Edge of Darkness

by Barker, Freya

  “He wants the house to go to Lisa and the kids,” I clarify in a low voice, so we’re not overheard.

  Her mouth falls open as she turns to my father.

  “That’s perfect,” she whispers, but Nosh reads her lips.

  He picks up his sandwich and takes a big bite, indicating the end of that conversation, but he looks pretty pleased with himself.

  “Ms. Lissie!”

  Kiara’s high-pitched voice pierces the air as the little girl spots us sitting at the small table and races over.

  “Indoor voice, child,” Lisa grumbles, following behind her.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Lissie greets the little girl with a hug.

  I notice Nosh observing the two before he turns to me, raising a challenging eyebrow.

  “Be about time.”

  I lift my eyes to the ceiling. Great, now he has visions of grandkids. So much for moving slowly with this relationship business.

  “I wored my new dress, but you wasn’t here to see,” Kiara tells Lissie accusingly, who darts a guilty look to Nosh and then me.

  “I’m so sorry I missed that, honey, but maybe—if it’s okay with your nana—I could pop by one day and you can wear it for me?”

  “Now?”

  I chuckle at the girl’s eager expression.

  “Not now. One day, Ms. Lissie said,” Lisa intervenes, grabbing her granddaughter by the hand. “Leave these people to eat in peace, girl. You were going to help me in the kitchen.”

  As easily as that, Kiara’s attention is diverted and she skips to the kitchen at her nana’s hand, babbling something about cookies.

  A sharp knock on the table has me look at my father.

  “Eat up. We’ve got shit to paint.”

  “He says—”

  “I got that,” Lissie interrupts with a smile for the old man, who looks pleased.

  Back at the house he disappears into the kitchen only to come back out moments later, carrying a notebook he hands to Lissie. I read over her shoulder.

  We’re going shopping tomorrow. Need a woman’s opinion.

  “Fuck, Nosh,” I grumble, signing as I speak. “How do you know she’s not working? Or even wants to?”

  “I don’t mind,” she tells me with a smile. Then she adds, “And, uhm, I’m off for an undetermined time, so that won’t be an issue either.”

  A red flag goes up.

  “Off for an undetermined time?”

  She hesitates, looking a little embarrassed, but finally says, “I got suspended from duty.”

  “You what?” I’m instantly enraged for her. “What the fuck for?”

  “What’s going on?” Nosh signs but I ignore him.

  “Well,” she starts hesitantly. “The chief wasn’t too pleased I’d been poking around in a case I was told to stay out of.”

  “You have gotta be fuckin’ kidding me. Benedetti?” I pull my phone from my pocket and am already dialing.

  “Benedetti.”

  “You sonofa—”

  “Give me that phone!” Lissie grabs my arm and twists the phone from my hand. “I’m sorry, Chief. Yes. I will. Nosh? Yes, he is. Okay. Sorry again.”

  I’m fuming by the time she ends the call and shoves it at me. She’s just as pissed, stabbing a finger in my chest, making my father chuckle in the background.

  “That was out of line.”

  I grab her hand to stop her finger from poking me.

  “You got shafted for doing your damn job, Lissie. That is outta line.”

  Lissie

  It takes me fifteen minutes to explain things to Yuma, who translates for his father. It does little to calm him down, though. Now he’s pissed at Joe for potentially putting me at risk.

  I’m lucky my boss is a good guy. I never asked him if I should keep his plan to myself, and wouldn’t have said anything to Yuma if Joe hadn’t given me the green light to tell him and his father. He said it wasn’t a bad idea having someone at my back.

  Joe was actually chuckling when I got on the phone after I wrestled it from Yuma. Thought it was hilarious. I don’t see the humor myself. Especially not when Yuma is still glaring at me like I did something wrong.

  “I don’t like it.”

  “That’s pretty obvious,” I return. “But you’re just going to have to suck it up because I’m doing this. It gives me a chance to do something meaningful for Dani.”

  The instant I mention her name the angry expression melts off his face.

  “Shit, baby.”

