A single cry from a night bird.
Then she saw a strange darkness. And she thought she could see Jordan. Something was covering his head.
She heard a harsh whisper.
“Sorry—you deserve this!”
“Bastard! Jennifer didn’t!”
The voices were whispers in her head. She couldn’t place them. She knew Jordan had to be the one speaking, the one in the strange darkness...
He started to run, and he ran and ran. She heard cursing behind him.
“Dammit, we need guns!”
“No guns, always traced...”
But she—Jordan—made it. She heard him panting desperately for breath. He was caught suddenly and barely kept himself from crying out. But he’d loosened the ropes on his wrists and they fell free. He struggled out of his jacket, leaving it entangled on the branch. He’d reached into his pocket for his phone, called Raina and then saw it—the large bull alligator on the path before him. He’d disturbed the beast.
“Oh, shit!”
His phone fell as he flew down another path—zigzagging. They’d been taught all their lives that an alligator could run with amazing speed, but that zigzagging confused them.
He zigged and zigged and zagged and then...
Nothing.
“Raina!”
She felt Axel’s hand on her shoulder. He was standing over her.
“Tell us!” he said quietly.
“He, uh, ran into an alligator. Right down there, I think.”
“He’d have had to have been on the hammock,” Nigel said.
“Right. But it looks like there are a few trails through here, a few ways to go,” Andrew said. “Billie, pull her up—”
“Already on it,” Billie said.
He pulled the airboat up on something of a shore, jagged and filled with mangrove roots. Axel helped Raina out.
Titan, barking, leaped out on his own.
They looked around.
Then, slowly, Raina saw something appear before them—no, someone.
Peg-legged Pete.
“This way, I think, quickly. I heard the ruckus from here. I think he’s in trouble now. Serious trouble! Hurry!”
They all ran, Titan bounding on ahead.
They twisted and turned, following the dog and the strange apparition who ran along with him.
Then they found Jordan.
“Oh, my God!” Raina cried.
She’d seen scenes like it in movies.
She’d never expected to see it in real life.
Jordan appeared to be dead—leaned against a tree, caught in the tightening coils of some kind of very large snake.
She went dead still, yelling at Titan to get back. Axel rushed forward with Andrew and Nigel. She wasn’t sure who fired first. She knew they did so very carefully, killing the python while making sure not to hit Jordan.
Billie moved forward, as well. The four men wrested Jordan from the still-powerful weight of the snake.
“Is he alive?”
Her question was barely a whisper. But Axel heard her.
“He’s definitely got some broken bones. I don’t know how much damage. I’ve got a pulse—faint. We’ve got to get him help, quickly.”
Nigel was already on the phone.
“Moving him is dangerous,” Andrew warned.
“Not moving him is deadly,” Axel said. “Help me make a carrier out of our jackets and those branches over there, enough vines to fashion it quickly.”
Raina felt helpless. She stood there, watching. They were swift and efficient.
A makeshift gurney had been created out of the foliage. They carefully got Jordan on to it, and moved as quickly as possible back to the airboat.
Billie put out the report to the other searchers that Jordan had been found.
“I... I didn’t know how to help,” Raina told Axel, shivering by Jordan, careful not to touch him.
“What do you mean?” Axel asked. He took a moment to touch her face gently. “You led us straight to him.”
“Peg-legged Pete—”
“Didn’t know exactly which trail. And if we hadn’t reached him when we did...” He paused and then added grimly, “Constrictors smother their prey. They tighten and tighten until the lungs can get no air. He had a minute or two left at best. You got us down the right trail.”
Raina nodded. She looked back. Peg-legged Pete still stood by the mangrove. She lifted her hand to him and mouthed a thank-you.
She thought the ghost saw her.
Titan barked, whined and laid down by Jordan.
The night became a blur as the airboat sped back to Andrew’s where a helicopter was waiting to bring him to the trauma center.
* * *
Jon Dickson called Axel while they were at the hospital, telling him that he and Kylie had arrived.
Axel brought him up to date on what had happened; Jon and Kylie would head out to the hospital right away.
He had opted to stay. Andrew and Nigel were back out in the Everglades, trying to find any possible clues, no matter how minute they might be.
Titan was with them. They were both aware of the attempted poisoning attack on the dog.
DNA was being processed. The piece of human flesh meant that there was another victim in the case. One they knew nothing about.
Jordan had not regained consciousness. When the doctor finally came out, he was sorry to tell them they’d been forced to put Jordan into a medically induced coma. Between the damage done to his bones and his organs, it was their only chance.
Axel thanked him. Raina stood at his side, anxiously looking at the doctor.
“But he can make it?” she asked.
“No promises, young lady, I’m sorry. But we are damned good here, and I do promise we’ll be doing our best, and we’ll be in contact the minute we can safely wake him.”
Before they left, they met a party of officers, two in plainclothes, two in county uniforms. Nigel was making sure no harm came to their victim while he was in the hospital.
“We can leave, safely,” Axel assured Raina.
