Skye Cree 03: The Bones Will Tell (17 page)

Skye
moved her hair aside so her father could place the thin, leather strap around her neck. The pouch was small, no more than two inches across by three inches in length, but as soon as the bundling hung in place, she could feel its power. It already made her feel capable and confident.

He
r father began to chant in brief ceremony until finally taking her by both shoulders. “It isn’t uncommon for the warrior to feel the power kick in. In times of great stress or danger, accept it, wield it. To take this man down you’ll need strong medicine to combat him. Even though he’s become reckless of late, the malicious aura that surrounds him is very strong. There is no greater strength than knowing here,” Travis put his hand over his heart. “That those who love you will not let you down and will be there for you when you need it. Never fear. Together, through this, Daniel and I will always be with you in spirit wherever you find yourself.”

L
ater, she and Josh faced a steady downpour as they headed out the front door of the building. But before they took two steps away from the entrance, something caught Skye’s eye. Taped to the glass was an envelope with her name written in block letters. The paper had gotten wet which made the ink run.

Standing under the covered portico as rain pounded the canopy above them, they traded looks until Skye snatched the note off.

“What the hell do you suppose this is?”

“Maybe you should wait to—” Josh
advised too late as he watched her rip open the seal on the letter. He chuckled. “Or not. What does it say?”

She bounced on her toes while skimming the words.
“Holy shit, there’s another body in a Dumpster at Brawley and Edgewater near the harbor.”

“That’s a construction site close to the viaduct
project. I hope this isn’t about Willa.”

“Me too.
I’ll call Harry, get him to meet us there.”

The
y took the Subaru and drove the ten blocks well above the speed limit. Pulling into a dark alleyway, Skye turned the headlights to high beam and let the luminous streaks guide them along.

“The note said it was eight doors down on the right.”

“Very specific instructions if you ask me.”

But t
hey counted down anyway till the Dumpster in question came into view. They found a light bluish steel box with ugly rusted places around the bottom. The steady rain had made the blood trail watery. But there were still faint traces of red stuff running down the front and sides.

“This is
no joke,” Skye stated. It looked as if the killer had had a good deal of trouble hefting the body to get it inside and left smears on the metal. The rain shower had streaked the rest.

“Are we ready for this?”
She asked as they both opened the doors at the same time. Skye skirted the hood to get closer. “This is sloppy work, Josh. I’m thinking this isn’t our guy.”

“
Maybe he was in a hurry.”

Skye
studied the entrance to the alley they’d driven down and then the other direction that dumped into Western at the end of the block. She took in the harbor to the left, noted the twinkling lights of the empty docks. Turning her attention to the row of abandoned manufacturing buildings to the right, she said, “Why? There’s no one within four streets of right here. And we wouldn’t even be standing at this spot unless he’d directed us here. Yet, it’s messy and rushed.”

“Makes you wonder how this guy kept from getting caught for so long.”

That’s what troubled her and she couldn’t let it go. “Why would he lead us here when it’s obviously such a fresh kill?”

“Point taken.
Should we look inside or wait for Harry?”

“Unless you want me to lose my supper, I think I’ll elect for you to
dive in and explore what’s in there.” At the sound of a car, she looked up. She recognized Harry’s gray Volvo. “Keep that in mind. We’re about to see what a pro thinks about this whole thing.”

Harry surveyed the scene
dressed in a rain-slicked jacket, a pair of jeans, drenched at the cuffs, and an equally soggy T-shirt. He wore comfy tennis shoes without socks on his feet. In the end it was decided the detective should do the Dumpster diving.

Standing i
nside the relatively empty container, Harry gave them the play-by-play. “We’ve got a young female still wearing her bra and panties. Light brown hair tells me it’s not Willa. This one had pretty brown eyes that was left open after someone bashed her head in. See this gash here? Fractured her skull at the base.”

“That’s not our guy’s MO,” Skye said.

Josh peered in from above.
“And the note was different than the others, printed not typed. I’d say this one looks no older than twenty-five. Not a lot of blood at the scene. I don’t think she was killed here.”

“S
omewhere else. Yeah,” Harry agreed. “Good observation.”

“Let me ask you this. Why is she still wearing her underwear? If our guy tortures
before he kills, then why would she have on anything at all? The others were dumped naked.”

Harry nodded. “
This one wasn’t tortured. Either he didn’t have time or… You guys are getting better at this. Bayliss is on his way.” When a patrol unit pulled up, he added, “And this uniform is here to secure the scene.”

“Is that a polite way of telling us we’re done here?” Skye prompted.

Harry gave her a sly look, his way of telling her,
you two lead, I’ll follow and no one needs to know about it
. Instead of that, the detective merely asked, “What do your instincts tell you on this one?”

“You’ve changed, Harry,” Skye said in response, stealing a glance at Josh. “I believe our
mutual friend here is encouraging us to use our creative side for the most impact.”

Josh grinned. “We’re very
good at following a trail, no argument there. And this is the freshest trail we’ve seen in quite some time.”

“Exactly.
Now get out of my crime scene,” Harry directed, loud enough for the uniform to turn his head. “Remember to text me with…whatever it is…you find to…report.”

The
two had plenty to say once they crawled back inside the car and out of the drizzle.

“What do you make of it?”
Josh wanted to know.

“Harry’s change of heart or the careless way this killer disposed of the body?”

“The killer.”

“I don’t know
yet but let’s leave the car here. I do my best sorting things out while I’m on foot. Even in the rain, walking helps me think.”

Just as Skye suspected, w
ith Kiya’s assistance, they picked up the killer’s trail near the entrance to the alley at Brawley and Western. While the activity back at the Dumpster buzzed with more cops and crime scene techs, the wolf had them heading in the opposite direction. They crossed the train tracks, kept to the water’s edge, along the wooded greenbelt lining the harbor.

