Skye Cree 02: The Bones Will Tell Read online

  He reached for his phone, slid the arrow over to unlock. He thumbed over to favorites all the while moving to the elevator. With his hand he banged on the button four times in rapid succession. The door couldn’t open quickly enough. But when it did, he hopped into the car.

  Why wasn’t she picking up?

  Because something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones.

  To hell with this reasoning, he needed to get to Skye. And he couldn’t move fast enough.

  After leaving the loft, it hadn’t taken long for Skye’s senses to fill with the familiar sounds and smells of the night. As she drifted over to Fifth Avenue and Jackson near Union Station, she caught the unmistakable aroma of fried shrimp coming from Lute’s Seafood Shanty on the corner.

  She heard a foghorn somewhere out in the harbor. The sound she’d heard a thousand times before. Glancing to her right, she noticed the hazy blue fog swirl up out of the ground and up into the misty night. Skye pursed her lips at the thick smoke. It always amazed her to watch Kiya take shape.

  The vapor turned bluer, thicker. The energy blast to her system was like a shot of adrenalin. The boost of inner strength ran through her veins. Kiya’s eyes appeared first, a deep violet like her own. The body came next, silver in color. Sleek and elegant, Kiya flicked back her ears in greeting.

  She had a moment to enjoy the meeting of mind and spirit as the wolf nipped at Skye’s booted feet. But then Kiya let out a low guttural growl in warning. Out of the corner of her eye, Skye caught movement. Suddenly she was surrounded by a group of five street thugs. Each hard-edged teen looked as if he were looking for something to do and had just hit pay dirt.

  “What the hell you doin’ out here this time of night, bitch—alone? You in the wrong neighborhood. Mine.”

  Skye drew in a ragged breath, sized up each male of various size and age. In her estimation, none was older than twenty. They did, however, look tough and determined. It was hard to distinguish their eyes clearly in the darkness. But she knew jittery pupils when she saw them and recognized an addict chasing a meth high. Three clutched knives in their fists they waved in the air to make sure she saw they were armed.

  Why was it always a knife? Skye wondered.

  “Nice night for a walk,” she finally answered, pulling her nightstick from under the black jacket she wore.

  “Whaddya plan on doin’ with that thing? That ain’t gonna do you no good here, bitch. Are you too stupid to see we got switchblades? Besides, you can’t take all of us.”

  “Wanna bet,” Skye countered, about the same time Kiya bared her teeth in a menacing snarl. While the wolf’s corporeal form got their attention and seemed to mesmerize the bunch, Skye took the time to assess each one holding a weapon. She was pretty sure she could disarm at least two. The third one might be a problem. But what she intended to do with five she didn’t know.

  “That’s some dog you got there,” the tallest one pointed out. “Won’t do you no good though. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re outnumbered.”

  “And surrounded. You on our turf now,” one added.

  “Not the first time,” Skye admitted, thinking hard about how she could stall until she’d formed a mental plan. “You guys must be new hereabouts ’cause I’ve never seen you before tonight. You’re not sporting any tattoos I recognize.”

  “What do you know ’bout it anyway?”

  “I know you’re from out of town.” She tilted her head to study the bigger, more imposing one, the one she’d already judged would give her the most trouble in hand-to-hand. “By the looks of the blue fashion statement and the SUR tattoos, I’d say you’re branching out from eastern Washington, looking over the sights here in Seattle, seeing what you can score before heading back to Spokane.”

  She must’ve hit a nerve because the big one tossed out, “You’re a mouthy bitch, know that?”

  “I’m a lot of things. Mouthy just happens to be one of them. Don’t tell me you like your women meek and mild.”

  “Give us your money and we might let you live,” the bold guy sneered.

  “Go away now and I might let you live,” Skye boasted, beginning to feel that edginess creep in just before a fight.

  That valiant statement brought a round of laughter from the youngest follower and the one who looked to be about fifteen. As if contagious, the hilarity spread to the rest of the bunch as they all quickly followed suit.

