The 2nd Cycle of the Darc Murders Omnibus (the acclaimed series from #1 Police Procedural and Hard Boiled authors Carolyn McCray and Ben Hopkin)

by Carolyn McCray

  He was Kent.

  Straining his ears, he tried to filter out the noise the group was making. What they were saying about him didn’t matter. What he was listening for did.

  And as he reached out with his senses, a sour skunk smell entered into his nostrils. Had they drifted into the path of one of the odiferous animals?

  No. There, to the side of the group, a large and hairy creature started to emerge from the trees. Kent’s heart raced with the possibilities. Darc, Mala and Trey were all engaged in their conversation and wouldn’t realize until too late.

  Only one option left to him. Kent opened his mouth and yelled as loudly as he could, breaking the near-silence of the dark night.

  * * *

  Trey was only partially listening to Mala and Darc as they discussed the possible location of the profiler. A text had just come in from Maggie.

  We really need to talk.

  That didn’t sound good.

  She’d been acting kind of weird when they were getting ready to come out here. Making faces at him like she had something she needed to tell him. But they’d needed to get out here, and whatever it was could wait until he got back, right?

  Now he was beginning to question that choice.

  Just as he was trying to reenter the conversation with Darc and Mala, a loud yell sounded right behind them, back toward the direction of their camp. At least, that’s where Trey thought their camp was. He was a little turned around.

  But then a huge figure rushed out into the middle of their group. Trey caught sight of huge claws that glittered in the dim light like burnished metal.

  And then those claws were headed right toward Darc. Trey’s partner spun and twisted away from the blow, but it looked like the tips of the claws had managed to land on his shoulder.

  Darc staggered back, pulling out his gun and aiming at the creature, while Mala grabbed for Janey, pulling back behind a tree, away from the action. But the beast was fast, following up the first blow with another that knocked Darc’s weapon to the ground. Trey wrenched his own gun out of its holster, but the two were so close to one another that he couldn’t off a clean shot.

  In the meantime, Darc had recovered, and had struck out at the creature in front of him, striking the large hominid in the face. The strange animal shook its head and took another swipe at the bald detective.

  The angle was a bit better now, and Trey was about to take the shot, when Kent entered the fray, striking the beast across the back of the shoulders with a fallen branch he’d picked up somewhere along the way.

  The monster roared in pain, a surprisingly human sound, as it retreated from the double attack. Seeming to take in its precarious situation, the beast turned and fled.

  Kent turned face the group.

  “Well, that was exciting.”

  CHAPTER 6

  “I have to say, Darc, I was on your side before,” Mala stated, trying to slow the frantic beating of her heart. “But after seeing that thing come out of the woods…”

  “It is a costume,” Darc said, his tone the flat sound of utter certainty. “The articulation of the limbs was inaccurate. The man was on some sort of lifts or stilts.”

  Kent stepped forward. “I wanted it to be true as much as anyone, but I have to agree with Darc. The legs were off.”

  The bald detective just stared at Kent for a long moment, then Mala saw the smallest hint of a nod. Was it possible her autistic boyfriend was warming up to the profiler?

  “But… But…” Trey sputtered. “That could just be some weird Bigfoot thing.”

  “The face mask gave when I struck it,” Darc added. “There is no doubt.”

  Trey’s shoulders slumped and he heaved a sigh of what seemed to be disappointment. “I was going to be so big on the web,” he groused.

  “We’re also back to square one,” Mala acknowledged. Maybe it would be for the best to get back into civilization. It was clear that no matter where Mala decided to take Janey, there was always going to be some level of danger. The girls seemed to attract it like a magnet. But at least back at her apartment, Mala could bundle Janey up and make her feel safe.

  But to be honest, after the initial scare of the bear, Janey had been nothing but engaged and energized. No sign of fear, only excitement. She looked between the faces of the adults surrounding her, catching Kent’s eye. The profiler winked at her, and Janey covered up the smile that crept onto her lips with the hand that wasn’t holding her bear.

