Under His Skin

by Rita Herron

  His comment reminded her that earlier someone had tried to kill her. “Thanks.”

  He gave a clipped nod, followed her to the small front porch and waited as she unlocked the door. She flipped on the light in the small foyer, casting a soft glow across the worn furnishings and oak floor. The house seemed quiet, only the soft rattle of the wind hitting the windows breaking the silence. He quickly checked the rooms while she moved to the kitchen to make some coffee. A noise startled her and she inched to the laundry room and opened the door, then frowned.

  The curtain flapped against the window, and the window was open. Had she left it that way or had an intruder opened it and come in?

  “Everything looks fine.” Wilson’s voice startled her and she spun around. “Grace, are you all right?”

  A nervous laugh escaped her. “Yes, I’m sorry. Just jumpy.”

  He stroked her arm. “I’d be glad to stay with you tonight.”

  She locked the window, then turned back to him. “No, thanks, Wilson. I appreciate the offer but I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.”

  “I really don’t mind,” he said with a smile. “We could be good together, Grace.”

  Her chest squeezed. “Wilson, please…this isn’t a good time.”

  Disappointment flattened his eyes, but he nodded. “I know you’ve had a rough day. I could make us some dinner.”

  She shook her head. “I really am tired. I just want a hot bath and to go to bed.”

  “All right. But you have my number.”

  She nodded, then walked him to the door. “Thanks again. I’ll see you at the hospital tomorrow.”

  “Call me if you need anything, Grace. Any time, day or night.”

  She thanked him again, then twisted the lock behind him. Her muscles ached from her tumble down the steps, so she ran a hot bath, poured bath salts in, then grabbed a glass of wine to sip while she soaked her battered body. The warm, soapy bubbles felt heavenly, and she closed her eyes, forcing memories of the attack at bay.

  Wilson’s face flashed into her mind, his offer to stay reverberating in her head. He was handsome, intelligent, a doctor. And he was interested in her. So why wasn’t she attracted to him?

  Another man’s face flashed in her mind instead. Parker’s. For a moment she imagined him staying with her tonight, offering her comfort, protecting her.

  Holding her. Touching her. Making love to her.

  A sound outside jarred her back to reality and she opened her eyes, knotting her hands in frustration. Why was she thinking of Parker Kilpatrick, a detective who had the power to break her heart?

  A cop who might not even be attracted to her….

  Her telephone jangled. She grabbed a towel, patted dry, then wrapped it around her and hurried to answer the phone, half hoping it was Parker. Instead the Caller ID showed Frank Johnson. He had been her father’s partner, and an uncle of sorts to her and Bruno after her parents had been murdered. She knew he’d felt guilty about not being able to solve the crime. What did he want now? Could he possibly have news about the decades-old murders or about Bruno’s?

  The ringing continued and she answered it. “Hello, Frank.”

  “Jesus, Grace, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t answer. I’ve been worried out of my mind tonight.”

  “Sorry, I was in the bath.”

  “Are you okay? I heard that you were attacked at the hospital today.”

  Agitation tinged his voice, and guilt assailed her. He had enough on his plate with his ill daughter. “I’m fine,” she said, although her hand automatically touched the bruises on her neck. “I just fell down the steps.”

  “You were attacked?”

  She sighed. “Yes, someone pushed me from behind.”

  “And you filed a report?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you get a look at your attacker?”

  Even though he was retired, he still sounded like a cop. “No, Frank. The power flickered off, and it was so dark I couldn’t see. But I think I scratched him. And don’t worry, the police processed me for evidence.”

  His labored breathing rattled over the line. “Good. Do you want to stay with me and Kelly tonight?”

  She smiled at his fatherly tone. “Thanks, Frank, but I’m fine here, really. The doors are locked and I have my cell phone if I need to call for help.”

  “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” His voice broke. “It was bad enough losing Bruno….”

