by Dale Mayer
The door burst open then and Jericho blasted through. “Tavika, the killer just raced down the road. He was driving an old Cadillac Seville, gold in color. I got part of the license plate.” He gave her a fat smile. “And for the first time, I got a chance to actually see his energy.”
She took all of a split second to switch from Stefan’s internal dialogue to Jericho’s presence and the reality that maybe they finally had something correct to go on. “Are you sure? How do you know it was him? Did you actually see him?”
“I didn’t see anything else but the energy in the vehicle. It was him driving.”
“Give me the license plate,” she said, racing out to the front. “Any idea where he went?”
They both jumped into her truck, this time Jericho in the driver’s seat. He held out his hand for the keys and she dropped them into his palm, not wanting to take the time to argue.
“You call it in. I’ll see if I can find the asshole.”
“Can you track his energy?
“I can try.”
*
Jericho could see vestiges of the energy racing down the road ahead of them. It was dissipating way too quickly for his comfort. He gunned the truck to go faster than was safe as it rounded the corner. The truck rocked from side to side and he felt Tavika’s look, but she didn’t say anything. He knew she wanted to catch this asshole as much as he did.
The energy shimmered weakly, getting fainter as they traveled deeper into the traffic. He could hear Tavika on the phone beside him as she called in for a trace on the license plate. He suspected the vehicle would be stolen, but maybe it would at least give them something to go on.
He turned a corner and then another and yet another. Did the killer know he was being followed? Or did he just assume he needed to hide his tracks and get as far away as possible?
Maybe he was being naturally cautious. And maybe he was completely lost in this part of town. Jericho passed another block and realized the energy was gone. He spun the truck around in the middle of the street, thanking the good Lord this residential area was once again empty of traffic. He backtracked, picked up a little bit of energy to the left. This was taking them along a more rural area. He gunned it, knowing he was taking a chance of losing the energy if he went too slowly. Up ahead was a strip mall. He pulled inside, his gaze flashing across the vehicles parked to see if there was any sign of the one he was looking for.
Tavika pointed. “Stop.” He slammed on the brakes and looked in the direction of her finger. Sure enough there was the Cadillac he’d seen earlier. It was parked in the far corner of the mall. And of course, there was no driver. He approached slowly and parked a few feet away.
*
How had they found the car so fast? He’d been counting on having more time. Fear struck his heart. It was too soon. He wasn’t far enough away. He’d barely had time to run anywhere before they were turning into the lot.
He watched as Tavika and Jericho circled the car.
A shudder slipped down his back.
“Hey, sir, are you okay?” a young woman asked.
With a nod, he backed deeper into the shadows. Thankfully, after sending him an odd look, she walked away. He judged the last few moments then decided she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone anything.
He was safe.
The mall was a good place to get lost. But this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. He narrowed his gaze at Tavika. Even from this distance he could see the look in her eyes.
She knew what was in the car.
Bitch.
Chapter 16
Tavika hopped out of her truck and walked quietly past the other vehicle parked in the mall lot. There was nobody in the driver’s side or visible in the back. In fact, there was nothing suspicious about the car at all. Except she knew better. She turned to study the strip mall in front of her. There was a laundromat, a Chinese food takeout restaurant, and what looked like a cold beer and wine store. A quickie mart took up the end spot. The trouble was she had no idea who or what she was looking for. Making everyone a suspect.
Her phone rang and she picked it up. It was Peters.
“The vehicle’s stolen,” he said. “It went missing yesterday.”
She smiled. Perfect. She read off the address of the mall. “It’s parked here. No idea who the driver is.”
“You get out of the line of sight,” Peters said, “There’s a good chance he’ll come back out if he’s shopping.”
She laughed. “That’s why I’m walking toward a corner store to see if I can buy myself a coffee to go.”
“You and that goddamn coffee. That shit is going to eat your insides, you know that?”
“It might,” she said with a smile. “For you, alcohol and lovers are going to ruin your world.”
“Lovers?” Peters asked cautiously. “You know I’m married, right?”
“And I know you’re not faithful.” Like he was fooling anyone.
There was an odd silence. In a strangled voice, Peters said, “Have you said anything to anyone about that?”
“No.” She snorted. “Why would I? It’s your suicide mission, not mine.”
Peters gave a big sigh of relief. “Thanks. I’d really appreciate it if you don’t mention anything.”
“I have bigger and better things to take care of in my world than your love life.” She shook her head. “But you’re a fool if you think the people involved don’t know.” And she hung up on his shocked gasp.
She walked into the mini mart, her gaze assessing the interior. There was one clerk behind the counter, a second pouring some kind of juice into their machines on the far side. There were two men in the back looking at sandwiches, a single guy up at the front. Older. She didn’t recognize anyone, but then nobody had a visual on the Ghost yet. He could be anybody, literally, in the world.
And that was just infuriating.
She did a quick walk through the store to see if she’d missed anything. She had no idea what Jericho was up to. Presumably his hunting thing, whatever the hell that was. There was only so much she could handle.
