by R. D. Brady
A sweat broke out on her brow. We’re too late.
Cleo let out a roar. And Laney’s heart nearly stopped.
Blood.
Cleo could smell it, and now Laney, too, could make out the barest scent of copper in the air.
They raced to the mine entrance, but an old gate blocked the way. Through the gate’s slats, Laney could see candles burning low, nestled into the nooks in the rock walls. Wax spilled over the sides. Cleo, anyone?
No.
Laney grabbed her Beretta and shot out the lock. She kicked the gate open.
Inside, it was as silent as a tomb. The light flickered along the rock walls casting moving shadows along the ground. Laney’s heart began to pound even faster as they reached a turn in the tunnel. Beyond, she could see the glow of even more light.
Laney stepped around the turn and gasped. Cleo stopped next to her and let out a hiss.
Sheila Lachowski, age thirty-two, mother of James and Jillian, wife of Mikio, lay flat on a raised stone slab, her blue eyes staring at nothing, her blond hair falling over the side, matted with blood. More blood dripped from her wrists, but slowly. On the wet floor, more blood had puddled. Far too much blood.
Laney curled her fist. Sheila taught third grade and Sunday school on weekends. And she loved to do puzzles. I’m so sorry, Sheila. You didn’t deserve this.
Laney grabbed her radio. “I’ve found her.”
“Should I send the paramedics?” Jen asked.
Laney looked at what was left of Sheila. Her clothes were a bloody mess. Her chest was caved in as if something had been plunged into it. And there were cuts on the backs of Sheila’s wrists and knees—spots that would hasten blood loss.
Laney swallowed down the lunch that threatened to re-emerge. “No. She’s way beyond that now.”
CHAPTER 6
Laney watched from the bottom of the hill as the emergency crews removed Sheila’s body. She closed her eyes, picturing Sheila’s family. Her son, James—or Jimmy, as everyone called him—was already too serious for his age. But that seriousness had been a boon when he’d been kidnapped by Grayston last year. He’d been one of the kids who’d helped keep the other ones together. One day, Laney knew he’d be a force for good in the world—if this tragedy didn’t derail him.
Jimmy was a nephilim, although he’d received that ability from his father, not Sheila. In fact, Sheila had been completely unaware of Jimmy’s father’s abilities; he had disappeared shortly after she became pregnant. It had been only Sheila and Jimmy for six years, and then she’d met Mikio. Last year, they’d had their daughter, Jillian. From what Laney knew, they were a happy family.
And now they would be a devastated one.
The officers carried the stretcher carrying Sheila—zipped inside a body bag—down the hill. Laney and Yoni had tried to keep the scene preserved for the SIA, but the locals had pushed back, claiming jurisdiction.
Laney wanted the case. There was no Fallen element, no link to anything that they were currently working on. But Sheila, Jimmy—they were part of the Chandler family. And Laney would make sure that whatever monster brought this pain to Sheila’s family was caught and punished.
Now she just had to wait until the SIA did their bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo and got control of the scene.
Yoni was currently being questioned. Jen was keeping the rest of the SIA agents away until the jurisdiction issues were worked out. Laney had sent Cleo off into the woods to hunt and stay away from the humans. It was hard enough explaining her own presence here, never mind the presence of her giant black leopard.
The tall detective in charge turned from watching the body bags progress to head over to Laney. Laney braced herself. She didn’t think the detective was a bad sort, but she got the impression her higher-ups were pressuring her to control the scene.
“So, Agent McPhearson, care to tell me what the SIA, an agency I’ve never heard of by the way, was doing out here?” Detective Theresa Ventrudo was tall with blond hair, strong cheekbones, and bright blue eyes. She looks a lot like Sheila, Laney thought with a pang.
Laney nodded toward the stretcher. “Trying to find her. Her disappearance is part of an ongoing case.” It was a bit of a stretch as far as logic went. But as far as Laney was concerned, Sheila’s murder was part of the ongoing case of her disappearance.
