Kamari had run to this little town to escape and begin life anew. And Mica was looking like a pretty prospect for passing the time pleasantly, she mused as she pushed her cart past a woman in the quiet corridor.
The dimness of the hallway distracted her and Kamari glanced up, wondering if the lights were working. The light was out and it looked as if the camera discretely hidden in the light’s fixture was broken.
Kamari turned back to the woman, but she couldn’t see her face because of the dark shades she wore. However, she didn’t look much like a woman. Her bodyline was more like a man’s. Too hard, too muscular and no breasts—no breasts.
She turned all the way around and noticed a slight limp and drew the scent of salt, blood, and bleach into her nostrils.
Kamari frowned at the oddity, and thought she’d seen the person before in the local coffee shop, but she shook it off, picking up her step. Kamari didn’t want to get chewed out by first the customers and then her boss.
She knocked on door seventeen and waited for an answer. The gurgling sound had her jerking the pass key from the cart and jamming it into the lock.
“Hello?” Kamari called as she unlocked the door. “Mistress Jones?”
“Help.”
Kamari turned the knob and burst in finding a naked woman on the floor and blood everywhere staining the walls, the floor and the bed.
Pillows from the bed were on the floor, the lamp was turned over along with the bench at the end of the bed. The items from one of the shelves littered the floor and the shelf listed to one side.
The stench of blood mingled with antibacterial cleaner and bleach. Sweat was a vague undercurrent drifting on the air along with the stink of fear.
“My god,” Kamari breathed out roughly and went back to grab the cell from the cart. Kamari tapped in the number to medical with shaking hands and breath coming out in shallow pants.
The claw marks were deep gouges that criss-crossed her naked body, carved up her stomach like a turkey on Christmas. Her face was sliced, bruised, and swelling with one eye already closing up.
Horror tightened Kamari’s stomach as the pictures she’d seen of her sister’s dead body came racing back to her. Fury swelled in her chest, and bile coated her tongue. This couldn’t be the same killer.
But she didn’t believe in coincidence in murder and the law.
“Yes?”
The cool voice jerked her from her reverie, making her remember she left her old life behind. She was just your average Jo Blow, so why did the agent she’d once been reject that?
“A client has been attacked in room seventeen,” Kamari said calmly. “She’s dying.”
“Check the pulse, I’m on my way.”
Kamari went to check the woman’s pulse that’s when she realized it was Isa, the girl she’d had coffee with two days ago. The fear in her eyes palpable and Kamari’s heart hammered wildly as she pressed her fingers to the woman’s neck.
“It’s weak, and she’s bleeding out so fast.”
“Find something and put pressure on the wound, Kamari.”
Kamari rushed into the bathroom for towels and came out to press them to the wound on the woman’s chest. But she knew it was already too late.
“Please,” Isa said weakly. “Help me.”
“The healer is coming,” Kamari murmured as she put the phone on speaker and set it on the carpeted floor near where she was now kneeling.
“It’s his fault,” Isa said, tears dampening her eyes. “He ordered this because I know his secrets.” Isa reached for her. “Hold my hand. I don’t want to die alone.”
Kamari nodded and took her hand as she fought the urge to pump the girl for information that could help catch her killer.
“I’m going numb all over, and I’m so scared. I never thought—but I was wrong. He wasn’t the man he appeared to be.”
“Who, honey?” Kamari asked, taking the woman’s hand as tears filled her own eyes.
“Jerry,” she whispered and Kamari went cold all over.
She knew that name, she’d seen it in her sister’s journal.
“Shh. Save your strength,” Kamari urged although she wanted to beg for answers. She was certain the men couldn’t be the same, but her sister had looked like this. And it tore her up imagining that Arleigh had died alone.
“It’s going to be okay, Isa,” Kamari said. “You can tell the police all about it later.” She gave the other woman’s hand a squeeze.
“No, it’ll be too late, and they won’t do anything because he’s one of them.”
