Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury (9 page)

"Copy that. Thanks, Maggie. I'm on my way." She hung up the phone at the same instant she flicked her radio back to life, and walked back to the other room. "Duty calls I'm afraid, gentlemen. We're going to have to put off this warm and fuzzy meeting for now." She pointed at Will. "You might want to come down to the hospital with me. We've got three dead illegals with claw and bite marks. No cause of death yet." Dipping her head to Lucas, she added with a note of apology. "I'd invite y'all, but there'd be questions.”

Lucas nodded and Will stood up with a glance at his boss. "I'll drop by the motel later and fill you in if it's a Wolven matter." He motioned to the items on the table. "By the way, what are those containers for?”

The older man grinned broadly. "I don't know about anyone else, but the smell of that chile has been driving me insane since I walked in, and now that I've been told not to touch it…well, I can't resist." Cara let out a brief laugh and he continued. "I figured I'd buy one for each of us— since I doubt your sister would have much cause to object that way. Anyone else interested?”

"Oh,
hell yes!"
Will exclaimed with a similar grin. "Rosa's right that I can down a whole pot in one sitting. I think I've been really good, sitting on my hands over here.”

Cara dropped her chin and shook her head with amusement, but noticed Adam didn't leap to his feet at the offer. Well, maybe he wasn't big on Mexican food. "Sure. Why not? She'll yell and gripe at me tonight, but won't pass up the money, either. It's way too much, though, so I really should get you some change. But the safe's locked and I don't have any cash on me. Can I bring it to you later?”

Lucas shook his head with pursed lips. "Don't bother. She's out a whole morning's receipts. I should probably
add
money, not get some back.”

She couldn't really disagree with that, so she just took the containers off the table and walked over to the stove. In a few seconds, they were full and she passed one out to each—even to Adam, who looked up at her with surprise. She shrugged. "Maybe you'll like it. I know Rosa would be insulted if y'all didn't at least
try
it.”

Will stepped toward the back door. "Be right back. I just want to put this in the car before I forget.”

The radio was buzzing with the locations of her deputies as she wiped down the stove where some of the chile had dripped—Billy was back on the road to check out a reported rattlesnake in someone's front yard. Elliot was back out at the Garcia house again. When would Miguel ever learn not to get pushy with Estelle when he'd been drinking? She handed him his dick time and again when he started to bitch at her. They'd never actually hit each other, or someone would have to get booked. But they yelled and screamed enough that the neighbors kept calling 911. She couldn't blame them. Tim was at the pawn shop on a possible stolen property report. Nothing else was out of the ordinary, thankfully. While she busied herself with quickly cleaning up their trash so she could leave, she heard both amusement and the rumblings of an order when Lucas said, "I'd suggest you say something appropriately complimentary when you meet Cara's sister tonight, Adam. It would be a good way to start the blending process.”

She swung around sharply before she reached the trash can, a bottle of pop in each hand and what probably resembled horror on her face.
"Tonight?
But tonight I'm—”

Lucas completed the thought. "Spending the evening with your sister. I know. That's the point of all this. As I said, you two—" motioning at her and Adam in turn— "will be spending a lot of time together in the next few days. While you were on the phone, I explained the rest of the plan to Adam and Will. As soon as you're off shift, you'll drop by the motel and pick him up, then take him to meet your sister and her family. He'll explain things. Afterward, you can start to work out the details of this move. Now, we all have work to do, so let's get moving. Adam, you're with me.”

He picked up his container and walked out the door without another word, leaving her to stand there, looking shell-shocked. An equally uncomfortable Adam stood and followed Lucas out the door with a shrug and an apologetic smile. But although his scent mostly matched his uncomfortable look, a light citrus scent of happiness followed him out the door.

6

Softly beeping instruments blended with the low lights and antiseptic scent in the hospital room. Cara stepped closer to the bed, being careful not to make any noise that might wake up the occupant. Livid bruises on the woman's pale skin reminded Cara vividly of the previous night, but the fact that the patient was in a regular room, rather than intensive care made it all worth it. All she'd wanted was to see the slowly raising chest and peaceful expression for herself. She'd just turned to leave when she heard an accented voice that was sleep-filled and hoarse.

"Yo're
her,
aint'cha?”

