He stopped with Chino beside him, observing the fighters for a few minutes. He admired the way the instructor watched without intervening while the pairs faced off. The askari were equally well matched and when they came at each other, it was a sight to see.
“We should probably continue, Paladin Primero,” the captain said from beside him. He turned to look and noted her almost apologetic look.
“I’m sorry. I was interested to see what fighting techniques you teach here.”
“We don’t really teach it. The recruits come to us as part of a selection process. As you know, paladin are bred to their station while askari are only allowed to join our forces as long as they pass rigorous tests of both intelligence and fighting techniques. These askari are in training to take their admittance tests. They are only probationary soldiers at the moment, having just completed boot camp.”
“I’ve heard of the training askari take, I’d just never seen it,” Chino said, as he stroked the short hairs of his beard.
Damiano turned to the captain. “Let’s go, Captain, I really want to get a better look at that cheetah.”
“Of course. We’re not far.” She took off, walking toward another set of double metal doors which she opened with the wave of a key card. They stepped into another corridor and followed signs pointing to the medical examiner’s office. Once they got near, Damiano slowed. There was a strong scent on the air. Deception and fear. What the hell? The scent wasn’t being given off by only one cat. Damiano could clearly make out numerous scents which were strong outside the door to the lab. He immediately pulled his sidearm and stepped up to the double doors, hesitating only a second before glancing back at Chino. He was frowning and had his guns in hand as well. He nodded and Damiano turned and pushed one door open.
Inside the medical examiner’s office two shifters dressed in white lab coats half-lay, half-sat on the floor. Both were clutching their heads where blood ran down from wounds. They’d both been struck by some heavy object. The captain ran to one and Damiano ran to another. Chino quickly cleared the lab and then returned to Damiano’s side. They both squatted beside the female doctor and looked at the wound. Damiano placed the palm of his hand on the doctor’s forearm and spoke softly to her.
“Doctor, I’m Paladin Satriale. Are you okay?”
She looked up at him with deep brown eyes surrounded by glowing green irises. Pain was etched on her pretty face as she tried to focus.
“I have no idea why they did this. One minute, Li and I were preparing Askari Nelson for burial by washing his body, and the next minute, two men I’ve never seen before were hitting Li. I watched them for a second as they wrapped Nelson’s body back up in the plastic he’d been brought to us in. I cried out when I saw them desecrating a body which had already been washed and perfumed and then one of them attacked me. That’s all I know until you arrived. I’m quite sure they knocked me unconscious.” She reached up and gingerly touched the lump already forming on the side of her head. “I guess I should feel lucky to be alive. A half inch lower and this would have been a fatal blow to my temple.” She grimaced. “Ouch. Dammit!”
“Well, you’re safe now,” Chino said. “Let me help you up.”
Damiano stood up and stepped back, watching his friend lift the doctor into his arms and set her down on a nearby desk. He had to fight a smile watching his best friend lift her as if she weighed nothing more than a child. He glanced around the medical examiner’s office, noting that everything seemed normal. Nothing had been overturned or broken. It seemed that the two men who left with Askari Nelson’s body had been quick and efficient. They took what they came for and that was it. They hadn’t broken into the ME’s office to kill anyone or they wouldn’t have left the two doctors alive. But why? That’s what Damiano couldn’t figure out. The captain walked over to them, helping Doctor Li. He had a small cut on his head but he leaned against the desk beside the other doctor whose name Damiano hadn’t caught.
“Are you okay, Doctor Wheelan?” Li asked.
She reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m fine. Did you recognize them, Tran?”
“No,” Doctor Li said, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen them before but they were askari, that I can confirm. I could scent them and of course, I noticed the glow in their eyes.”
“Did they say anything? Why they wanted Askari Nelson?” Damiano asked.
“No, Paladin Primero,” Doctor Li answered, correctly identifying Satriale from the gold star on his collar. “Nothing. They pushed me, hit me over the head, and I fell. They began rewrapping his body after we’d already washed and dressed him for the pyre. It was completely sacrilegious and I told them so.” He shook his head again. “They didn’t care to offer him the slightest respect or dignity. We hadn’t even had the time to wrap him in scented cloths. They just took him. I wish I could help more. They’re barbarians. One never touches a dressed body. It’s wrong on every level.”
Damiano had to agree. The death rites were very strict in paladin, askari, and in fact, all shifter culture. When one died, the family members—or friends if no family was available—washed the body, rubbed herbed oils into it, and wrapped it in scented cloths for the person’s passage into the next world. In Askari Nelson’s case, the medical examiner was tasked with preparing his body for the funeral rites because his was a suspicious death which had to be examined and photographed prior to him being taken to the pyre. All shifters were burned on a funeral pyre as a rite. It was a way of saying goodbye to the person in a very respectful way but also because shifters were always surrounded by humans and burning the body was a forensic countermeasure.
It wouldn’t do to have someone dig up shifter bodies and begin poking around trying to figure out what they were looking at. The possibility that Askari Nelson’s body was in the wrong hands who might not try to cover their tracks with humans was terrifying on more than one level. Cheetah anatomy was different from human in every way. Not only that, if a DNA test was performed on a shifter, it would come back as an unknown species to the human world. Not a good idea at all. Unthinkable in fact.
