She usually kept half a dozen or more on hand, but she’d let her supply dwindle, figuring since she still had one, she had time to get it done. Stupid mistake. She wondered if Zach could create something for her, but that would mean telling him why she needed it. Or maybe not. He seemed like he might be okay with ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ It was worth a try anyway.
She added a towel to the bag. From a cabinet in her closet she pulled out a .45 caliber automatic. She donned a nylon shoulder holster and put the gun in it, double checking that it was loaded and already had one in the chamber. She tucked two extra magazines inside the storage pocket. She knelt and buckled a hunting knife around her right calf under her pants.
Straightening, she looked around, contemplating what else she might need. She grabbed a Leatherman tool from her nightstand and shoved it into her pants pocket. You never knew when you might need a handy-dandy multi-tool.
She made a pitstop in the bathroom before heading downstairs. She dropped her bag near the front door and returned to the kitchen. She could hear the rumble of Ray’s voice in the other room, but couldn’t make out any words. She rummaged in the cupboard for a couple of insulated cups and filled them both with coffee. She didn’t expect to get sleep anytime soon. The more caffeine the better.
Ray remained on the phone another five minutes, during which time Kayla puttered around in the kitchen, putting their dishes away and cleaning the counters. Her body thrummed with nervousness and maybe even something like happiness. She wasn’t sure. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been happy. But being with Ray again and working together made her blood fizz in her veins. Not only that, he knew what she’d become and hadn’t run for the hills. Yet, anyway.
She couldn’t help but wonder—had she done the right thing four years ago? If she’d told Ray then about her affliction, could she have stayed on the force? Could she have stayed his partner?
The thought made her nauseous. Back then she hadn’t felt like she had any choice. Hell, in the wee dark hours of this morning she hadn’t felt that she had any choice. Funny what a difference a few hours made.
“Ready?” Ray asked as he entered.
She studied him. He looked annoyed and yet faintly smug.
“What happened?”
“We’ll need to stop at headquarters so I can map out the murder sites and assign canvassing zones.”
Her brows rose. “Your captain agreed to that?” Then understanding dawned. “Of course he did. Anything for the Runyons, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Did you tell them about me?”
Ray scowled at her. “Of course not. Being a shifter is your secret.”
“No, I meant did you tell him I was working with you? Did you tell him that Alastair Runyon is my father and Theresa Runyon is my grandmother?”
“Not yet. I figure it’s need to know. Right now, I’m the only one who needs to know. If you’re ready we should get going.” He checked his watch. “It’s already noon.”
Ray drove them to police headquarters. As he shut down the car he turned to look at her.
“Coming in or staying here?”
“Staying here,” Kayla said. “I could use a nap.” Plus, she didn’t relish seeing her old colleagues. They hadn’t taken her leaving the force all that well, either.
Ray nodded as if he’d expected just that answer. “I shouldn’t be too long.”
After he was gone, taking the murder map with him, Kayla squirmed in her seat until she found a reasonably comfortable position and fell asleep.
The symbols from the crime scenes stomped across her dreamscape as if they had legs. They marched in intricate patterns, weaving in and out between each other, forming lines and patterns that made no sense.
She almost did a cartoon-cat-clinging-to-the-ceiling when Ray returned and jolted her awake. He slid into the seat while Kayla tried not to hyperventilate.
“You okay?”
“I fell asleep.”
“Doesn’t usually cause a person to have a seizure.”
“I’m not used to waking up with company.”
His lips curved in a smile. She glared at him.
“What’s that smug smirk about? I could have had company if I wanted, you know.”
His smiled widened. “I believe you.”
“Then what’s so funny?”
“Not a thing.”
She folded her arms. “Right.”
Ray ignored her irritation, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.
“We’re going to see Zach now?”
His obnoxious smile faded at the mention of Zach. “Figure we’ll have a talk with the coroner first. With any luck, they’ll have preliminary results from the autopsies on the three Keller Fountain bodies.”
“How did it go?” She gestured vaguely back toward the police station.
“First PSAs should start going out on the radio and TV within an hour,” he said. “The captain gave me free rein to do whatever I have to do to get your grandmother and aunt back alive. I pulled in everyone I could get from every unit that could spare them. I sent detectives out to all the crime scenes, along with CSUs and uniforms for canvassing. With any luck we’ll get a solid lead soon.”
Unfortunately, tip lines were notoriously bad for pulling about a thousand times more garbage information than good. Every lead had to be checked out no matter how ridiculous it might seem. Hopefully the teams heading out to the crime scenes would find something that could help narrow the search area as well as help sift through the deluge of calls they were about to receive.
Ten minutes later, Ray pulled into the parking garage of the building housing the forensic labs where Zach worked and the morgue. They entered the building through the central spindle of the squat, X-shaped building. The central core held meeting rooms, lecture halls, offices, and controlled the visitor access to the other sections. With only one door in and one door out on each level, guards and magical wards kept unwanted visitors out.
