Still Waters [A Kyra Moray Mystery]

by Deanna Lee

  "No. I have to find this son of a bitch.” Kyra tossed the towel aside and engaged her comm-u.

  Ana went to retrieve the hand towel, which she folded and set on the counter next to the sink.

  Kyra walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer of her grandmother's home. “Alex."

  "Hey, beautiful."

  "I need you to do me a favor."

  "Sure. Now?"

  "Yeah, now.” Kyra leaned against the wall. “Glory was taken in a med-flight unit to Memorial Hospital South. I need you to be there for her. I'll clear you through the guards."

  "How bad?"

  "Bad. I don't want her to be alone, Alex."

  "She won't.” He paused. “What happened to her?"

  "She was attacked. I'll tell you more later. Now, I just need to know that you have this, that you'll make sure she has everything she needs."

  "I'll take care of her."

  Kyra nodded and blinked back tears. She wasn't going to cry; she couldn't let herself get that far gone. “I'll be there as soon as I can."

  She ended the transmission and looked back at Ana. “Make sure the officers assigned to her know that he and his brother have access."

  "Already submitted the order.” Ana followed her as she strode down the hall of what could only be called the plantation house. “Your nana and the mayor had on matching pajamas."

  Kyra turned to look at her, a smile hovering on her lips. “Can you imagine?"

  "It was charming. I wonder if he has one of those old-fashioned bed caps?"

  They stopped talking as they walked into the main foyer, where Sharon Moray was holding court. “Thank you, officers; I'll take it from here.” She watched in silence as they left the room; then she walked to the settee where her grandmother was sitting. “How much do you want to know?"

  "I'm not a fragile ninny, Kyra. I want to know it all."

  "A man calling himself the Waterman has been killing women in the city."

  "Yes, I watch the news."

  "Tonight, he kidnapped Glory James and...” She sucked in a breath. “He cut her open, wrist to elbow, and left her to die in the bathroom of the carriage house."

  What color had remained in Sharon's face drained quickly. She turned furious eyes on the mayor. “Damn you, Henry. You promised me that the files pertaining to Alicia were sealed!"

  "They are sealed.” Kyra took her hand and held it tightly. “Whatever he has found out about my mother and her death ... it wasn't through official records. He was impersonating a dead boy and working on the mayor's re-election campaign."

  Sharon nodded and glared once more at the mayor. Kyra almost felt sorry for him. “What about Glory?"

  "She's got a very good chance."

  Sharon stood abruptly. “Okay, then. I'm going to get dressed and go to the hospital. Henry, you are going to go downtown and prepare a press conference or whatever mayors do when there's a bloody serial killer loose in their city. Kyra, you and your lovely partner are going to get that bastard that invaded my property and hurt Glory."

  Kyra watched her stalk from the room. “Sir, I would suggest that you go along with her and do whatever it is she thinks you should. It'll be less painful.” She checked her gun and wondered when she'd picked up. “Let's go."

  * * * *

  "Get a note to the guards on duty that my grandmother is coming down there to take charge."

  "She did well."

  "Nana is the queen of disaster management. She'll have herself a good old-fashioned hissy fit later.” Kyra pushed her p-pc into its slot in the dash to charge, then looked at her partner.

  Ana looked back at her. “We need to know if Glory saw him."

  Kyra grimaced, but input Alex's code; his voice filled her ear immediately. “I can't think about how she is."

  "Okay,” he said simply.

  "Has she been awake?"

  "Yes, they put her in a room about twenty minutes ago. She's been asking for you since I arrived."

  "Just tell her that I'll get there when I can. I need to know what she remembers, Alex."

  "She's been talking to us. Marcus is recording it with a p-pc; he figured you'd want it.” His voice softened. “They had to give her blood replacement, and they're making arrangements for a surgery to do some repairs. The skin surgeon is confident that she won't scar."

  "Thanks.” She focused on the road and blinked rapidly to keep the tears that welled up in her eyes at bay. “Have Marcus forward me what he has immediately."

  "Yeah."