The detective blanched. “Care to explain exactly what case that is?”
Laney shook her head. “Afraid I can’t.”
The detective crossed her arms over her chest. “And why’s that?”
Laney nodded to the group of men just emerging from the trees. “They won’t let me.”
A tall Egyptian man with dark hair and eyes, Mustafa Massri, separated from the others and made his way over. He nodded at the detective before turning to Laney. “My apologies for taking so long, Agent McPhearson. I had to wake up a judge.”
“Did you get it?” Laney asked.
Mustafa pulled a folded paper from his blazer pocket and handed it to Detective Ventrudo. “I believe you will find everything in order. The SIA now has complete jurisdiction over this crime scene.”
The detective flicked on her flashlight to read the paper. She looked up when she was done. “So it seems. Well, I guess that’s it for us.” She started to walk away and then turned. “Look, no bruised egos here. Don’t tell my bosses, but to be honest, I’m happy to have this one off my plate. My nightmares are going to bad enough after seeing that scene without having to live with it while tracking down the asshole that did that.”
Laney knew what she meant. She was having a tough time keeping the image of Sheila out of her mind as well.
“Besides, this is way out of my league. We have a couple of assaults at most per year, and never anything like this. I don’t want to see anything like this ever again. I don’t know who she was, but even if she was Jack the Ripper, she didn’t deserve that. Promise me you’ll find who did this and make them pay.”
Laney pictured Sheila again and clenched her fists. A clap of thunder rang out across the park, startling the detective and causing almost everyone to look up—everyone except Laney and the SIA agents.
Laney met the detective’s gaze. “Oh, I assure you, whoever did this will pay.”
CHAPTER 7
Two hours later, Laney climbed into an SUV Jen had acquired from somewhere. Laney didn’t know where and she didn’t care. Cleo hopped in the back, curled up, and promptly went to sleep.
The local police were gone, and the SIA agents were finishing up at scene. There was nothing for Laney and Jen to do there. They were needed somewhere else.
“You okay?” Jen’s dark eyes looked even darker with only the light from the dashboard to illuminate them.
Laney and Jen had been friends long before any of the Fallen craziness had begun. Laney had never known Jen was a nephilim and Jen didn’t know Laney was the ring bearer. But that early friendship had been a glue that had helped both of them once their individual destinies had come to light. And Laney was so very thankful to have a friend she didn’t have to hide anything from.
Laney leaned her head back against the headrest. “No, not even close. Sheila was a good mom. I mean, a lot of the parents were terrified when they learned what their children would be capable of one day, but not Sheila. She just hugged Jimmy, told him she loved him, and that they would deal with things as they came.”
“We’ll have to let the kids at the school know. It’s going to be tough on them.”
Laney felt even more tired at the thought. She had been thinking the same thing and dreaded having to do it. Part of Sheila’s plan to help Jimmy had been to bring him to the school every month to get used to being around other kids who were going to develop powers one day, or who already had powers. She wanted Jimmy to have a peer group in place to support him.
In fact, Sheila had arranged for all the kids from the Grand Canyon to be brought in for long weekends. It had been a great addition to the school. It gave some of the oth
er teenagers a chance to give back and help kids who would one day struggle just like they had. Sheila had arranged different activities: movie night, potato sack races, even Lego competitions. The kids had loved those weekends, and they had all really taken to Sheila as well. These kids had lost so much, and now they had lost one more person who had been in their corner.
Laney’s cell rang. She checked the caller ID and answered wearily. “Hey, Mustafa. What’s going on?”
“We are still analyzing the scene. But there are a few things I can tell you, if you want to hear them.”
Laney pictured Sheila’s body and didn’t want to hear any more details. But she owed Sheila and her family her best. She hit the speakerphone button. “Okay, you’re on speaker—Jen’s here. Tell us what you found.”
