Skye Cree Boxed Set Books 1 - 3

by Vickie McKeehan

  She watched Josh try to force the door open with sheer strength and shook her head at his first effort. “You barely loosened that. How about we put our backs into it together?”

  “Be careful you don’t hurt yourself. This thing is massive.”

  Together they pulled on the metal until they were able to dislodge it from its hinges. Maneuvering it free, inch by inch they crawled through the opening.

  There were steps leading down further underground. Once inside, it was obvious the main room had once been used as an old ammunition bunker. But in converting the narrow, rectangular space, the Berkenshaws had put their own personal touches to it. For one, the four walls reeked with the smell of urine and feces and death.

  “This is where it all happened. No wonder this place gave us the creeps,” Skye muttered as she scanned what was nothing more than a glorified cave. A crudely built bedframe held a dirty, ugly-looking mattress. But Zoe wasn’t in it.

  “Zoe!” Skye yelled. “Where are you, Zoe?” She tilted her head to listen, but heard nothing but a vaulted echo. “Josh.”

  “Not picking up anything yet.”

  Her eyes landed on a wooden bench, an altar that held all kinds of trinkets and keepsakes, earrings and necklaces, a few small handbags. “Look at all the trophies he kept. We might be able to use this stuff to solve a few missing person cases. What kind of sadistic people would purposely create something like this?”

  “Berkenshaws. Bundys. Ridgways. Dahmers.”

  As they got deeper into the hollowed-out shell, Skye noted one section in the back had been cordoned off with steel reinforced rods to create a cage-like area. Several iron bolts and shackles had been hammered into the wall and floor. Heavy chains were attached. Filth covered the base. But there was no Zoe.

  “It just keeps getting more disturbing with each step we take,” Skye noted.

  Josh came to a section where the concrete ran out. He stepped onto a hard-packed dirt floor. Beyond it, he spotted a three-foot open chasm. It became clear they might have to dig. “There’s a drop-off here,” he cautioned. “Watch your step.”

  At one time someone had chiseled out a steep set of stairs, either Berkenshaw or the military. Either one had aimed for keeping secrets here. “Let me go down first. It might be booby-trapped.”

  “It’s like a crypt,” Skye decided as she tried to make out the black pit Josh had agreed to explore first.

  Josh took the lead and descended into an area without a flicker of light anywhere. It could only be described as what hell must look like.

  His wolf’s vision kicked in.

  He spotted Zoe in a corner of the dungeon lying on a cot. She was fully clothed but her feet and wrists were manacled to a rusted restraint bolted into the cinder block wall, a filthy rag stuffed in her mouth. Dried tears had stained her cheeks. Her black hair was a mess of tangles.

  “It’s okay, Zoe. Don’t be scared. It’s me, Josh. Skye is right behind me.”

  At the sound of another voice in the blackness, Zoe tried to scream, but it came out muffled and weak.

  Without hesitating any longer, he went over to her, gently removed the dirty cloth from between her teeth so she could talk.

  “Is…it…really…you?” Zoe asked in between hitches in her breathing.

  Knowing there was no way she could see him in the darkness, he waited a beat until Skye came up beside him, waited for Zoe to recognize Skye’s voice.

  “Zoe, we’re getting those cuffs off your wrists,” Skye pledged as she lightly touched the girl’s jean-clad leg. She reached up and ripped the bolts out of the wall, pried the handcuffs off the girl’s flesh.

  Zoe flung herself in Skye’s direction. “I was so scared. I was so sure I was going to die.”

  As Skye caught the girl up in her arms, she didn’t want to admit she had been afraid of that too. “I know you were. But it’s over now. We’re getting you out of this hellhole.”

  Turning to Josh, Skye whispered, “The search party would never have found this place, not without a lot of luck.”

  He took out his phone. “Then I’d better give them detailed directions.”

  Together they marched Zoe out into the fresh air, took a seat on one of the old metal ammo boxes. By that time, the sun had gone down. Nightfall rallied around them, unsettling and silent.

  “What is this awful place,” Zoe wanted to know.

  “A place that fourteen-year-olds should never have to see,” Skye murmured softly. Even though Berkenshaw was dead and his wife was in custody, Skye didn’t think she could ever forgive either one for exposing Zoe to this type of depravity at such a young age.

  “Should we wait for the volunteers to catch up or use our night vision to get us out of here?” Josh asked.

  “I vote we leave this place.”

  But about that time they heard voices in the distance. Skye recognized Harry’s tone, followed by Travis’s speech.

  “We’re over here,” Josh shouted.

  “Got you pinpointed,” Travis yelled back. “The Foundation’s group of volunteers is in the process of setting up floodlights around the perimeter so Zoe won’t have to deal with the dark any longer than she has to.”

