Birds of Prey (6 page)

Cody peered up at Detective Lawrence. He saw understanding and compassion on the man’s face. He nodded before he stood.

He raked his gaze around the area.

Yes, he could see it. Kevin walking along the deck and stopping to speak with someone.

Someone he knew?

Had to be.

Kevin wasn’t a security guard, but he could take care of himself. He worked out, was healthy and a solid man.

“Who found the body?” he questioned.

Lawrence tilted his head to the side. Cody followed the motion and saw one of the guards.

“Larry? Barry?” Cody didn’t remember the young man’s name.

“Cary Dreyer,” Lawrence provided.

“Yeah.”

“He was making his rounds when his flashlight started acting up. He headed back to the kitchen taking the long way. Didn’t want to use the front door and wake anyone up. He practically tripped over the body,” Lawrence told him.

Cody frowned at him. “You questioned him?”

Lawrence’s shoulders stiffened. “I did.” He stepped into Cody’s personal space and lowered his voice. “Someone is taking out you shifters. That puts a target on your own back. I won’t get in your way, but I’m not going to keep handing off these cases.”

Cody considered the man’s words. He had the ability to bring in locals if he felt it necessary. The two detectives might be able to help, and he could see the determination on the other man’s face. Cody didn’t have it in him to argue right then anyway.

“I can bring you in on a temporary basis,” Cody finally said.

Lawrence looked surprise then…relieved?

“I’ll have my commander speak with your captain. My team is on their way in. You can update them while I speak with Cary. Where’s Anton?”

“Kitchen,” Lawrence answered. “I believe he’s waiting on you.”

Cody waved him on when he saw Ryder climb out of his truck. “I’ll get back there after I talk with Cary.”

The detective walked off and Cody had to steel himself for what was happening. He needed to maintain control. Push his anguish away.

Already the falcon inside him desired to break free. A member of his Flock had been killed. He felt that loss deep down.

He walked over to the young guard and stopped in front of him. Cary lifted his face and Cody saw that he was barely holding his tears in.

He put his hand on Cary’s arm and squeezed. “Just hang in there a little longer,” he encouraged.

Cary nodded.

“Walk me through everything.”

As Cary spoke, Cody took his notebook from his back pocket and started taking notes.

Cary was shaken but gave good details in his statement. Cody pressed him for even more, hoping to draw out the one thread they needed.

“No unusual scents?” Cody asked Cary a second time.

“No.” Cary shook his head. “I didn’t even smell the blood until I was right on top of him. I just wasn’t paying attention. Maybe if I was…”

Cody let him trail off. “I doubt it would have done any good.”

Cary didn’t look convinced.

“Go on and head home. Get cleaned up. I’ll tell Anton that I sent you on, so he’ll call you if he needs anything.”

“Okay, okay.”

Cody watched him walk away unsteadily. An older man and woman broke through the onlookers who had been pushed from the house. They rushed to meet Cary.

They wrapped their arms around one another. Family. Probably Cary’s parents. This was going to be hard for the guard to get over.

It had been a bloody, nasty scene.

He turned to head in to speak with Anton and saw his commander waiting on the front steps.

“Commander.” He inclined his head in respect.

“Anything?”

“No, sir,” Cody answered.

“Damn,” Commander Green said, before pressing his lips into a firm line.

Cody glanced around again. “What the hell is the connection?”

The Commander squared his shoulders. “We better find out.”

“There is no way Kevin let a stranger get that close to him,” Cody insisted. “It has to be someone he knew.”

“Then you have a lot of suspects.”

A tension headache had already started making its presence known. Cody rubbed at his temples. “Yeah.”

“I’m going to head in. I just wanted to check in with you first,” Commander Green said as he placed a hand on Cody’s shoulder. “I know this won’t be easy for you.”

Cody looked him in the eye. “I’m going to bring this bastard down,” he promised.

He patted Cody. “I know.”

“I’d like to bring in the two detectives,” he stated.

“Really?” Commander Green replied, surprised.