“No, it won’t,” Kamari assured her soothingly. “They’ll get this Jerry.” She’d make damn sure of it.
Isa’s mouth worked, and she whispered, “I’m not the only one he killed. Pack doesn’t brutalize.” A sob was torn from her throat. “I followed him because I had to know if she was telling the truth.” Tears spilled down her cheeks and sorrow filled her eyes. “The good in him didn’t outweigh the darkness.”
“Where did you go and who is we?”
“Me and my best friend went to Hartsland two weeks ago because Jerry and his buddy went there for one of their killer club meetings,” she said and her eyes widened reflecting horror.
“The what club?”
“They met in various places, and there were members in each city, but I only knew Jerry,
Chili, and Cheeto.”
“Are they from here?” Kamari asked attempting to grasp onto any straw that might help the police find Isa’s killer. As it stood, she didn’t have much for them to go on unless they recognized the names.
“You look like her.”
Her heart stopped. “Who do I look like?” Kamari asked breathlessly.
“Arleigh,” Isa said softly and reached up to touch her face.
“You knew my sister?”
“No, but I’ve seen pictures of her.” Tears welled anew in her eyes. “Jerry wanted her so bad. But I guess he wanted them all. He tortured and raped her like he did the girl that night. I’m sorry I didn’t do anything. It’s been eating me up alive, but I knew they’d kill me if they knew I was there.”
“It’s okay.” Kamari wanted to rage at the injustice of finally getting a possible lead on what happened to her sister and who’d been behind it only to lose the only witness to death.
She coughed and bloody spittle mists came out of her mouth. Kamari squeezed her hand.
“Who are these men, Isa?” Kamari demanded trying to keep the desperation from her voice.
“Jerry has so many secrets,” she said. “Misty Storage is a place to start, but it won’t end there. Fourteen. The key’s in my purse. Take it. Go.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” Kamari told her firmly. Because she couldn’t let Isa die alone. She’d hoped her sister hadn’t been alone, that someone, even if not a witness, had found her in the park and stayed with her.
“What I knew, he feared me for it, but I was just a chance to kill two birds with one stone that’s why he killed me here. Tell Mal—” Her breathing stopped and she went still, eyes open.
Tears swelled in Kamari’s eyes, and she barely supported herself with one hand on the floor as shock and disbelief speared her.
Her muscles quivered and a cold sweat dampened her skin.
“Pack doesn’t brutalize…”
Coyotes and wolves were the only pack animals around here as far as she could tell. Kamari couldn’t speak for the coyotes, but the wolves she’d known, didn’t order hits on each other.
Wolves would kill him for this, and he obviously didn’t want to die, but was a dead man walking for his part in her sister’s death.
Kamari pushed to her feet and crossed the room to find a purse carelessly discarded on the floor by the chair and picked it up. A tie peeked from under the bed, and she frowned, thinking that it looked like one Mallory had worn two days ago.
Kamari ignored it, deciding to check it out later. Then, she sifted through the contents of Isa’s purse and found a ring o
f keys, but no phone. She snagged the ring and shoved the keys into the pocket of her skirt before removing Isa’s wallet.
Kamari gave it a quick go over, finding a picture of Mallory and Isa along with Isa and another woman she didn’t recognize. A folded sheet and driver’s license made up the contents.
She put the wallet back but kept the note before going through the rest of the purse. Kamari found a small brag book pushed down in the lining between two pockets and carefully removed it.
Kamari opened it to a picture of an attractive woman. She closed it, deciding to look at it later. Kamari shoved the items into her other pocket before wiping the purse down with her skirt hoping that was good enough.
Then, put it back on the chair and grabbed the tie. The pin was the same gold M she’d seen attached to Mallory’s tie, and the fabric carried Mallory’s scent.
Torn, Kamari stuffed it down her bra and went to kneel next to Isa as the scent of Miranda caught her notice.
“Kamari,” Miranda, the healer called from behind her. “Move.”
She did, as she fought the urge to use her claws on something. Kamari hoped Isa’s storage locker held something she could use as a good lead.
