A Caress of Bones: a serial killer thriller (Wren Delacroix Book 9)

by V. J. Chambers

  “You can’t go onto the compound,” said Maliah.

  Reilly clenched his hand into a fist. “If that’s where—”

  “Come on, Cai, you don’t want to damage whatever case you need to build against him,” she said.

  Reilly sighed heavily.

  “We could go,” said Trevon.

  Maliah turned to him. “No, we can’t, because we are office people. We stay in labs and behind screens and we do not go into the field. So, Cai is going to send Cardinal Falls swarming into the compound, and they are going to find Kayden.”

  Reilly’s shoulders slumped. And then his phone rang. He tugged it out of his pocket. “Fuck,” he said, looking at the screen. He put it to his ear. “Hi, Wren.”

  Maliah chuckled. She had been wondering where Wren was.

  “Well, you were sleeping,” said Reilly, “and I didn’t want to wake you, so—” He winced, pulling the phone away from his ear. Tones of Wren’s angry voice filtered through, even though Maliah could not make out the words.

  Reilly held up a finger to both of them and strode out of the room. As he shut the door, they could hear him saying, “You need rest, not just for yourself but for the baby.” Then the door shut and cut off the sound.

  Trevon came over and knelt down next to her chair. “I’m going,” he said in a low voice.

  “What?” she said. “Where?”

  “To the compound,” said Trevon. “I can’t just sit back and wait around. After everything I have done to try to help Mischa, to save Mischa, if it ends like this, it will destroy me.”

  “The police will—”

  “Go in with their guns, announcing themselves, and Hawk will hide them. But if we go in, we can sneak around like last time, and we can find Hawk, and he’ll lead us to Kayden and Mischa. I just know it.”

  “We?” she said. “I’m going with you now?”

  He furrowed his brow. “Oh, yeah, I guess we hadn’t gotten to that part of the conversation. I sort of assumed that we’d argue about it, and then you’d see that I was determined, so you’d say I couldn’t go alone, and then you’d offer to come along.”

  She sighed. “Fine.”

  “Fine?”

  “But I don’t see how we’re going to get away from Reilly.”

  “You’re going to come with me?” he said.

  “I am,” she said.

  “Tell Reilly a different address. Say that while we were in here, you got my phone and you were able to uncover the real number and that he’s elsewhere.”

  “But that will mean that he sends the police there too, and then we’ll be in the compound on our own with no backup.”

  Trevon chewed on his lower lip, considering. “Well, maybe that’s better.”

  “How could it possibly be better?”

  “The police are just going to spook him,” said Trevon. “I’ll talk Kayden down.”

  “When have you ever talked him down?”

  “Well, I’ll distract him, then. I’ll get him to trade Mischa for me.”

  “No.”

  “He called me,” said Trevon. “I’m important to him somehow. It has to be me.”

  She glared at him.

  “Look, you’ll be there too. You can call for reinforcements any time.”

  “I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this.”

  Reilly burst back into the office. “She’s losing her mind.”

  “Delacroix is?” said Maliah.

  “She wants to go on the compound and confront Hawk, and I don’t want her anywhere near—”

  “Well, it’s a good thing that he’s not on the compound,” said Maliah.

  “What?” said Reilly.

  “I looked at Trevon’s phone while you were gone, and it wasn’t hard to figure out what number that Kayden was actually calling from. So, I have another address for you.” Now she had to make up something on the fly.

  What should she make up?

  “You do?” said Reilly, coming closer.

  She sat back down at her computer and pulled up Google Maps. She clicked her mouse on a random spot in Cardinal Falls and zoomed in.

  “Well, where is he?” said Reilly.

  “Um, hold on,” said Maliah, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling on it. “Here. I don’t know what that is, but that’s where his phone is.” She handed it over to him.

  Reilly looked down at it.

  “You want me to send it to your phone so that you don’t have to put it in your GPS?” said Maliah.

  “That would be great,” said Reilly. “Thank you, Maliah. You’re a technology wizard.” He considered. “Wizardess.”