Kayla and Ray entered through a door on the first floor. Beige industrial vinyl covered the floor. Its scuffed surface had definitely seen better days. The entrance to the morgue was blocked by guards monitoring body scanners the old TSA had only wished they’d had. After showing his I.D., Ray signed himself and Kayla into the visitors log for the morgue and they approached the scanners.
“Do you have any weapons or magical paraphernalia?” asked one of the guards in a musical Indian accent.
Ray pulled his holster and gun off his belt and set it on the table. He dug for a pocket knife and set that next to it. Flexing his fingers, he stepped into the scanner. A crosshatching of bars kept him from proceeding forward. The plate beneath his feet glowed green. Above him milky light poured out of the knob set in the center of the scanner’s roof. It dripped down over his head, across his face, and down over his body until he was enveloped in what looked like a sarcophagus of Elmer’s Glue.
Watching, Kayla shuddered. She wondered if the scanner was strong enough to see that she was not entirely human. And if it did? It wasn’t illegal to be witchkin. Then again, they wouldn’t want magic users inside the morgue or lab without permission. Evidence could be too easily tampered with.
The thick white light swirled over Ray and then drained downward into the green disc. When it completely vanished, the disc turned white and a bell chimed. The bars on the other side slid apart, and Ray passed through. He turned to wait for Kayla.
With a sigh she put her gun on the table followed by the knife from her calf. She drew off the silver bracelet. It stretched like elastic as she pulled it over her hand and then returned to normal. She set it on the table with the weapons. The drying amulet was exhausted, but she pulled it over her head anyway in case any magical residue clung to it and set off alarms. She drew out the light spell talisman and added it t
o the pile.
Glancing down at herself she took mental stock of what she carried. Nothing that should set off the scanner. Taking a breath and holding it, she stepped up inside.
As before, the green disc lit up. She shifted but her feet wouldn’t move. The white milky magic poured down from above and wrapped around her. It felt wet and warmer than she expected and smelled faintly of cotton candy. It settled over her, then rippled and swirled as it had with Ray.
She waited for the alarms, but nothing went off. The magic ran down to the disk and turned it white, and the bars slid back. Kayla practically flung herself through it, stumbling as she did. Before she could face-plant on the floor, Ray caught her and pulled her upright. She caught his shoulders for balance.
“You okay?”
His dark eyes told her he’d worried about her scan as well.
Kayla nodded, trying not to notice the way the heat of his arms around her soaked through her clothes and sent her temperature rising. She also tried not to notice how good he smelled, or the hard swell of muscle under her fingers.
“I’m fine,” she said, flushing and pushing out of his arms. But her blood raced through her veins, and her heart pounded. And it was wrong. All wrong. She could not be attracted to Ray. Could not and would not.
First, they weren’t even real friends anymore. Second, he’d laugh like a hyena if he found out he turned her on. What was her damage? Sure, she hadn’t had sex in years, since before Magicfall, and Ray was a beautiful man. But so were a lot of other men—like Zach. Anyhow, Ray would laugh his ass off if he had the slightest inkling she’d developed a crush on him. Kayla’s cheeks heated. Definitely not something she needed to endure, thank you very much. Plus she turned into a lizard monster. He’d be insane to want to sleep with that.
Her body’s entire reaction to him was ludicrous. It had to be her period. She was due to start it any day. This was all just hormones. That had to be it. There was no other explanation.
Relief flooded through her. She drew in a calming breath and let it out slowly.
Ray scowled at her and then turned away. She followed him as he stalked off. Her wrist felt odd without the silver band, but there was no way they were going to allow magic into the building, any more than they’d permit weapons.
Kayla caught up with him as he stopped in front of the morgue check station.
“State your business,” said the short stout Hispanic woman with salt-and-pepper hair coiled up behind her head in a bun.
“I’m Detective Garza.” Ray flashed his I.D. at her. “I’m here to check on a case that came in yesterday.”
She noted his name down in her log and handed him a visitor pass. She eyed Kayla. “Who are you?”
“She’s with me,” Ray said. “A consultant on the case.”
The guard frowned. “Only official personnel are allowed inside.”
“She’s official.”
The guard’s jaw jutted. “Then I’ll need to see her I.D.”
“I’m her I.D.,” Ray growled. “She’s a part of my case, and I need her inside with me.”
“I appreciate your position, Detective, but I have my orders. Without official identification, nobody goes through.” She waved at a set of uncomfortable-looking wood chairs against the wall. “She can wait there for you, if you like.”
Kayla could practically hear Ray’s teeth grinding together. Another man might have started bitching or throwing a mantrum. Not Ray’s style. He leaned over the desk and snatched the phone receiver from its base and punched in a number.
The guard made a face as though she wanted to object, but her lips firmed and she remained silent. She glared at Kayla. Like it was her fault?
“Get me Angie Cordone,” Ray snapped at whoever had picked up the other end of the phone.