  “Let’s paint.” I turn, walk into the kitchen, and grab the trays and rollers from the sink.

  I can feel the men watching as I pour some paint in my tray and start rolling the second coat on the wall. After a beat or two, I hear movement behind me and when I sneak a peek, Yuma is getting his own tray ready.

  We work in silence for a while until I have to go on my tiptoes to roll as high as I can. I yelp as I’m suddenly lifted off my feet, two strong arms around my middle.

  “Keep rolling, baby,” Yuma’s voice rumbles behind me.

  He holds me up long enough for me to finish the top edge, and then he lowers me down the front of his body, before turning me in his arms.

  “Are we okay?” he asks softly, his eyes warm on mine.

  Not really an apology, but I wasn’t expecting one. After having had a chance to cool off, I can appreciate the fact he clearly cares enough to be worried about me. It’s the kind of man he is, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Depending on where this is going, likelihood is this won’t be the only time we’ll bump heads.

  “Yeah. We’re good.”

  “Good.” He lowers his head and brushes my lips with his. “Because watching you bend over every time to get paint on your roller has been messing with my head.”

  “Your head?” I tease, one eyebrow raised.

  “Both of them.”

  His grin is infectious and I’m smiling when I lift up on my toes for another kiss.

  We’re interrupted by Yuma’s father banging on the dinner table in the middle of the room. He starts signing and I look at Yuma for translation.

  “He says to get our asses out of here. He’s worked up a good appetite and doesn’t want us to ruin it.” A laugh bursts out of me and when I look over at Nosh, humor twinkles in his eyes. “He wants me to make sure I have you back here at ten to take him shopping.”

  I give the old man a thumbs-up.

  Twenty minutes later, Yuma is following me back to my apartment. That happened without much of a discussion, but I’m not complaining.

  Far from it.

  I’m still not complaining two hours later when Yuma leaves me boneless and tangled in the sheets to open the door for the pizza delivery. I’m still in the same position when he comes back in carrying the box, two bottles of water and a roll of kitchen towels, all of which he deposits on the bed. But when he strips out of his jeans again, I roll on my side to watch him.

  I like watching him; the way the muscles of his arms bunch and flex as they move, the beard he tries to smooth into submission with his hand, the slight puckering of his skin underneath the tattoo on his shoulder. He’s not classically handsome, clean-cut, or carefully sculpted, but the sum of his parts makes for a beautiful man.

  “Gotta stop lookin’ at me like that,” he grumbles, climbing in bed beside me. “Fuel first.”

  I push myself into a sitting position, tucking the sheet under my arms, which he promptly tugs down.

  “What?” he says when I roll my eyes. “I like looking at you.”

  “Not much to look at.” I’m referring to my underwhelming boobs as I grab a slice of pizza from the box and take a big bite, moaning at the taste. “Besides,” I mutter around my mouthful. “I’m sure you’ve seen your share. You see one pair, you’ve seen ‘em all.”

  “Bullshit. Wanna know what the difference is? I can’t remember a damn thing about any’a them, but I don’t ever wanna forget a single detail about you.”

  The masticated bite
of pizza seems to get stuck in my throat, and I have to swallow hard to make it move.

  “You can’t say nice things to me when I’m eating,” I grumble. “It’s hazardous.”

  He grins and leans over the pizza box between us to brush my mouth with his smiling lips.

  “I’ll keep it in mind, baby.”

  “You know what’s funny? My whole life I’ve had an aversion to being called babe or baby. It was usually meant in a derogatory way, like a distracted pat on the head to appease an annoying child.”

  “Jesus, Lissie, coulda told me that before.” Now it’s his turn to grumble.

  “No, what I’m trying to say is it doesn’t feel like the same when you call me that. It feels…I don’t know…treasured?”

  “Good, ‘cause you are.”

  Like he didn’t just say something profound—to me anyway—he shoves another impressive bite in his mouth.

  I sit back against the headboard, eating my pizza with a growing sense of well-being. To my father and brothers I’d mostly been an annoyance. I haven’t felt this appreciated since my mom died and I like it.

