by Milly Taiden
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Samples? That did not sound promising. Barry followed the women through a maze of halls to a door with a card reader. Mari patted the top pocket of her white lab coat, then the two side pockets. She turned in a circle as if she maybe dropped her ID badge. Barry tilted his chin to his chest to hide his rolling eyes. Whoever hooked up with her was in for a wild ride.
“Oh, here it is.” From her pants pocket, she pulled out a plastic rectangle with her picture on it. With a beep, they were inside the laboratory. The large room was packed with a ton of stuff. Big machines, small machines, blender-looking things, glass vials—lots of vials. A lab technician stood next to a long counter watching a spinning gadget.
“Barry, have a seat here.” Mari pulled out a desk chair in a small cove tucked to the side. “We’ll start with your fingerprints. Make sure you’re not an ax murderer wanted in ten states.” Mari laughed, but Barry didn’t as he caught Charli’s frown. After a ton of ink somehow splattered the upper cabinets and smeared the countertop three feet on both sides of him, the lady closed the black pad and pulled out a set of vials.
“Okay, let’s take a little blood for testing.” Barry rolled up his sleeve, then Mari tied a stretchy band around his bicep. She spent the next five minutes digging through several cabinets around the lab. His hand had turned white before she returned. “Sorry. We have plenty of animal syringes, but only a few human.”
She wiped a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant over the crease in his arm. Her chatter with Charli was constant and became background noise as he watched Mari work. When she picked up the needle, a chill ran down his back. He suddenly didn’t feel well.
Needle taped on his arm, blood pumped into the vial—rich, dark blood. And more blood. Her fingers fumbled with another glass tube, and he felt the needle move in his vein as she held the filling vial. An I’m going to be sick shiver passed through his body. He realized then that she was going to attach another bloodsucking tube.
His head began to feel a little light. He stared at Charli instead of the blood leaving his body. He heard glass clink, then an “oops.” A narrow stream of dark red fluid gracefully arced into the air in front of his face, then disappeared. The room started to spin, or it could be the chair. It did turn a full circle—no, that wouldn’t be happening.
“Sorry, there. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn blood from a living creature. With the dead animals, I just stick a needle in the leg, or shove a needle up an arm.” The needle talk was only making this worse. His face felt cold.
“Other times, I jab the shit out of the body. Needle after needle after needle.” Wait a second. He shook his head. Bad idea, the room tilted. Did she just say jab a needle over and over? Naw, she wouldn’t say that. He had to be hearing things. He felt himself sliding down the chair as the world narrowed into black.
The last thing he heard before passing out was: “For a shifter, he sure is a wuss.”
Something chilled lay on his forehead. It felt nice. Coldness seeped through his shirt and pants also. He certainly wasn’t in Charli’s bed where he wanted to be.
“All it takes is a swab for a quick probe.” Sounded like Mari. “You just need to hold his cheek to the side while I stick it in, wiggle it around, then pull it out.”
Swab, probing, ass cheek, in and out. Not happening. His eyes flew open with a holler erupting from his chest. Marika and Charli, leaning over his prone body, flew back from him, a yelp coming from each.
Charli sucked in a loud breath, hand over her heart. “Dammit, Barry. You scared the shit out of me.” She and Marika laughed at each other.
He eyeballed the ginormous Q-tip in the researcher’s hand. “What are you doing with that?”
Marika looked at her hand as if she’d forgotten what she was holding. “Oh yes. I need a cheek swab to go with the bloodwork. Say ahhhhh.”
His body relaxed. This woman was going to give him a heart attack. “I thought you were going to stick that—never mind.” Charli burst out laughing. She would get him and his thinking. Mate.
Mari stuck the piece of cotton on the end of a long stick between his gums and fleshy cheek, then yanked it out. “There we go. All done.” She reached out her hand to help him up. For a little thing, she had strength that surprised him. She whipped him off the floor, then dropped him into the chair. He rolled backward until he bumped against a box.
“This is so exciting, Charli. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“When it comes to forensics, you’re my superwoman. We should do lunch or dinner soon. Do they ever let you out of here?”
She laughed. “It’s more like: Do they ever make me go home?”
A ringing phone had Charli pulling her cell from her back pocket. She looked at the caller ID on the screen and frowned. “Avers here.” Barry grinned at her tough investigator voice. “Be there in thirty.” She tucked her phone into her pocket, then gave Mari a hug. “We need to go. Got stuff happening at the office. Thank you so much, Mari.”
Barry stood to follow Charli. Mari waved. “Absolutely. I’m taking you up on dinner soon.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Charli came through the door to Director Milkan’s office after dropping off Barry and locking him in the cage. His choice, not hers. The cage. She hated it, but went with his decision. She’d given him her iPad for company at least.
She took a seat at the round conference table that had a propped-up computer tablet displaying the Shedford chief of police.
Director Milkan looked from her to the screen. “We’re all here, Chief Charter. You can begin any time.”
“Thank you, Director. Hello, Fellowship. Thank you for gathering so quickly. This case is still in the first forty-eight hours, and we hope to catch the killer before he can get too far.”
“Any way we can help, just let us know,” her boss said.