“Doctor Wheelan, please tell us that you and Dr. Li were able to get photographs of his body before you dressed him.”
“Photos? Why, no. We take those after the body is fully readied right before we wrap it,” she answered. She stared hard at him and then, finally realized why Damiano was asking. “Oh, you’re asking because of the marks on his body… the bruises?”
“Yes,” Damiano replied.
“What bruises?” Captain Bennett asked.
Damiano looked over at her. “He had more bruises than were caused by the accident.”
“Askari Nelson was a fighter. He was one of our best,” Takemoto said, as he walked into the room. Damiano hadn’t expected to see him there and he crossed his arms over his chest and turned to the askari.
“What do you mean, fighter?”
“He was a trainer who worked with the new recruits. He also stepped into the boxing ring all the time. He was routinely bruised,” the soldier answered.
Damiano knew that was so much bullshit. Though it was possible for a trainer to be randomly hit in the face if he inserted himself in between two trainees, Damiano had seen for himself that it was the instructors’ routine to let them fight alone and intervene only when absolutely necessary which was less than average. Headgear and body protection was worn in the boxing ring so the bruises on the cheetah’s torso and face didn’t come from sparring there either. And nothing would account for the ligature marks he’d seen, nor the time the man had been held. Those bruises and burns hadn’t appeared on his wrists and ankles overnight. If Damiano had to guess, Nelson had been bound in silver shackles for days. Nothing else accounted for those marks. That meant Takemoto was covering or outright lying, either of which spelled trouble.
Something was going on in Base Camp and Satriale would get to the bottom of it. The only problem facing him was the inconvenient fact he had to report to Kin
g Fain’s court in the morning where he’d be stuck, probably for months, before getting the chance to address whatever was going on here.
And that was fucked up.
“Look,” he said, turning back to Doctor Wheelan. “When you autopsy a body, do you routinely make notes of the person’s injuries?”
Dr. Wheelan nodded and slid off the desk, walking over to a counter where she lifted a clipboard. She held it out to Damiano. “Do you mean like this?”
Damiano looked down at the drawing of a body. She’d made marks on the graphic, depicting the injuries the askari had suffered including the ligature marks and areas of deep bruising as well as the slash in the side that he and Chino had seen after the accident. He turned to her.
“Did you take X-rays?”
“No, I didn’t. I would have if I thought the death was suspicious in nature but our understanding was that the cause of Askari Nelson’s injuries was the MVA that killed him.”
“MVA?” Chino asked.
“I’m sorry. Motor vehicle accident,” she clarified.
Damiano pointed to the graphic on the clipboard. “Am I mistaken or did this cheetah have ligature marks and severe bruising on his face and body which are inconsistent with the motor vehicle accident?”
“Are you some kind of lawyer?” Takemoto asked.
Damiano instantly spun to face him as Captain Bennett spoke up.
“You’re out of line, Askari.”
Damiano noted her outraged glare. He had to agree with her sentiment. It was his sworn duty to protect the royal family at all costs and if something was happening in the ranks of the askari—whom he outranked by a long shot—it was his responsibility to get to the bottom of suspicious incidents. Whatever had happened to this soldier before his death definitely qualified. As paladin primero, it would be Damiano’s responsibility to see to it that the ranks of the paladin as well as the common soldiers were trustworthy and followed orders to the letter.
Takemoto frowned. “It is just hard to believe that someone can just come in here and think that…”
“I’ll stop you right there, Askari.” Damiano noted the growl in his own voice. “I need to remind you that I am Paladin Primero and that makes me your superior officer. This camp and all its ranks are under my command. That makes it my right to question suspicious deaths. If you have a problem with it, it will be no problem to relieve you of your rank. I’m certain Captain Bennett will find you a position that better serves you. Is that clear, soldier?”
He watched Takemoto bristle. Askari was the official title of soldiers but it was also a ceremonial title. The askari were proud of what they were as a trained fighting force and for anyone to refer to them as a common soldier was an insult of the highest order. Takemoto obviously understood the slight very well because he was instantly pissed. Damiano could smell it on him. Fortunately, Takemoto had enough intelligence to keep his mouth shut and not talk more about it. Damiano was prepared either way.
“Go and round up the last askari to see Nelson alive,” Captain Bennett ordered. “Bring them to my office, Takemoto. I want to know just how long the man has been missing.” Takemoto opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. “Dismissed, Askari.”
Takemoto fumed but he snapped to rigid attention and saluted her before turning on a heel and walking out of the room. Damiano looked over at Bennett.
“Apologies for his behavior, Paladin Primero. He will be disciplined.”
“Thank you, Bennett,” Damiano replied. “Under the circumstances and because I cannot stay here to try to figure out what happened to cause the askari his injuries before death, I’ll be leaving Paladin Cortez here when I make the trek to the palace tomorrow. I am not questioning your competence, but Cortez has experience in this sort of thing. You are to work with him to ferret out the persons responsible for Nelson’s situation. I trust you will do that?”
