by C. J. Cross
“I don’t need a history lesson. Get to the point.”
“I am. Simon’s followers believed the three goddesses dedicated their lives to protecting their church and watching over its patrons, so they had no time to take lovers. Instead, lovers were brought to them.”
“And let me guess, sacrificed?”
“Yes! The Pentacle Church practiced ritualistic human sacrifice. Always a male and female, symbolizing the lovers in Simon’s writings. It was thought an honor to volunteer for the sacrifice. Death by poison.”
“And do we know their poison of choice?”
“Nightshade! It was chosen due to the star-shaped nature of the flower.”
“Well done, Doc. This church … are there any still operating?”
“Way ahead of you. There’s only six Pentacle Churches still in existence worldwide because of their extreme beliefs. Guess where the closest one is?”
“I don’t like guessing games.”
“Maryland!”
Shepard grinned. “Then it looks like we’re going on a little road trip.”
30
Jake told Dana to pack a bag. Lunch would have to wait. He pulled out of Dupont Circle and headed back toward HQ to make the necessary arrangements and fill Cramer in on their plan.
“I thought you’d be pleased,” Jake said, standing in his boss’s office for the second time in one day. “You were right to bring her in on this case. Dana’s lead is going to pay off this time. I can feel it.”
Cramer stood from his desk, grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his drawer, his steps heavy as he walked toward Jake. One hand on his shoulder, Cramer steered Jake toward the door.
“What’s up, Cap?”
Cramer frowned. “We need to talk about Dr. Gray.”
“I don’t understand.” Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You think she’s involved somehow?”
Cramer took a final drag from his cigarette before flicking it into the bushes. He exhaled the smoke slowly, savoring each poisonous vapor. Jake was glad he’d never taken up the disgusting habit, and he was surprised to see his boss had gone back to it after watching his brother beat cancer. Things must be dire.
“Look, Shep, I know you’re attached to her, but the truth is, she can’t be trusted.”
“I’m not attached, and why are you just coming to me with this now?”
“It was need to know.”
“Bullshit. My ass is on the line here, Cramer. I think that takes priority.”
“I wanted to be sure first.” Cramer pulled out his phone, and Jake felt his own vibrate. “I just sent you the file. The evidence is all right there. Dana Gray’s parents died the same way as our current victims.”
Jake took out his phone and opened the file Cramer sent, skimming the contents. It was all there, just like Cramer said. His eyes landed on the haunting crime scene photos—undeniable proof. Dana’s parents were laid out in exactly the same way as the Romeo & Juliet victims. Jake recognized them from the photo she kept on her desk.
He fought against the betrayal that flared up inside him. “Why would she keep this from us?”
Cramer gave him a patronizing look. “What’s the obvious reason?”
It couldn’t be true. Dana wasn’t a killer. But what reason would Cramer have to cast doubt in Jake’s mind? “How did you find out about this?” When Cramer didn’t answer, Jake swore. “You knew from the beginning, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “It’s why she was assigned to the case. We hoped she would lead us to anyone else involved.”
Jake’s blood boiled as he thought about the wild goose chase she’d led him on. “And no one thought this was something I needed to know?”
“It wasn’t my call. But I’m telling you now.”
Jake frowned. He was pissed. At Cramer. At the jackoffs in charge who kept him in the dark. But mostly at Dana. Still, he couldn’t quite believe she was involved. He looked back through the file for anything to exonerate Dana, but Cramer was right. The evidence was damning.
“Come on,” Cramer prodded. “You can’t tell me you didn’t wonder how she seemed to be one step ahead of us the whole time.”
“What do you mean?”
“She figured out the poison without a toxicology report. She found the perfect patsy in Vegas and kept you busy while another murder took place.”
“Well obviously she isn’t the murderer, if that’s your logic. Dana was with me the entire time in Vegas.”
Cramer shrugged. “I didn’t say I thought she was working alone.”
Closing the encrypted file, Jake slipped his phone back into his pocket. “How do you want to play this?”
“Keep her on the case for now.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“A bird in hand …”
“If Dana’s involved, which I’m not entirely convinced of, she has every reason to obstruct our investigation.”
“Not if she doesn’t know we’re on to her. Be patient. She’ll slip up eventually, and I want you there to catch her when she does.”
“So I’m supposed to just sit on the fact that I know her parents were murdered exactly the same way as our current vics?” Jake shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
“Luckily, you’re not paid for your opinion.”
Jake fought his urge to volley a sarcastic comeback. “We should look into this cold case. Finding out what happened to Dana’s parents might shed some light on our current case.”
“Her parents’ deaths were ruled a murder-suicide; open and shut.”
“Are we sure? Forensics have come a long way in the last twenty years. It might not be that simple.”
“It never is. But that’s not the play. You will sit on this information and continue your investigation as planned. That’s an order.”
Jake’s jaw ached with agitation. He clamped it shut so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if his teeth fell out in pieces when he spoke. But he didn’t trust himself not to bite Cramer’s head off for signing him up for this circus. Instead, he gave a sarcastic salute.