  Skye didn’t wait another minute longer. She took advantage of their merriment and struck out, whacking her nightstick into the largest man. Pivoting, she rifled out a leg, knocking the second-in-command into one of his buddies. Righting herself, Skye shoved her metal baton into the leader’s belly, watched him double over. She brought her leg up and into his chin. The force sent him reeling backward. He went down for the count, but to her dismay he didn’t drop the knife.

  Skye didn’t have time to worry about it as Kiya leaped, became airborne. The wolf attacked the one closest to Skye, sinking her teeth into his forearm and wouldn’t let go.

  As another man advanced, she caught Josh’s form as he appeared out of the mist. But she didn’t have time to do anything but ram an elbow into her attacker’s gut. Skye dodged a blow, did a flip backward. As soon as she landed, she backhanded the youngest one, connecting a leg kick to his jaw. The force knocked him to his knees.

  Skye glanced over, saw the mouthy one doing his best to gain his feet. She went over, sent a booted foot to his head, finishing him off. He dropped like a rock to the cement.

  Meanwhile, Josh waded in with fists and punches of his own. “Not so tough now huh, punk?” Josh muttered as he shoved one man into a utility pole head first. The other, he gave a series of kicks to the hands and face. The knife the teen had clutched in his fist flew through the air. Josh heard the clatter of the blade as it hit the concrete. Unarmed now, Josh began to pummel the teenager who stood about his height in stature. But after taking several blows, the youth fell back, cowered in the street and started yelling, “No. Stop. Don’t hurt me. I give up.”

  Josh turned his head long enough to see Skye finishing off the guy hugging the wooden post. Josh zeroed in on the one doing the most begging. He picked him up by his blue Tee. Staring long and hard into the teen’s brown eyes, Josh said in a conversational tone, “Tell me something. How many people do you think you’ve mugged in the last year? Beaten to a bloody pulp? How many people have you left on the streets to bleed to death?”

  The guy swallowed hard before answering. “I…I…don’t know.”

  “Wrong answer,” Josh stated as he pinged him into a parked car, knocking him out. Josh spun toward Skye, noted she’d taken care of her three.

  “That isn’t fair. You got a hat trick while I only got to play with two.”

  “Actually Kiya took care of one. So the score is really two to two. How come it took you so long to get here anyway? I thought the mind meld was supposed to work. It didn’t exactly go down the way we thought, now did it? I didn’t think you’d ever show up. What the hell took you so long?”

  “If you’ll take a breath, I’ll tell you,” Josh said, grinning wildly at her in the dark. “I had my head up my ass, my mind on something else. It won’t happen again because I’m not letting you do this alone anymore.”

  Skye narrowed her eyes. “Letting me? I had this.”

  “You most certainly did not.” Prepared to argue his point more fully, he pointed out, “You could’ve handled three, maybe four, unarmed. But three of these bastards had knives, Skye. And five? No way could you take down five. I’m not watching you walk out the door anymore and into this kind of combat on a nightly basis.”

  “Damn it, Josh. We’ve been all over this. I know you’re upset with me, upset because I didn’t answer you before when Brad Jones called.”

  Josh held up a hand. “This isn’t the time or the place for a discussion about our relationship. So don’t confuse the two, as it seems we have several things we need to deal with in order to wade through.” />
  “Agreed.”

  “Good. Because right now it’s about you not doing this alone—”

  “Don’t start this crap now! Especially after Travis and I went another round about this very thing just this afternoon.”

  “I’m not Travis,” Josh stated flatly. “Whatever you and Travis discussed doesn’t enter into play here, not tonight, not right now when we’re standing in the middle of the street after we just took care of a bunch of meth heads.”

  Skye huffed out a breath. “We need to call the cops and get this scum off Seattle’s streets before we go toe-to-toe. Again…tonight.” Skye glanced around at the bodies littering the road. “I’m pressing charges.”

  Josh took out his cell phone, dialed nine-one-one himself. “Damn straight you’re pressing charges. We both are. But there’s no need to argue with me about this. I mean it this time, Skye.”

