Buried

by Ellison Cooper

  He neared the open door and braced himself to peek around the corner.

  What were the chances that the killer would be looking out into the hall at the exact moment Ezra looked in? Slim. But not none. Not none.

  Don’t be an idiot. Just look and then retreat to your room. Hide until he’s gone. Hope Sayer comes. It’s all you can do.

  It’s all you can do.

  The footsteps caught him off guard. The figure rounded the corner before Ezra could react.

  A flashlight blinded him. He heard the soft leather swish of a gun sliding from its holster. The metal of a gun barrel swung up. Pointed at his head.

  * * *

  Bang!

  Sayer shot upright, heart pounding. Was it the familiar nightmare playing in her head? The gun going off. The gasping pain in her left shoulder.

  She lifted her phone to check the time and saw Ezra’s text. SOMEONE HERE IN BUILDING!

  Bang!

  Another shot from the ranger station.

  She flew out of bed and ran through the rain, gun already in her hand. She had no memory of even picking it up.

  Sayer shouldered open the front door and flew down the hall, where she found Ezra lying on his side. A small slick of blood, black in the faint light, smeared the floor next to him like a Rorschach blob.

  “Ezra!”

  She ran to him, gun trained on the dark hallway.

  Sayer rolled him over, eyes skittering around the room to make sure they were alone.

  He blinked up at her.

  She let out a moan of relief that he was alive.

  “Is it clear?” she demanded.

  “Yeah, he ran out the door,” Ezra croaked.

  “Are you shot?” She ran her hands over his chest and shoulders.

  “No. No, I’m good.” He panted. “He missed. Just a kick to the mouth.” He reached up to his face and Sayer realized blood was pouring from a split lip.

  “Jesus.” Sayer collapsed on the floor next to Ezra, hand still gripping his shoulder. “Fuck,” she said before she could rein in her wild emotions.

  “You sure he’s gone?” she asked, eyes still darting around the room.

  Unable to get the words out, Ezra nodded.

  Sayer practically jumped out of her skin when Max and Kona burst through the door. Max’s gun swung a circuit of the entry hall.

  “Someone broke in, attacked Ezra. He’s okay,” Sayer said with a staccato burst.

  “Clear?” Max demanded, voice all business.

  Sayer barked, “Clear here. He’s on the run,” as Max was already spinning on his heel out the door.

  Kona followed, low, in hunter mode.

  On autopilot, Sayer realized no one sat at the front desk. Where was the ranger on duty? Dear god, let him be okay. She hurried over to find him on the floor, bound and blindfolded, gagged with duct tape.

  Sayer pulled the tape off quickly.

  “Are you okay?”

  “He tasered me,” the ranger said, voice husky with fear.

  Still crouching over him, Sayer pulled out her phone and called 911.

  “This is FBI Agent Sayer Altair calling from the southern ranger station in Shenandoah National Park reporting shots fired. An FBI agent and park ranger both in need of immediate medical assistance. Armed suspect on the run from the ranger station. FBI Agent Maxwell Cho and his K9 are in pursuit of the suspect.”

  A soft moan from the bone room made Sayer’s heart leap to her throat. Dana!

  * * *

  Rain temporarily blinded Max as he flew from the building.

  He could hear Kona’s huffing breath as she loped beside him.

  They ran to a stand of trees, where Max crouched to take stock of his surroundings and make sure no one was waiting to take a shot at them.

  Nothing but rain pelting the leaves and Kona sniffing the air.

  “You have the scent?” he whispered to Kona, who responded with a low woof.

  Max clenched his teeth. He had avoided fugitive training for Kona on purpose. That was how dogs got killed in action. But Kona clearly understood what was happening and she was ready to go.

  He looked out into the moonless night, the dark woods like a void. He pulled out a flashlight and nodded to Kona. “Go find, girl!”

  She shot off in pursuit. Max held up his flashlight and ran to keep up.