  “I love these people,” Skye gushed in delight, her arms still wrapped around Zoe. The two sat where they were and watched in awe as the lights came on, one by dazzling one, washing the woods in a wave of brightness.

  But even with the burst of illumination, this part of the woods still had a spooky feel to it in the dark. Tall trees, long shadows, twigs snapping made for an eerie backdrop.

  In the dimness, Skye spotted Harry heading their way, noticed the slump of his shoulders, as if the cop dreaded what he had to do, what he had to ask the young teen, what he had to put Zoe through.

  Knowing there were questions that needed answers, she leaned in, whispered in Zoe’s ear to prepare her. “See that line of volunteers over there? So many people care about you, they united to make sure you were okay because they were worried about you. Right now, I need for you to listen to me. This is all over. But I want you to go with Harry. He’ll take you to Lena first and then he’ll want to ask you some questions, probably down at the station. I want you to tell Harry everything that happened to you from the time Berkenshaw picked you up from school, got you into his car, to when he dragged you into the woods. Are you okay with doing that?”

  Zoe nodded. “I’ll tell him how this woman prevented me from getting to the car when I tried to run like you told me to do.”

  “Good girl. Because I want you to tell Harry everything the guy said to you, everything his wife said to you when she took you down into that crypt and tied you up. Do you think you can remember everything?”

  “I’ll try. They were both crazy and mean, Skye,” Zoe wanted her to know, still curled into Skye’s side.

  “Yes, they were crazy and mean, Zoe, a deadly combination. You saw me take the guy down though, right?”

  “You were awesome. You kicked his ass.”

  From a few feet away, Skye noticed Josh’s eyes twinkle with amusement.

  “Skye Cree, an amazing warrior,” he added for emphasis.

  Grinning at them both, Skye went on, “I did what I had to do. Anyway, you know Berkenshaw’s dead and will never hurt you. But the other one, the woman, is still alive.” When she saw Zoe’s alarmed reaction, she patted the girl’s shoulder and quickly added, “She won’t be able to touch you either. If you tell Harry everything, it will ensure that she stays locked up for a very long time. Do you understand?”

  Skye wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders, hugged her tight to get an answer. “It’ll be okay, Zoe. You’ll see.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. Will you come see us at our new house? We’re all settled in now. I want you to meet our new dog, Atka.”

  “I’d like that. I was hoping you’d ask me.”

  “You’re welcome there any time. Now go, do what you have to do. The sooner it’s done with,
the sooner you can get on with your life.”

  Chapter 27 Book 3

  Over the next twenty-four hours, authorities discovered the Berkenshaws’ dumping ground, a mere fifteen yards from the front door of the bunker. The final resting place for a multitude of bodies turned out to be a plot of earth that measured twenty by twenty feet.

  County officials verified it was on federal land—which meant some of the murders could have occurred there. It also meant that Adela, if found guilty, could end up in a federal facility in Texas for death row inmates.

  That ought to wipe that dumbass grin from yesterday off her face, thought Skye as she studied Harry and Dawson, deep in conversation overseeing the first attempt at excavating the vast number of remains.

  When her phone chimed, she visibly jumped. It was just that kind of simple noise that could spook a person out in a place like this, even in broad daylight, even with a dozen people standing around. For the past couple of hours, if she didn’t know better, she was almost certain it felt as if someone watched them. Old ghosts with a powerful history, Skye decided.

  She shook off the feeling, read the display. When she saw Judy Howe’s name and number appear, she did a double take. Sliding the bar across to answer the call, she wanted to know, “Is that really you, Judy?”

  “Yes, it’s me. Is it true what they’re saying on the news? Is he dead? They said on the news you caught him. Is it true or did they just make it up?”

  “It’s true, Judy. You don’t have to fear him showing up at your doorstep, not anymore. He’s gone. He’ll never be able to hurt another person.”

  “I want to work. I want to work for the Artemis Foundation. You haven’t given away the job you promised me, have you?”

  Skye laughed. “Nope. There are still phones to answer and envelopes to stuff. But you’ll have to leave your apartment, Judy. Do you think you can handle that?”

  “I’d like to try.”

  “Good. Then show up bright and early Monday morning. If you need help, call me.”

  By the time Skye ended the call, both Harry and Dawson had made their way over to where she and Josh were standing to the side, away from the digging.

  “How’s it going?” Josh asked.