“But Jordan,” she whispered.
He understood. The man had been her friend forever. And no, he didn’t believe Jordan was a killer.
But Jordan had known something.
And he hadn’t shared that information. And now, someone had tried to poison Titan.
If Jordan had just spoken...
He didn’t say any of that to Raina. She surely knew it; she didn’t need to hear it from him.
Jon and Kylie arrived when they were about to leave the hospital; it was nearly 2:00 a.m.
Raina was polite, though she still seemed shell-shocked. Adding more law enforcement officers into the game didn’t seem to mean much to her, though he had told her a bit about Kylie. She might have been too dragged out by the day to remember or for it to even register.
“We’ve both got cars. We’ll meet back at Raina’s place?” he suggested.
“We’ll follow,” Jon said.
“Meet outside the garage,” Axel said.
For once, there was almost no traffic on the streets.
They made it to Raina’s in about twenty minutes. She seemed to start to come alive a little as they reached her house.
“Are they staying here? Are you staying?”
“I’m not leaving your side until we’ve got this solved,” Axel told her. “Ultimately, it’s up to you. Do you have room?”
“Plenty. It’s a three-bedroom house. I’ll get clean sheets.”
Jon had parked and he and Kylie were walking up the steps when Axel quickly warned, “She usually has her dog here, but Andrew kept him when we headed into the hospital. I didn’t want him alone,” he added.
“Titan!” Raina said. “I’m
horrible. How could I forget? Should we go back out to Andrew’s house and pick him up?”
“Hopefully Andrew is sleeping, and if I know Andrew, he’s cuddled up with your dog,” Axel told her. He took her by the shoulders. “Please, trust me. Andrew will protect him.”
“And he’ll surely protect Andrew, though I have a feeling, from what we’ve been briefed on, Andrew has a slew of good people watching over the area now,” Kylie said. She smiled at Raina. “We don’t mean to be a burden.”
“No, not at all! I’m delighted to have you,” Raina assured her. “Help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. Just give me a minute.”
“We can certainly help,” Jon said.
“He was a military man. Makes a bed like the best-trained nurse in the country!” Kylie said.
“It’s a talent,” Jon said lightly.
“No, please. I’ll just be a minute,” Raina said.
She disappeared down the hallway.
“Let’s sit, shall we?” Axel suggested.
They did. Axel knew it was good to have them there. He’d liked Kylie the minute he’d met her when she moved to the DC area to be with Jon. Her love of the past had made her invaluable to the Krewe, though she hadn’t opted to go to the academy, join the FBI and become a member.
That didn’t keep her from helping. They often brought people in as consultants.
Kylie was a talented consultant. First, she had a natural ability with people. Kylie could draw them out easily. And she was so calm, cool and casual in her manner that she could bring forward extraordinary memories, or things people knew that they didn’t know they knew.
She and Jon had only been together a few months. Jon had long ago proven himself an ace agent; Kylie had quickly shown she was an incredible asset in both his life and his work.
“You know,” Jon said, “Kylie and I met in Salem, a place I know like the back of my hand. The Everglades? Not so much. Not at all.”
Axel smiled. “This goes a lot further. The reason for whatever is going on has nothing to do with the Everglades—that’s just the dumping ground. And now, well, Nigel wouldn’t have put anyone on guard at the hospital he didn’t trust implicitly, but I’d still be happy if one of us was around and available at the drop of a dime. I don’t want Raina left alone. Someone did try to poison her dog.”
“With human flesh,” Kylie said, shaking her head.
“You’ve both been briefed,” Axel suggested.
“Yes,” Jon said. “Well, you know Adam Harrison, Jackson Crow and Angela Hawkins. We wouldn’t be here without being as briefed as humanly possible. And one would think, if they’re trying to poison the dog, they’re trying to get rid of him to make Raina vulnerable.”
“But tell us about the beginning,” Kylie said. “With Raina...it’s a matter of touch? I mean, we’ve all heard often enough about ‘mediums’—some so-called and some who must be somewhat real—who are given the objects of a missing person in the hopes of finding them. We know dogs go by scent, but...”
Axel looked up. Raina was standing in the arch that led to the hallway and the bedrooms.
“I think maybe Raina can best describe it herself,” he said. “And then, well, hell, we’re all going to be worthless without sleep.”
* * *
Axel had spoken the truth about one thing—sleep. She was exhausted. She didn’t remember feeling so exhausted, or so worried at the same time.
Titan.
She was never away from him.
Someone had tried to kill her dog.
With poisoned human flesh.
Jordan was in the hospital. He’d nearly been killed by someone, and then a giant snake had tried to finish him off.
It had all begun with that dress...
She still needed to burn the damned thing.
“Raina, are you up for this?” Special Agent Jon Dickson asked her politely, empathy in his voice. She liked him. A tall man with steel blue eyes, he seemed to be no-nonsense, and he seemed to be imbued with the same confidence and air of authority that Axel wore as easily as a cloak.
Kylie was comfortable and self-assured.
