Down Among The Bones

by Vickie McKeehan

  “This is the kind of environment he likes,” Skye said. “Remote, secluded, nighttime. You go back in, if we’re not back in half an hour, keep your shotgun handy.”

  Travis nodded. “I always do. See you in half an hour, or I’m coming out here myself.”

  They watched him make his way back to the house and go inside before starting their rounds. Patrolling the perimeter with a flashlight, everything around them seemed awash in darkness. A light haze had moved in, bringing low, scattered clouds across the thin slice of moon, throwing narrow shadows here and there.

  They looked for anything out of place, even scouring the pastureland along the north end of the property. The walked through high grasses, past scrub.

  From the ranch house, they circled back to the bluffs and back again to the corral and barn. They finished up by checking on the horses inside their stalls, trekking past the stock, making sure each horse was okay. They were about to pronounce the search a success when Skye opened the rear door and peered out into the night. She put her finger to her lips for quiet and pointed to the woods behind the house.

  “There’s someone out there,” she whispered, thumbing the flashlight to its off position. “The two-legged variety.”

  “I smell him, too. Travis was right. We’re not alone. He’s on the south side about twenty yards away, behind that drop off in the terrain.”

  “I see him. You go left, and I’ll take the right flank.”

  They took off running at full tilt. It was easy to pick up the man sprinting away, zigzagging across the field, heading in an easterly direction. The dirt kicked up under his feet.

  Josh was out in the lead. He could tell when the man’s footsteps entered high grass, could tell when his feet pressed down hard against the earth.

  The runner got tangled up in the weeds, slowing him down.

  Closer, on approach, Josh circled left. Skye ducked to the right. They had him cornered in a dry creek bed. But before they could pounce, they watched their suspect vault over a barbed-wire fence, then disappear into the night.

  They bounded over the barrier, too, one after the other, landing in the dark field. In the distance, they heard a motorcycle start up, the sound cutting through the night air, the engine revving, then taking off.

  Skye raced toward the noise, but it was too late. The man and his bike had disappeared into the fog.

  Fifteen

  Zoe didn’t mind sharing the house with Reggie and Judy. She welcomed the company. She’d volunteered for kitchen duty, something she could do that allowed Judy to continue monitoring Dani and Tony’s conversations.

  She didn’t want to go down that path, didn’t want to hear Dani crow about Emelia’s death, or listen to anything the woman had to say. She was content, knowing that she was with Brayden now. That’s all that mattered.

  Standing at the counter cutting up cooked chicken to toss in the pan, Zoe chopped up vegetables for the stir fry, an easy one-skillet dinner option she could handle alone.

  While everyone else had their nose in their laptops in the other room, Zoe relished having the kitchen all to herself. She’d cranked up the music on her phone—a band out of L.A. called Dirty Honey that offered a rock-heavier sound than Black Crows, but with a twinge of Axl Rose thrown in to make it beefier, edgier. The hard rock bounced off the walls to the pop and sizzle of food frying in the wok.

  Brayden strolled in and started to ask when dinner would be ready. Instead, he stopped in his tracks long enough to watch Zoe’s butt move in time to the beat. Appreciative at watching her dance in place, he snuck up behind her, slid his arms around her waist.

  All Zoe saw were arms coming for her. Surprised at the touch, Zoe elbowed him in the ribs, then whirled around, brought her knee up, landing a perfect punch to the crotch.

  Brayden let out a shriek, grabbed his balls, then doubled over in agony before he fell to his knees on the tile floor.

  “I’m sorry,” Zoe shouted, bending down to help him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. Don’t sneak up on me like that. Are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever have kids,” Brayden groaned.

  Judy ran into the room, went over, and turned down the music blasting from Zoe’s phone. “What happened in here?”

  “I accidentally kneed him.”

  “Ouch. Poor baby. Are you okay?”

  “Stop asking me that. Do I look okay? I’m still trying to catch my breath here.” Brayden tried to stand up but then decided to remain where he was. After several long minutes, he tried again to get to his feet. He glanced over at Judy. “I thought you were monitoring Dani’s apartment.”