  Kyra disconnected the call and cleared her throat. “They gave her blood replacement, and they'll have to do surgery to repair her arms."

  "Good.” Ana was looking out the window, her body rigid. “Do you trust me?"

  Kyra glanced in her direction and then focused on the road. “I trust that you are a good cop, and that you'll have my back if the time comes. Personally, Ana, we haven't spent enough time together to get to know each other."

  "Fair enough."

  "I wouldn't have taken you on as a partner if I'd been worried about you being able to function with me in the field.” Kyra looked at her again. “What's on your mind?"

  "Earlier, you said you don't expect me to cover for you if you kill the suspect."

  "Good cops don't cover up the actions of anyone that steps outside the law. There are plenty in the department that follow that blue wall crap, and it makes me sick. We didn't take this job on to form some sort of fraternity where we pick and choose the criminals we'll bring to justice."

  "Okay.” Ana fidgeted in her seat for a few minutes.

  Silence settled over them as they turned off the highway and onto the narrow road that would lead to Aaron's storage shed. Kyra cleared her throat and changed the subject abruptly. “The trophies are important to him, so very important. He'll be desperate to find a way to get to them."

  "Yeah. That water ritual you spoke of in your reports?"

  "The verser is the pouring of water or liquor onto the ground for the loa. It's like an offering. The loa is the spirit."

  "So, Aaron is using bodies of the victims to represent the ground. The question is, just whose loa is he making all of these offerings to?"

  "I want to think it's the mother. That he's trying to in some way cleanse her soul for the way she died."

  "But?"

  "Why is he killing other women?"

  "His father abused and misused women at his leisure,” Ana murmured. “Aaron considers them disposable."

  "Yes, and which parent would have encouraged that belief in him?"

  "The father.” Ana frowned as she considered what Kyra was saying. “Jake Belton killed his wife and in some way blamed her way of life for her death. Now, Aaron is using Voodoo in a misguided effort to cleanse her soul of evil."

  "Or Nera killed her husband for the abuse and the womanizing. She set the house on fire to cover up the crime and disappeared into the bayou with the kid. She spends years telling him how worthless and wretched his father was for his womanizing. Aaron grows to hate her, and women in general, for the murder of his father."

  "Okay, say I buy that theory ... what's up with the tattoos?"

  "In Voodoo, elaborate depictions of gods or ancestral spirits are drawn. These pictures are usually drawn with a fine powdery substance before the ceremony and are destroyed during the ceremony. These pictures are called veves. The veves are used to draw down the spirits of the dead to the material plane."

  "He's trying to resurrect one of his parents."

  "It makes sense."

  "The bones and ashes in the jar?"

  "The govi that he sent me probably contained his first victim, a ritualistic reproduction of his parent's death. Which parent is anyone's guess at this point.” Kyra pulled to a stop behind a large evidence transport and looked at her. “Find Dr. Marcos. I want to know exactly what she's found."

  * * * *

  Kyra found Desi Marcos under a shelf, with her ass in the air. “Dr. Marcos."


  Desi jumped and hit her head. “Crap!” She pulled out and rubbed the back of her head. “Inspector, you have impeccable timing."

  "Tell me what you've found."

  "Well, beyond the glass boxes that you discovered, we found photos of five different women, each in six different locations, one photo per location.” She grimaced when she looked at Kyra. “I would say he followed the original targets around for about six days each, because none of them are wearing the same clothes in the pictures. We found several pictures of Glory James, but they were all taken on the same day. She certainly wasn't someone he planned to take."

  "He tattooed six women."

  "Yes, he must have the pictures of his sixth victim with him.” She stood and dusted off her pants. “We also found the mold he used to create the wax doll."

  "And he chose me as his victim,” Kyra muttered dryly. “That was a mistake."

  "He still needs to have two more for the tattoo series.” Desi motioned toward the glass boxes as a CSU tech entered the shack. “There are two empty boxes. He's using his own urine to cure the skin."

  "I figured.” Kyra grimaced. “Nasty motherfucker."

