Footsteps in the Dark

by Josh Lanyon

  “Sorry. Lucinda Pinwheel.” She held out her hand. “I’m Benji’s handler.” Up close, the deep lines around her eyes and forehead were obvious. With her long hair and slender build, she’d looked much younger from a distance. “Benji wouldn’t hurt a fly…usually.”

  I glanced at the covered corpse. “Maybe he was having a bad day.” I pulled on gloves and moved to the body. Lifting the tarp slowly, I held my gag reflex in check as I studied the bloody, torn mess in front of me. There were obvious teeth marks around the throat, and the head was almost severed from the neck. The smell of blood made my stomach roll, but I kept examining the corpse, looking for anything that might be inconsistent with an animal attack.

  “Hey, Decker.” Officer Eugene approached, looking a little queasy. “This is some grisly shit.”

  “Yeah.” I dropped the tarp back over the body and pulled out my notepad and pen. “What can you tell me?”

  He put his hands on his hips. “That some people will do anything for money?” He shook his head. “How desperate would a man have to be to spend the night in a cage with a wild animal? Jesus.”

  “I didn’t mean I needed you to get philosophical. What do you know about what happened here?”

  “It’s pretty cut-and-dried. The guy was in the cage, and the tiger went after him.”

  “Was he alone?”

  “You mean other than the tiger?”

  I sighed. “I mean were there any witnesses?”

  Officer Eugene pursed his lips. “He was alone when it happened. There’s supposed to always be a cameraman with the contestants. But apparently the guy assigned to our victim had severe intestinal issues and was on the toilet when the attack occurred.”

  “I’ll need to talk to the cameraman ASAP.”

  “He’s at the hospital.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “Dehydration and hysteria. He found the body.”

  “Got it.”

  “There was also a fill-in trainer, Levi Benson. Lucinda had a family function she needed to go to, and Levi took her spot for the night. Unfortunately, he was in desperate need of caffeine and was at the commissary grabbing a cup of coffee when Dale was killed.”

  Lucinda added, “Usually I’d never leave this to an underling, but it was my son’s eighteenth birthday and I couldn’t miss it.”

  “I see.” I studied her. “Where’s Levi now?”

  Officer Eugene said, “He’s outside. He’s a bit freaked out and needed some fresh air.”

  “I can imagine.” I made a mental note to hunt down Levi and talk to him.

  Lucinda shifted uneasily. “I still can’t believe this happened. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve worked with Benji for ten years, and we’ve never once had an incident. He’s never even looked weird at a human before.”

  “Something triggered him,” I murmured.

  I noticed a guy standing a few feet away, his phone glued to his ear. He seemed to be in his early thirties, and he was tall, with broad shoulders and jet-black hair. He emanated an air of self-assurance, which combined with his expensive suit, told me he might be in charge. He hung up, lifted his chin, and strode toward me, holding out his hand.

  “I’m Jax Thornburn.” His grip was firm, and his palm felt smooth against my callouses. His cologne was spicy, masculine, and probably way out of my budget.

  “Detective Decker.” The intensity of his gray stare was unsettling. I didn’t get unsettled easily, but he radiated power and confidence like a convection oven. When his gaze dropped to the dark stain on my shirt, heat filled my cheeks. “I had a run-in with a cup of coffee.”

  “Looks like the beverage won.” His voice was deep, his gaze enigmatic.

  I cleared my throat. “I’m not really familiar with the concept of your show. Could you fill me in? Why was a man inside the cage with a tiger to begin with?”

  He exhaled roughly. “Dale was one of ten contestants. Each week one of them is randomly assigned an animal, and then they either spend the night in the cage or they decline and leave the show.” His gaze flicked to the corpse. “Dale didn’t decline.”

  “Why would he do something so crazy?”

  “Money. If they spend the whole night, they get lots of money.”

  “How much money?”

  “A million dollars.”

  “Wow.” I wiped distractedly at the coffee stain on my shirt. “I think I’d rather be poor and alive.”