  Then Yuma knocks off my rose-colored glasses.

  “And it sure don’t hurt you’ve got a thing for meat lovers’ pizza.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Lissie

  “GOT A MINUTE?”

  I look over my shoulder to find Luna walking into the kitchen.

  We just finished dinner in the clubhouse, after another full day of painting, and a whirlwind shopping trip with Nosh this morning. Yuma had decided to tag along so he could translate.

  His father had wanted me to pick out paint colors and window coverings for the three bedrooms, and new flooring for the entire house. Don’t get me wrong, the house needs it, but he was spending a healthy amount of money. When I voiced my concern to Yuma, he laughed, stating his father probably had more socked away than any normal person would see in a lifetime and that it was high time to put that money to good use.

  Not normally a huge fan of shopping, I had a surprisingly good time picking things for someone else’s house, with someone else’s money.

  “Of course, let me just rinse these.” I quickly run the plates under the faucet and stack them in the dishwasher.

  “We’ll grab Ouray’s office?”

  “Sure.”

  I wipe my hands and follow her, throwing a little wave at Yuma, who had moved to the bar and was chatting with Tse. I have butterflies in my stomach, guessing this will be the go-ahead sign.

  “You up for this?” she asks, when she closes the door behind me.

  “Absolutely,” I say, with a lot more confidence than is probably warranted and all the excitement I feel.

  “Few things first to get you up to speed,” she says, sitting down at the large table and indicating for me to do the same. “We’ve been able to identify another of the victims. Candy Wilson, a thirty-one-year old single mom from Reno. She and her five-year old son, Alex, went missing eight years ago. Her DNA had been uploaded to CODIS at the time.”

  CODIS is the FBI acronym for Combined DNA Index System, a national DNA database.

  Luna opens a file folder and pulls out a photo she hands to me of a pretty woman with an adorable little boy. Then she hands me another picture, this one more like a mugshot of an older boy.

  “Is that the same kid?”

  “That is Zach, one of the boys found at the ANL training facility in Moab last year. He’s in foster care in Denver. They’re testing to confirm it’s him as we speak. We’re testing all the boys against the DNA of our victims.”

  I shake my head. This is completely beyond the scope of my darkest imagination.

  “Wait. Do you think Dani may have—”

  “God, I’d hate to think anyone would be so evil they’d methodically harvest kids, killing off their mothers, but I’m afraid that’s what it looks like. Both Candy Wilson and your friend—and I’m sorry to say this—seemed to be living less than established lives. Candy was a stripper at a dingy Reno club, and Dani…” She lets her voice trail off but I can fill in the blanks. My best friend wasn’t exactly a pillar of society. “Also, we’ve located Marty Spengler. One of Red Franklin’s contacts? He was holed up with one of their hangers-on.”

  “Hangers-on?”

  “Club property. Women looking to be part of the club by whatever means.”

  “Sounds desperate,” I observe.

  “Often is. We have a handful here too, but they’re not around as much as they used to be.”

  I must’ve made a face because she chuckles.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have something to do with that, would you?”

  She pulls up a shoulder. “Maybe. Anyway, Spengler was around when they poured the foundation for the community center and saw the bones. He also saw his buddy, Scott, take pictures. The foreman reminded the crew of the power of the Woodard family in town and warned them they were not people to mess with. Marty freaked and bailed, and has been hiding out ever since. Too scared to even report back to Red.”

  “And what about the other guy? Becker? Any sign of him?”

  “Nothing. Gone to ground.” She slides a small Victoria’s Secret bag across the table. “Greene got a package together for you. Inside are three dime-sized trackers you should carry on your body at all times. If you’re ever in a position where one is discovered, they might look for a second one, but rarely a third one, so be creative. There’s also a carbon copy of your iPhone in there. Except this one has a tracker installed.”

  I pull out the phone and notice my contacts are on this new phone.

  “Is it okay if I’m a bit freaked out now?”