  Mala checked to see if Darc had seen the interaction. He had, but where before his posture had seemed stiff when Janey was involved with Kent, now it appeared to be much less so. It was always hard to tell with Darc, though.

  “I wouldn’t exactly say square one,” Kent said after giving Janey another smile. “I know who the killer is.”

  “As do I,” echoed Darc. The two men stared at one another.

  “How did you figure it?” Kent asked.

  “The width of the pelvis and angle of the femur,” Darc responded. “You?”

  “Microexpressions. The guy might as well have been screaming at us,” Kent said.

  Another long look at each other, then both men nodded at the same time. Something had passed between the two that Mala couldn’t identify, but it appeared they were on the same page.

  “Wait,” Trey interrupted. “Who are you two talking about?”

  But rather than answering, both men turned and walked off in the same direction. And it wasn’t the direction Mala had been expecting.

  This evening seemed as if it was about to get even more interesting.

  * * *

  Kent had to admit, he wasn’t happy about this turn of events. After ruining his second honeymoon with his wife, he had really been hoping that he’d at least come back having bagged the Sasquatch.

  Even Nicole would’ve had to admit that was a coup.

  Instead, he walked up to the RV that sat just to the northwest of their own campsite. It was set back along the path that led into the area.

  “So it was Billy, right?” Trey called out from behind Kent and Darc. “That guy was creepy. Way too nice.”

  But then, instead of stopping at the recreational vehicle, Kent led right past it. On toward the ranger’s cabin.

  “Hold on,” Trey muttered. “It wasn’t Billy? I was sure it was…” he snapped his fingers. “Got it. I see where we’re going now. The ranger.”

  Kent made no reply. There was no need. This was just Trey convincing himself that he was less intelligent than anyone else around him.

  The fact was, Trey was perceptive, especially when it came to people. He was right about Billy. Oh, not that he was a serial killer. But the guy was totally creepy.

  If he had to make a guess about it, Kent would say that the guy was an exhibitionist. Or maybe a voyeur. That was more likely. Spy on the couples that liked to come out camping to get their procreative juices flowing. Billy radiated that vibe. But he wasn’t a murderer.

  “Wait,” Trey grumbled. “That doesn’t make sense. The ranger was too grumpy. Serial killers aren’t usually that grumpy in public, are they?”

  As they continued toward the ranger’s domicile, Trey’s flip-flopping continued. He went back and forth between the ranger and Billy three more times before they stepped up to the door and Kent rapped his knuckles on the hard, untreated wood that had been used in constructing the cabin.

  At that moment, a shadow sprang from out of the darkness to the side of the cottage. A blade glittered in the moonlight that had managed to pierce through the ever-present clouds of the Seattle sky.

  Darc moved with a speed that surprised even Kent, spinning to dodge the attack, while striking out at the woman’s shoulder. The cry from her lips demonstrated that his punch had landed true, right in the spot that she had injured earlier at their campsite, while dressed up as Bigfoot.

  Kent had to admit that Darc had impressed him. The big bald guy was a lot faster and lighter on his feet than Kent would’ve given him credit
for.

  But then his thoughts sprang back to the current scenario, as the woman disengaged from Darc, sprinting around behind Mala, who had been standing the closest to Darc.

  “Stop!” she cried out, one arm wrapped around Mala’s neck, the other hand holding the knife to the psychologist’s throat. “Don’t move.”

  She was a large woman, at least a head-and-a-half taller than Mala. Her skin glistened in the dim moonlight with a sheen of sweat, and her eyes were wide and wild with her current adrenaline response.

  “Hey, we weren’t going anywhere,” Kent drawled back at her. “Just wanted to talk to you about your habit of ripping open young teenagers and snapping their necks.”

  “They were monsters,” the ranger’s wife screamed, the knife shaking in her hand. “The only reason they were all out here was to torture animals! They deserved to die!”

  “Oh, I totally agree. Teenagers are the worst,” he replied.

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re making fun of me.”

  “Yep. Pretty much.”