  Jax smirked. “Looks like things are working out for you, then, Detective.”

  Smart-ass.

  I narrowed my gaze. “So why’d the animal attack him?”

  Lucinda said brusquely, “Benji must have been provoked.”

  Jax turned to her with a grim look. “I hope you’re not suggesting me or any of the crew did that sort of thing?”

  She sniffed. “All I know is ratings are everything to you people.”

  His dark brows pulled together. “Having one of my contestants eaten by a wild animal isn’t good for ratings. Besides, ratings are already through the roof.”

  “I’m happy for you and all, but why call for Homicide?”

  Jax glanced at Lucinda. “Would you mind if I spoke to Detective Decker alone?”

  She shrugged. “No problem.” She pressed her big hat firmly on her head and wandered over to the cage, where Benji still paced.

  Jax turned to me, looking uneasy. “The premise of Don’t Die is people take a huge risk, and if they pull it off, they get a lot of money. But the risk is exaggerated.”

  “Obviously not.”

  “What I mean is, we take great care in picking animals that are gentle and have never been involved in anything violent.” He swallowed. “We take precautions, such as making sure the creatures are well fed and exercised.”

  “I’m no expert in animal attacks, but it’s pretty clear the tiger didn’t just maul the victim. He ate parts of him.”

  Jax blanched. “But why would he? We feed the cats constantly to keep them sated.”

  “Obviously this cat wanted seconds.”

  “Listen, I don’t want to be dramatic, but as I told your lieutenant, something seems off lately.”

  “Off how?”

  “I don’t know. Things keep happening.”

  “Could you elaborate?” I couldn’t decide if Jax was truly concerned, or just loving the attention that dragging Hollywood Homicide down here gave him.

  “One of the Burmese pythons got out of its cage last week and almost strangled a camera tech. The snake’s cage has a double lock. How would he get out?”

  “My pet iguana got out when I was ten. Shit happens.”

  His lips twisted. “I want to believe this is an accident. I really do. But I have a bad feeling.”

  “Well, just because you have indigestion, I can’t open an investigation for murder. This could easily be a tragic animal attack.”

  “I understand you don’t want to waste your time. I don’t want to waste your time either, and I wouldn’t if I didn’t truly feel something was wrong.” He hesitated. “I didn’t mention it to your lieutenant, but I got a letter a week ago.”

  I perked up. “What kind of letter?”

  “You have to understand I get mail from kooks all the time.”

  “What did the letter say?”

  “That we needed to stop using animals for greedy profit, or there would be consequences.”

  “Where’s the letter?” A mysterious threatening letter was something I could sink my teeth into.

  “Well…”

  “Tell me you still have the letter.” Even I could hear my frustration.

  “I’m afraid not.” He looked embarrassed. “People say shit they don’t mean to a man in my position all the time. If I paid attention to every threatening phone call and letter, I’d never get anything done.”

  “Damn.” I exhaled. “Do me a favor; if you get another note, hang on to it.”

  “I will.”

  I looked around. “Are there other camer
as besides the one the cameraman was using?”

  “Yes. We have four cameras always rolling.”

  “That’s great.” I straightened. “I’ll need to see that footage.”

  “Of course.” His brow wrinkled as he held my gaze. He was close enough that I could see the dark ring around his slate-colored eyes and how thick and long his lashes were. “One thing keeps bothering me…”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t Dale go to his pod?”

  I cocked my head. “His what?”

  He sighed. “The rules of the show are, you spend twenty-four hours in the enclosure with the wild animal assigned to you. You must be in the area with the animal for at least twelve of those hours. But if you ever feel unsafe, each person has a protected cubicle they can retreat to.” He ushered me toward the tiger’s enclosure. “See behind that screen? There’s a safe room if they actually think their life is in danger.”

  I squinted through the steel mesh. “I’d have been in there in a flash.” Hell, I’d have never done the show.