  "Thank you.” Desi took the crow bar and dropped back down on her knees. She motioned to the tech that was hovering near her. “Noah Heath. I stole him from District 1. Noah, tell the inspector about the mini-disks."

  He turned to Kyra. “We found five mini-disks with information on the victims that he tattooed, including the one that moved to Moon Colony after Mardi Gras. His pictures of her were taken in the colony installation. Since she was the last potential victim to be tattooed, we can assume he had or has plans to go to the moon to take her out."

  "His fifth victim of choice would have been the district attorney.” She looked at the pictures of the woman in question, one of them taken while she was obviously in court. “She rarely argues cases. It might be beneficial to figure out which one that was."

  "It was the Dennison case.” Desi shoved a crowbar into the small slot she'd managed to dig out of the wood and jerked on it. “I did the research for that case. Man, he was an asshole. He bilked hundreds of people out of their government settlements. We're talking billions of dollars. She nailed him to the wall. It was a good trial.” She jerked on the plank again and it popped free. “Watch your feet,” she warned as she tossed the plank and crowbar out behind her.

  Emerging with large, leather-bound book, Desi stood and flipped it open. “Man, oh, man."

  "What?"

  "He kept a diary. Holy crap, this is awesome.” She flipped through another page. “Totally psycho, but awesome. I have to get this back to the station."

  Kyra took the book from her and passed it to Noah. “Take that back to the station and start transcribing it.” She turned to Desi. “I need your help."

  "Come on, Inspector, that's prime evidence.” She looked mournfully around Kyra to Noah and the book. “It's not fair; I found it."

  "I need you to find him."

  "How?” Her curiosity immediately kicked into gear.

  "He's got Glory James's comm-u. He has the signal blocked for normal tracking, but I figure you might have a few tricks of your own” She jerked her head. “Get your gear. I'm going to give this asshole a call."

  * * * *

  Kyra pulled out her p-pc as she climbed into the driver's seat, then handed the unit to Ana. “Check for the recording."

  Ana nodded and flipped through a couple of screens. “It's here."

  "Play it."

  "Kyra..."

  "Just play it.” She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as Glory's voice, groggy with drugs, filled the vehicle.

  "He grabbed me off the street."

  "Kyra is going to need you to tell us what you can."

  "She found me."

  "Yes, she found you." Alex's voice was soft and patient. "Tell us about the man who took you."

  "He was young, short blond hair. Very short, it didn't look right for his face."

  "Where did he take you first?"

  "I don't know. I remember the van. The floor wasn't carpeted, and it hurt to lay on it. He stopped it, and he came back to me ... “ A soft sob broke into the recording, and Kyra's stomach rolled. She knew what was coming, and hearing the words was like a knife in her heart. "He raped me. I tried to stop him. He was just so strong."

  "Have you ever seen him before?"

  "Yes, on the news. He was going to kill me. I knew it. I knew who he was." Her voice caught, and anger mingled with her next words. "I told him he had the wrong woman, that I didn't have a tattoo. He said that it didn't matter, that I was a personal gift. A gift from him to Kyra."

  "Do you need some water?"

  "No. I need to tell Kyra." The sound of a comm-u activating filled the car.

  "Just relax," Marcus whispered. "Do you need something for the pain?"

  "No. Who is he talking to?"

  "Probably Kyra."

  "You have to tell her what I did."

  "What did you do, Glory?"

  "I put my p-pc under his front seat. After he raped me, I pretended to pass out. When he left me, I pulled my p-pc out of my purse and turned it on. It's under his driver's seat. She has to catch up with him before the battery wears down."

  "How much time does it have left?"

  "I charged it yesterday afternoon; maybe six or seven hours."

  "Alex?"

  "Yeah, Kyra said she would be here as soon as she can. She wants to you to transfer what Glory has been able to tell you to her p-pc."

  "Tell her she can't kill him."

  "Kyra is a good cop, Glory. She won't do anything she can't live with."

  "Make sure you tell her. She can't kill him. He isn't worth what it would cost her."

  The recording ended abruptly.