  While Josh relayed the information to a dispatcher, Skye waited for her opening. When he disconnected the call, she pounced. “I wasn’t alone here, Josh. Kiya took corporeal form tonight just as Travis told us she would. These idiots heard her growl. It distracted them long enough to give me an advantage. Both of us charged and it worked.” Skye glanced over at Kiya, still holding onto the man’s arm with her teeth. At Skye’s command, the wolf finally relinquished the thug’s arm. When the man slumped to the pavement, Kiya trotted over to rub up against Skye’s legs.

  “See? We had this,” Skye said again.

  As Josh laid a hand on Kiya’s head, he reasoned, “Not good enough.”

  “Says you.”

  “That’s right. And I’m tired of sitting at home while the woman I love does this alone. Even with Kiya here, there are times, like tonight, you’ll be at a disadvantage.”

  While they stood in the middle of the street debating the issue, the sound of sirens grew closer.

  “Might,” Skye emphasized in disgust. “Why make a big deal out of something that might happen once every month or so? There’s no need for you to give up sleep and do this with me. Do you want your company going into the toilet without you sharp every day?”

  Just as stubborn, Josh said, “I’m not willing to bet the law of averages will eventually catch up with you, Skye. And I’ve decided my company will be just fine if I don’t drag in to the office until ten or so in the morning.”

  Their difference of opinion came to a halt when three cop cars pulled to a stop. Six of Seattle’s finest popped out of their older model, light blue cruisers.

  “Are either of you armed?” One of the cops wanted to know as he got out of his car.

  “Do we look armed?” Josh retorted. He threw out an arm in the direction of the gang sprawled out in various locations on the street. “Those are your bad guys—a gang of thugs from Spokane who thought they’d attack a woman walking down the street alone.”

  “Hey, I recognize you two. Josh Ander and Skye Cree, right?” another cop said as he approached the pair. “You’re the woman who finds all those missing girls, right?”

  “No missing girls here tonight,” Skye pointed out. “But we were accosted by these drug dealers without provocation.”

  While the cops started picking up bodies and slapping handcuffs on wrists, Josh and Skye went over their statements. The senior officer wanted all the particulars about the newly-minted Artemis Foundation which Skye and Josh were happy to provide.

  It took almost an hour of details and relating what had happened before the uniforms let them go. Afterward they picked up their tiff in progress, deciding it was best to argue over a late-night stack of pancakes.

  They walked to a retro eatery with dated décor in a section near downtown that saw plenty of Seattle’s nightlife. Musicians, third-shift medical personnel, or any other night owl awake at two or three in the morning could feed a craving at Country Kitchen.

  The place was like stepping back into another era. It wasn’t fancy but you could order breakfast anytime of the day or night or get a chicken fried steak with gravy at four in the morning. Diners could opt to sit at the counter on one side and watch the fry cook or sit in one of the booths with a view of the foot traffic on the street.

  Even though Travis had owned the place for more than twenty years, he’d never changed the color scheme. It was still blue-green or as Velma called it, “tacky turquoise.”

  As soon as Josh and Skye took a seat in one of the booths, Velma appeared with a coffee pot in one hand and dirty dishes in another.

  “You kids eating or drinking?” Velma asked.

  “Eating,” Skye replied. “Pecan pancakes with a glass of orange juice for me.”

  “Blueberry for me and a side of bacon, but I’ll drink milk.”

  When Velma left to put in the order, Skye grumbled, “We don’t have to be joined at the hip twenty-four-seven, Josh.”

  “Is that what you think? Just because I’m pointing out you were outmanned tonight and you needed backup other than Kiya.”

  “We took care of it.”

  “After I showed up.”

  Skye huffed out, “You don’t intend to let this go, do you? You’re determined to jeopardize what you’ve worked for by stubbornly refusing to let me take care of myself. I’m perfectly capable of doing that while you continue to get a decent night’s sleep.”