  A line formed on his smooth forehead. “That’s what I’m saying. The second he felt threatened, he should have retreated to his safe spot.”

  “But he didn’t.”

  He glanced toward the corpse. “Apparently not.” He seemed to mentally shake himself. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m being paranoid and this really is just a horrible accident.”

  I looked at the panting tiger. “You say you feed the animals well, but I have to be honest, Benji looks a little gaunt.”

  “He does?” He peered closer. “Huh. Maybe you’re right.”

  “Shouldn’t his handler have noticed that?”

  “You would think so. She’s paid well enough,” he grumbled.

  “I’m guessing starving a wild animal would definitely change its disposition.”

  “If the tiger’s hungry, someone needs to explain how the hell that happened. The show pays through the nose for high-quality meat for Benji.”

  “Who’s actually in charge of feeding the tiger?”

  “Lucinda. The animal is owned by Hollywood Cats, but Lucinda is in charge of Benji when he’s working.”

  “Interesting… Listen, I’ll take a look at the footage, and depending on what I find, we may or may not proceed with an investigation. I need something more concrete indicating Dale might have been murdered and this wasn’t a random animal attack.” I glanced over at Lucinda, who was cooing to Benji through the cage. “You think she has it in her to be a cold-blooded killer?”

  “Not sure. But in your line of work, how often does the bad guy waltz up to you holding the murder weapon and screaming how much he enjoys killing people?”

  My lips twitched. “Not often enough.”

  “There you go.” He stared at Lucinda with a blank expression. “Perhaps beneath Lucinda’s cool exterior lies the heart of a cold-blooded maniac.”

  “If it was murder, it could be anyone who had access to this space. It could just as easily be you.”

  His eyes widened, and his lips parted. “I beg your pardon?”

  It was hard not to laugh at how nonplussed he looked. “It’s not unusual for the real bad guy to try and ‘help.’”

  “You think I’d call the cops if I were behind this?” His mouth was a straight, angry line.

  I pulled a stick of gum from my pocket, unwrapped it, and pushed it in my mouth. I hadn’t really meant any offense, but he was so touchy, it was kind of amusing. “Maybe you’re just tossing out a bunch of red herrings. You know…to throw me off the scent.”

  He opened his mouth as if he was about to defend his honor, then snapped it shut. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re an absolute riot, Detective Decker.”

  I laughed outright at his snippy tone. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he didn’t like me. Uptight suit types and I didn’t usually get along; even when I didn’t accuse them of being psychopaths. “Ah, come on. Lighten up, Hollywood.”

  “Right. Because there’s nothing more hilarious than a man being eaten by a tiger.”

  “I meant no disrespect to the dead. I take every case seriously.” I popped my gum. “I’m a professional.”

  “I can tell.” His gaze dropped to my stained shirt.

  His snooty expression annoyed me, but I tried not to show it. “I’ll need a copy of the surveillance footage, including before and after Dale entered the tiger enclosure. Also, a list of absolutely everyone with access to this set. That includes the biggest big shot and the gofer who picks up donuts for the crew. I want everybody on that list.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  I glanced at the tiger and met his amber gaze; he watched us silently. “What’s gonna happen to Benji?”

  “I’m not sure,” he murmured.

  “It’d be a shame to put him down. He’s a beautiful animal.” I marveled at how huge he was. I couldn’t imagine anything that would entice me to spend the night in a cage with a wild animal.

  “I wish I’d never dreamed up this damn show.” His voice was raspy.

  “Well, at least you’ve gotten famous off the idea.”

  “You think that makes it worth this?”

  I shrugged.

  His cool gaze slid to mine. “Do you resent men like me, Detective Decker?”

  “Why would I?”

  “Just a feeling I get off you.” He started to walk away, then stopped. “I’m not shallow, if that’s what you think.”

  My face warmed. I wasn’t sure how to respond. To be honest, I assumed he was mostly just worried about how this tragedy would affect his career.

  His smile was tight. “I guess your silence is my answer.”

  “Who cares what I think?”