  “I was. But they went out. I just listened to that woman spend an hour trying to goad Tony into confronting you. She’s made up an entire list of things she said you did to her while you two were in class together.”

  “Confront Brayden? For what? You know that dirty little bitch is trying to turn Tony against him. No telling what she’s up to.” Zoe put an arm around Brayden’s waist and helped him stand up, patted his chest. “I’m sorry,” she said again, leading him over to a kitchen chair.

  “That’s okay. Another lesson learned. Don’t ever sneak up on Zoe while her back’s turned.”

  “And she’s blasting music,” Judy added.

  “I trained with Skye,” Zoe proclaimed.

  “So did I,” Judy boasted, sliding an arm around the other side of the man’s waist. “Because of it, Zoe and I can take care of ourselves.”

  “I’ll vouch for that,” Brayden muttered as he slid down gently into the chair. “I just wanted to ask about supper.”

  Zoe took his head in her hands, kissed his forehead, then his lips. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Do I need to keep this pan from burning?” Judy asked, sliding it off the burner.

  “Oh, no, my stir fry!” Zoe lamented, darting over to the stove to see her vegetables and chicken sticking to the pan. “I’m not sure I can save this.”

  Judy waved off the concern. “Don’t worry. We’ll order pizza, enough for everybody. It’s a shame the dogs aren’t here to scarf that up.”

  “I hate to waste food,” Zoe bemoaned, trying to salvage her dish. “I’ll still eat it. It’s not that crispy. You guys go ahead and get the pizza.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I’ll eat it…the…whatever that is in the pan,” Brayden offered, still in pain.

  Zoe tittered with laughter and handed him a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. “You don’t have to.” Turning to Judy, she added, “Order enough for Brayden. He deserves pizza after…taking a punch to the groin.”

  Brayden took the bag of peas and shifted gingerly in his chair, trying to find the best spot for his wounded pride. He glanced up when Reggie stormed into the room.

  “I just stumbled into a chatroom where Dani left a message about Brayden, using his full name and everything. She posted an SOS about needing a problem solved by Friday. I’m pretty sure the problem she’s talking about is Brayden.”

  “Well, that’s beyond disturbing,” Zoe retorted. “I bet I could solve her problem. I’ll rearrange her pretty face, so she isn’t so attractive.”

  “No doubt you could take her,” Brayden snorted.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Zoe claimed, flexing her arm muscle. “What do we do about this post from Cruella?”

  “First, we put a trace on it. Anybody who replies we’ll be able to track. But the only way is to get him to reply. I need his IP address. This kind of crap is the reason we monitor Dani’s posts, intercept the replies, if there are any, and reroute them to the fake account I set up. If we get responses, we need to alert Foley and see if he wants to get an undercover cop involved that will act as the hitman. We need to catch her attempting to hire one. That way, we help build a case against Dani, catch her in the act of soliciting a murder for hire.”

  Leo came in and took a seat at the counter. “In the meantime, Brayden nee
ds to watch his back.”

  “That’s our job, too,” Zoe said. “And we shouldn’t tip our hand that we know what’s going on.”

  “Duh,” Leo replied. “Which is why we should probably let Josh and Skye know, then get Foley involved from this point moving forward.”

  “We agreed we’d let them enjoy their time with Sierra without needlessly bothering them,” Judy pointed out. “Is it possible to handle this on our own without interfering in their little getaway?”

  Brayden finally got to his feet. “I vote for letting them enjoy these days off. We don’t have to drag them back for a chatroom post. Unless it escalates, we’re good.”

  “If it escalates,” Reggie began. “You’re a dead man. Don’t you get it? She wants you dead.”

  Brayden limped across the room, leaned his elbows on the counter. “I get it. But we’ll take care of it, when and if, Dani gets a response. Otherwise…”

  “She’ll get a response,” Leo insisted. “She got one for Emelia. She’ll get one for you, too. Eventually. The only thing going in our favor is the fact that this guy knows he’s hot right now. We’ve found two of his dumpsites. He’s pissed. But that won’t last for long. It might take a few days, but he won’t be able to resist Dani’s post. He’ll see it sitting there and he won’t be able to stop himself.”