“The ME believes the death was due to blood loss. Almost her entire blood content was in the cave.”
Laney had figured that.
“But there was an anomaly that did not make sense. Near the body there were charred remains.”
Laney frowned. She hadn’t noticed that. Of course, after the first check to make sure Sheila wasn’t alive, she really hadn’t looked too closely at anything else.
“Further testing will need to be done, but the ME believes that Sheila’s heart may have been removed and then burned.”
Laney felt her jaw fall open. She had no idea what to say to that.
Next to her, Jen gasped. “Are they sure?”
“No, but the heart is missing from the chest cavity, so it seems a natural assumption.”
“Anything else?” Laney asked, hoping the answer was no.
“That is it, until a full autopsy can be completed. It will be done as soon as the body arrives at our facility.”
Laney nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Mustafa.”
Mustafa hesitated. “I am sorry for your loss. I hear she was a good woman.”
Laney blinked back tears. “Yeah, she was.”
“I will send the autopsy results as soon as I have them.” Mustafa disconnected the call. Jen and Laney drove in silence for a while, neither seeming to know what to say.
Finally, Jen spoke. “What kind of freak does that?” she asked angrily.
Laney shook her head. “I don’t know.”
But Laney’s mind had shifted on to the possibilities. The clinical analysis of the case was like a lifeline right now, one that kept her from the sadness that was slowly seeping through her.
“I suppose it depends,” Laney said. “Could be someone in the middle of a delusion, could have some sort of religious or psychological significance. Could be part of some serial killer’s MO. Jeffrey Dahmer kept body parts in his fridge and a large vat in his living room. Dennis Nilsen and John Wayne Gacy kept whole bodies in their homes. Ed Gein made death masks out of his victims’ faces. I mean, trophies, rituals, and killers are a cliché for a reason.”
Jen stared at her before turning her attention back to the road. “I keep forgetting you were a criminologist in your past life.”
“Yeah, me too,” Laney said. “Remember my whole plan to finish up my second doctorate in archaeology?”
“Before your life took a radical shift to the right?”
“I think it’s safer to say it completely left the tracks.” She shook her head. “Do you think there’s any chance we’ll one day have normal concerns again? Annoying co-workers? Stresses over taxes rather than life-and-death situations?”
“Well, I find some of Chandler employees really annoying.”
Laney laughed. “Well, at least there’s that.”
Jen turned onto a residential street and the small moment of levity disappeared.
Laney looked at the middle class homes as they passed. Playgrounds were tucked in the back of most of them. Basketball hoops on driveways, a few bikes here and there that someone had forgotten to put away at the end of the day. Yards were well kept but not professionally manicured. It looked like a nice place to raise a kid.
Jen pulled up in front of a ranch house with sunflowers towering along the side. A white picket fence enclosed the yard.
Laney looked at the happy little house. When she was a kid, she had always wanted to live in a house like this—a house that screamed “happy family.” She’d thought happy families were somehow protected from the cruelties of the world.
Now she opened the car door and prepared to shatter the world of the Lachowskis. Apparently, no one’s protected from the cruelties of this world.
CHAPTER 8
Baltimore, Maryland
Laney and Jen arrived back in Baltimore just before dawn. They’d sent Yoni ahead in the chopper and elected to drive back. They didn’t say much in the car ride to the Chandler estate. After all, what was there to say? That it sucked that two children were going to grow up without a mother? That life wasn’t fair? That Sheila had deserved so much better than that?
All these things were true and none of them mattered. Questioning didn’t change anything. Beating themselves up didn’t change anything. Dead was gone. And right now, all Laney felt was tired and sad.
Jen pulled up to Laney’s cottage. Laney mumbled a thanks and headed inside after releasing Cleo from the back of the car. Cleo headed immediately for the trees. Laney knew she’d hunt for a while before heading to the cottage.