  Ever since her parents’ death, Frank had thought of Bruno as a son, and it had hit him hard when he’d died, especially when the cops had called his death a suicide. Frank blamed himself for not being able to help Bruno. But he had accepted the suicide theory more readily than she had, had admitted that he’d known Bruno was depressed, that he suspected he’d been drinking too much. That he understood because he’d experienced similar feelings after their father’s death.

  “How’s Kelly?” she asked, hoping to divert his attention away from her.

  The long pause reverberated with tension. “She’s not doing so well. She’s had some kind of viral infection that won’t go away. I…it doesn’t look good.”

  Her heart swelled with a dull ache. Kelly had cerebral palsy and her health had declined drastically the past five years. She didn’t know how Frank would handle it if he lost his only child. Her mother had died long ago.

  “I’ll try to drop by and see her soon. You take care of her and yourself.”

  “I will. But, Grace, call me if you need anything. I may be retired, but I can call in a favor if you need protection.”

  Parker Kilpatrick’s face flashed in Grace’s mind and she bit her lip to keep from mentioning him, then thanked Frank and hung up.

  A sudden noise jerked her head toward the window and she froze, wondering if someone was out back.

  Her hand trembled as she shifted the edge of the curtain aside, then she peered through the glass pane into the darkness. The palm trees swayed with the breeze, the sound of the ocean roar mingling with its shrill whistle. Maybe the wind had simply tossed a garbage can lid across the shells or blown something over. But a slight movement caught her eye and she tensed.

  Was she imagining things or had someone been by her car?

  PARKER WAS STRUNG so tight he couldn’t sleep. He kept imagining Grace at home alone with a killer stalking her. Kept seeing her falling down those steps, screaming for help, a man’s hands gripping her throat and strangling her.

  Damn it, he hated knowing that he was in the hospital while she might need him.

  Determined to get to the bottom of her brother’s death, he checked Bruno’s files again but found no details on his investigations.

  The missing autopsy report disturbed him. If someone had stolen it, perhaps they’d also stolen information from his police files.

  But the police were the only ones with access to that data.

  He punched in Bradford’s number, then remembered that he’d gone to Tybee because of another body. “It’s Kilpatrick. What’d do you find at the church on Tybee?”

  “Female corpse. No ID yet.”

  “What was the state of the corpse?”

  “Face was heavily made-up like the others and signs indicate she was autopsied. We’re still photographing the scene, collecting forensics. We won’t know more until after the ME gets her on the table.”

  “Let me know. And tell them to check and see if she had any tissues or organs removed.”

  “What? You think these pranks are a cover-up for a more sinister motive?”

  “Maybe. It’s worth exploring,” Parker said.

  Bradford hesitated. “I’ll get copies of reports on all the bodies we’ve recovered so far and bring them over. While I’m out chasing leads and talking to the victims’ families and friends, maybe you can search for a pattern.”

  Parker pulled a hand down his face in relief. Finally, Walsh was treating him like a partner again, not an invalid. “Did you request another autopsy report on Bruno?
”

  “Yeah, and you won’t believe it, but the medical examiner’s copy is missing, as well.”

  “How about the computer file?”

  “Deleted.”

  Parker cursed. “Can we get a warrant for our tech team to try to retrieve it?”

  Bradford hesitated. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Parker flexed his leg, stretching the muscles as his physical therapist recommended. “Good. I think someone is after Grace because of Bruno’s death or because he’d discovered new clues about his parents’ murder.”

  “Sounds feasible,” Bradford admitted. “So what do you need?”

  “I want to talk to Bruno’s partner. What do you know about the guy?”

  “His name is David Roundtree. He’s been on the force for a couple of years. Not married. Transferred from somewhere up north.”

  “He have a past?”

  “I don’t know. You want me to look into it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Parker, I know you want to help this nurse, but—”

  “Don’t give me any lectures, Walsh. I feel better tonight than I have in months. Besides, you guys have to be swamped with the body snatcher cases.”