“Escort Dr. Gray to Maryland to look into the church. And take your time. We need you to keep her there while we get a warrant to search her apartment.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll let you know if there’s reason to make an arrest.”
“Anything else?”
“Just watch your back, Shep.”
He laughed heartlessly. “I think I can handle a librarian.”
Cramer gave him an appraising look. “Unless Maryland is just a ploy to get you to her next killing ground.”
31
By the time they crossed state lines, Jake’s feelings of betrayal had boiled into disgust. Mostly at himself for trusting this woman. He’d opened up to her, shared parts of his own tortured past, all while she sat next to him burying her own. He should’ve known better.
He honored loyalty and honesty above all else, and if Cramer was right about Gray, then she’d violated more than his trust. As far as Jake was concerned, anyone who was a party to these killings was the worst of humanity. And he had no mercy for the wicked.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Gray asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
Jake only nodded, not trusting his restraint. His temper had a short fuse. The last thing he needed to do was to lose control and call her out while in a moving vehicle. Especially in this downpour. He didn’t need a rabbit on his hands.
Popping another piece of gum into his mouth, Jake gave his jaw something else to work, other than his rage.
Her gaze lingered on him a bit longer than necessary before she turned her attention back to the GPS. She was quiet. The only sound between them the squeak of the windshield wipers. It wasn’t until Jake took an unprompted turn that she spoke again. “You weren’t supposed to turn here. The GPS said to stay on 50 for a few more miles until the exit to our hotel.”
“Yeah, I forgot to mention we need to make a stop first.”
/> “Tonight?” Dana’s dark eyes moved back to the clock on the dash. “It’s late.”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
Jake pulled the SUV into the parking lot of a rundown motel off 50 East and parked. It was a dive and the gloomy weather didn’t do it any favors. This stop was off book and Cramer wouldn’t like it. But Cramer wasn’t here. It was Jake who had to share a hotel with a potential murder suspect. He needed to know if Gray was part of this or not.
Somewhere between leaving Cramer’s office and picking her up, Jake had begun to suspect his boss might be right about her involvement. This seemed the fastest way to test that theory.
Grabbing his phone, Jake referenced a photo he’d saved to it. He held it up. Green roof, white siding, black wrought iron railings. Yep, this was the place all right.
The motel had changed names a handful of times in the past few years, but it still looked the same. Dingy and desolate.
Without a word, he got out of the car, knowing Gray would follow. She did. Jake kept his guard up as he walked toward the hotel. He’d decided it was best to think of Gray as guilty until proven innocent. And that part would be up to her.
What she revealed once inside the room he was taking her to would condemn or exonerate her. Either way, her fate was in her hands—even if she didn’t know it yet.
32
Dana shook the rain from her coat and hair in the lobby. After Shepard flashed his badge to the man at the front desk, he was given a key to room 208. Dana followed him silently until they were alone in the stairwell. “What are we doing here?”
He didn’t answer.
“Was there another murder?”
Still no answer.
A strange sense of déjà vu tickled her mind, making her wonder if Shepard was right about the severity of her head injury. Dana had only slept in fits and starts since returning from Las Vegas. She was exhausted and presently frustrated; a combination that trumped logic. She reached up and grabbed Shepard’s arm, ready to demand an answer.
Not a smart move.
He moved so fast she was against the wall before she knew what happened. Her mind emptied of everything but fear as she clawed at his forearm. It was pressed against her windpipe, her other arm pinned painfully behind her back.
“Jake!” The word came out in a rasp. “What’s going on?”
His face hardened as he brought his lips close to her ear, the smell of rain on his hot skin permeating the surrounding air. “You tell me.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t understand.”
Somehow, her lack of answer satisfied him. Jake released her, stepping back to give her breathing room. Dana didn’t know what the hell just happened, but she was grateful to breathe freely again.
She sucked in a breath, reflexively massaging her arm where his vice-like grip had been. If her confrontation with Barnes had rocked her confidence, this altercation with Shepard had decimated it.
Dana liked to think of herself as an independent woman who could defend herself if necessary. Staring at Shepard now, she was full of doubt. Had she been foolish to come here with him alone?
“Claire and everyone at the Smithsonian knows where I am tonight.”
Shepard laughed. “Like you’re the one who should be worried?”
“I don’t understand. Please, just tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Actually, I think you’re the one who needs to start talking.” He tried to push her up the stairs, but she wouldn’t budge. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you explain yourself.”
He let her go, shrugging. “I’ll be in room 208. The explanation should be pretty clear.”
Dana watched him go, his rugged silhouette swallowed up by the darkness. It was late and she was in the middle of nowhere with a hair-triggered FBI agent on a witch hunt. Maybe the case was getting to Shepard. The smart thing to do was to go back to the front desk and call her office. Or better yet, Agent Cramer. The FBI wouldn’t leave her stranded out here if Shepard had actually snapped.