  “Go,” she said. “Mischa is counting on you.”

  Reilly nodded once and then hurried out of the office.

  She stood up at her desk. “Oh, shit.”

  “Can I just say that you are really fucking sexy right now?” said Trevon.

  THEY parked Maliah’s car in the parking lot at Billy’s. She had driven them to the office, because she was ostensibly less emotionally upset than Trevon, but she wasn’t sure if that was the case anymore.

  Trevon seemed focused, even if he wasn’t exactly calm, but she was only a bundle of nerves. She didn’t know what to do or where to go or what to expect. Her heart was beating too fast. She could only think that this was stupid. That this was really, really stupid, and that they needed to leave the dangerous shit like this to Wren and Reilly in the future.

  They were the sidekicks. They were not the ones supposed to be involved in the final showdown.

  But Trevon was right.

  Kayden had called him.

  This was about Trevon and Kayden.

  So, she followed him as they made their way through the path to the compound. He went first, but he reached back and held tightly to one of her hands, and he pulled her through the darkness and the undergrowth towards the light of a fire.

  There was music, but it was nothing like last time. This was only the sound of one thin guitar, with no vocal accompaniment. Last time, there had been four or five drummers beating hand drums, but this time there was nothing like that, only the guitar, and the fire, which was burning low.

  When they got close enough to see the fire, they could only make out two figures. One was the man playing guitar, his long hair falling like a curtain as he curled lovingly around his instrument. The other was a woman who was glassy-eyed as she looked up at the fall sky and sucked on a cigarette.

  Trevon whispered in her ear. “He’s not here.”

  She could see that. Did he want her to respond?

  “I think,” Trevon whispered, “that he might be in David Song’s old house. I remember reading about that. Even though David Song disappeared, they kept his house clean and waiting for his return. Come on.”

  And now he was tugging on her again, and they were leaving the fire behind. He led her down the road through the middle of the compound, which was paved but full of potholes and cracks. Cabins lined the road, huddled in the trees, dark and silent.

  “There.”

  She saw it.

  High on a hill, all the lights on, a two-story house amongst the trees. If it hadn’t been dark, it wouldn’t have been as easy to make out, but the light emanating from it made it stand out. The house had a double-story wraparound porch, so that someone could walk around up there and see for all directions.

  Trevon moved faster, pulling her along with him.

  They picked their way up the driveway to the house, and as they did, Maliah felt an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach—not pleasant—and it seemed to grow stronger as they grew closer to the house.

  The lights were on inside, so they could see in, but anyone in there couldn’t see them.

  Everything was on display.

  The lower level of the house contained a great room with a staircase in the center, a dining and kitchen area tucked on one side and a living room on the other side. Hawk Marner was stretched out on a leather couch, facing them. H
is shirt was unbuttoned, and he was wearing a pair of leather pants.

  Maliah had never totally gotten the appeal of Hawk Marner. He’d always seemed a little too white trash for her, a little too skinny, and a little too… off. But there, with a strand of his hair hanging against one of his cheekbones, with his gray eyes glowing with intensity, and the planes of his chest bare, she got a horrible shudder going through her body at the sight of him.

  There were two women sitting on the floor in front of him, gazing up at him with rapt attention.

  Trevon tugged her closer.

  The windows were open to let in the night air, so they could hear him.

  “So, there I was, lying there on the field, tripping my balls off, doing my best to run as far as I could from the Lord,” Hawk was saying. “But he is so much stronger than us. He is all-encompassing, and there was no way I could run from his magnificence.”

  Another woman came into the room carrying a open bottle of beer. It was Deborah Nielson. She gave the beer to Hawk.

  “Thank you, kitten,” said Hawk, tugging her down onto the couch next to him.

  She curled into him.

  He put his arm around her. “And so, the Horned Lord found me there. He galloped up on me where I was frozen in that field, unable to run, and his hooves trampled me down into the ground. He lowered his glowing red eyes to mine and he said, ‘Wilt thou serve me?’”