  The world became nothing but a small circle of light in front of him. The only sounds were Kona’s heavy breath accompanied by his boots thumping the wet ground. They hurtled through the trees. Max realized they were heading toward Black Hollow Cliff. The desire to catch this bastard burned like wildfire in his gut. When he joined the Air Force, he became a Pararescueman to save lives, but he was also trained to kill. He would take no pleasure in killing this UNSUB, but he would do it if he had to.

  “Go on,” he said just loud enough for Kona to hear. She knew to constantly check in to make sure he was keeping up, but now he gave her the command to ignore him and follow the scent before the rain could pull it from the air.

  Understanding, she unleashed her true speed and the black dog disappeared into the darkness.

  Max broke off to the side, running parallel to Kona, silent and fast.

  Though he couldn’t see him, Max could hear their prey up ahead crashing through the underbrush. They were almost to the cliffs. He would have nowhere to go. Cornered. Dangerous.

  Max began to funnel back toward Kona, pinching the killer to a dead end at the drop-off.

  Kona let out a sharp aggressive bark and Max knew she was closing in.

  A guttural human sound of impact. Kona tackling their target.

  A shout accompanied a gunshot.

  Max cried out, not sure what emotion he was feeling.

  Then nothing.

  Max exploded through the underbrush to find Kona standing sentinel atop the cliff, looking down into the river raging below.

  Seeing that she was alone, he rushed to her side and ran his hands over her body. “You okay, Kona?”

  No signs of injury.

  Max cautiously looked over the cliff’s edge. Far below, the river rushed by. It was difficult to see anything in the dark and the pouring rain.

  Whoever they were after had just jumped.

  Kona whined.

  “Dammit,” Max said, returning his attention to Kona to double-check that she hadn’t been shot. “Good girl, Kona. Good girl.”

  SOUTHERN RANGER STATION, SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VA

  After seeing off the ambulance and setting the phalanx of police who showed up on an area search, Sayer came back in the front door of the ranger station, face a blank mask. Her mouth was pulled into a tight O of anger at the sight of her team sitting in the entry hall.

  Dana sat on a low chair, ice pack held to her side where she had been tased. Ezra curled on one of the small sofas, ice to his swelling lips. An evidence tech held one of Ezra’s hands, scraping material from under his fingernails into a bag. Soaked head to toe, Max and Kona sat on the edge of the large stone fireplace, water puddling around them on the floor.

  “Okay, the park ranger is off in the ambulance. They want to keep him overnight for observation, since he briefly lost consciousness. Dana, Ezra, you both sure you don’t want to go as well? I can get a ranger to drive you down.”

  Dana lifted her shirt and grimaced at the raw circles on her stomach. “Nah, it’s just a taser burn. A lovely pairing with my blisters from the cave fire.”

  Ezra just shook his head.

  Sayer grunted understanding. Their injuries were minor and they didn’t want to miss anything. She gathered herself. Time to lead her team. “All right, the rangers and locals are sweeping below the cliffs and downriver to see if we can find any sign of our visitor. You think he jumped into the river?” she asked Max.

  “Yeah, we used to do it all the time as kids. It’s the only place where the river’s deep enough to do that. Definitely something only a local would know.” The veins on his forehead pulsed a
nd his body moved in stiff, jerky motions. Sayer could see him struggling with his post-adrenaline letdown.

  Sayer turned to Ezra and gestured to the tech still scraping under his nails. “Did you manage to scratch the attacker?”

  “Did I actually get something?” Ezra asked the evidence tech, who stood up, sealing a small evidence bag.

  “There’s definitely some blood and skin here.”

  “Great, I want a ranger to drive that up to Quantico right fucking now.” Sayer tried to calm her own adrenal response, but her desire to nail this UNSUB made her body shake with intensity. The bastard came after two of her own.

  “How the hell did this happen?” Max asked. “I thought we had the doors locked at night.”

  “Exactly my question.” Sayer crouched down to examine the lock on the front door. “No signs of forced entry here or at the back door.”

  It was only then that Sayer realized she was in her pajamas and wasn’t wearing shoes. No wonder she was so damn cold.

  “So did we forget to lock down for the night or did he have a key?” Max asked.