  “Me? Stubborn? Since you wrote the book, right back atcha. I know you’re more than capable of defending yourself. Did I say otherwise? Why are you making such an issue out of this? I own the damn company. I’ll go in later in the morning. Issue solved. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. Probably because on some level I knew I’d meet with this kind of resistance. But prolonging this won’t change the fact that tonight you were in real danger with those assholes.”

  “Okay, okay. Maybe I overreacted.”

  “Maybe?” He dazzled her with a smile and reached his hand across the table to hers just as Velma rattled their plates down on the table. “Besides, if I go out with you at night, we can make this part of the regular routine.”

  “Eating late-night flapjacks?” Skye shook her head. “And probably gain five pounds before the end of the month.”

  “Not the way you train,” Josh said.

  “Okay, I admit I’ll relish having a partner. But you have to promise me two things.”

  Clearly skeptical of what she wanted, he put down his fork and picked up his milk. “What?”

  “If things start falling apart at work, you have to level with me and take care of business first.”

  That didn’t sound so bad. “Okay. Not a problem. And the other?”

  “You won’t talk my ear off while we’re walking down some dark alleyway at two in the morning doing our damnedest to be discreet.”

  Josh laughed. “I’ll try to contain myself. How’s that?”

  She reached her hand across the table to shake his. “Then I guess we have ourselves a deal.”

  They dug into their food.

  Less than seven miles away from where they ate, they had no way of knowing a serial killer was just hitting his stride…yet again.

  Chapter Five

  The temperature had dropped to sixty-seven degrees as the clock ticked toward one a.m. What had started out as gray and overcast was now clear enough that a beam of moonlight radiated around him like a halo.

  The wind picked up making the leaves dance on the cool August breeze. The lone figure watched as a string of fat clouds hung low in the sky and drifted overhead soft as cotton.

  Standing across the street from a three-bedroom townhouse in downtown Ballard, he stopped stargazing and refocused on his purpose. It had taken almost two weeks for twenty-nine-year-old Frank De Palo, Jr. to stake the place out. What with three women living inside, each with three distinct schedules, it had taken some creativity on his part to make his visits count.

  Frankie, as his mother had been fond of calling her only son, had already spent enough time scouring the stylish residence to make him feel as though he knew the occupants—intimate
ly.

  He was about to know at least one of them a good deal more.

  Tracy Lewis, a twenty-four-year-old Seattle native, manned the phones as a receptionist at a chiropractor’s office not five blocks from this spot. Tracy’s longtime roomie, Erica Bentley, was a twenty-nine year old flight attendant who worked for Alaska Airlines and flew the Minneapolis—St. Paul route. But it was the third female, Julie Freeman and the newest arrival in town who had first caught his attention. He’d been perusing the neighborhood when he’d caught sight of Julie getting out of her car. With such long legs and flowing brown hair, Julie was a looker. It saddened him to learn she didn’t exactly have a stellar job history or the smarts to do any other type of work other than customer service rep for the local cable company.

  Even now, Julie was alone outside, soaking in the steamy hot tub located off the back patio. He could surprise her now. But of course, he would not. One didn’t rush things no matter how he was tempted. She might start screaming out in the open or worse, break away and he’d lose control. No, best if he waited for her to crawl out of the water and head back inside the house before he made his presence known.

  It was more of a challenge that way, to wait for her to feel safe and secure, to wait until she’d settled under the covers. He liked the idea of surprising Julie once she tucked herself in between the sheets, just as she dropped off into a deep slumber. In his experience, it made for a better shock, made for more abject fear and confusion in the victims. Not only that, it gave him more of an adrenaline rush, more of an advantage.

  But tonight he envisioned going a different direction. It was time to shake things up. That is, if he could put the brakes on long enough for Tracy to come in from her date, it would work. Although the woman was taking her sweet time about getting home on a Thursday night, he thought now. He couldn’t very well stand in the same spot for this long without drawing attention to himself. One never knew when a nosy neighbor might panic and decide to call the cops.