  Luna snickers. “Understandable. Jasper Greene is good. It’s still your own phone number, it just has a few built in safety measures. You will need to set up your facial recognition and password, and I’ll hold on to your own phone for the time being. You don’t want to confuse the two. And don’t worry, you’ll be monitored closely.”

  “Okay.” In truth I’m a lot overwhelmed, but a little excited as well. “So now what?”

  “Now you do what you were doing before, be yourself and do a little digging. The only thing to be aware of is people need to think you have gone rogue. That’s what’s going to make them more willing to talk.” She gets up. “We should get back out there.”

  Feeling a bit more confident, I stand as well and grab the Victoria’s Secret bag, when Luna stops by the door.

  “Before I forget, there’s an emergency alert on your phone. Hit the pound key three times and we’ll know you’re in trouble.”

  Just like that the butterflies are back.

  “That for me?” Tse comments, waggling his eyebrows as he points to the bag in my hand.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” I turn to him batting my eyelids, and his lecherous smile only gets bigger. “Had I known, underneath all that leather and brawn, you had a penchant for lacy underwear, I’d have gotten you some in your size.”

  Whoops and hollers go up around the bar and Tse’s smile drops right off his face as he clutches his chest. Yuma, who’d looked ready to take on his friend just moments earlier, laughs heartily at his expense.

  “You’ll do, Lissie,” Luna mutters behind me. “You’ll do just fine.”

  Yuma reaches for my hand and starts pulling me to the door.

  “Wait! Where are we going?”

  “Riverside. Plumbing problems,” he mumbles, as I trot to keep up with his long strides.

  Yuma

  Oh, the irony.

  I’d barely pulled my truck into the empty spot when Mr. Denby—the retired mailman in unit sixteen—was suddenly standing beside my door. He had water coming down his walls. His upstairs neighbors weren’t home, but I got inside their apartment to find water flooding from underneath their dishwasher.

  Now, two hours later, I’m soaked to the skin and in the office making calls. The plumber is doing his magic up in the unit after I discovered it was too much for me, probably charg
ing a premium since it’s after hours.

  I had plans and they involved the enticing Victoria’s Secret bag that sparked my imagination. I don’t give a shit Lissie wears sensible underwear—she’d be sexy in a burlap sack—but the thought of those perky tits and that lush ass covered in lace had me hard in seconds. Then Tse opened his fucking mouth and I almost lost it on him, but with a smile on her face Lissie had the perfect comeback, which only made me harder.

  I’m still hard. The only difference is, I’m damp, uncomfortable, and cursing the insurance company who’s had me on hold for the past twenty minutes. I have to get this settled before I go back up.

  After another agonizing ten minutes, I’m finally patched through to someone who can take my information and I’m promised a claims adjuster will be here tomorrow to take a report of the damage. I place a brief call to Ouray after to fill him in, then grab a quick shower and put on dry clothes before locking up and heading upstairs.

  I hear the raised voices inside the apartment when I walk up to the door. Lissie’s and a man’s I don’t recognize. I don’t even bother knocking; I use my own key to open her door.

  The first thing I see is her face, her eyes dark in the pale face. I focus on the back of the large man in the middle of her living room.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” I bark, and the guy turns, a scowl on his face.

  He doesn’t have a lot on me size-wise but he has that don’t-mess-with-me look.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  His booming voice doesn’t impress me. Lissie’s lips are pressed together and I quickly move to her side, tucking her rigid body against me without ever taking my eyes off the guy. He doesn’t look too pleased.

  “Yuma, this is my brother, Peter,” she says stiffly, before she adds with a hefty dose of sarcasm. “He’s traveled all this way to check on me. Haven’t heard from him or anyone else in months, but apparently news of my shameful suspension has made its way to Albuquerque.”

  “Didn’t exactly sound like a warm family reunion when I was coming up the stairs, Babe.”

  “Babe?” her brother echoes me with clear disgust. “Jesus, Elizabeth, this is the kind of lowlife you’ve been associating with? I knew you were desperate but this is sinking really low, even for you.”