He waited, tapping his knuckles on the desk blocking their way. Silence enveloped the three of them, and Kayla was all too aware that the guards on the other doors were watching them. What did they think she or Ray was going to do? They weren’t armed, and she’d given them her magical artifacts for safekeeping. Sure, she could turn into a deadly beast, but they didn’t know that. As far as they knew she was perfectly safe. Their scanner had said so. Maybe they knew it didn’t work as well as it should.
Ray stiffened. “Angie, this is Ray Garza. I’ve got a situation. I need to get into the morgue wing. I’ve got Reese with me. She’s helping on this case, but doesn’t have an I.D. and can’t past the guards.”
He listened a moment and then returned the phone to its cradle. He looked at Kayla. “She’s on her way.”
If it bothered the guard that he’d called the head coroner and had addressed her by her first name, she didn’t show it. Instead she continued to block their passage with obstinate determination.
It took about five minutes for Angie to arrive, which meant she’d dropped whatever she was working on. The door thrust open, and she strode through—a fireball of energy and sour irritation.
Kayla found herself tensing. Angie had been around since Kayla’s rookie years. She was not known to suffer fools lightly. She had an acerbic disposition and a habit of speaking directly with no filters. Kayla had always liked her. In fact, they had become pretty good friends before Magicfall. But then Kayla had fallen off the radar. She expected Angie would be as annoyed with her as Ray was. Well maybe not as much as Ray, but not too happy all the same.
Angie’s quick sharp gaze took in Ray and the guard and then skewered Kayla. She halted, hands on her hips.
“You’re back. Civilian? Shouldn’t you be over your midlife crisis by now?” She shook her head. “You’re a little young for that yet. Insanity defense won’t work either, not if you want your job back. Do you?”
Angie’s dark eyes glittered at Kayla from behind black-rimmed cat-eye glasses. She had the look she customarily wore while testifying in court when she really despised either the prosecutor, the judge, or the defendant.
“I’ve missed the job,” Kayla said, surprised at herself for admitting it out loud. In fact, she had a dead zone in her soul, as if a piece of her was missing. Or she had until yesterday when that part of her had come roaring back to life. Despite her exhaustion and her prickly relationship with Ray, she felt electrified and alive.
Angie rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. You’re a born detective. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking when you left. Now come on. You’re wasting my time.” She looked at the guard. “I’m vouching for her. Put her down as Kayla Reese.”
Angie didn’t wait for a reply but swept away like the force of nature she was. Ray’s hand against the small of her back urged Kayla forward. She tried not to flinch from contact, but his touch sent strange jolts of electricity bouncing through her body. It took far too much self-control for her to not touch him back. The thought of that led instantly to a tumble of images that involved a shirtless Ray and a lot of petting.
Ugh! What the hell was this? She wasn’t a teenager with her first crush. Of course, even having that thought suggested that she might be having a crush after all, which could absolutely not be true. She did not have a thing for Ray. No freaking way.
Unfortunately, the little voice inside her head just cackled at her. Lie to yourself much? it asked. Or are you just delusional?
Kayla shook her head to clear it. She was neither, she told herself and the voice firmly. She had just been without getting laid for too long, and now that Ray knew her secret, her mind thought he would be a safe bet to scratch her itch.
And you want that itch scratched hard, don’t you? responded the little voice with irritating accuracy. Better yet, you want him hard, isn’t that so?
More images tumbled through her mind, this time X-rated. She had a vivid imagination, and her knees went a little wobbly. Ray caught her by the elbow.
“You o
kay?”
Uh, no, particularly with him touching her and her brain going into overdrive about where else she wanted his hands.
“I could use some coffee,” she said.
“I’ve got a pot in the office,” Angie called over her shoulder. “You can have a cup and tell me what this whole thing is about.”
Ray’s hand fell away for which Kayla was infinitely grateful and equally regretful. God but she was a mess.
Angie’s office was on the top floor, in a corner with a view to the east and south. Kayla barely noticed, her attention riveted by drops of rain on the window. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been expecting it—this was the Pacific Northwest, after all, and weather conditions had not changed all that much since Magicfall—but it was damned inconvenient.
Ray followed her gaze and then frowned at her. She ignored his concern and went to the table upon which perched the coffee pot and filled one of the ceramic cups beside it. She poured cups for each of them and then sat in one of the padded chairs in front of Angie’s desk. Ray sat in the other while Angie perched on the edge of her desk and I eyed them both.
“What’s going on?”
Ray explained about the kidnapping without revealing that Kayla was a Runyon. He explained that they had made a connection between it and the murders at Keller Square Fountain, and that they had come to the morgue for autopsy results.
“And why is Reese here?”
“She’s helping me,” Ray said, his tone discouraging more questions.
Angie set down her coffee and went around to her computer and typed some keys to bring up the report. “Hmmmm,” she said as she read through it.
Neither Ray nor Kayla spoke, not wanting to interrupt. After a minute or two Angie hit the print button. She grabbed the pages as they came out and then stapled them together before handing the report to Ray. He held it so Kayla could see it as well.
It didn’t say much, mostly describing the bodies. Ray twitched the papers in his fingers and scowled at Angie.
The Witchkin Murders Page 21