  A long pause. “Right. Listen, I have to get back to the crime scene here. I’ll drop those files off in the morning.”

  “Thanks.” Parker hung up, then phoned the medical examiner, but he wasn’t in. “Who is this?”

  “The assistant medical examiner, Lamar Poultry.”

  Parker identified himself. “Poultry, we’re looking for information about Bruno Gardener. Did you autopsy him?”

  “I assisted.”

  “How about when his body went missing and was recovered?”

  “That was a clerical error,” Poultry said. “But we did examine him and didn’t find anything unusual.”

  Parker grimaced. Grace would be grateful to hear that, but he still wanted to see the reports. He decided not to tell Poultry about the warrant, so he thanked him and hung up, then paced across the room. He had a knot in the pit of his stomach that wouldn’t go away. Grace had survived the attack tonight. But his gut instincts told him that the guy would return for her.

  Parker didn’t want her to be alone when he did.

  GRACE STARED THROUGH the window, searching the woods until her eyes ached from the strain. A dog barked in the distance and she spotted a deer suddenly shoot from the edge of the trees near her car.

  A breath of relief whisked out and she finally relaxed, chiding herself for being paranoid.

  Yet someone had tried to kill her, and who knew if they’d try again? Maybe he was watching her now….

  She gripped her hands into fists. She might have lost everyone she’d ever loved, but she refused to become a prisoner of fear. Then he would destroy her, too. And she was going to beat this guy, find out who he was, if he’d killed Bruno and her parents.

  If he had, she wanted him to pay.

  Still, she wasn’t a fool. Looking into both cases had put her in danger. And it had cost Bruno his life. She had to be smart. Careful.

  Her mind turned back to Parker Kilpatrick again and relief swelled inside her—just knowing that he was helping her gave her confidence. Taking thoughts of him with her, she finally crawled into bed and tried to sleep.

  Unfortunately, instead of a peaceful sleep, her dreams were filled with murder and death.

  BRUNO HAD DIED with his secrets.

  And if Grace Gardener kept pushing, she would die, too.

  She was asking too many questions. Talking to that cop Kilpatrick.

  He had to stop her. He’d been watching her every move. Had to make sure she didn’t get too close.

  Thank God she’d left her perch at the window and had gone to bed.

  Time for him to put his plan into motion.

  Tugging his cap over his head to disguise his face, he slipped from the edge of the woods, crouching low as he inched back toward her car. A little snip here, a snip there, and the brakes would be gone.

  And in the morning when Grace drove to work, so would she.

  Chapter Nine

  Parker spent a restless night, fighting off the gut-churning feeling that Grace needed him. That she was alone at her cabin, vulnerable and in danger.

  The next morning anxiety and adrenaline had him so pumped, he felt as though he could run a marathon. He wanted to speak to Grace, to make sure she was safe.

  He had found her phone number in Bruno’s file, and had been tempted to call her. But what would he say? That he’d be her hero? He was in the damn hospital.

  During morning therapy, he shocked the physical therapist by forgoing his cane and jogging on the treadmill. She called the doctor in to watch and he, also, seemed amazed by his progress.

  “That new tissue obviously worked wonders,” Dr. Knightly said.

  A reminder that he was alive and walking. “Yeah, too bad some of the others didn’t fare so well.”

  The color drained from the doctor’s dark skin, then irritation flashed in his eyes. “That was unfortunate.”

  “Has there been any explanation for the problem?” Parker asked, pushing him.

  Knightly shook his head. “No, but a review board is looking into the matter. We deal with several tissue brokers and are trying to pinpoint exactly where things went wrong. Then we’ll cancel our contract with them and take legal action.”

  That made sense. “Good.”

  “You still need to watch it, not overdo,” Dr, Knightly said. “But I’ll speak with Dr. Whitehead about releasing you to the rehab center. At this rate, you won’t need to stay there long.”

  No, he wouldn’t. His iron will would drive him to a full recovery in record time.