  “When will the pizza get here?” Reggie asked. “I’m starving.”

  “Fifteen minutes.”

  Zoe waved two plates laden with the scorched veggies in front of Reggie. “I’ll give you part of my stir fry.”

  Reggie sniffed a couple of times. “No thanks. I’ll hold out for real food.”

  “Suit yourself,” Zoe said as she handed Brayden a plate. “Munch on this until the pizza comes.”

  Brayden stared at the rubbery chicken surrounded by limp green and orange stuff. He’d seen worse, he supposed and dug in. “It tastes better than it looks.”

  “Thanks,” Zoe said, unoffended. “At least the rice isn’t undercooked. Are you still in pain?”

  “Not so much. It’s subsiding. The peas helped.”

  When the doorbell rang, Leo checked the security app and shoved to his feet to answer the door. “I’ll get it. Dinner’s on me for a change.”

  Sitting around the table later, they devoured their extra-large pies, not like coworkers, but like family. Amid boisterous banting mixed with good-natured ribbing, they told jokes and laughed, leaving murder out of the topics for the duration of the meal.

  But as they were cleaning up, Leo noticed an alert on his cell phone. Before he could react, the security alarm sounded. “Someone’s in the backyard trying to dink around with the side door of the garage.”

  As Zoe flipped on the outside lights, Brayden was the first one out the door, followed by Leo and then Reggie. The trio darted around to the side of the house.

  Brayden saw the shadow of a man trying to jiggle the lock. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Caught in the act, Tony Ferretti backed away, but then he advanced on Brayden. “You. You better leave my girlfriend alone.”

  Brayden clocked him in the chin. “I thought your girlfriend was dead.”

  Tony reeled back on his heels but cocked his arm ready to fight.

  Leo grabbed Tony’s arm in mid-punch. “He’s talking about Emelia Navarro. You know, the girlfriend whose body we found Sunday. You’re here to fight Brayden or break into the house. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to tell Brayden to stay away from Dani.”

  “Fine,” Brayden said. “I’m not interested in Dani.”

  “She told me what you’ve been up to. You’re a pervert, picking on a classmate like that. She said you’ve been sending her nasty text messages, calling her on the phone all the time, stalking her, harassing her.”

  “I don’t know what she’s been telling you, but none of that is true. I helped her pass a computer class. That’s it. Then I helped find her dead cousin. You’re welcome to her. I’ve got a girlfriend. Hey, Zoe.”

  Zoe came up to stand next to Brayden. She glared at Dani’s lapdog. “This is Tony? Let me give you some advice, Tony, if I were you, I’d watch out for Dani. She’ll only get you in trouble. Prison trouble.”

  “Hey, it’s none of your business.”

  “But this house is our business,” Leo stated, taking a step closer to Tony. “We’re not buying your BS. Coming here for Brayden doesn’t explain why you were trying to pick that lock like a pro. This place belongs to Josh Ander and Skye Cree. Brayden doesn’t live here. So if you wanted to talk to Brayden, why do it here? Why not go to his place?”

  “We did,” Tony admitted. “He didn’t answer the door.”

  “That’s because I’m here, dumbass. We’re housesitting. All of us. And if you can’t come up with a better answer than that, I’m calling the cops. Now.” Brayden started to press 911 on his phone.

  “Wait. No need to do that.”

  This time it was Brayden who took a step closer. “Then start talking. How did you get my address in the first place? How did you get this address? Who told you where Skye and Josh lived? And why are you really here?”

  “Look, I was just doing what Dani asked me to do. Okay? She said you’d been sending her all these lewd text messages.”

  “Did you ever ask to see one?” Zoe charged.

  “Well, no. But I trust Dani.”

  Brayden shifted his stance. “There’s your first big mistake. How did she get this address?”

  The bullying rant seemed to drain from Tony’s face as he swallowed hard. “Thursday night when all this went down with Emelia, and you took her to the Artemis Foundation, she went through the employee files. She got your address along with this one. She sent me here to set you straight.”