  His jaw hardened. “Good point.” He strode away, his head held high.

  Chapter Two

  Watching twenty-four hours of surveillance footage was as exciting as it sounded.

  Even speeding it up was as dull as watching paint dry. But I wanted to see every minute of the time that preceded Dale’s brutal death. As I watched the video, I balanced a large pepperoni pizza on my stomach and rested my feet on my desk. Most of the tape was Dale sitting still as a mouse in the corner of the big cage, and anytime Benji seemed interested in him, he’d scramble toward his safe room. This was titillating TV?

  Jax came on-screen and had Dale leave the cage. Jax had explained that there would be periodic timed breaks for Dale to eat and use the restroom. Once Dale was out, Levi Benson herded the big cat into a smaller enclosure while technicians cleaned up the animal’s waste and tidied Dale’s quarters. While the crew worked, Jax wandered around outside the cage. It looked like he was talking to the big cat as he leaned down near the animal. That made me smile for some reason. Maybe because everything about the guy screamed cool sophistication, not sappy animal lover.

  Dale returned to the cage, and everyone cleared out of the hangar but the cameraman. About an hour before Dale’s approximate time of death, the camera guy left the room. As time passed, the cat became agitated, pacing back and forth and coming nearer to Dale than he’d done previously. Then the tiger crouched and scooted closer to his human roommate as if stalking him. Dale, looking alarmed, got up quickly and headed to his safety cubicle. When he reached its door, he appeared to struggle with opening it as he punched at the keypad. The cat crept closer, and Dale’s movements became more panicked.

  I spit out my food and watched in horror as the cat pounced on Dale and dragged him away from the still-closed door. The attack was brutal, and I stood and looked away through most of it. Pressing a hand to my roiling stomach, I forced myself to watch until the cameraman with the intestinal issues returned. If the guy was faking his shock at finding Dale mauled to death, he was a good actor. He actually vomited several times after calling 911.

  Feeling shaken, I grabbed my phone and called one of my main investigators, Detective Andy Wilson, who had forensic experience. He’d been on scene with me the day before. “Andy?” I asked breathlessly.<
br />
  “Jesus, Decker, it’s two in the morning.” I heard a female voice in the background. “I’ll be right back, baby.” There was a lot of rustling and the sound of a door closing. “Okay. What’s so important?”

  “Did you check the lock on the door?”

  “What?” He sounded confused.

  “I mean the lock on the cage where the guy got killed by that tiger.”

  He exhaled. “Which door? There are several.”

  “The safe-room door. The keypad. Did you check if it was functioning?” I raked a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth.

  “No.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “The door was open when I got there,” he growled. “No one told me to look at the keypad.”

  I sucked in a deep breath and reminded myself he was still young, still green. Plus, he was right; the door had been open when I got there too. Until I’d seen the footage of Dale struggling to get into his cubicle, I hadn’t thought about the keypad either. I’d just assumed the tiger had surprised Dale somehow, and he hadn’t been quick enough to get to safety. “I need you to do that first thing in the morning. I need to know if there’s something wrong with the lock or if it looks like it was tampered with.”

  “You got it.”

  “We also need to figure out if somebody had a grudge against Dale. So far all I keep hearing is what an awesome guy he was.”

  “I’ve been hearing the same thing.”

  “Maybe he pissed off one of the other contestants. Maybe someone was jealous. We need to figure out if this was an attack against Dale or the show.”

  “I agree.”

  “Well, I’ll let you go. Sorry about waking you up.”

  He snorted. “I’d believe you if it didn’t happen so often.”

  I hung up and sat there, feeling agitated. A major rule when conducting an investigation was not jumping to conclusions. I’d definitely done that at the scene the day before. I’d assumed Jax was wrong, that this had been a simple yet tragic animal attack. And maybe it was. But the image of Dale frantically trying to open that door was burned in my mind. I glanced at the pizza splattered on the floor and grimaced. I didn’t want to ever see a pepperoni pizza again.