serious and focused on his job.
Besides Finn there were six other officers in the room, including Elle’s brother Carson. Elle and Anders greeted everyone and then sat in the folding chairs lined up in front of the whiteboard. Merlin sank down at Elle’s feet.
“Give me a report, Elle,” Finn said.
She filled him in on everything that had occurred the night before and when she was finished, Finn frowned. “So, do you think the intruder was looking for the baby?”
“I have no idea what he was looking for,” Anders replied.
“And we don’t know who the baby belongs to,” Finn said.
“Demi,” Carson said. “She’s got to be Demi’s baby. From all we know, the timing is right. That means she was on your property last night.” His voice held more than a little suspicion.
“I’ve told you all before, I am not hiding her out anywhere on my ranch,” Anders said firmly. “I’m not helping her in any way stay hidden from the authorities. I have no idea if the baby is hers. I haven’t seen or talked to her since she took off, despite what some of you think. It’s also possible the baby could be mine.”
“Then what you need to do when you leave here is go to the lab where we can conduct a DNA test. I want to know if that baby is Demi’s,” Finn replied.
Of course a DNA test between Anders and Bonnie wouldn’t answer if the baby belonged to Demi, but if Anders was ruled out as the father, then the odds were good Bonnie belonged to the runaway bounty hunter who’d needed to leave her infant somewhere safe.
“In the meantime, we need to figure out what to do with the baby,” Finn continued.
“I’d like to take her back home with me,” Anders said. “She was left on my porch with a note saying she is a Colton. She was left with me for a reason and until I know that reason, I’d like her to stay.”
“It’s also possible if she belongs to Demi, then Demi might return for her. I’d like to stay on this, Chief. If I stay at Anders’s place, it’s possible I can make an arrest and bring her in,” Elle said.
“I could definitely use Elle’s help,” Anders added.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Carson protested. “Elle is still a rookie. Surely we have an officer with more experience who could stay at Anders’s.”
“I’m definitely up for this job,” Elle said with a heated glare at her brother. This Overly Protective Brother stuff was definitely getting on her last nerve. “Didn’t I prove to you last night that I can take care of myself during the stakeout when that thug came out of nowhere at the Larsons’ warehouse?”
“Speaking of last night, we got nada,” Finn said in obvious frustration. “When the team finally went in, they found no drugs and no guns. There was absolutely nothing illegal in the building.”
Elle shared Finn’s frustration. The Larson twins were definitely slick. “Then where are they keeping their stash?”
“Wouldn’t we all like to know that,” one of the other officers grumbled.
“Back to the Groom Killer case,” Finn continued. “We are still investigating Hayley Patton’s admirers. As you all know Noel Larson has come up with an alibi for all of the murders so far. We need to look hard at those alibis.”
“He knows a lot of thugs. Isn’t it possible he hired somebody to commit the murders in some twisted obsession because he wasn’t going to be the groom?” Elle asked.
Hayley Patton was the woman Bo had dumped Demi for. The day after his murder was supposed to be his wedding to Hayley. She was a pretty blonde who worked as a trainer at the RRK9 Training Center. Elle liked her okay, but hadn’t really gotten close to her.
“That’s what we need to find out,” Finn said.
“I’m still trying to find out who is sending Hayley flowers every week since Bo’s death,” Carson said. “It doesn’t help that the florist was murdered and his record books are missing.”
“I think the creep is feeling the heat of us getting closer to identifying him,” Officer Brayden Colton said.
“I wish we were close enough to make an arrest today,” Carson replied.
“Let’s get to your assignments for the day,” Finn said briskly. “Okay, Elle...you stay out at Anders’s place...at least for the next couple of days. I’m sure that you and Merlin can protect the baby since we don’t know for sure what’s going on or what the masked intruder wanted. You update me daily or as needed, and Anders, don’t forget to stop by the lab for the DNA testing,” Finn said.
They left the room as Finn continued to hand out the daily assignments to the other officers. It didn’t take long in the lab for swabs to be taken from Anders and Bonnie, and then they were back in his car and headed to the cabin.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“It’s not every day you get swabbed for a paternity test.” She was curious how he’d felt, what had been going on in his mind when he’d gotten tested. He’d definitely appeared tense in the lab.
“First time for me,” he replied.
“Have you thought about what you want the outcome to be?”
“No, and I don’t intend to think about it. I’m not into speculation. I’ll see how I feel when we get the results.”
“So, I guess this means I’m on dinner duty,” Elle said, and looked at Anders once again.
He flashed her a quick smile. “And don’t think I’m going to let you off the hook.”
Why did his smile make her heart do a little happy dance in her chest? He wasn’t the first handsome man to smile at her. So why did his smiles somehow feel different to her?
“You might be sorry. Cooking is definitely not in my repertoire of things I do well,” she replied.
“We’ll figure it out,” he replied. “How long do you think it will take to get back the DNA results?” he then asked.
“If we’re lucky then maybe within a couple of days, but I’m sure the lab is really backlogged with all the evidence from the groom killings, so who knows.”
“The sooner the better,” he replied. “Do you ever think about marriage?”
She