  The women on the floor both gasped, mesmerized by this story.

  “I wanted to say no,” said Hawk. “I wanted… I had other plans for my life, but he did not care about my weak and foolish ideas. He knew that I was destined to be his vessel and his servant. He made sure that I knew it too. He trampled all of it out of me, and he forced me to submit to him, and now I live for his glory.”

  This was some kind of very gross deity they worshiped in this place. Maliah turned to Trevon. She whispered, “I don’t see Kayden anywhere. Wouldn’t Hawk be with him if he were pulling his strings?”

  Trevon gaped at Hawk through the window. “I don’t know.”

  Hawk furrowed his brow. “Did you hear that?”

  “It’s animals in the woods, lover,” said Deborah, rubbing her palm over Hawk’s pectoral muscles.

  Hawk turned to her and lifted her hand. Kissing her palm, he extricated himself from her and started for the window.

  Trevon wrapped his arms around Maliah’s arm and yanked her backwards, into the darkness.

  “Who’s out there?” called Hawk as he approached the window.

  Trevon and Maliah backed up further, letting the shadows of the surrounding trees swallow them up.

  “I can smell you,” said Hawk in a low voice.

  Bullshit, thought Maliah.

  Trevon seemed startled, however. He seized her hand and took off at a run.

  She was pulled along with him, nearly tripping as they ran.

  Hawk heard the noise and yelled. “I hear you out there! Who disturbs the abode of the servant of the Lord?” He strode towards the door.

  But Maliah couldn’t watch him anymore, because she had to run, and she had to watch where she was putting her feet.

  They weren’t running back the way they had come. They were going out into the woods behind David Song’s house.

  Trevon must be as unsettled as she was, running in the wrong direction, and then—

  Maliah saw a flash of bare skin amongst the leaves, up ahead. She skidded to a stop. “Trevon!” Her voice was shrill. It carried.

  An answering roar came from Hawk, and she looked back to see that Hawk Marner was stalking towards them, into the woods, his open shirt flaring out behind him. He was lit from behind, and he looked like a glowing demon.

  She skidded to a stop, feet away from the bodies.

  Trevon let out an anguished noise.

  It was Mischa and Kayden, their bodies arranged with their heads together and their feet pointing in opposite directions, like arrows on a compass, each in the readiness pose.

  They were both nude.

  Mischa’s body was unblemished except for a fine spatter of drops of red on her cheek and shoulder, which must have come from Kayden. He was still holding the gun he’d used to shoot himself.

  Trevon went down on his knees next to Mischa, whimpering.

  Maliah fumbled to get her phone out, gazing at Hawk as he came closer and closer. Her fingers shook as she selected the number for Jim McNamara. It was probably faster to call him personally than to call 911. Reilly had indicated he was out there with the other police officers.

  Hawk was closer. “Who is that? What are you doing here?”

  Maliah dropped her phone. She bent down to pick it up, her heart racing like a stampede.

  “I can see you.” Hawk was even closer.

  She hit the button on her screen and heard the comforting sound of a dial tone.

  Hawk came even closer and then stopped abruptly. “Who…?” His voice was hoarse. He pointed at the bodies. “Who did that?”

  Maliah couldn’t help but let out a laugh. He sounded so surprised. Get this guy an Oscar, she thought.

  “McNamara,” came Jim’s voice on the phone.

  “Jim, it’s Maliah Wright. I’m on the FCL compound behind David Song’s house, and there are bodies.”

  “Wait, what?” said McNamara.

  “Maliah Wright,” said Hawk, in recognition, looking her over. “It’s been an age since we’ve seen each other.”

  “Jim, we need backup. We need everyone. I’ve got Hawk Marner here, and he’s being real threatening.”

  Hawk scoffed. “How have I threatened you, woman?” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen either of these people before in my life. And I must say, it’s… displeasing to see them in a pose that disrespects the Horned Lord.”