“Call security,” Miranda ordered.
With trembling and damp fingers, Kamari input the number and waited.
“Security.” The cool voice stated.
“Cinnamon?”
“What’s going on?” Cinnamon asked carefully. “I don’t see any problems on the floor.”
“I’m in room seventeen with Miranda. Someone’s dead.” She swallowed back a snarl, her animal furious.
These savages would stop at nothing to keep their secrets, whatever they were. They knew no honor. They were cowards, less than animals, and they would pay, she promised.
“I’ll send a team and alert the bosses,” Cinnamon said. “Stay put.”
Kamari ended the call and stepped outside the room to lean against the wall and wrapped her arms around herself to keep from looking at the pictures. She could track them all thanks to the information super highway and a friend in the bureau.
The seductive scent of sandalwood and vanilla drifted to her, making her wolf’s head tilt up and drag it in. The subtle scent belonged to the sexy bouncer with the hard body and few curves.
“What in the hell?” Mica demanded tightly.
Kamari turned her head to study the leggy woman. Her black hair was cut in a classic man cut with the part on the left, the back shorter than the top.
Mica’s gray eyes slid over her, revealing nothing, which wasn’t unusual.
Kamari had seen Mica with her friends, seen the warmth in her eyes and the playful smile on her lips. However, there was nothing when Mica looked at her.
Mica quickly turned away as if looking at her was offensive. Maybe she couldn’t stand the sight of tears or red eyes and splotchy skin.
“Miranda? What the—oh shit,” she breathed out the last two words. “Sam and Mal are going to be furious and whoever dropped the ball just might be dead women themselves.”
“Well, make your call, and start with your only possible witness,” Miranda told her.
Mica sighed and made the call. As she did so, Kamari glanced around the spacious room, Isa’s words coming back to her.
“Sam, we’ve got a dead body up in seventeen. What do you want me to do?”
“Okay. Miranda, Sam wants us out. She’s calling Jenner.”
“Good idea. Someone killed this woman, and we’re just mucking up the crime scene.” Miranda removed her gloves and straightened. “Are you okay, Kamari?” She walked over. “Do you need some Valium?”
Kamari scrunched up her face in distaste. “Of course not. I’m fine. I’ve just never seen anybody carved up like that.”
“Did you touch anything?” Mica asked coolly.
“Isa,” she retorted tartly. She knew how not to contaminate a crime scene and probably even better than Mica. “I felt for a pulse like Miranda told me and got a towel to put pressure on the wound,” Kamari explained.”
“She was still alive?” Mica asked curiously. Those gray eyes shifted in color slightly, darkening a little with gold flecks. “You talked to her? What about?”
Kamari shrugged, caught by the shifting colors of Mica’s eyes. “She just told me—”
“Did she say who did this?” Mica cut her off in an urgent tone.
“No,” Kamari said carefully. “She just said some guy named Jerry—she trusted him, but he was behind her murder.”
Mica shared a look with Miranda. “Anything else?” Mica met her gaze again, wary now.
She had some idea who this Jerry might be, and that meant Kamari might have the ally she needed to find Jerry and make him and his buddies pay for taking her sister from her.
Chapter Four
Chills ran down Mica’s spine at the implication. Jerry was a common enough name, but it was just too coincidental for her liking.
She knew Samarra and Mallory would feel the same way and was already considering who to bring onto the investigation team other than Sydney.
If Jerry had ordered someone to commit such an unspeakable crime against his own packmate just to set them up, there would be no way his own pack wouldn’t kill him for suborning such cruelty.
“Did she tell you anything about Jerry? Anything that could help us find him?” Mica asked, not wanting to press too hard. The girl looked like she was on the verge of breaking as it was.
And all Mica wanted to do was hold Kamari and protect her from the mess she had inadvertently stepped into. However, Mica knew that couldn’t happen despite her coyote’s natural instincts.
Kamari shook her head and the subtle scent of soft perfume wafted to Mica, making the coyote half of her growl.
