Dark Wings Descending (25 page)

“So you got a call last night saying that our killer had struck again?” Dean asked as he crammed a whole doughnut into his mouth.

Ashley nodded. “Please don’t choke on that. There’s plenty more left.”

Rafe was already distracted by the photographs up on the screen. She felt a hand tug at her jacket and she absently took it off, switching her coffee cup between hands and laying the jacket over her chair. Not once did her eyes leave the photos. Ashley’s warm body brushed against her side, not too close to cause the other occupants in the room to wonder, but close enough for Rafe to feel the weight of a breast. “I’d say it’s pretty clear what he’s drawing in the blood from these photos.” Alona traced the arching shapes with her finger. “Is he sending them to heaven, do you think?”

“I don’t know what he’s doing, but he left this woman in the usual state.” Rafe asked Alona to bring up a street map alongside the photos. “The last three bodies were all in this area, left in alleys. Each of those killings gave us a gap of two weeks between them, regular as clockwork. Until last night. This time, he killed way over here.” She circled an area on the map. “He killed earlier than his usual timeframe and he switched venue. But he got to leave behind what he’d been trying to show us from killing number one.”

“Wonder what the trigger was that tripped his switch to bring this murder forward?” Dean polished off the last bit of his final doughnut at a more measured pace. “Do you think he chose the Garden of Eden as a punch line for his sick joke with the angel wings?”

Rafe wasn’t certain. She studied the map, wondering what the geographical profile would make of it. “Three over here, one over here. This garden hasn’t had much fanfare being built. It’s just another in the city’s improvement drive. The mayor thinks gardens will brighten up the areas and give people a place to go. This one is still being completed, so what does it mean to our killer? What’s its importance to
him
? Is it the name? The location? Was it just an opportunistic moment as another blonde walked past him?”

Out of sight of her colleagues’ eyes, Rafe brushed her hand over Ashley’s and they linked fingers briefly. Her fatigue lessened at the touch of Ashley’s skin on her own. She wished the caffeine would kick in soon, as lack of sleep was catching up with her. “God, I’ll be glad when I’m over this damn beating.” She spoke aloud and was surprised by the looks she got. She shrugged. “I’m tired of feeling like I’m only functioning at half-speed. It’s driving me crazy.”

Ashley steered her into a chair. “Don’t worry, Samson,” she said as she patted Rafe’s head. “Your strength will return when your hair grows back.”

Narrowing her eyes at her, Rafe huffed. She switched topics. “Dean, how long will it be before Doc Alan will have the autopsy written up, do you think?”

“Want me to go check on his progress?” he asked.

“Just don’t make it look like I sent you to hurry him along.”

“He knows you too well for me to get away with that.” He picked up another coffee and left the office.

Alona returned to her computer screens. “Rafe, something came up this morning in the data stream. I’m not sure how much use it will be to you, but it’s to do with the search you asked me to do. The one for incidents prior to the killings?”

Rafe wheeled her chair over. “What do you have?”

“I did as you requested, looked for incidents in and around our area. Then I widened the search. I thought I might as well put the data streams to the test, right? Well, four months before the first killing there were reports of women being stopped on the street by a man.”

Ashley rested against the edge of Alona’s desk to listen in.

“They said he grabbed them, stared at them for the longest time, then let them go. The general consensus was he was seriously creepy.” She brought up a case file on the screen. “But he didn’t stop there. He started restraining the next women, pinning them against walls and brandishing a knife. Some he roughed up more, cut their clothing, bruising their arms as he held them.”

“Did they find out why?” Ashley asked, moving to look over Alona’s shoulder.

“No, but the description of the women he stopped was all the same. They were all blondes. Enough of them filed complaints about it, and one even followed him home and got his address. The police paid him a visit to warn him off terrorizing the neighborhood. In the file it says his excuse was mistaken identity, he thought these women were the woman who’d wronged him. He said something about how she stole everything that was his. The cops who interviewed him said he was very convincing. They even offered to help him find the woman he was after so it could be sorted out legally.”

