Part 21 (2/2)
She could almost feel him get angry; his silence was that eloquent.
What-did he think he was actually helping her by mind s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g her? Dare to dream. Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn thought she saw movement in the Elizabethan painting, a twitch from the lady. But when Dawn rounded on it, she only found the woman's gaze to be locked on her again, unwavering and sympathetic.
When The Voice resumed speaking, it was with maddening calm. ”I understand. So when another chance presents itself, we'll practice your mind tricks again-but without the masturbation, as you call it.”
Dawn opened her mouth to protest, then shut it. She couldn't b.i.t.c.h at him for entering her and then flip right around and say that it was okay for him to do it again. That would make her a c.o.c.k-tease, and she'd always considered herself everything but. And hadn't there been a time when she'd been p.i.s.sed about him coming into her in the first place? Yeah, it'd lasted for about an hour, and then she'd gotten randy.
Man, she was confused.
”In the meantime, Dawn, practice what we went over tonight-how to relax, how tosensewhen you're in true danger. I don't want you wasting your precious energy on blocking everyone you meet. Also, try doing it in a mirror, so you can perfect your facade. During your attempts to block, we want to hide it. We don't want to give the impression that you're...”
He searched for a phrase.
”Giving birth to a bowling ball?” she finished.
”Earth-shatteringly poetic, but yes.”
A knock on the door brought things to a close. Kiko poked his head inside. ”Is it safe in here?”
Without waiting for an answer, he bounded into the room, giving Dawn a better look at him. His eyes were wide and his face was red, so her systems went on alert.
”Breisi just got a call from our cop source,” he said. ”She'd asked Sergeant Brighton to keep an eye out for anyone connected with this case and-”
”Kiko,” The Voice said.
Uncharacteristically, the psychic huffed out a long breath, unable to talk. Was he nervous?
”Kik?” Dawn asked.
Finally, he chilled out. ”Klara Monaghan's dead.”
”What?” Dawn sprang off the couch.
”They got a call on her body a few minutes ago. She's already been identified.”
”How?” The Voice quietly asked-quiet in a bad way.
”Looks like a big neck wound, a blood drain.” Suddenly back in action, Kiko motioned for Dawn to leave with him. ”We're on our way, Boss. She's just down Highland. Sergeant Brighton is making sure we'll at least get a peek, if we can get there before things go nuts.”
”Be careful,” The Voice said.
Having grabbed her weapons, Dawn was already halfway out of the room, strapping on her shoulder holster then a jacket as Kiko jogged to catch up with her long strides.
When they got downstairs, Breisi was just coming out of her dungeon. A dull blue light shone behind her, casting her in shadow. A grinding hum made Dawn wonder just exactly what the h.e.l.l Breisi was up to, what she was hiding behind that door.
But this wasn't the time for that.
They all sprinted to the 4Runner, Breisi popping it into high gear, engaging the antiradar gadgets and a very illegal opticom that would manipulate the traffic lights so they could get to Klara's location ASAP. Breisi insisted that the boss would take care of matters if they were caught with the emergency vehicle equipment, so it was no skin off Dawn's back.
On the way, Kiko caught her up on what she'd missed during her tutorial with The Voice: he and Breisi had made a late-night visit to Marla Pennybaker, who was just as concerned about the missing Nathan as they were. Based on recordings from the bugs in Marla's house that The Voice and ”Friends” had monitored, they now had evidence confirming the woman's innocence in not knowing where her husband was. Even though he'd called her a time or two to tell her he was safe, he never revealed his location.
Her veracity was further supported by The Voice's ”Friends,” who were watching over the Pennybaker home and had been ordered to remain there as protection against the red-eyes. G.o.d knew who these buddies were, but they'd seen Mr. P. leave the premises shortly after they'd been a.s.signed there. And he hadn't returned since.
Dawn groaned at the news. They were almost back to square one with Nathan Pennybaker. But, in the hopes of turning things around again, Breisi had planted more locators in the home, thinking that would pay off once more. In fact, she'd adjusted one of the tools to pick up on Robby's presence inside the house.
When Kiko started telling Dawn about how Breisi had again broached the red-eye vamp visit with Marla, Dawn could emphathize with Marla's continued reluctance to hear any of it.
Repression, right? It had its uses.
”And what about tonight?” Dawn asked. ”How're we going to get into the murder scene?”
Kiko crossed his fingers. ”Connections. Brighton is the patrol sergeant in charge, so he's got someone waiting there for us. I doubt we'll get beyond the crime-scene tape because of contamination issues and all that. But just a gander at Klara will help, and we've got pals in the coroner's office who can give us autopsy reports and photos.”
”And a secret visit, if we're lucky,” Breisi added.
Thanks to the traffic-cheating equipment, they arrived at Klara's apartment complex without much fuss. It was a stucco-tan bundle of buildings, unremarkable except for a couple of broken streetlights around a parking lot littered with neon-green flyers and fast-food wrappers.
They exited the 4Runner, pa.s.sed three lone cop cars, then approached the yellow crime-scene tape that established a perimeter near a carport. The tape circled around a Dumpster that blocked their view and ended on the opposite side of the roofed structure.
”You can't go any farther,” a young officer near the Dumpster said. He had an accent tinted with Mexican flavor like Breisi's, a caterpillar mustache, sungla.s.ses, close-cropped black hair, and a chewing-gum habit.
”Hold up, Santos,” said a female whose voice made her sound like she ate nails for breakfast. A patrolwoman came to stand next to him. ”I'll take care of them.”
She wore her long, curly blond hair back in a haphazard bun, her uniform clinging to an athletically slim body, her nametag telling them that she was Burks. Sungla.s.ses were perched on her head, and there was a beauty spot near her upper lip, adding some femininity.
Santos gave Kiko a curious you're-not-very-tall look while he wandered to another area of the tape, where some neighbors had gathered, craning their necks to get a better look.When he was out of earshot, Burks whispered, ”Her roommate found her under here.” She sent a subtle nod to the carport. ”She says that Klara had been taking out some foul trash that couldn't wait until morning. When Klara didn't come back, the roommate checked by the Dumpster to see what was happening. No one was around, so we don't have a suspect description yet.”
Walking toward the spot of the murder, Burks motioned them to follow. ”Hurry up with your rubbernecking. Detectives are on their way, and I'll be watching to see that you don't go in. No matter who your boss knows on the force, I havesomepride in upholding my reputation.”
They reached the morbid location to find one other uniform comforting a woman who was sitting on the sidewalk, hunched over, weeping. The roommate? Burks talked to the other cop for a moment, and he took her original position on the other side of the Dumpster. Then she signaled that it was clear, and Breisi took out a digital camera while Kiko opened up his phone.
For her part, Dawn watched the crying woman, noting that her face was purposely turned away from the sight of a body lying p.r.o.ne on the white pavement.
G.o.d.
Under the blinking lights of the carport, its arms were open, palms to the sky. One leg was bent back like the corpse was about to kick, its hair a cotton-candy mess melting in a pool of blood, its neck torn to shreds, its skin bled of color, its mouth open in a scream that would never be heard.
Itwas Klara Monaghan.
Breisi pressed a camera b.u.t.ton, extending its lens to close-range. A flash shed p.r.i.c.ks of white over the body.
Sn-a-nnnzzz.
Next to Dawn, Kiko was taking pictures with his phone.
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