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Authors: Zachary O'Toole

Busted (6 page)

BOOK: Busted
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“It gets better,” The ME said. His grin was nearly manic, as he clearly enjoyed Steve’s discomfort. “The kids were missing their eyes. Mmmm, tasty!”

 

 

 

Steve shuddered. “Sick bastard. You’ve got pictures and diagrams and stuff like that?”

 

 

 

“Yeah, we’ve got the works. Cause of death’s pretty straightforward. The bodies have been taken out for a workup – some of the splatter patterns look typical for severed major arteries, but there’s no sign of struggle or thrashing, nor of restraint, so we’re assuming they were drugged when they were killed. Tox screens may tell us what. There’s no evidence on the bodies of struggle, but they were pretty badly mutilated after they were killed so we may get lucky.”

 

 

 

The ME’s business-like rundown of the situation helped Steve slip into his professional detective role, something he badly needed right then. His own kids were about the same ages as the ones that’d died here.

 

 

 

“Okay, thanks. How much longer do you think you guys’ll be here?”

 

 

 

“We’re almost done. Forensics will probably be another two or three hours.”

 

 

 

“Swell, thanks.”

 

 

 

Steve sighed. Right now he needed to stay out of the way of the MEs and forensics team. This was a middle-class complex and a bizarre killing with enough registered voters within easy reach to sway an election – they’d be allowed to go over it with a fine toothed comb.

 

 

 

“Get me the report as soon as you’ve got it, okay?”

 

 

 

“Sure. I’ll email you whatever I have by the end of the day. I’ll probably have the full workup by the end of next week.”

 

 

 

He hated the delay, but going faster wouldn’t bring these people back. And odds were that the killer wasn’t going to strike again soon.

 

 

 

“Thanks,” he said.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Joe put his best comforting face on and tried to project as much reassurance as he could. He didn’t have much experience with kids, but in his years in HR he’d had to deal with hysterical employees, psychotic episodes, stalking ex-husbands, and had once helped deliver a baby. He hoped he could handle this.

 

 

 

“Hey there,” he said quietly. The girl shrank back as far as she could, trapped between the building, the trunk of the rhododendron bush, and Joe. He saw her shivering. Her fear was palpable.

 

 

 

“My name’s Joe. What’s your name?”

 

 

 

The girl just looked at him mutely.

 

 

 

“Are you hurt? I think I have some…” he wracked his brain for a moment. “Spongebob band-aids.”

 

 

 

She shook her head ‘no’. Joe wasn’t sure he believed her, but there was too much blood for it all to be hers. Her night dress was covered with it, and while she was terrified, she didn’t look injured. He tried not to think about whose blood it was.

 

 

 

“That’s good,” he said.

 

 

 

Joe chose his words carefully. He needed to get her out of there, to the police and ambulance and people who were actually qualified to help. That meant she needed to trust him. Unfortunately he had no idea how to do that with kids.

 

 

 

“I get scared sometimes you know.” He looked around for a second with exaggerated movements, then leaned in a little. “Don’t tell anyone, but I have a teddy bear,” he whispered. Joe was hoping a little shared embarrassment would help bridge the gap. It didn’t hurt that it was true, and he really didn’t want anyone else to know. Alex was the only other person who knew, and he’d teased Joe once or twice about it.

 

 

 

He saw her eyes go wide, more from surprise than fear.

 

 

 

“I know,” he said, nodding. “His name is Mister Squiggles.”

 

 

 

Joe saw a hint of a smile. “You won’t say anything, will you? He gets all embarrassed when people know. He wants them to think he’s an independent bear.”

 

 

 

He got a full smile from that. “You’re afraid of something, aren’t you?”

 

 

 

The smile faded, and she nodded. She was shivering a little. It wasn’t the cold, it was the fear. He could feel it radiating off her, and it turned his stomach a little.

 

 

 

Joe chose his words carefully. He knew he had to get her out of the bushes. She needed help, but she felt so fragile. He was afraid she’d run if he left, and that she might break if anyone else came too close.

 

 

 

“Can you tell me what you’re afraid of?”

 

 

 

She leaned forward, but her voice was so faint he could hardly hear her.

 

 

 

“Monster,” she whispered.

 

 

 

He nodded. “My Gran used to tell me stories about monsters when I was little.” Monsters and faeries and more; she’d spun tales of Ireland for him when he was young.