“I wonder if he’s still continuing in that trend. It could be worth checking out, if only to rule him out.” Rafe watched the screen as Alona scrolled down it.

“I’ve got an address for him here in Chicago.”

Rafe sat up straight in her chair. “Give me his name.”

“Lucas Thorpe.”

Ashley’s body reacted as if she’d been shocked. Rafe gave her a puzzled look until the name sank in and she remembered. Lucas Thorpe, Ashley’s half brother, born of demon parentage. Supposedly dead and buried.

“I need to go.” Ashley hastily began gathering up her things.

“Give me the address, Alona.” Rafe watched Ashley’s frantic scrabbling for her jacket. She took the printouts from Alona and shoved them into Ashley’s hands. “You’re with me. Let’s go pay this man a visit, shall we?”

“Shouldn’t Dean go with you?” Alona said.

Rafe pulled on her jacket. “I doubt this will pan out to be much. Tell him I’ll be back soon enough and we can go over the autopsy report together.” She steered Ashley out of the office and toward the elevator.

Ashley began to speak. “Rafe…”

“Not here,” Rafe said as they rode the elevator down in silence.

*

Ashley sat stunned in the passenger seat of Rafe’s car. She had no recollection of how she had even gotten to the vehicle in the first place; her mind was a blur. They hadn’t left the parking lot, and Rafe had been unusually quiet reading over the reports.

“My brother’s supposed to be in Boston, in their family plot, buried beside his mother,” Ashley finally spoke. She willed her brain to remember the long-forgotten details of a family she’d had little contact with growing up and none at all since she’d moved away.

Rafe riffled through the pages. “It might not be him.”

Ashley gawped at her. “You can’t honestly believe that? The only Lucas Thorpe I know of is the son of a demon. He’d fit your profile.”

“My profile fits a man who is your brother’s age but is also a butcher or someone who knows how to handle a knife. It’s
your
profile of these cases that says I should be looking for a demon.” She looked over at Ashley. “Just because he’s your father’s son doesn’t make him the bad guy. You’re wonderful breathing proof of that fact, sweetheart.”

“What if it is him? Alive and kicking and
killing
?”

“And what if it isn’t?” Rafe took Ashley’s hand in hers. “I didn’t pull Dean in on this. If this is your half brother then we’ll deal with the fallout if and when it comes. Your names aren’t the same. You can’t be linked with him unless someone digs deep and knows your father. I need you to come with me.”

“I haven’t seen him for years,” Ashley said. “I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup; it’s been so long, and he was just a little boy when I last saw him.”

“He’s got a place on Washington Road.”

Ashley’s brain kicked in and she frowned. “Washington Road? That’s only a few blocks east of last night’s scene. We passed it driving to the scene this morning.” She buried her head in her hands. “Tell me this is not happening.” Her stomach churned at the realization and implications that suddenly opened up for these cases if indeed her half brother was involved.

“Let’s discount him before you find him guilty.”

“And what if he is guilty?”

“Then we bring him to justice.”

Ashley laughed hollowly. “That’s just it, Rafe. Whose justice? Yours or
mine
?” She held in the terrible wail that tore at her chest as she realized her true role in this case.
Damn you, Eli.
Damn you to hell. You knew he was alive, you had to know. And you led me blindly along while he just kept on killing.
The sob tore out of her throat unbidden and she felt Rafe’s arms wrap around her and hold her. She buried her face in Rafe’s jacket, racking sobs escaping her in painful gasps.

“It could all be a coincidence,” Rafe soothed her. “We just have to be sure.”

Ashley nodded against her, listening to the steady rhythm of Rafe’s heart, feeling the brush of Rafe’s hand through her hair. “What if it is him? What does that mean for
us
?”

“It won’t change how I feel about you. It won’t alter the fact that I love you.”

Ashley’s chest hitched as another sob rattled through her at Rafe’s gentle words.