He nodded. “They aren’t going to keep passing up these cases without a fight. Plus, I have a good feeling about them. And extra help won’t hurt. Especially without the shifter connections. Lawrence is right, we
are
being targeted.”

“Well, it’s up to you. I’ll clear it. I’ll do it as soon as I get back to the office.”

Cody waited while his boss walked to his car before breathing deeply. Normally, the scents of his Flock comforted him. At that moment, he didn’t find any solace, just worry about his brethren.

Resigned, he started towards the front door.

The house was quiet as he walked through the long hallway leading to the back. The kitchen was located at the very rear of the house.

He pushed open the swinging double wooden doors and spotted his Flock leader sitting at the table next to his mate, Amy. Chloe sat next to Amy and Ryder, and Byron stood guarding the back door.

He inclined his head to his team. “Give us a minute, please. Go ahead and start talking to the Flock. Get statements. Find out who saw Kevin last.”

His unit cleared out.

Anton lifted his hand. Cody’s legs felt like jelly as he walked across the room. He dropped to his knees next to Anton’s chair.

Anton turned as Cody laid his head in his lap. Anton bent and embraced him as Cody mourned the loss of his friend.

Chapter Five

Aubrey started to scoot out backward from under Gregory’s bed when her foot hit something hard. She turned her head. Big, heavy black boots. She knew who they belonged to.

“Uh, hi, Mike,” she said from her position.

He crouched. “Whatcha doing?”

Their gazes met and Aubrey saw curiosity in his eyes. It wasn’t as though she normally crawled under the beds of the house. But after she’d remembered an old conversation she’d had with Gregory, she’d had to check.

She yanked at the file she’d located taped to the bottom of the box springs. Finally having freed it, she held it out for Mike to take.

“What’s this?”

Crawling out the rest of the way from under the bed, she blew her bangs out of her face. “I don’t know.”

“How’d you know where to look?”

Aubrey grinned. “I taught Gregory everything he knew.”

Mike laughed. “So you did.”

He offered his hand and helped her to her feet. “So let’s see what we have,” she told him and grabbed the file back.

She sat on the edge of the bed with Mike next to her. She opened the manila folder.

Inside were several pictures. All of the same young man. Aubrey flipped through them, before handing them over to Mike.

“Do you know who he is?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, never seen him before.”

The handwritten notes among the pictures were notably Gregory’s messy scrawl.

The words were just a list of names, but she did recognise one on the paper.

Anton Brunson. The Flock leader in town.

Aubrey tapped the name. “Look here.”

Mike sighed. “Shit.”

They had all heard about the murder at the Flock home from the early morning reports.

“We need to talk to him,” Aubrey insisted.

“We need to hand this over to the Coalition,” he corrected.

Aubrey frowned. “I don’t think—”

“They need this,” he insisted.

“I found it. They had already searched the room. And you said we would find who was responsible.”

“Aubrey.” Mike’s voice held a warning.

She blew out a breath. That wasn’t fair. It was her Cast leader who had been killed. But she knew better than to push her friend when he sounded like that. He was a good boss and a smart security expert. She respected him enough not to argue, although she had no intention of giving up. She would just do it quietly.

“Fine.”

“This is more than just Gregory. That much is obvious with the other murder. We can’t hold onto this.” Mike patted her shoulder then stood. “But you can make copies before we hand it over.”

Aubrey jumped up. Mike knew her too well. At least she didn’t have to figure out how to sneak the file back. “Thank you!”

Satisfied, she grabbed the folder from him then rushed out of the room before he could change his mind.

She went into the office she shared with the others and headed directly to the copier. She scanned the photos in and made copies of the pages.

Mike came in behind her.

He let her finish before holding out his hand. She passed the folder over to him.

“I’ll call the Coalition to come pick this up,” he told her. “I won’t mention we made a copy of it.”

She nodded. She suspected that Cody would figure it out on his own. He knew her too.

“So be careful. See what you can find out, but stay out of trouble,” he ordered sternly.

Aubrey gave him her most innocent face.

He rolled his eyes. “Just watch your step. We don’t need trouble with the Coalition right now. Professional or personal.”