  Mala stirred under the woman’s arm. “Please. You don’t want to hurt me.”

  “Why not?” she snapped back, tightening her grip around Mala’s neck.

  In spite of the stronger hold, Mala’s face appeared as placid as if she were in an office, conducting a therapy session with one of her clients. Kent had to admire that kind of cool under fire. Mala took a breath and spoke again.

  “Because I would never hurt an animal.”

  Oh, she was good.

  The woman’s face contorted, as the meaning of Mala’s words entered into her consciousness. For a moment, Kent wondered if that would be the end of it. If she would just let Mala go.

  But then the ranger’s wife straightened up once more. She glared at Kent, pointing at him with an extended finger.

  “You might not. But he did!”

  * * *

  Darc continued to move to outflank the woman who was holding Mala at knifepoint. The rays of color that emanated from the scenario before him told Darc where he needed to go in order to incapacitate this threat.

  But at the same time, he also noticed two others. One was his partner, who was mirroring Darc on the other side of the woman.

  The other was Janey.

  “Is this guilt by association, then?” Mala asked the woman. It appeared to be some sort of stalling tactic.

  “I don’t know,” the woman muttered, shaking her head. Then her voice grew stronger. “Stop talking!”

  “But if you punish an innocent, how are you any better than the animal abusers,” Mala continued, implacable.

  “I said, shut up!”

  At that moment, Janey, who had crept up behind the woman, kicked the ranger’s wife in the back of the knees. Hard.

  There was a cry of pain from the serial killer, and then Mala kicked back with her heel, catching the inside of the woman’s ankle. She stumbled, wavering for a moment, unbalanced by the blows from both Mala and Janey.

  It was long enough.

  Mala twisted away from the woman’s grip, rushing over to where Janey stood nearby, scooping the little girl up in her arms. Both Darc and Trey rushed in at the same moment, coming at the woman from both sides at once. Darc was able to grab her by one arm, Trey by the other.

  The ranger’s wife screeched, fighting against the two men with what Darc calculated to be her entire strength, enhanced by adrenaline. Trey received the worst of it, getting punched in the face twice before he was able to slap one side of his handcuffs on her wrist, wrenching her arm around behind her back.

  “Man, this woman’s a beast!” Trey huffed, as Darc secured the other cuff. “Remind me not to spend any time with her out in a dark forest. Oh, wait…”

  Darc gripped the handcuffs and the woman’s shoulder, propelling her back toward the campsite where they’d left their car. Turning his head to look for Mala, Darc realized that she was nowhere to be found.

  And then a shot rang out, and Trey fell to the ground, holding his shoulder. His face contorted in what Darc determined must be pain.

  A glance back to the cabin confirmed what the lines of logic has traced already in his mind. There, with a rifle pointed directly at Darc’s heart, was the ranger, tears running down his face.

  “I’m afraid I can’t let you take her in,” the man called out, as his finger clenched around the trigger.

  The blast sounded, but Darc felt no impact. Mala had appeared from the shadows surrounding the house, knocking the rifle’s muzzle down.

  The ranger’s face contorted with rage, and he reared back to strike at Mala with the butt of the discharged weapon. And then the man simply collapsed.

  There, behind him, was Janey holding a metal shovel that she had used to strike the ranger in the head. She was panting from having sprinted around behind the man, and was staring from one stunned face to the next.

  Darc turned to Trey, who shrugged and grinned.

  “Guess she must’ve thought that we needed some help.”

  * * *

  The CSI team performed their investigative dance, taking photographs, tagging, bagging, processing. The lights from the patrol cars flashed in the darkness, blinding in their alternating red and blue.

  Kent tucked his trophy into his jacket, turning as he heard someone approach. It was Trey.

  “Okay, so it was the wife,” Trey said as he got close. “But I thought you said it was a guy!”

  “No,” Kent answered. “I said it was a guy’s expressions that helped me figure it out.” He pointed at the woman who now sat in the back of the furthest away of the patrol cars. “Her husband’s. Every time he talked to her, he was terrified.”