The pier came into view. A foghorn sounded somewhere over the Sound. When they reached the bike path, Josh told her,
“It’s for damned sure he didn’t ride his bike all this way to dump the body.”

“No, but you can bet he lives in the area. Not sure it’s our guy though.”

“The victim was the right age.”

“
There’s that, but the bra and panties are the bonus round. I still don’t think the serial we’re looking for would take the time to put underwear back on. Think about it. Our guy didn’t dress Maggie Bennett or Vanessa Farrington. So why would he do it now, tonight?”

“
He had to be rushed, which again isn’t like our guy. Not to change the subject but you know Dawson Hennings has a major crush on you, don’t you?” Josh tossed out.

“I know.
You handled that fact pretty well today. Since he’s only the second man to feel that way about me, it’s kind of sweet in an ordinary sort of way. The idea that this is a very ordinary thing that happens to people—I guess I’m flattered.”

“
Yeah? Well, I’m not. I guess I’m jealous.”

She grinned
before elbowing him in the ribs. “You have no reason to be. By the way, when I was surfing the Internet this morning, I picked up on a disturbing story, a trend. It’s about what’s known as ‘rehoming’ disruptive children who have been adopted out but no longer wanted. The parents dump these kids with people who haven’t even been vetted. They pass them around to anyone who’s willing to take them, a horrific practice that has to open up all kinds of opportunities for abuse. I’m wondering if the Foundation needs to take a closer look at this practice in the Seattle area.”

He picked up her hand, kissed the palm. “
And that’s one of the reasons I love you. You’re always thinking how to help, how to fix a problem, especially when it concerns kids, those most vulnerable who usually can’t help themselves.”

“Come on, you make me sound…”

“Beautiful?”

“I was gonna say corny.”

“You’re a lot of things but never that.”

They rounded a
bend in the path and spotted the apartment complex, a high-rise overlooking the waterway. Skye noted the wolf turn her regal head to look upward. “Kiya’s better than a police tracking dog at this job. That’s Alpine Court. Twenty-five stories. Five-hundred units. Wanna take bets which floor the bastard lives on?”

Josh whistled
as he lifted his head skyward to check out the tower. Some units had windows blazing with light. Others had already gone dark for the night. “That’s a lot of condos. How do we get in? This late hour not too many people will be coming and going?”

“What
’s the first thing you do after you’ve just murdered someone?”

He
sent her a wide grin. “Get rid of the body. But we can fast-forward past that step. I see where you’re going with this. When you get back from dumping the body, you’re compelled to clean up the crime scene.”

“Exactly.
There’s no need to lurk in the lobby. We head around back, wait for him to take out the trash or something or stake out the underground parking lot where he’s sure to use his car to dump stuff somewhere else.”

“You don’t think he’d be that stupid, do you?”

“He killed someone in this very building and then left a note for us to find the body. I’d say he’s beyond stupid.”

“Okay, so he’s dumber than a box of rocks.
I’m not sure which I hate more, the fact that he’s trying to use us, or that we’re getting used by such a dumbass.”

“
I say we go around back to where the waste receptacles are kept. We stake them out. He’s bound to toss stuff if he hasn’t already.”

They
headed around the corner of the building just as someone threw back the lid on a tan nondescript-looking Dumpster. The cover flew back and clanged into the wall with a thud. A man stood in front of it, tossing out a section of blood-soaked carpeting.

“
Whatcha got there?” Josh asked from three feet away. In the dim light, he saw the man’s face go white at getting caught. There was a brief moment when Josh thought the guy might take off in a run. But the culprit turned, bold as brass to stare into his eyes.

Josh caught the
hint of madness mingled with a good dose of desperation.

“
Who the hell are you? Get out of here. This is private property and none of your damn business.”

“Murder’s everyone’s business,” Josh said
evenly, eyeing the murderer then the garbage bin. He got a whiff of blood first, right before he smelled bleach. The mixture, a sickening combo indicating the killer had tried to use the strongest chemical on hand to get the stain out of the carpet. When that hadn’t done the job, the guy had simply removed a sizeable chunk of rug from the floor.

As Josh took in the scene he wondered.
Could this be the serial killer who had escaped capture for two decades and wanted to get caught now?

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about,” the man insisted.

Josh stared at
the guy’s bloody shirt and the dark stains on his jeans. “Sure you do. You dumped the woman, left her there beaten and battered, left her with no ID in that alleyway.”

“Then you
decided to write a note sending us to Brawley and Edgewater to find the body. Which we did,” Skye added.

The man’s eyes darted
back and forth between the two of them. Nervous, from the waistband of his dirty jeans, he pulled a revolver, waved it first at Skye then aimed it at Josh. “You get back now. Just stay back both of you. I told you this doesn’t concern nosy neighbors.”

Josh assessed the man, decided an unpredictable cornered rat could bite
if the teeth were sharp enough. This guy’s teeth were primed. It wasn’t in their favor to try reasoning with him. Rattling him seemed the best way to go.

“Who was she?” Josh
demanded. “Your wife? A girlfriend?”

Skye exchanged
furtive glances with Josh. An unspoken dynamic ignited a plan of action. All it took was the nod of heads for Skye to take a step to the side. She faked to the left, distracting the killer long enough for his head to turn at the movement. Josh took the opening and barreled into him with a fist, knocking the man backward, dislodging the weapon. The gun skidded on the wet pavement.

Skye went over, picked it up while Josh kept the guy in a
firm chokehold.

“
I’m texting Harry. It’s up to him to find out who this jerk is with a search warrant in hand.” She took out her phone, keyed in:
Address is 8515 Alpine Court. We’re in the back of the complex. Get here soon before Josh breaks him into little pieces and there’s nothing left to lock up.