Supernatural woo woo stuff was not her topic of choice.
Brought too many painful memories back. She couldn’t help herself from looking to see if there were any signs the killer might’ve been here. Now that she’d seen the vehicle close-up she could see the shimmer of energy. Jericho had mentioned an odd kind of gray-black color. She was seeing dark almost black tendrils. Seeing it was new – understanding how it worked was beyond her.
She walked back outside and found Jericho leaning against the truck waiting for her. She hurried over. “Anything?”
He shook his head. “No. He’s long gone.”
“Damn it.” She turned to study the car. “So what’s the deal with this?”
“I think you’ve been through too much of a shock today.”
She shot him a shuttered look. She wanted to ask what shock but was too afraid. From the knowing look in his eyes she figured he knew exactly what she’d been through today. She turned back to the vehicle and froze as she made the connection between the black energy…and the trunk of the car.
“Goddammit.” Her voice was soft enough to be almost a prayer and loud enough he could hear her.
“Yes,” he said softly, his voice pained. “The question now isn’t what is in that trunk, but who.”
The black and white police car turned into the lot beside them and parked. The two cops confirmed the number and that the vehicle had been stolen yesterday at dinnertime.
She motioned at the trunk. “We need to pop this.”
One of the policemen went back to the cruiser and brought out a pry bar. In seconds he had it jammed underneath the trunk of the old vehicle and with a hard snap there was a resounding pop.
She took a step back. The cops looked at her and said, “What are you expecting?”
She had him open the trunk so they could take a look. Wrapped in plastic, presumably to keep the vehicle protected from the bloo
d and body fluids, was the body of what appeared to be a middle-aged woman. Not the victim she expected.
For some reason in the back of her mind she figured it would be the man she’d seen in the office vision.
One cop went to the front of the vehicle and checked the registration papers. “The vehicle is registered to a Valerie Vermont.”
There was no picture ID or anything to say she might be Valerie, but it was a pretty damn good guess that’s who she was.
Tavika stepped back, walked over to Jericho and said, “It’s a good chance she’s the owner of the vehicle.”
Jericho’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I guess that makes sense. He needed a set of wheels and likely had to get rid of the owner.”
“If that’s the case where did he go?” Her gaze never stopped scanning the mall. But since they’d first arrived there’d been no sign of anyone who looked like a viable suspect.
She’d always figured her kidnapper had been younger, just from the voice she’d heard. He could have been much older…but if he had been younger twenty years ago, then now the suspect would be in his late thirties to forties at the bare minimum. Chances were he was closer to fifty, if not sixty. She couldn’t rely on her childhood memory to age an adult. Every adult seemed old to a kid.
*
The Ghost had changed patterns. Again. When he killed he was always methodical, his actions smooth. This did not appear to be the same at all. This was almost an impulsive decision.
There could be a lot of reasons for that. Maybe he just needed the vehicle. Maybe the woman pissed him off. Maybe she was his intended victim in the first place, and he just decided to take her car. There was no way to know. At least not yet. It would make sense eventually. A new victim gave them another whole set of variables to work with, and that was a good thing. Every little bit they could find was something they could use. Maybe next time they could save a life instead of analyzing a death.
He watched from a distance while the police and Tavika went over the vehicle. There was an ambulance on its way. Of course he knew she’d bring in the same coroner.
He hadn’t been able to see any kind of energy trail from the Ghost since they arrived. That bothered him. Where could the man have gone? With a weird sensation on the back of his head he turned and realized there was another small mall and coffee shop on the opposite side of the road partially hidden by trees. Had they been looking in the wrong place from the beginning? He considered telling Tavika his plans then realized she was going to be busy for a while. He’d be back before she was done.
Crossing the road, he could see a thin thread of silver ahead of him. Someone had crossed here and recently. Had the Ghost crossed over? Jericho had no way of deciphering who’s energy it was, except that when he was on the hunt the only energy he generally got to see was the killer’s.
Stefan said it was a quirk of his talent. Jericho wanted to be able to track anyone, anytime, anyhow, but apparently that wasn’t to be. Once he was on the opposite side of the street he let his senses open wider so he could see the energy’s pathway. He tracked it into a coffee shop only to come back out then take a left before disappearing around the corner of the building. The early evening sky helped the thread to shine.
Casually, in case he was being watched, Jericho followed the silvery trail.
*
Bloody hell. That was faster than he’d have liked too. If he hadn’t sprinted across the road they’d have seen him. Now standing amongst the trees, coffee in hand, he watched as Tavika’s friend crossed the road toward him.
Who was this man? What role did he play in these events?
Things were getting hot quickly.
Time to make a few changes.
The unknown pissed him off.
Chapter 17
When Tavika was finally finished at the scene, she headed back to the truck only to realize it was empty. She checked her pockets for the keys but didn’t have them. To make sure, she opened the door and checked to see if they were anywhere inside. No, of course they weren’t.