Cara turned around and smiled gently at the lightly frowning face. "How're you feeling, Mrs. Foster?”

A pause, combined with an uncomfortable scent. "I'm not married. Yo kin call me Missy." The accent spoke of bayou country, somewhere deep in Louisiana. "Yo're that sheriff ma girl was telling me about, ain't ya? Yo're
Miss Cara
—the one what called the ambolance?”

"Yep. I'm Sheriff Salinas …Cara. I'm so glad y'all are doing better, Missy. Brittany's a terrific little girl. It would have been a shame if she wound up without a mom…or worse." She didn't want to excuse the other woman's actions. The girl could have been killed, and these hospital bills were going to follow Missy Foster for years to come. One minute is all it would have taken to buckle up. Missy nodded, barely perceptible amongst the white sheets that seemed to envelop her small form. The machines attached to her continued to beep softly. "I've thought 'bout that…
a lot.
Pretty stupid o' me not to strap her in. Mama's been reminding me just how lucky we was." She stopped and then stared up strongly at Cara, her gaze intense and filled with…
something.
"But it wasn't all
luck,
was it, Miss Cara? I remember things—not all of it, mind yo, but enough. It ain't natural, me being alive, is it?”

Cara forced herself not to show any surprise, but it was an effort.
¡Madre de Dios!
Could she have remembered her lifting off the truck? She didn't dare talk about it, but she would have to check up on Missy for a few days, see just what memories she had. Pasting a smile on her face, she replied lightly,

"Heaven was watching over y'all, that's for sure.”

Again Missy nodded, but her eyes kept that same intensity. "Yes'm. God works in mysterious ways. And yo don't gotta worry, Miss Cara. I won't tell no one. Not never." She reached out a hand, lifting up the tubes attached to her skin with white tape that nearly matched the color of her skin. Her eyes filled with tears. "I can't tell yo how grateful I am to have a 'nothah chance to watch ma baby grow up. I won't mess it up—I promise.”

Cara took the woman's hand in hers and blinked back tears as she squeezed lightly. Missy's scent made it clear that she wasn't kidding. Citrus and hot metal, tinged with wetness said the woman was both grateful and determined to straighten out.

They remained that way for a moment, just holding hands, until Cara heard a man clear his throat in the doorway. Will's voice was flat, but his scent said he was a little choked up, too. "We really need to get to it, Cara.”

She nodded, released Missy's hand and turned toward the door, leaving the woman she had saved to go attend to those she didn't get to in time.

"This is not good." Will's hushed voice spoke the understatement of the year as she stared with horror at the mangled body only partly covered by a white sheet. The scent of the man's blood couldn't cover up the other scents—coyotes and vultures had feasted on the body, but before that had been…

Sazi
who'd fed. On a human.
¡Madre
de Dios!

"No shit," she replied with an equally quiet voice. "But pathology wasn't my strong suit at the academy. What do you think the coroner's going to say? Is there any chance they'll think the three men killed one another?”

Will shook his head, his expression grim. She watched as he tried to find something to do with his blood-covered examining gloves, moving his hands around without touching anything. Finally, he stripped them off and tucked them in the front pocket of his pants, inside out.

"Not even a chance. Look at the lividity of the abdomens on each of them. It's obvious they died on their stomach and the blood pooled. You already saw the back. It was talons that severed this man's spine and cracked his skull. To me, there's no other plausible cause of death. But the most disturbing thing to me is the parts that were taken before death—the lips, cheeks, eyes, and liver. Damn! The screams must have been horrible. Someone must have heard, even being that far out in the sticks. No, a raptor did this, and from the different radius of openings, there were more than one. We've got some rogue shifters out there attacking humans. This is definitely a Wolven case, but I'm not sure how to handle it since so many people have already seen the bodies …and who knows how many saw the actual event?”

"So what do we do? Someone's going to come in any minute to prep them for the autopsy and there are too many people in the hallways to just walk them out of here." She opened her senses fully, her mind working furiously on an explanation for being here without having signed in, in case anyone walked through the door. The reception nurse knew they were in the building, because she'd asked after the Foster woman to learn her room number.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. I've already got aversion magic surrounding this room. I did that when we walked in. Nobody will want to get anywhere close to the door until we're gone. But actually, now that I think about it, isn't Bob Sloan still the coroner here?”