“I saw someone on my way here, though.”
Mica bit back a growl and flattened her lips. She couldn’t sense a true change in Kamari’s body chemistry indicating deception, but she sensed a lie all the same.
There could be any number of reasons for it, fear being at the top of the list.
“Did you recognize her?”
“No. I’m rarely up here, so I wouldn’t know anything about the guests that frequent this part of the club.”
Mica’s brows knit into a frown. “Who works up here normally?”
“Ella.”
Ella had some explaining to do and the alphas might fire her ass. This was too crucial a time and both Samarra and Mallory were a little wary.
“Mica,” Samarra called from behind them, and Mica gave her a look over her shoulder.
“Get back on shift, but don’t leave the club,” Mica told Kamari. “I’m sure the police will want a word.”
Kamari nodded and beat a hasty retreat. Mica’s coyote watched the swish of Kamari’s hips and the bunch of her ass and a howl threatened to break free of her human vocal cords, but she fought it, jerking her gaze away.
She exhaled roughly and Samarra gave her a curious look, but didn’t comment.
“She said something else to her,” Miranda said once Kamari was gone. “The phone died just as she began whispering.”
“Who? Why?” Samarra demanded.
Mica allowed Miranda to give the report while she called down to security to set things in motion.
“And you think she held that back?” Samarra demanded of Miranda.
“Yeah.”
“Mica?” Samarra turned to her. “What’s your assessment?”
Mica shrugged and glanced to where the younger woman had been standing. There was something about her, her scent especially that was distracting.
“Kamari was holding something back, but to say she was lying would be a stretch. She might be upset or afraid.”
Samarra nodded. “Do what you have to find out what she’s up to,” Samarra ordered. “You two seem to have some kind of sexual tension going on—use it.”
Mica’s coyote wasn’t keen on toying with Kamari, but she didn’t mind too much. She was
interested in Kamari and wanted her in her bed, so there was no reason she couldn’t use this to her advantage.
“Not a problem,” Mica replied coolly.
“I don’t want Syd on this, Mica,” Samarra said tightly. “Miranda, not a word to her.”
Miranda made a show of zipping her lips. “Silent as the grave.”
“Go,” Samarra ordered. “She’ll be in the grave if Syd gets wind from her. I know she’s going to find out, but make sure she doesn’t know Jerry’s name was mentioned. This might have nothing to do with Jericho.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Mica said. “But the chances are he set this up to draw you and Mal into a nasty little investigation that might lead to both of you being prosecuted for murder.”
“That is the very reason Syd can’t be implicated. If I’m taken out of play, she has to protect her mate, and you have to help her. We can’t count on Brynn.”
“She’ll be taking over for Mallory,” Mica said. “I think Cinnamon needs to be pulled, she’ll be Brynn’s second.”
Samarra nodded her agreement. “Get someone independent of the club to aid in the investigation. Start with the pack. I don’t want outsiders that Jen can break or intimidate working this.”
Mica nodded. “I need Delany.” Delany was an old friend of hers who was not exactly what she seemed.
“Bring her in. Mallory might object, but she could have as much to lose as I do because one thing’s for sure. Jericho’s as eager to get rid of Mallory as he is me, and he’s going to either try to play us against each other or destroy us together.”
****
Jerry smiled after viewing the footage of the girl’s murder. Isa had been nothing but a thorn in his side for the last four months. He was certain she’d found something he’d lost that had led her to Hartsland two weeks ago.
He didn’t know how any of them had missed her, but they had.
“Did she tell you where the box is?” He twisted in the front seat of the Cadillac to meet the killer’s cool stare. The box held important video footage taken of a murder he’d committed almost three weeks ago during a visit to Hartsland.
The trip had meant to be special for the five of them, but Isa had tainted it. Reason enough for her to die, but he had too much to lose if word got out about that. People would start looking into his past and find a string of playthings he’d broken.
Getting Nawty With the Coyote Page 2