“You got it,” she promised. She didn’t want to get in the Coalition’s way. She’d resolved to stay as far away from Cody as she could.

Cody’s reappearance didn’t change the fact that she had a job to do. She’d cried the night before, cursed him, and let her anger out on a punching bag. She felt better already.

Mike walked away and Aubrey pulled her laptop closer. She needed to get to work.

She’d just barely begun when Scott and Daniel entered the office to start their shift. She shut the computer’s lid. She would have to find somewhere else to work.

Aubrey listened as they discussed the two bird shifter murders. They seemed to be speculating and Aubrey didn’t think that she would get any new information out of them.

Waving with one hand while picking up her laptop with her other, she headed out of the room. There was a quiet alcove in the back of the kitchen—she could work there without being interrupted. She passed a few people in the halls, but luckily no one wanted to talk.

The entire Cast was still in shock after Gregory’s murder. More members were staying in the house, scared and unsure, needing the contact, the connection the Cast provided.

Aubrey could go home, but she didn’t want to leave in case something happened. She wanted to stay on site as much as possible. Maybe she needed the connection also.

She strolled through the kitchen doorway and almost ran headlong into Adrian.

He caught her arm when she stopped short. His dark eyes met her gaze and she had to smile. He looked tired, had to be exhausted, but he still remained determined and strong.

She honestly believed he would be able to pull the Cast together.

“Adrian, how are you doing?”

He didn’t release her arm, and she didn’t pull away.

“I’m doing okay. How are you? How’s the investigation?”

Aubrey pressed her lips together.

Adrian laughed. “I know you. So I know you’re trying to find out what’s going on.”

She gripped her laptop with her free hand. “Are you going to tell me to stay out of it?”

“Would you listen?”

She smirked. “Of course.”

He shook his head. “Of course.” He drew her closer and lowered his voice. “I won’t get involved. I want answers and I know you’ll work tirelessly to find them.”

She relaxed. “Thanks.”

“We always made a good team. We can again.”

Aubrey had hoped that he wouldn’t go there. “Adrian.”

“I know I messed up,” he replied with a pleading tone. “You have to give me another chance.”

Aubrey pulled her arm away this time. “I gave you a chance, Adrian,” she said, trying to keep her anger out of her voice. “You couldn’t keep it in your pants.”

“I’m sorry!”

She stepped back while shaking her head. “No, Adrian, it’s over. It has been for months now. Come on, you know we were having problems before you cheated the last time. It wasn’t working out,” she reasoned with him.

“Things are different now. I’m leading the Cast. I need you by my side.”

“I’ll always support you,” she assured him. “But that’s all.”

He shook his head. “You know, Aubrey,” he said gently, “I admit I was a bad boyfriend. I cheated, but you never gave our relationship a chance either.”

The accusation hurt, because it was true.

“I might have messed up, but at least I tried.”

“Adrian.” She reached for him.

He stepped farther away. “I have some more work to see to. I’ll talk to you later.”

She let him go, guilt riding her. With heaviness in her chest, she continued into the kitchen. So much was coming down on her. She wasn’t sure how much more she could handle. Wasn’t it enough that she’d lost someone? Why did the men in her life insist on tying her in knots?

She set her computer on the table and moved to make herself a cup of coffee. The strong aroma woke her up even before she took the first sip.

Still trying to format a plan for what needed to be done, she carried her mug over to her seat and set up to work. She dug in her backpack for a fresh notebook and pen then got started writing up a to-do list.

She needed to search the names. Hopefully she could find a clue out of that. Somehow she needed to get to Anton also.

Adrian might be able to smooth the way, but she wanted to try on her own first.

* * * *

Cody didn’t know if he was relieved that the Cast’s security had found something he needed to see, or pissed that they weren’t staying out of it like he’d ordered.

“You know, if you were in their shoes, you’d be doing the same thing,” Ryder commented.

Cody shot his partner a dirty look.

“I’m just pointing out that you might want to give the security team a break,” Ryder continued, unfazed by Cody’s scowl.