When she nodded, he continued, the cool scent of relief pushing his fear and anger to disappear into the overhead fans. "Good. He's an excellent G.P., but forensics aren't
his
strong suit, either. This is going to look like an animal attack to him…no doubt in my mind. He'll probably slap a label of
death by
misadventure
on it after a cursory examination and call it good—especially since they're probably not from local families, who might want a full autopsy and lab work. At worst, he'll attribute the skull punctures to a bobcat or javalina.”

She found herself nodding unconsciously, agreeing with Will's assessment. "You know, I hadn't thought of that…but you're right. While the punctures are large, had I not been able to
smell
that raptors attacked the men, I wouldn't have even thought of it. And by the time Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows up, the cause of death will be unrecognizable. Okay, let's just wait and see what happens on this end. Since it's probably not going to be reported as a homicide, it'll just quietly disappear into the files.”

"No, they're not homicides." Will's eyes flashed angrily as he stared at the mangled body. "But they're definitely
murders.
And it's our job to find out who did it."
7

"Man! slow down for a second. I need to take a break." The mid-afternoon sun was baking the limestone underfoot and the still air burned when he inhaled. Even in the shade it must have been a hundred degrees. Adam's tongue was lolling out as he struggled to draw in enough breath. It amazed him that Cara still looked fresh and ready for anything. He didn't think he was out of shape at all, but being in the heat in animal form was like …well, like wearing a fur coat in a tanning bed. He plopped down unceremoniously in the shade of a tall bush and lowered his muzzle to his front paws, trying to slow his breathing so his head would stop pounding. He smelled her approach first, sweet honeysuckles and peaches that cut through the chalky dust that had already coated his fur. He opened his lids a crack. Cara's bright white muzzle pointed down under concerned golden eyes.

"You okay back here? Heat getting to you?”

"No, I'm not okay. My God! How do you stand this temperature? Is it like this all the time?" He closed his eyes again, shutting out the intense light. He longed for a lake to jump into, or even a tall glass of cool water, or…lemonade! Yeah, that's what he should be doing right now—drinking lemonade in front of an air conditioner. But, instead, he was running over rocks in the desert heat, getting cactus spines in his pads, and searching for a freaking attack bird!

She flicked her gaze behind her and then sat down on her haunches. "Actually, I hate to be the bearer of bad news— but this has been a fairly mild spring. It's not even ninety out here. That's a little below average for recent years. It just feels hotter because the rock reflects the heat. You'd think that being white rock, it would be cooler. But it's not." She stood up and shook herself, flinging bits of dust and rock from her fur. "We don't need you to get heat exhaustion, though, so you might just hang out in the shade for a few minutes, or walk back to the car for a drink. You may not realize it, but you've actually climbed quite a bit in elevation.”

He raised up his head in surprise. "We have? I thought Texas was low and flat.”

A sharp bark was followed by a quick swing of her tail, causing the sunlight to highlight the white tip. He'd never seen fur of her color before—russet with black underlay, even though her face was solid white. It was a really striking effect. "Hardly. You're in the hill country, our limited version of mountains. Santa Helena is eighteen hundred ten feet above sea level, and right now you're probably sitting at close to two thousand. By the time we get to the top of the cliff, it'll be about twenty-two fifty. What's Minneapolis …a thousand?”

He shook his head with effort and it started to throb again, so he rested it down between his paws once more. "Not even. I think it's about six fifty.”

Wind rushed over him, combined with the peculiar spicy scent of feathers and he heard Cloudsfall's—no, make that
Will's
—taunt from above. "Wussing out on us, Mueller? Daylight's burning, man." The volume rose and fell as he circled around them, looking for a place to land. Adam pulled back his lips from his teeth and growled low, glaring up at the massive eagle. He was just about to make a snide remark when Cara did instead. "Leave him alone, Will. The heat and elevation are getting to him. I don't feel like carrying him back to the car if he passes out, and I doubt you want to walk naked over the cactus to do it either. If you want to do something productive, why don't you fly back to the van and grab the water jug? I was so riled up after arguing with Billy that I forgot to put on my backpack.”