 

 

 

Joe started to take off his jacket. “One thing she told me was monsters were afraid of whistling. Can you whistle?”

 

 

 

She pursed her lips and blew, but nothing came out.

 

 

 

“It’s tough,” he said. He had his jacket all the way off. “I can’t do it either.

 

 

 

“There’s something else she told me about monsters,” he said as he emptied the pockets of his suit jacket. “She said that they can’t see you if your clothes are inside-out. Like this.”

 

 

 

He pulled the sleeves of the jacket through, showing it to her. The lining was showing, the silken fabric shimmering a little in the sunlight.

 

 

 

“Here,” he said, holding it out for her. “I think you need this more than I do. If you put this on the monsters can’t see you. You’ll be safe.”

 

 

 

She inched forward sliding the jacket on. It hung loose on her, her arms lost in the sleeves, the hem down around her knees. When she had it on he felt the tension leave. The queasy feeling he’d had since he’d left the car faded too.

 

 

 

“There you go, sweetheart.” He smiled at her, and she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, burying her head into his shoulder. Joe could feel her tremble. The blood on her nightgown was still damp, and he could feel it soak into his shirt.

 

 

 

He stood up, holding her tight.

 

 

 

“Okay, sweetheart,” he whispered. “There are some nice police officers here. We’re going to go over and find one. They’ll make sure you’re safe. Is that okay, princess?”

 

 

 

She nodded, and he walked slowly out from around the building. The crowd had gone, leaving just the ambulance and the squad cars. There was an officer in one, so he walked over to it. The officer was heads-down, filling out paperwork. Joe tapped the door twice with his foot to get the man’s attention.

 

 

 

Joe half-expected it to be Alex’s brother, but it wasn’t. The cop in the cruiser was younger than Steve or Chris, and burlier.

 

 

 

“Can I help you?” he asked.

 

 

 

“I’m here with Detective Russell,” Joe said. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but she was hiding in the bushes around the corner. Could you give me a hand? She’s kind of…” Joe was about to say ‘bloody’, but he stopped. He wasn’t sure it was a good word for her to hear right now.

 

 

 

“Well, kind of a mess,” he said. He moved his arm and shifted the girl clinging to him. The front of his shirt was stained red from the blood on her nightgown. The officer’s eyes widened.

 

 

 

“Is she—”

 

 

 

“I don’t think so,” Joe said, cutting him off. “Just scared.”

 

 

 

The officer got out of his car. The girl grabbed tighter around his neck and whimpered into his ear.

 

 

 

“It’s okay, princess,” Joe cooed.

 

 

 

“I’m just going to get the paramedics,” the officer said. “We need to get her cleaned up and checked out.”

 

 

 

“We’ll get you something dry to wear and get rid of the stickiness, okay princess?” Joe didn’t give her much of a choice, as he was trailing the officer as he walked to the ambulance.

 

 

 

The blonde paramedic had a moment of shock as she saw Joe and the girl. The blood on her nightgown was hidden between them and beneath the jacket she was still wearing, but it was in her hair and on her face. The officer said something to her that Joe couldn’t hear, then headed back to his car. She looked him over, and for a moment Joe felt guilty. He wasn’t sure of what, but something.

 

 

 

“She was hiding in the bushes,” he said by way of explanation. “She says she’s okay, but there’s a lot of… mess.” As he’d done for the officer, he moved her aside, showing the blood-soaked nightgown. His own shirt was bright red from the blood she’d pressed into him.

 

 

 

“Can you get her to let go for a few seconds? Just so we can get her into something clean?”

 

 

 

“That okay, princess?” Joe asked. The girl shook her head, violently.

 

 

 

The paramedic sighed. “I can get some scrubs onto her, but there’s no way I can get the gown off. It’s too sticky, and there aren’t any buttons.”

 

 

 

“We can cut it off,” her partner said.

 

 

 

“Go ahead,” Joe said. The nightgown was a mess, and he couldn’t imagine she’d ever want to keep it. “If we can work around the jacket I think it’d be best. Don’t ask,” he said when the paramedic gave him a questioning look.

 

 

 

The girl giggled a little as the cold shears tickled her skin. It only took a few moments to cut through, but Joe made a quick motion and the paramedic made a second pass. The laughter seemed real, and he figured she could use as much laughter as she could get right then.

BOOK: Busted
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