She straightened and an expression of relief crossed her features. She was in charge of Base Camp but she’d probably not seen something like this before. “Yes, of course, Paladin Primero. I’ll be happy to have his help.” She cast a sideways glance at Chino and nodded. Damiano’s best friend nodded back.
“And, please call me something else. Satriale is fine.” He already hated his new title. When he went to the palace, that was going to change. He understood that the ranks of the military relied on formality and discipline, but what he was called wasn’t going make him a leader. His actions would demonstrate that. Even as a colonel, he’d hated the title. Judging by the way she and the two doctors were looking at him, neither of them agreed with his decision.
“Paladi… Primero… permission to speak frankly, sir?”
“Granted, Captain.”
“Paladin Primero is much more than a title to the men and women whom you command. It is not meant to be ceremonial. It is meant to convey your rank but also it gives the common askari an authority figure to look up to. It is very important that they feel there is someone very powerful in charge with greater magic than they could ever hope to possess. Calling you anything other than your title is dismissing their need to respect you and hold the office in awe. They have had poor leadership in the past.
“Paladin Primero Dariush betrayed Pasha Raab and then—and this is not only rumor, but fact—Paladin Primero Johansen who replaced Dariush, was a cruel man. He treated his troops poorly. He gambled. He whored. He set a poor example of leadership for not only the paladin but also the askari. The king’s guards and loyal foot soldiers have prayed long and hard for a man whom they can follow with loyalty in their hearts, not because they fear the consequences. If they find that in you, Paladin Primero, they will be better soldiers and better subjects for King Fain. Please don’t deprive them of that, sir.”
Damiano was stunned by what Bennett told him and he realized she was absolutely right. He’d been so selfish. What his men called him was meaningless. He’d been so self-absorbed since receiving his orders from the king that he hadn’t even thought once about how he would be perceived by his men. He’d been beyond selfish. Bennett was right about so much. The kingdom had been through tremendous turmoil with the betrayal of one primero and the death of the cruel one who’d replaced him. He needed to step outside himself and never let those thoughts enter into his governance of his troops again.
He bowed his head and then raised his gaze to frown at Bennett. “You’re right, Captain. We’ll leave it as it is. I am honored to have you serve as my commander here at Base Camp. I hope you will always be so blunt with me.”
She smiled a genuine smile that lit up her whole face. “You can count on that, Paladin Primero.”
“Good. Then, I would like to question the askari that Takemoto rounds up but until then”—he rubbed a hand over his face—“I’m going back to my bunk for an hour or so.” He glanced at Chino. “Will you walk with me?”
“Sure, boss.”
Captain Bennett saluted them both before they walked out of the ME’s office. As soon as they were out in the corridor, Damiano turned to his best friend as they strolled out into the training center.
“I think you’re lucky to have her. I’m not so sure she won’t be able to handle this investigation by herself. After hearing that speech, are you certain you still want me to stay?” Chino asked.
Damiano nodded. “Absolutely. Whatever is going on here, happened under her watch. One frank speech from her doesn’t change my mind about that.”
“Okay but did you have to tell her I have experience running an investigation like this? It’s a load of horseshit.”
Damiano snorted. “Of course I did. You heard her. The troops need an authority figure. If I leave you, then that just means that I trust you to run things with an unjaundiced eye. I had to say something so Bennett wouldn’t be suspicious of my reasons for leaving you here. I don’t know whether she’s blind or in on all of this. Neither one is good. Something is going on here, Chino. I don’t know what the fuck it is but I have a feeling Takemot
o is up to his eyeballs in it. I’m sorry. I know you wanted to go on to the palace and find your mate but the truth is, I don’t know who to trust.”
Chino reached up and squeezed his shoulder. “I know and I’ll handle it. Something happened to that cheetah. There was a reason they stole his body. I think they were trying to hide evidence of his torture and I’ll bet they didn’t think we’d gotten a good look at him in the near dark this morning.”
“I’ll leave that to you, my friend.” They walked past the boxing ring and headed into the corridor to their bunks. “I need to get some sleep or I’ll die.”
“If you want, I’ll handle the interviews with the askari that Takemoto rounds up. I know you need your sleep and I don’t think the interviews are gonna yield much anyway. My guess is that the man knows more than he’s willing to admit. Did you see how defensive he was?”
“Yeah, I saw it. That’s why I’m leaving you here. I don’t have any idea if Bennett is equipped to deal with askari she’s worked with for a long time. On the outside, the camp appears to be running efficiently, but down deep, something is dirty here. I feel it.”
“I do too but strangely, I didn’t scent deception on her or on Takemoto,” Chino added.
Damiano nodded. “I didn’t either. That doesn’t mean they’re not involved, though I can usually sense if someone is masking.” They stopped in front of Damiano’s door and he waved the key card over the lock. It disengaged and he stepped inside, flipping on the light before turning back to Chino. Exhaustion washed over him. “Thanks, Chino.”
Chino smirked. “Get some sleep, Satriale. You look like you’re dead on your feet.”
He was. “I am. After dark, I’d like to take a run though. Are you interested in joining me? You can tell me how all the interviews went while I was sleeping.”
The Tiger King (Paladin Shifters Book 1) Page 4