She was an attractive woman with chestnut hair and really beautiful eyes—blue and green with little gold spikes streaking out from the pupils.
She had a great smile.
“Are you okay?” Kylie asked her.
Okay? Hell, no. Her world had gone to hell.
But admittedly, she felt a strange sense of both determination and purpose. She wanted the killer caught. She’d never thought she’d be part of something like this, but she was.
And her friends were being affected. Maybe they—or one of them—was involved.
It didn’t matter. She was in it, and she was damned well going to see it through.
“I’m just fine,” she said. “And, Jon, I’m sure you’re a great agent and I’m willing to bet that you’ll easily meet Peg-legged Pete and see the pirate ship, but, Kylie, I think you’re both here because of you.”
Kylie glanced at Axel before speaking.
“I don’t know if I can help anything or not. I mean, what we seem to have is different, but I learned something from the terribly slimy man who almost killed me. I can help talk you through, but I think we should start in the morning.”
“And we need to get back on looking for common ground. It exists somehow, somewhere,” Axel said to Jon.
“Almost 3:00 a.m. now. Call it quits till morning?” Jon asked.
Axel nodded gravely. “Windows and doors,” he said.
“We’re all on it!” Raina said.
The four of them went through her house. All windows and doors were securely locked.
Jon and Kylie bid them good-night. Axel followed Raina to her room, but she paused in the hallway.
“What?”
“I’ve had Titan in this hallway every night since he was a pup,” she said.
“All right, in all truth, I’m not as good as that dog. But between Jon and me, we do wake at just about anything.”
She smiled at him. “I know that I’m well protected. I was just missing my dog.”
“Oh, well, of course, but he’s in good hands. I swear it.”
“I know that, too. And I can’t help thinking...”
“Yes?”
“Oh, God, Axel, someone tried to poison him with human flesh! How horrible could someone be?”
“It’s a warning.”
She shuddered. “And someone out there is missing that flesh.”
“It’s horrible,” Axel agreed. “I know. The thing to keep in mind now is that we put an end to it.”
She nodded and walked into the room, shedding her clothing as she did, heading straight for the shower.
He didn’t join her. She stepped out of the stall and poked her head out the door. “Okay, no offense, but tramping around the Everglades...”
“I just thought you might like privacy, that you were tired.”
“All that’s true. Get in here. Sorry, please get in here.”
He did. She hugged him while the heat and the water raged around them. He held her in return. She was so glad he was there. Glad for the tremendous warmth and vitality of his body and the strength of his hold.
“I know it was a horrible day,” he said quietly.
“It was. Make me forget it. Please, just for a while.”
His mouth touched hers. His hands began to move.
And he did make her forget.
If only for a time.
* * *
Axel’s first order of business was to call and check on Jordan Rivera’s condition.
He was stable; the doctors believed they would be bringing him out of the coma within a few days. His bones would take a long time to heal but the internal organs were doing well and, importantly, his he
art was holding up.
Axel called before even rising. He saw Raina was watching him, waiting for an update. He quickly repeated the info. “He’s going to make it,” he assured her.
“He’s going to have survived a python attack...and lived to tell the tale. Was it a python?”
“I believe it was a Burmese python and I’m thinking the damned thing was close to eighteen feet.” He hesitated, watching her. “You ready for today?”
“Damned ready.” She hesitated, ready to swing her legs off the bed. “Axel, it’s like something out of a slasher movie. Someone tried to poison my dog with a hunk of human flesh.”
“There’s another victim, I’m afraid. And whoever did it intended for Titan to die, too.”
“Thank goodness your quick thinking saved him,” she said, rising quickly. He noted the ease and agility of her movements, and loved the fact they were so comfortable together.
She paused suddenly, diving into her closet.
“Your friends are up!” she said.
“I’m pretty sure they know we’re both in here.”
“Yes, I know, but we should be out there. And we have to get to Andrew’s. I know that a dog’s life isn’t a human life, but—”
“You love your dog. Yes, you’re right. Let’s move.”
She wagged a finger at him. “Separate showers—fast ones.”
He laughed. “Hey, I’m well behaved. You’re the temptress.”
They showered—separately—and dressed and emerged from the bedroom within minutes to find Jon Dickson on the phone. Kylie was pouring coffee.
“I found the pot and figured we should start off awake,” Kylie said. “I hope you don’t mind me just making myself at home in your kitchen.”
“I’m grateful you made yourself at home,” Raina told her. “I love coming out to coffee that’s already brewed.”
“We need to get over to Andrew’s—he says he has plenty of food. Nigel is meeting us out there,” Jon said. “He’s gathered everything he can and thinks we should all go through the dossiers on the victims. They’re working on the DNA from the piece you found in the yard, and will hopefully come up with a match.” He studied Axel for a minute. “I’m not sure your friend believed in your theory that this has been going on a long time until yesterday. Now, well, he’s wondering just what else might be found, or what unsolved cases might have ties. He said someone named Vinnie Magruder is coming out, as well. Who is Vinnie Magruder?”
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