“I appreciate that, Milkan. Here’s what we’ve got.” A picture came into view of a beat-up and dented armored truck leaning against a tree, a creek flowing a few yards away. Charli froze in her seat. Her heart rate tripled. Devin and Russel looked at her, and she kicked herself for forgetting they could smell her. Sometimes shifters were damn creepy and a pain in the ass.
More pictures flashed on the screen, including the inside of the back of the vehicle. The guard lay on the floor, blood pooled around his head. The next photo was a close-up of the wound on the body’s face and neck.
“Agent Avers.” The chief said her name, snapping her out of a daze. “In your opinion, could these marks be the result of an animal, specifically a bear swipe?”
She put all thoughts from her mind, or she’d be all smelly again. “I’d have to examine the marks close up. Until then, I can’t say for certain. I don’t want to guess and send you on a wrong path. Why do you suspect a bear?”
Chief Charter held another photo to the web camera. It showed large paw prints in a muddy path leading to the creek next to bare human footprints. The shot screamed that a shifter had been there.
Director Milkan cleared his throat. “Any idea how the truck ended up at the bottom of the ravine, Chief?”
The picture went away to show the policeman’s head tilted down as if looking at his desk. “Take a gander at this.” He held up a shot of the road with black skid marks going off the side.
“We think something was in the road that made them swerve. Coming around the sharp corner in the outside lane, they would’ve been caught off guard and reacted instinctively by turning the wheel. What was in the road is anybody’s guess. But it wasn’t around when we showed up.”
“Do you think,” Milkan began, “a shifter is the culprit?”
Chief Charter glanced around with a deep scowl. “We’re not saying that for sure, but the evidence shows there’s a possibility. That’s all.”
“Understood,” Milkan said with a sharp nod. “I agree with your assessment. I’ll send one of my guys over to inspect what evidence you’ve collected, to see if it means anything
to us.”
Chief Charter flipped through pages in front of him and rubbed the side of his jaw. “That would be great, Director. I’ll inform our front desk to buzz the detective in charge when he arrives.” The tablet’s screen turned black.
She glanced at Russel. She’d never seen such a grand smile on his lit-up face. The director stared at him. “Yes, Mayer. I’m putting you in charge of this case. But I’m warning you, she will put you on your ass if what I’ve seen so far holds true.”
Russel’s smiled never faltered. “No worries, boss man. I’ll keep my paws to myself.” She noted he didn’t say hands. Men. That thought brought her hunky Barry to mind. She tried to keep calm, but the sadness tried to overtake her. She knew Barry was a good man, but that didn’t stop what had already happened. She was going to lose him for something he didn’t remember doing.
The men glanced at her again. Dammit. Let them fucking smell.
Milkan cleared his throat similar to earlier. “We’re done here. Mayer, don’t leave the building yet. I want a word with you.” They all stood and pushed in their chairs. “Avers, do you have a minute?”
“Sure.” After the two guys left the office, Milkan closed his office door and went to his desk. She sat in the same seat she had earlier that morning.
He clasped his hands on his desk and let out a sigh. “As you can see, we may have a problem.”
Charli nodded, afraid to say something that could get her fired. She was a strong woman, but having your heart ripped from your chest would bring down the toughest person.
Milkan eyed her wearily. “I don’t suppose any memories of his have come back since this morning.”
She shook her head.
“Where is he now?”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she told him about the cage and Barry’s choice to stay in it.
Milkan sat back and sighed. “Do you think he did it?”
“I don’t know what to think.” She gazed out the window. The image of Barry grinning at her or talking to her added to her depression. He was a good guy. This was all wrong. “Based on what I know of him, I’d say no. But after finding him in the woods with that stash in the container and—”
“What stash?” The director frowned and sat forward in his chair. She realized she hadn’t told him about their first finding yesterday.
She inhaled and let it out slowly, trying not to overwhelm herself. “Yesterday, we went back to where his last memory was and found a plastic container buried in the ground that had stacks of money and jewelry.” Had that been only yesterday? It felt like days ago.
“What did you do with it?” Milkan’s tone sharpened.
“Nothing. We had no reason to think it was anything more than someone’s way to avoid banks. Folks around here do strange things sometimes.”
Milkan got up from his chair. “Dammit, Avers. Take me to where this stash is. Could be evidence we need to break a case.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll follow you.” She felt a little relieved he’d be driving his own truck. She didn’t want to get yelled at any more than she had over this.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Charli slowed her SUV and parked along the side of the gravel road overlooking the creek and rockslide. Her boss parked behind her, then two more dark sedans stopped behind them. She met Milkan at his truck.
“Is that Chief Charter?” she asked as the cars’ doors opened.
“Yes. He called and wanted to meet. I told him I couldn’t and then had to tell him where we were headed. He insisted he and his team see this, too.”
“Did you tell him it could be nothing? They could be wasting their time.”
“I told him that. Apparently, he wanted to get out of the office on a Friday afternoon. He’ll probably go home after this.” The chief and Detective Gibbons walked up to them.
“Hello, Agent Avers, Director Milkan.” The chief gestured to the lady next to him. “I believe you both met Detective Gibbons yesterday at a meeting.”