Laney went inside, stopping at the stairs before changing her mind and heading for the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator. She was starving, but at the same time, she didn’t want to eat. And nothing in the fridge was calling out to her. Finally she grabbed a strawberry yogurt. Pulling a spoon from a drawer, she leaned against the counter and started to eat, her mind numb.
She heard Jake on the stairs and tensed. Not yet. Just a few more minutes, she begged. But Jake appeared in the doorway. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said.
“Tough night, huh?”
Laney nodded. “Yup.”
An uncomfortable silence fell between them. “I know what you’re going to say. I should have waited for backup.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
Laney shook her head. “Jake, she could have been alive. I couldn’t wait.”
“Laney, none of us is immortal. We can all be hurt. You need to be more cautious.”
Laney sighed. Ever since Jake’s injuries at the hands of Cain and his slow recovery, he had been incredibly protective. “Let’s not fight about this, please?” her voice cracked. “It’s been a really lousy night and I’m exhausted.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Why don’t you get some sleep?”
Laney nodded, tossing her yogurt container in the trash and the spoon in the sink. “Yeah.”
She headed upstairs, and Jake made no move to stop her. It was like their small reprieve in DC had never happened.
These last few months had taken a toll on them. Jake was no longer the soldier leading the charge. He was behind the computer now, and neither of them had adapted to his new role very well. Laney knew he was just trying to look out for her, but she resented him thinking he knew better. And he resented her for not listening to him, seeing as he’d been a soldier a lot longer than she had.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she realized he hadn’t tried to comfort her. And she hadn’t reached for him either.
Feeling even more tired than before, she made her way to her bed, praying that she would sleep and dream. Because in her dreams, she and Jake were the same as they had been before he’d been injured. She lay down and felt the tears running down her cheeks. And she knew these tears weren’t for Sheila and her family. These were for the love she felt for Jake slipping away.
CHAPTER 9
Laney stared at the ceiling. She could tell by the sun peeking through the blinds that she’d slept through the morning. All was quiet; Jake would have left for the main house long ago. With the reprieve from the congressional hearing, he was probably back to his new mission: working with the team that was tracking down Fallen incidents across the globe and sending out ope
ratives to help cover up their antics. They were also trying to find any sign of Elisabeta, but so far, she had stayed hidden even while her troops became more and more visible.
Laney’s stomach growled, reminding her it had been a while since her last meal. Cleo stepped onto the bed and curled up next to her, laying her head on Laney’s chest. Laney ran her hand through Cleo’s pelt. “Hey, girl. I missed you.”
Cleo closed her eyes and sighed. Laney had planned on bringing Cleo back to the school because she knew she’d most likely be leaving the estate to run down leads. But she’d needed a little Cleo time. Laney lay next to her, content to not think, just to breathe with Cleo for a little while.
Then her stomach growled again.
Cleo rubbed her face on Laney’s stomach in answer. Laney smiled. “Yeah, I’m hungry too.”
But Laney made no move to get up. The image of Sheila’s body flashed through her mind, causing her to shudder. And remembering Sheila’s family’s reaction only caused her to feel more tired. Some days, it was all just too much.
Her phone lay on the side table and she pulled it over, not really wanting to see what was there. She had twelve texts. She scrolled through them to see if there was anything she couldn’t put off until tomorrow. At the end, she found one she could not avoid. It was from Jake:
Got the ME report. Meet us at the office.
Laney closed her eyes, wishing she could just pull the covers back over her head and pretend she hadn’t seen the message. But duty called. And each time she thought of shirking, she remembered Victoria’s sacrifice. No—sacrifices.
She sat up. “Okay girl, let me grab a shower and we’ll see what the next crisis is.”
Thirty minutes later, Laney had managed a shower and was heading downstairs to the smell of bacon. She frowned. Jake should be at the office. But part of her felt a small kernel of hope. Maybe he wants to talk.
A smile beginning to spread across her face, she stepped into the kitchen.