  Trey looked where Kent was pointing. “Yeah. I get that.” He turned to walk away and then turned back. “Oh, hey. The CSI team was only able to find one of the claw gloves that she used to tear up the victims. Did you see the other?”

  Kent just shrugged, patting Trey’s shoulder and wrapping his arm around the detective. Trey looked puzzled for a moment, but then took the almost-hug in.

  “Thanks, Kent.”

  “Sure thing, Trey.”

  Kent moved out into the night, toward the lone car that sat on the far rim of the surrounding circle of darkness. And the edge of the forest.

  Peering around, Kent made sure that no one watched him from any other vantage point. He then bent down face-to-face with the killer. As he spoke to her, he used the handcuff keys he had lifted from Trey’s jacket to unlock her restraints.

  “You’re a wild animal yourself,” Kent whispered in her ear. “You don’t belong here, in a cage.” He indicated the surrounding trees. “You belong out there.”

  He finished pulling off the handcuffs and stepped back. The ranger’s wife glared at him a moment, suspicious, then bolted out toward the woods.

  Kent sighed and pulled the missing claw glove out of his jacket. Securing the glove firmly in place, he admired the sharpness of the bear claws that had been filed down to razor-sharp blades. He stared off into the forest, where the killer had disappeared. For the moment.

  “It’s time to go hunting,” he murmured to himself, looking forward to the chase.

  EPILOGUE

  Janey yawned, and Popeye laughed at her. Sometimes he was so mean.

  It had been a long night, but it had also been super exciting. Mala and Darc and Trey and Kent had all been busy cleaning up after the Sasquatch guy, so when the police cars had gotten out there, they’d put her to bed in the backseat of one of the cruisers.

  That was Janey’s favorite place to sleep.

  Popeye complained about it the whole time, but Popeye always complained about everything, so it wasn’t much different than usual. And something about the combination of Popeye’s grousing and the flashing red and blue lights was soothing to Janey.

  But now they were saying goodbye to Kent. They’d taken him back to his fancy hotel, and they were all standing outside in sort of a circle around the funny man.

 
; He looked down at her and winked again. It made Janey feel giggly inside, but she didn’t let it slip out. She was pretty sure he knew anyway.

  Even though they hadn’t gotten along, Kent and Darc were alike, in a strange way. Darc saw things that other people didn’t, and so did Kent. They were just different things. For Darc it was patterns and symbols. For Kent it was other people’s feelings.

  Janey could see them both.

  Kent glanced around at the group. “All right. No need to make things weird.” He turned to Darc. “Okay. Stop being a prick. I get it. You have Asperger’s. But you’re smart enough to figure it out.”

  Darc took a step back. Janey hadn’t seen him surprised much, but that’s what it looked like.

  “And you,” Kent said to Trey. “You’re a smart detective. So stop whining and do your job.”

  Trey’s eyes widened, but he just nodded.

  “Mala,” the profiler said his tone becoming softer as he glanced at Darc before continuing to talk to Mala. “You know it. I know it. Everyone who looks at the two of you knows it. Stop questioning it. Be a big girl and dive in.”

  It was funny. Janey shouldn’t know what he was talking about, but she did. Mala’s face turned red, which didn’t happen much because of her darker skin, and she glanced over at Darc for a quick second.

  That look made Janey feel warm inside.

  Then the man turned to Janey.

  “And you,” he said, kneeling down to talk to her on the same level. “You are an amazing little girl. When you get bigger and start talking, you give me a call, okay?”

  Janey nodded.

  She had a feeling that she would.

  * * *

  Mala stirred from Darc’s side, where he was watching over his partner. Trey was being attended to by the EMTs with his usual charm and good grace.

  “I told you not to… ow!” Trey yanked his arm away from the medic. “That hurt!”

  “The wound is superficial,” the man said, unsympathetic.

  “Yeah? Well, I’ve been shot, thank-you-very-much, and it doesn’t feel superficial.” Trey rubbed his shoulder where the medic had given him an antibiotic shot.