  “The ranger said he locked up after he let Dana in and was reading when someone snuck up behind him.” Sayer turned her attention to Ezra. His eyes were already showing signs of bruising from the hit to his face. She looked back over at Dana.

  “So, he was after something in the bone room?”

  Dana winced as she shifted in her seat. “I think he took the charred skeleton.”

  Sayer sat down across from Ezra and cradled her head in one hand, rubbing her temple. “Okay.” She looked up. “I need you both to tell me exactly what happened. Dana, you first. Why were you even up here?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d work on getting DNA from the charred skeleton. Since it was so damaged, I was having a hard time getting a good sample, but I think I got one. After that I started working on cause of death for the other skeletons and was so absorbed in what I found, I didn’t even hear him coming. Next thing I know, I’m on the floor, a thousand volts jerking me around like a marionette. I was pretty out of it but saw him shove bones into a big canvas bag. Then I heard a shot and some scuffling but couldn’t see what happened.”

  “You can tell us what you found in a bit. Did you get a description?” Sayer asked gently.

  “He was wearing a mask and I was on the floor, so my perspective is messed up. He was definitely taller than me,” the short woman said with dark humor. “Sorry, not much of a description.”

  Sayer nodded. “What about you, Ezra? What happened?”

  “Something woke me up and I realized someone was here. I went out in the hall trying to get a look at him. But he came out of the room just as I got there.”

  “You’re sure it was a him?”

  “Maybe eighty percent sure? Tall, strong for sure. Wearing a mask and a puffy jacket.”

  “Okay. So he sees you, and then what?”

  “He pulled a gun on me, flashlight in my eyes.” Ezra paused, his breathing shallow.

  “Take your time,” Sayer said gently. Recalling an assault was often difficult. Beyond the trauma of the event, even just remembering the actual events in sequence could be difficult. The human brain often reacted by blurring the scariest details.

  “Right, so I realized I couldn’t run or get away, so my reaction was … to attack.”

  Max looked up from his own reverie. His wide eyes drifted down to Ezra’s missing legs. “You attacked a guy pointing a gun at you?”

  Ezra nodded, pale face glowing in the fluorescent lights. “I guess so. Wasn’t that fucking stupid?”

  “No, you made a call and it worked,” Sayer said firmly.

  “It really did, didn’t it…?”

  “Wait, don’t get ahead of yourself. So then what? You dove at him?”

  “I did.” Ezra looked mystified by his own actions. “I’m not sure how, but I just threw myself at him, hard. I knocked him back and he fumbled the gun a bit, took that first shot.” He closed his eyes, remembering the details. “He took a step back to stay upright, then took off toward the door. I wrapped an arm around one of his knees and held on. He swung his bag at me but couldn’t knock me off, then dragged me for a few seconds. He twisted around to point the gun at me again. So I twisted my whole body and brought him down.”

  “So you knocked him down,” Sayer prompted, not wanting to lose the thread.

  “Yeah, and the gun went off again, but I think it was an accident. I lunged to try and grab him again, thinking maybe I could hold him until you got here. I managed to scrape the hell out of his leg. That’s when he kicked me in the face.”

  “And that’s when he ran out the door?”

  “Yeah.” Ezra’s voice dropped until he was almost whispering.

  “Any description?”

  “Nah, all I saw was the gun. He was strong enough to drag me for a bit, but I didn’t see him very well. All I can say for sure is that he wasn’t small.”

  “All right, thanks, Ezra. You should let Max stitch you up … unless you want to go to the hospital, which I heartily endorse. Or even if you want to head home to get some rest…,” Sayer offered.

  “I’m not leaving.” A smile spread across his face. “I beat the fucker off. I stopped him. And now I’m gonna help catch him.” Pride rang in his voice. The smile got too wide and his lip began bleeding again. “Ow,” he said, but the smile didn’t fully fade. “Okay to stitches from Max, though. Have to stay pretty for the ladies.…”

  Sayer realized that Ezra wasn’t feeling scared at all. He felt victorious. Proud. She tried to laugh at his comment but was too emotionally wrung out to make it happen.