The ambulance had left, the coroner was long gone, the cops were almost done and the tow truck was on its way. There wasn’t much more she could do here. There was a hell of a lot more she could do at the office. If she could get there. Where the hell was Jericho anyway?
She pulled out her phone to check for messages from him. Nothing. Damn.
She turned and walked into the corner store intent on grabbing a coffee. None of the food looked appetizing though she hadn’t eaten in so long she’d forgotten when. But the coffee would hold her until she got home. She hoped. As she was paying she asked if the clerk had seen anybody around the abandoned car. The older woman shook her head.
“No, I didn’t. There were a lot of people in here early this morning, but not recently. You guys are bad for business.”
Tavika nodded. “Sorry about that. It would’ve been well before all of this happened anyway. Maybe an older man, late forties, early fifties, possible sixties, well-dressed.”
The clerk frowned. “There were a couple of guys in here earlier. But I did see someone jaywalk across the street,” she said. “He might’ve been in that age category.”
“When?” Tavika asked, her voice sharp.
The woman hesitated. Then she shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Seems like it was before you arrived.”
She had a few more questions but the clerk didn’t have more to offer. Tavika said, “Thanks.”
She turned and walked out the door, hot coffee in her hand. And lo and behold right in front of her was Jericho.
“Where the hell have you been?” She held out her hands for the keys. “I’ll drive home. Feel free to take a walk in any other direction.”
He laughed. “Long day and no food by any chance? I was tracking the Ghost’s energy across the street, but he was long gone by the time I got there. I asked around but no one seemed to remember him.” He shrugged as he got into the passenger side. “You seem to be cranky whenever you don’t eat.”
“I’m cranky because I wanted to go home fifteen minutes ago and not only weren’t you here but you took off with my keys.” She turned the engine on and headed toward home.
“If you’re hungry we could pick up something on the way, or we could order when we get home.” Jericho pointed out a grocery store up ahead. “If you pull in there I’ll buy groceries and cook dinner.”
That was an offer too hard to refuse. She gave it all of two seconds thought then changed lanes and pulled into the grocery store. Thankfully, it was still open.
Besides, she wanted answers. At least that was the reason she was willing to look at to keep him around.
With a sigh she parked outside the entrance. Within seconds they were both striding through the aisles. If it was just her she would have grabbed sandwich stuff. Who had time for anything else? But he appeared to be on a mission. He pushed the shopping cart ahead, quickly picking up fresh vegetables and even fruit. She studied the apple in the bag in front of her wondering when she’d last had one. Such a simple thing. Now that she’d seen it, she really wanted it.
She glanced around the store as if she’d never seen one before. In truth it had been a long time. Meals had always been haphazard for her. She needed food to live, to keep her energy up, but it never mattered exactly what she ate. More often than not it all tasted like cardboard anyway. She was either too exhausted or busy to know what she was eating.
Jericho arrived at the meat counter. She watched in amazement as he picked up steaks, ground meat, and ribs.
They were halfway to cash out when it registered. She blamed her slow response on being so tired. She grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a hard jerk. In a low voice she hissed, “And just how long are you planning on staying with me?”
It was late. And she’d had a long day. She wasn’t up for a fight, but she couldn’t let him walk all over her either.
From the look on his face he loved it.
He smiled, smoothe
d a finger across her cheek, and said, “A couple of days. Maybe longer depending on the Ghost.”
She came to a dead stop in the middle of the aisle. He leaned over and kissed her directly on the lips and then with a whistle started walking toward the empty cashier stall. She stared at him in disbelief. How dare he? Not only had he walked into her life and all over her…but he’d kissed her too.
“That wasn’t a kiss,” he called back. “That was nothing like a real kiss.”
She raced to catch up with him. “It certainly was. And you can’t do that anymore,” she snapped. “I don’t have time for that shit.”
He slanted an amused gaze at her. “You don’t have time for sex?”
She flushed and frowned at him. “A kiss and sex are two very different things.”
“Oh, absolutely.” That grin flashed. “Glad you know the difference.”
While she was still trying to figure out what he meant, he quickly emptied the cart of groceries onto the counter as a cashier rang it up. Pushing the cart through to the far side, he bagged the items. Then paid for the order.
Back at the truck he took the keys from her and nudged her toward the passenger side then placed the bags of groceries at her feet. He walked around and started up the truck. Tired, struggling to find energy to fight, hating that he could easily manipulate her into doing what he wanted, she found herself trying to come up with ways to get rid of him.
But he cut her plans short.
“Don’t bother. I’m here to stay for a few days and that’s it. I know it’s going to disrupt your nice, orderly life but you’ll deal with it.”
That just made her sound like a bitch. He was helping even though she wasn’t sure she should be accepting that help. She couldn’t do anything to compromise the evidence and his methods could do that. She needed to put the Ghost away forever. She understood Jericho’s perspective. That the Ghost was going to die at Jericho’s hands or somebody else’s. But just in case that vision didn’t turn out to be true she had to make sure he didn’t walk on a technicality.