  Kyra turned on the vehicle and engaged her comm-u. He must have been waiting, because Glory's comm-u connected immediately. “I imagine you're disappointed."

  "I underestimated you. It won't happen again,” he snapped, his voice brittle.

  "You can't even comprehend the kind of enemy I am, Aaron. When I catch up with you, I'm going to redefine your whole fucking world."

  "You're just a woman."

  "And you're just a weak little mama's boy who doesn't know how to play in the real world."

  "Shut up, you stupid bitch!"

  Kyra settled back in her seat. “How did you feel when you killed your mother? Was it worth it? Does her voice haunt you? You'll spend years answering those questions. I have a team of doctors three miles long waiting to get ahold of you. They consider you unique and special. Me, I just think you're a waste of flesh and bone."

  "I thought about you when I raped your friend. She screamed for you, for help."

  "I'll have you screaming for your dead mommy as soon I get my hands on you.” She disconnected the transmission abruptly and turned to look at Desi, who was setting up in the backseat. “Get Glory's p-pc GPS code and find him."

  "I've already got the request into ComSen. I should have the code any second now."

  Kyra grimaced. She hated just about anything to do with Computer Sentinel, but in this case, they did seem to serving a purpose. “Feed the information into the navigation system as soon as possible."

  "I'll have to borrow a satellite. Give me a second."

  "Borrow a satellite?” Kyra demanded.

  "Ours was appropriated by the Coast Guard six hours ago for a joint operation with the DEA.” Desi popped her gum. “I could take it back, but I'd prefer just to borrow another and let them get their guy."

  "Yeah. Just hurry."

  "Done.” She blew a bubble. “I hope the greater metro area of New Orleans will forgive me for interrupting their I Love Lucy re-runs."

  "You stole satellite feed from a vid-network?"

  "Yeah.” Desi popped her gum. “Inputting into the navigation system now. If anyone asks, we'll just say I made an error. Oh, wow, he's close. Six miles north of our current location. We'
re going to need a portable GPS...” She opened up a large plastic case to her left and started rummaging. “And a boat. We're going to need a boat."

  * * * *

  Kyra checked her weapon and then looked at Ana, who was preparing the land/water craft they'd just succeeded in borrowing for departure. She looked back to Desi, who was still rummaging through her cases.

  "Dr. Marcos."

  "Yeah?"

  "Don't forget your weapon."

  Her mouth dropped open briefly; then she closed it and went back to rummaging for equipment. “I've only fired my gun on the range and simulations."

  "You have a nice, shiny detective badge, Desdemona. It's about time you used it."

  Desi looked toward her and bit down on her bottom lip. “You know it was honorary, right?"

  Kyra laughed. “Get your crap; we're leaving.” She strode away and managed to look stern when she got to the dock. “Thanks, Clara."

  Clara crossed her arms over her breasts and nodded. “You find that boy, and you make him pay for what he did."

  "I will."

  "Glory is a beautiful woman. I've always found your friendship with her your saving grace."

  Kyra paused. “Which one of you is a client?"

  Clara laughed. “I'm hers, actually. She cuts and styles my hair personally once a week. I bring her dried seasoning and herbs occasionally. My boys are down at the hospital with her. Thought I might go see her myself."

  "Do that; she could use another familiar face.” Kyra pulled off her jacket and tossed it into the watercraft. “You don't actually travel around in this thing, do you?"

  "I do. Alex bought it for my birthday.” Clara put her hands on her hips. “Don't get scratches on it.” She sniffed as Desi rushed past her and dropped down into the boat. “I see you've added another member to your super bitch cop squad."

  Kyra laughed aloud as she stepped off the dock and into the boat. “You are unique in this world, Clara."

  "Be careful."

  "We will.” Kyra punched in the start code, put the vehicle in gear, and shot away from the dock.

  The bayou, despite the urban development around it, was wild and dark. The rotting vegetation around them gave off a foul and lingering odor that made Kyra long for a sterile environment like the morgue. The damp air seemed to settle over them as she navigated the boat away from the dock and into the narrow waterway.