  “All right.” She took a relieved breath. “Can we avoid anyone else scaring the shit out of me for the rest of the case?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Max and Ezra said in unison.

  A guff of laughter escaped Sayer’s mouth. “All right, smart-asses. Does anyone want to try to get some sleep? It’s not even five A.M. and we have a long day ahead of us.”

  Max shook his head as he gathered his medical bag to treat Ezra.

  “No way I’m going back to sleep,” Ezra said.

  “I’m wide awake,” Dana agreed. “And I think I might have just figured out cause of death for the other skeletons before I was so rudely interrupted.”

  * * *

  Shortly after they retreated to the bone room, Piper showed up, baggy-eyed, carrying coffee and a box of donuts. “Heard all the excitement on the radio. Figured everyone could use a jolt of coffee and some sugar.”

  Sayer nodded thanks. “We were just trying to figure out what the attacker took.”

  Dana spent a few moments going from table to table. “He only took the previously burned skeleton.” She moved gingerly over to another table, and held up a small evidence bag triumphantly. “But he didn’t take the DNA sample I got.”

  Sayer wiped powdered sugar from her blistered hands and took a deep breath. “Great, at least we still have a possible ID. Let’s make sure we send that to DNA with the scrapings from Ezra’s nails. So what was special about that skeleton? And why break in here to retrieve it? That was a serious risk.”

  Dana pulled out her notes and flipped through a few pages. “I didn’t get a chance to do a full analysis of the charred skeleton, but it was definitely different. It was the only one that showed signs of previous burning, which, like I said earlier, looks like a possible attempt at cremation.”

  “An attempt?” Piper asked.

  “Yeah, a regular wood fire burns at around eight hundred fifty degrees centigrade. But to turn bone to ash, you need a fire closer to fourteen hundred degrees. That’s why you need a fancy crematorium. These bones were charred but otherwise unharmed, suggesting that they were placed in a wood fire before being dropped into the cave. Let me see.” Dana read through more notes. “Though they weren’t damaged by that initial burning, the fire the other day did make them more brittle than the other bones, which is why that skeleton was way
more damaged than the others in the cave. Which is also why it was hard for me to be sure about gender or age. Last difference, and I can’t swear to this one, since I didn’t have a chance to confirm, but I think the burned skull showed signs of head trauma. To be precise, it looked like someone shattered the temporal bone right here.” She tapped above her own temple. “My guess would be a strike from a sharp object. Enough to suggest cause of death.”

  “A sharp object, like maybe a ritual sword?”

  “Exactly like that.”

  “And you aren’t seeing that with any of the other skeletons?”

  “Not at all.” Dana bustled over to another table and lifted a small bone. “See, this is a cervical vertebra. The vertebrae in your neck.” She tapped the front of her throat. “And all of these skeletons show signs of cutting on the front of their cervical vertebrae.”

  “Someone slit their throats?”

  “That’s my current thought. I was just about to do a microanalysis of the actual cuts to see if they were made by the same blade, but all six skeletons here show a single cut to the neck. So deep the blade cut into the bone of the vertebral column.”

  “Whoa.” Piper put down her coffee, looking a little pale. “Just like that picture of that Greek sacrifice.”

  Sayer nodded slowly. “There’s our definitive link between these skeletons, the Greek sacrificial stuff, and the sword. Dana, once you finish your microanalysis, compare the cuts to the blade from the kopis just to make sure that’s really our murder weapon. They should be sending that report soon.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Dana’s phone buzzed on the table, accompanied by a cheerful polka ringtone. “Oops, sorry.” She read off the screen. “Oh, more good news, the dates have been determined for our skeletons.” She read out loud, “Definitive date acquired for the seven teeth submitted.” She looked up at Sayer. “According to the radiation levels, these bones were deposited between 1996 and 2002.”

  “Meaning they were deposited sometime in that range?” Sayer asked.

  “No, what I mean is, the oldest skeleton was deposited in 1996, and the most recent was deposited in 2002.”