  The doctor excused himself and Parker grabbed his cell phone and punched in the number Bradford had given him for Bruno’s former partner.

  “Roundtree.”

  “Officer Roundtree, this is Detective Parker Kilpatrick. I’d like to ask you some questions about Bruno Gardener.”

  “Excuse me? Didn’t you just undergo surgery?”

  “I’m recovering. But I’m also looking into Bruno’s death.”

  “Why? I thought you were on medical leave.”

  “Bruno’s sister is a nurse here in the hospital. She was attacked yesterday, and I’m helping my partner ask around, see if her inquiries into her brother’s death might be motive for the attack.”

  “I don’t know how I can help you,” Roundtree said. “I’ve already told Captain Black everything I know.”

  “Were there any cases you and Bruno were working on that would have pissed someone off enough to kill Bruno?”

  “Nothing that was open,” Roundtree said.

  “What about his parents’ murder? Had he recently discovered new clues in the case?”

  A long pause. “He had a theory he was exploring, but nothing concrete.”

  “What was that theory?”

  “Look, Kilpatrick, I don’t feel at liberty to discuss this matter with you, especially over the phone.”

  “Then meet me. Grace’s life may depend on it.”

  Another pause, riddled with tension, then Roundtree finally agreed. “I’ll try to stop by the hospital before lunch.”

  He hung up and Parker checked his watch, anxious to hear what the cop had to say. Even if the information didn’t lead to the person who’d attacked Grace, if it led to her parents’ murderer, she would finally get closure.

  His cell phone trilled and he clicked to answer. “Kilpatrick.”

  “Parker, it’s Walsh. Listen, we just caught a break. Someone phoned in that they’d seen two teenagers dumping a corpse at a local school. We’re trying to track them down now. Maybe we’ll crack this case.”

  “How about Bruno’s autopsy report?”

  “Still no word.”

  “Forensics on the recovered bodies?”

  Bradford sighed. “Two of them had tissue removed. I’m checking now to see if they were official donor
s.”

  Parker massaged his leg. “Someone could be stealing the bodies, then extracting tissue to sell.”

  “Maybe these gang members can tell us more.” He paused. “We retrieved trace from Grace Gardener’s fingertips, ran it through the system and got a hit. Juan Carlos. Bruno put him away a few months ago on a drug deal.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “Out on parole.”

  “You going to pick him up?”

  “We’ve got an APB out on him now. I’ll keep you posted and be by later with those files.”

  Parker thanked him and hung up. Finally they were getting somewhere.

  Had Juan Carlos tried to kill Grace because she was looking into her brother’s death?

  If so, finding the man and putting him back in jail would be the only way to keep Grace safe.

  GRACE WOKE UP the next day with a plan. The fact that Bruno’s autopsy was missing plagued her. Someone had intentionally made it disappear, and she intended to find out why.

  Because something about his body proved that he hadn’t killed himself. That had to be the answer.

  She punched in Frank’s number and he answered on the third ring.

  “What’s up this morning, Grace? Are you all right?” His voice was sluggish from fatigue and worry.

  “I’m fine. But I’ve been thinking about Bruno’s autopsy being missing. I’ve decided to have his body exhumed.”

  “Grace…” Frank wheezed a tired breath. “Are you sure you want to disturb your brother now he’s been laid to rest? Maybe you should just let this thing go.”

  “I can’t do that, Frank. I’m surprised you can.”

  “I’m just worried,” Frank said. “I can’t stand to think about someone trying to hurt you.”

  “I don’t mean to upset you. But you were a cop, Frank. You must want the truth as much as I do.”

  “I do. I just don’t want to lose anyone else I care about.”

  “I understand, and I’ll be careful, Frank. I promise.”

  He mumbled okay, then she hung up, called the police department and asked to speak to Captain Black. Apparently, Parker or his partner had already informed him about the missing autopsy report. “I’d like to have my brother’s body exhumed, Captain.”