  “Yeah?” Brayden got closer to Tony’s face. “Where is Dani right this minute?”

  “She’s waiting in the car.”

  It was almost Brayden’s instinct to tell Tony what was really going on, but the guy probably already knew Dani was responsible for Emelia’s death. And it would be a misstep now that they couldn’t afford. Instead, he thought of another way to wake the guy up. “Are you sure Dani’s waiting for you in the car? Have you checked that she didn’t drop you off and circle the block? You’ve been here for a long time. What exactly does she think you’re doing here?”

  “Getting dirt on the Artemis Foundation so she can take it to the media, make you guys look bad.”

  Disgusted at that, Zoe glowered at Tony. “There’s no dirt to get. Skye runs that organization and never pays herself anything. Let that sink in the next time Dani sends you on a fool’s mission. Maybe you should go see for yourself if she’s still waiting for you at the curb. I think I heard a car pull away as soon as you got busted.”

  “If she’s gone, it shows you what she really thinks of you,” Reggie pointed out.

  “Left you high and dry to face us, while she took off,” Leo added, crossing his arms over his chest. “But so you know, I got no sympathy or respect for a guy who tries to gather dirt on Skye.”

  Tony’s eyes looked like he was having second thoughts. “Can I go check?”

  “I’ll do it,” Judy offered. Even though she already knew the answer, she asked, “What kind of car are you driving?”

  “It’s a silver sports coupe, a Nissan.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Reggie said as they jogged around the corner of the house. It didn’t take them long to realize Dani or her vehicle was nowhere in sight.

  They took their time walking back to where Tony stood.

  “Sorry, bro, but your woman’s gone,” Reggie informed him.

  “No way. Dani wouldn’t do that to me.”

  Brayden draped his arm off the firefighter’s shoulders. “You need to call her and get her to pick you up. But first, what exactly did she want you to do here tonight?”

  “She wanted me to find details out about the investigation, where it stood, whether you guys had any leads, or any suspects,
that sort of thing. We tried to get into the building where the Artemis Foundation is located, but security wouldn’t let us up to the third floor.”

  “Thank God for that,” Judy muttered. “Look, we could turn you in right now to the police. You know that. Why don’t you call Dani and make up a story? Tell her you were able to get the goods. Tell her we have a suspect but that you couldn’t discern the identity of that person. It’s a win for you to take back that kind of message to Dani and a win for us to mislead her. Will you do it?”

  “But you guys are the ones who told her somebody would likely get arrested soon,” Tony said. “Were you just bullshitting?”

  “No. There is a suspect. We don’t have to tell you who that is, though,” Brayden explained. “But what Judy is suggesting makes you look good. You don’t have to tell Dani you got caught. It gives you an out to make up something when you see her again.”

  Tony thought that over before nodding his head and taking out his cell phone. “Okay. I’ll do it. Can I go now?”

  “Sure,” Brayden said. “But don’t come back. If I see you here again, I’ll walk you out to the curb myself and wait for the cops to pick you up. I don’t think that would look good to your firemen buddies.”

  “I get it,” Tony snapped as he walked around the house to wait for Dani.

  “Do you think she’ll come back for him?” Leo queried.

  Zoe lifted a shoulder. “If she doesn’t, he can always call a Lyft to get back to Bellevue. He has a cell phone.”

  Reggie scratched at the beginnings of stubble on his face. “Tony didn’t act like he knew that Dani hired a guy to get rid of Emelia. Could the guy be that clueless?”

  “Hey, he believed all that crap about Brayden, didn’t he?” Leo pointed out. “I’d say he believes whatever Dani tells him to believe.”

  Brayden shook his head. “That’s just sad. But on the plus side, Dani did believe we have a suspect. That’s progress. Our bluff freaked her out enough to send Tony here.”

  Zoe looped her arm around his. “Yeah. But if we hadn’t been here, what would Tony have done? Would he have torn apart all the hard work we have in the study? We caught him in the act before he could trash anything. We all know there’s a connection with Dani somewhere. We just need to find it.”