Standing in the stairwell, Dana looked back toward the first floor. Her good sense was pulling her in that direction, but she couldn’t shake the nagging déjà vu that refused to let her leave this place. Reluctantly, she gave in to her curiosity and climbed the stairs.
She approached room 208 with caution. The door was open, foreboding filling the hallway. Dana’s stomach knotted as she got closer. She saw the twin beds first. Her mind did the rest; memories filling in the blanks with bodies that weren’t there. But that same patterned carpet was. She’d never forget it—dingy red with little gold starbursts.
Her feet moved her forward even though her mind was frozen in place, or maybe it was frozen in the past, because as she walked into the last room her parents had ever seen, all of Dana’s nightmares came to life. Her heart was beating so fast she couldn’t hear what Shepard was saying. She didn’t care. She was finally here; in the place she’d lay awake imagining a million sleepless nights. The room where her parents left her.
Dana’s knees slammed into the floor. She was vaguely aware of the pain, but her soul hurt so much worse. “Why?” she whispered. “Why did you leave me?”
What started out as a quiet plea turned into a sob as Dana hugged herself, rocking back and forth as tears streamed down her face. “Mom! Dad! Oh God. Why did you come here?”
Shepard must’ve thought her questions were meant for him, or maybe her hysterics were making him uncomfortable because he spoke, and she heard him this time. “I had to know for sure.”
She looked up at him through her tears. “Know what?”
“If you were involved in this?”
“In what? My parents’ murder?” Her voice was incredulous.
“Why didn’t you tell me what happened to them?”
“I was afraid you’d throw me off the case if you knew I had a personal interest.”
Jake swore under his breath. He ran his hands through his hair, spraying droplets of cold rainwater onto her. “I still might have to kick you off the case.”
“Please don’t!” Dana climbed to her feet, her heart pounding like a kick drum. It couldn’t end here. Not like this. “We’re close, Shepard. I need to see this through.”
Looking morose, he shook his head, making no promises. “Let’s go to our hotel. We can talk about it there.”
“Wait!” Not having learned her lesson, she foolishly reached out to grab his arm again, but this time, he only stiffened. Between him and Claire, she was starting to get a complex. Shepard turned back to face her, his stormy gaze pinning Dana in place. She was testing his limits, she knew that, but being here had opened a new door for Dana. One that had always been locked until now. “This was the last place they were alive. I … I need a minute to … to say goodbye.”
He nodded. “Take all the time you need.” Then he walked out the door, giving her some privacy.
Dana took more than a few steadying breaths as she looked around the room. When she found her voice, she felt stupid, but she pushed past her embarrassment. Better to be a fool today than regret tomorrow. There was a yellow chair in the corner of the room. She walked toward it, thinking she’d sit down, but her mind filled the piece of furniture with the faceless shape of the killer.
Unable to bring herself to sit where her parents’ murderer may have sat, Dana walked back to the center of the room, standing between both beds, near the foot. The bedspreads had been updated to crisp white linens, but otherwise, the room was exactly the same, right down to the art and the ugly red and gold carpet.
She swallowed past the tightness in her throat. It was raw from crying. She pushed past it. “Mom. Dad. I’m okay. I want you to know that. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I don’t believe for one second you left me by choice. I don’t know why you were here. I don’t care. But I’m not going to stop until whoever did this to you pays.”
Fresh tears streaked over the dried tracks on her cheeks as she backed a few steps to
ward the door. “I love you,” she whispered again. “And I’m going to make this right.” Dana gave the room one last look.
Before leaving, her gaze landed on the worn yellow chair. She walked toward it, letting her fingers trail over the cigarette scarred dresser until she was close enough to touch the worn yellow fabric. “I’m coming for you,” she warned the imaginary killer. “And I’m getting close.”
With that, she left room 208 and closed the door on her haunted past. She hadn’t known she would ever have the courage to face it, but now that she had, her determination to clear her family name was renewed. She was closing in on this monster; Dana could feel it. It was only a matter of time before she found him, but she had to wonder at what cost.
Though she’d survived, being thrown into her parents’ crime scene unexpectedly had torn open old wounds, leaving her feeling shaken and fragile. The way Shepard had forced her to face her fears reminded her of the occult practice of trial by fire. The belief was weakness would be burned away, leaving only steel or ash. Dana wondered which she was. Steel or ash?
The only way to find out was to move forward, but she worried she wouldn’t make it through in one piece if she tried to keep going it alone. It was time to share her burden and let someone in before there was nothing left of her.
Dana’s gaze landed on Shepard. A few doors down, he leaned on the black wrought iron rail, looking out at the rain beating down on the pavement below. He looked as tattered as she felt. Squaring her shoulders, she walked toward him, knowing even together, there were no guarantees.
33
Jake stood outside watching the rain, feeling stupid for listening to Cramer.
He was glad he’d disobeyed orders and brought Dana here. He hated what he’d just put her through, but at least now he knew the truth. And that he could still trust his instincts.