“You said we were soul mates. I believe that is supposed to be for life,” Rafe said.

“And beyond that?”

“There’s nothing beyond that for me unless I have you beside me.”

Ashley’s heart broke at the sincerity in Rafe’s voice. “What happened to my big bad detective who didn’t believe in such things?”

“She’s laid her badge aside for a moment to let the woman who loves you speak.”

“I love you so much,” Ashley whispered.

“And I love you. We’ll leave only when you’re ready.”

“Can we just stay like this for a minute longer?” She tightened her grip around Rafe’s waist.

“You can stay right here in my arms for as long as you like.” Rafe laid her cheek on Ashley’s hair.

“You should be going to interrogate this suspect, not having to hold me while I fall apart.”

“He can wait for a moment. You need to know that I will always put you first when I can.”

“God, Rafe, what did I ever do before you came into my life? Someone who sees me and isn’t frightened by me or what I am. You’ve banished the darkness and the loneliness from my life. Soul mate or not, I’m never letting you go.” She pulled away but leaned up to place a tremulous kiss on Rafe’s lips. “Let me fix my face and then we can leave.”

Rafe watched her silently. Ashley was intrigued by the lack of impatience she usually associated with her and which normally sent Rafe rushing into things unheeded. “You’re remarkably patient for someone who might have found their killer.”

“I’m waiting on you. Yes, I want to go grab this guy. Yes, I want to beat the truth out of him. Yes, it is seriously driving me seriously fucking insane just sitting here when I really just want to put the car in drive and peel out of the lot. But I’m doing it for you. We’ll go when you are ready to face him because I think this is going to be harder for you than it ever will be for me if it does turn out to be your supposedly dead brother.”

“Who made you so wonderful?” Ashley caressed Rafe’s cheek and held her breath when Rafe laid a kiss in her palm.

“Ask your angel friend. I’m sure he knows more about it than I do.”

I’m sure he knows more than he ever let on
. Ashley resisted the urge to call Eli forth because at this moment she didn’t know if she wanted to question him or rip his wings off.
Please let my half brother be somewhere else today, anywhere but at this address that’s home to a possible murderer. I’d even wish him to be six foot under if it meant it wasn’t his cruel signature being scrawled in Chicago’s alleys.

“You might want to fasten yourself in,” Rafe said as she started the engine.

Ashley didn’t begrudge her the screeching of rubber as Rafe reversed the car out of her space and shot them out of the lot. The flashing light in the windshield provided a steady rhythm for Ashley to watch as they drove through the busy morning traffic.

“You going to call Eli?” Rafe asked.

“No, I really don’t want him involved at the moment.” Ashley took a deep breath, and for the first time in a long time, couldn’t feel the presence of the guardian who watched over her in life.

Ashley stayed belted in long after Rafe had pulled up outside the duplex listed as the Thorpes’ residence.
I really don’t want to do this.

“Ready?” Rafe unfastened her jacket and removed her gun from its holster.

Ashley stared at it. “Do you really need that?”

“Four murders say I might. Just stay behind me, okay?”

“I’ll just follow your lead.”

“If he starts growing horns, I’m deferring to your expertise, and whether you have a problem with Eli or not, I’d be happier to know he was backup for us.” She got out of the car and waited until Ashley joined her.

Casting an eye up and down the street, Ashley couldn’t see any sign of anything remotely demonic. “The street is clear.”

“Glad to hear it. Let’s go see if he’s in.” Rafe led the way up the cracked pavement and opened the screen door. Ashley winced as the squeal of its hinges set her teeth on edge.

Why do I suddenly feel frightened? I’ve faced demons before; what makes this one so scary? If it is my half brother then surely I shouldn’t feel so apprehensive. We’re family.
She chewed on her lip while Rafe banged on the door.
It’s bad enough being linked to a cast-out angel, but a killer was something my father never was. Oh please, don’t let this be little Lucas.