  Trevon looked up at him at this. “You,” he ground out. He was getting to his feet. “You’re responsible for—”

  “Jim, get here,” said Maliah, hanging up the phone and going to restrain Trevon. She wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  Trevon struggled. “She was so young. She had her entire life in front of her. Why couldn’t you have left her alone?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Hawk, looking him up and down.

  Trevon got an arm free and reached for Hawk.

  “Trevon!” Maliah yelled.

  He turned to look at her.

  “Let’s not be stupid about this,” she said.

  Trevon hesitated, and then all the fight went out of him.

  Hawk walked around and peered down at the bodies. Then he knelt down on his haunches and tilted his head this way and that as he took them in.

  With a chill, Maliah was reminded of Wren. That was how she sized up bodies.

  “Bad business,” said Hawk. “Someone’s obviously trying to frame me, leaving these bodies here in my back yard.”

  “You planned all this out,” said Trevon. “You’re framing us.”

  Hawk glanced up at him. “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “Trevon Aronsen,” said Trevon.

  “Well, it’s a pleasure.” Hawk went back to the bodies.

  “I’m the lab guy,” said Trevon.

  “How nice for you,” said Hawk. “Once upon a time I wanted to join Wren’s crime-fighting team. I could have been shoulder to shoulder with you, Maliah. Maybe it would have been you and me instead of this one. You can do better. He’s not your endgame.”

  Maliah’s mouth twitched. What the hell? How could he even tell that she and Trevon were together? As for her being with Hawk, well…

  “I mean, it would have been an interlude,” said Hawk. “Everyone knows Wren and I are written in the stars. Maybe you’d have ended up with Caius. Isn’t that the way we started out? That’s the way these things are meant to go. First love is true love.”

  “I don’t know why this is the discussion you want to have over dead bodies,” said Maliah.

  “Hawk Marner is twisted,” said Trevon.
“He’s probably turned on by death.”

  Hawk chuckled softly. He stood up and turned to them. “The police are here.”

  Sirens sounded in the distance.

  “Tell Wren,” said Hawk. “If she looks at this scene and still thinks it’s me, she’s losing her touch. She should know my work better than that.”

  Maliah’s lips parted. “Did you just admit to—”

  “I admit nothing,” said Hawk with a small, satisfied—and thoroughly disturbing—smile. Then he started trekking off through the woods in the direction of the approaching flashing lights.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  WREN was curled around a cup of coffee, which was blessedly hot. She’d waited until now to drink any caffeine, when the dawn was splitting the east and spilling reds and purples over the horizon. She was looking out the window at the sunrise, not at the father of her child, who was still spitting angry words at Maliah and Trevon.

  It wasn’t that Reilly didn’t have good points.

  It had been ridiculous and stupid for Maliah and Trevon to go out there. They had put themselves unnecessarily in danger. They had knowingly deceived Wren and Reilly, who’d ultimately ended up at the compound anyway, inspecting the crime scene and the bodies that were laid out.

  But he had gone on about it for a while now, and he was giving Wren a headache.

  “Cai,” she said, finally, tearing her gaze away from the window.

  Though she’d spoken in a low voice, he heard her immediately. She felt as though they were more attuned to each other now than they’d ever been. She didn’t know if he was hyperaware because of his concern for her safety, which she knew was elevated, or if it was something else, something that felt almost primeval and unfathomable.

  Anyway, he stopped talking and looked at her. “What is it, Wren?”

  “I think they get it,” she said.

  “We do,” spoke up Trevon. “And we’re sorry. Like, really, really sorry.”

  Reilly sighed.

  “I want to go back to what Hawk said to you,” said Wren. “About it not being his work?”

  “Sure,” said Maliah.

  “I can’t figure why he’d say that,” said Wren. “I don’t know if it’s part of some big head game to throw me off or if it’s because he’s offended that I can’t tell the difference between his kills and someone else’s. But I think we all know that he didn’t kill Mischa and Kayden personally. He might have influenced Kayden, but he wasn’t the person doing the actual work on these kills.”