  “Can’t complain,” Harry replied. He stood there another minute before he could find the words he wanted to say. “A couple of things you might be interested in though. First, we found out Adela is a nurse, was working on a fifteen-year career at the same hospital. We think she used her position there as easy access to drugs, drugs the two of them used on their prey. That’s why the drugs varied so much from victim to victim. Whatever Adela could get her hands on, that’s what they used. One day it was rocuronium, the next, rohypnol or GHB.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  “Second, we may never know how the DNA that turned out to belong to Travis got on that scarf. Travis tells me he knew Ellen, so I’m thinking it might be one of those quirky things that pop up during investigations now and then. Third, we don’t know what happened to the real Jason Berkenshaw.”

  “What? Excuse me?” Skye expressed in disbelief. “I know exactly what happened to him. I stabbed the bastard in the heart.”

  Harry tightened his lips, rocked back on his heels. “The man you took down was a killer, no doubt about that. But he was not born with the name Jason Berkenshaw.”

  “What? Are you absolutely certain of this, Harry?”

  “The man you took down yesterday was not the real Jason Berkenshaw but someone who had used his name for years. The guy born with that name had a brother who has been looking for him for twenty-five years or more. The real Jason Berkenshaw was three inches shorter than the guy in the morgue, had brown eyes instead of green, and attained a degree from Portland State in 1967. That means he was born in 1945, a long damn time before the imposter came along and stole his identity to join the army.

  “After that he used Jason’s diploma from an accredited school, changed the dates on the paper and applied to ICE. When the media broke the story last night, I got a call from the brother, Sam Berkenshaw down in Eugene, Oregon. Sam told me his brother took a trip to Seattle back in 1989. He was never seen again. Checking out our perp’s background, there were red flags all over the place. But we may never know who the guy actually was, where he was born or where he came from.”

  “Well, that sucks,” Josh stated. “I wondered how he pulled off getting into ICE. What about fingerprints?”

  “Nothing came back to tell us his true identity. The real Berkenshaw had to be dead by the time our guy entered the army.”

  “Why’s that?” Skye wanted to know.

  “Because the army fingerprints match our dead guy in the morgue.”

  Dawson shook his head. “It isn’t all bad news, guys. There is hope. The imposter’s DNA will be entered into CODIS. If he had a relative who has ever been picked up and jailed, we might one day get lucky. I doubt the mystery will go unanswered forever.”

  “I hope you’re right, Dawson,” Skye uttered. “What about Adela? What happens to her?”

  “She’ll likely plead out to avoid the death penalty,” Harry stated. “That woman’s a real piece of work though. She’s already playing the Jason-made-me-do-it card. She was so dedicated to her hubby, so willing to do whatever he told her to do. I believe she used the words ‘cult member’ twenty-seven times during her first interview. She claims she doesn’t have a mind of her own. For years, Jason told her how to dress, how to act, how to think.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Josh shot back. “I’m not buying it.”

  “Me either,” Skye agreed. “You didn’t see how defiant she was before you showed up. Although I do think Berkenshaw told her how he wanted her to look.”

  “Her complacency is an act. That woman has a temper on her. We saw it firsthand yesterday,” Josh explained.

  “If it’s an act it’ll eventually come out,” Harry assured them. The cop turned to Dawson. “Tell them what you found.”

  “I’m able to confirm that the Berkenshaws, or whoever they were, over the course of their active years here, layered the bones we’ve found at various depths.” He surveyed the burial ground and went on, “Eventually they ran out of room, started to put bodies on top of bodies. I’ve no doubt this mass grave has the potential to yield forty-plus victims. All I know at the moment is it’s bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced. What I don’t understand is where Berkenshaw kept the mummified body that the hand came from that he sent you, Skye.”

  “That’s easy. It’s in the crypt. Well, that’s what Josh and I labeled it. That hollowed out piece of ground located under the bunker. It’s creepy down there.”

  Josh turned to look at Skye. “I wasn’t sure you’d seen that.”

  “Hard to miss a mummified body stuck in the corner. That victim must’ve been special to him.”

  “I see I’ll have to send the lab down there. The good news is, thanks to the hard work your Foundation did ahead of this, we have a long list of the missing already categorized in a database. It’ll make things go a lot smoother over the next several months as we try to put names to the remains.”

  Josh glanced at Harry. “You still haven’t found any sign of Selma Tolliver though. Any luck with leaning on Adela to give up where they put Selma and any others that aren’t here in this same spot.”

  “Not so far. But we will put pressure on her.”

  Skye blew out a ragged breath. “This has been such a long process. I’ve never been so tired of a case before until right this minute.”

  Josh picked up her hand, tugged her toward the car. “Then come on, Mrs. Ander, let’s leave Dawson and Harry to their work. Let’s get out of here and go home.”

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Vickie McKeehan is the author of twenty-four novels.

  She makes her home in Southern California.

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