“We did.” Milkan shook her hand and Charli followed suit. “Good to see you again.” Gibbons smiled and nodded.
Milkan turned to Charli. “We’re all here, so lead the way, Agent.” She led them up the hill and to the back of the brush pile. The only thing Charli saw was a hole in the ground where the container had been.
What the fuck? Shit! Fuck! Shit! This was not good. “It’s gone. Damn it to hell. It was here yesterday afternoon.” Who could’ve taken it? She remembered the shooter. Aw, crap! That must’ve been the owner protecting his retirement. After she and Barry had left, he probably took it home. It had to be. There was no other reason for them to get shot at. People in Shedford were very protective of their stuff, no matter where their personal items were located.
Charter squatted by the hole. “What exactly was in this box?”
Charli ran her fingers through her hair. Yeah, she was so getting fired now. No way to stop it after her clusterfuck involving everything from Barry to the money. She still wondered how the hell she’d gotten this job, but really she knew the answer. Her ability. Because there was no way in hell it was for her detective work. “There were several plastic bags of money. Jewelry was toward the side, but I don’t know how much. The necklace Barry pulled out looked expensive as hell.”
The chief looked up at her, his questioning gaze making her feel even more guilty over all she’d done wrong. “Who’s Barry?”
She’d fucked up. Big time. “He’s a friend of mine.”
“You let a civilian tamper with evidence?” The chief got to his feet quickly and approached her, a menacing look on his face. Whoa there. This was not going to end well. If he even attempted to come into her personal space, he was going to be removing her from the case or arresting her, because she wasn’t good at having anyone yell at her.
Milkan stepped in front of Charli. “My agent was with three friends when they stumbled upon the crate. They had no idea what they found. We don’t know if it’s evidence of some kind or a hillbilly’s personal savings account.”
The chief backed down grudgingly. “That may be the case. But when she said money and jewelry, the bank and jewelry store robberies came to mind.”
She was so stupid. How had she not thought about that connection? Another reason for her to keep her day job. Crime details were not her forte. Charter turned to his men, giving them instructions to start their search for anything that could be a clue. He then called out, “Milkan, can I have a second with you?” He tilted his head toward the bottom of the hill.
“Yeah.” Milkan put a hand on her shoulder. “Charli, is the bridge close by? Do you think the money is still there?”
She so did not want to answer that question. “I don’t know. I assume it would be, but after this . . .”
He gave her a pat on the back. “Come down to the road with us.” She and Milkan caught up with the chief and they made their way to the cars. Charter pulled her boss toward the last car. Charli checked her phone for messages.
A new e-mail had arrived an hour ago from her online scheduling app, which customers used to set up an appointment instead of calling. That was the most she knew about the social media craze and web technology. And she still preferred phone calls, but when taking this fellowship position, she had needed another way for folks to contact her.
Raised voices drew her attention. Her boss and Charter seemed to be in a heated debate. She hoped it wasn’t over Barry. She couldn’t let them take him from her. Really? Let them take him? She wasn’t some dick-whipped woman in the throes of her first sexual experience. She’d known this man for only twenty-four hours. And had sex with him. More than once even! She had never been such a ho. But she’d never felt this way about anyone either. This was the second time, at least, that she’d admitted to herself how important he was to her.
But fuck. He could be a murderer and a thief. For all she knew, he could 100 percent be behind all these robberies. Hold up. That was ludicrous. Wasn’t it? Maybe it was stupid, but she knew Barry.
At least, she thought she did. Her instinct told her he wasn’t capable of those robberies. That he was a good guy, and that even his bear’s protectiveness of her spoke of the type of caring person he was. Her Barry was no criminal.
“Avers.” Her boss called her over to him and Charter. There was a harshness in his voice she’d never heard before. He didn’t look happy. She stopped next to the men. “Avers, I’m putting you on administrative leave until we get things figured out here.”
Her jaw dropped open. “You’re kidding, right?” When he didn’t reply, anger boiled. This was her chance to protect her bear, and if they took her off the case, she wouldn’t be able to do that. There was no way in hell she’d leave Barry defenseless. She was going to give Milkan more than just a piece of her mind. Milkan grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her SUV.
He whispered to her, “Before you go ballistic, listen to me. You didn’t do anything wrong in my book. I have to do this because Charter is here. I don’t want him making a stink to others and blowing this out of proportion. It’s only for a short time until he realizes there is nothing of importance in any of this.”
Oh, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it initially sounded. She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong. Other than the obvious, but that was because she had yet to get the training she needed to better understand detective work. She’d been promised that training, and until she had the proper knowledge, she’d be used only to handle the animal side of things.
“Besides, you’ve been running in high gear since yesterday morning. Take a short break and enjoy your new boyfriend.” He gave her a wink. “I want to go to the bridge, so don’t leave yet. I’m getting rid of Charter now.”
Charli pretended to stomp to her SUV, which released the little remaining anger she had at the situation. True to his word, Milkan talked Chief Charter into leaving, and with a smile on his face even. Damn, her boss was good. He climbed into his truck, and Charli took that to mean they were heading toward the evidence that damned the man she . . . liked a lot.