Deadly Touch Read online

  “Dead. But she actually ran into him as she made a discovery—a skull.”

  “I see. Not a recent victim?”

  “Angela, I really don’t think so. We’ve had some major league storms down here, but the skull was edging out of a mangrove root. I’m assuming it was part of a body buried there some years back, and who knows what has gone on over the years? Where it is, it’s pretty deep in the Everglades. Land that’s along a private road. Anyway, Nigel has a medical examiner and a couple of anthropologists from the university coming out.”

  “Will you be there when they come?”

  “Probably not. We have a lead on someone the last victim might have met. She was supposed to have had a date with him tonight, so we’re going to try to ID him from local surveillance cameras and possibly find him.” He hesitated. “Andrew knows what he’s doing, and there are a few cops who want this stopped as much as he does.”

  “I know. Don’t worry. Andrew Osceola and Nigel Ferrer wrote to us here, asking for you and our help.”

  “They saw the pirate ship,” he said. “I can say anything in front of them.”

  “Right.” On the other end, Angela hesitated. “You think this is the young woman who went missing when you were eighteen?”

  “It’s possible,” he told her.

  “I started on the names you gave me. I’m checking out social media, legal records, all else. If anything is more definite—”

  “Jordan Rivera,” he said.

  “I have that name. So far, nothing criminal or suspicious. A stellar performance through law school, and an instant job with his best friend’s father. So far, he’s proving to be an asset. And he doesn’t even have any parking tickets. But I’ll keep at it.”

  “Anything you do have?” Axel asked.

  “Your friend Jeremy Gray had an assault charge against him. Did you know that?”

  “No.”

  “Eight years ago—you were still in the military. He got into a fight in the village. Apparently, someone was teasing ‘Big Ole Mac.’ That was his explanation to the police—the Miccosukee police. The charges were dropped so I don’t have much. Who is Big Ole Mac?”

  “Big Ole Mac is an alligator. They do alligator shows, but the tourists aren’t usually dumb enough to tease the alligators.”

  She was quiet.

  “What?” Axel asked.

  “Bear in mind, your suspect pool is largely compromised of the white and Hispanic population down there. You can’t be afraid to accept it if it proves to be a Native American. Good and bad come in all ethnicities, you know,” Angela explained.

  “I’m not afraid to accept anything. I want this ended. Yes, I think it’s very possible we found the girl who disappeared when I was a kid. We’ll see what the medical examiner has to say. And find out what the anthropologists have to say, if he defers to them.”

  “All right. I don’t have much else, but I’ll give you the tidbits I have,” Angela told him.

  “Thank you. You got time?”

  “I’ll email, too, but here goes,” Angela said.

  * * *

  Raina sat at the table with Andrew and Nigel.

  Andrew reached for the pot, poured her a cup of coffee and pushed it toward her.

  “He’s calling in to his headquarters. His field director’s wife, part of his unit, is brilliant when it comes to online research,” Andrew said.

  “She’ll get background info and other basics on dozens of people in a matter of hours,” Nigel assured her.

  “I see,” Raina murmured.

  Andrew leaned forward. “A girl went missing years back,” he told her. “Her car was found by the casino. There was an investigation. Friends, family and neighbors were questioned. There was an intense search. Everyone was in on it. FBI, Florida Law Enforcement, Miccosukee, Seminole officers—everyone searched for a long while.”

  “She was never found,” Nigel said.

  “You think...this might be her?” Raina asked.

  “I believe that’s what Axel is thinking. We were still kids back then, just finishing high school, getting ready to move on. But we were part of the search teams, too,” Nigel said, glancing over at Andrew. “I was with a young service group, earning extra credit heading into college. The service group came out to search, too. We had the area near the casino.”

  “One of the school groups was out here then...might have been the group you were with,” Andrew told her.

  “And that was years ago?” Raina asked.

  “I think we all wanted to believe she’d just disappeared on purpose,” Nigel said. “No one wants to give up, and no one wants to believe something awful befell a young woman.”

  “But you know better than that,” Andrew said.

  “So it haunts you. Not every waking minute, but it’s always there, somewhere, in the back of your mind,” Nigel finished. He sighed. “Trust me, we’ve all seen very bad stuff since. Sometimes, though, you remember what happened when you were young and still innocent.”

  Axel returned. “Nigel?”

  “Proper people on the way—medical examiner and his crew and two anthropology specialists from the university,” Nigel assured him.

  “Andrew?”

  “I’ll get them out there. You two best get in and see the security tapes and get out on your ‘date night,’” Andrew suggested. “I will keep you apprised of what’s going on every step of the way, I promise.”

  “Good. Thank you. Raina, let me get you and Titan home.”

  She stood, awkwardly thanking Andrew for her ride with Wild Thing. He thanked her gravely in return for all her help.

  When they were in the car, she asked Axel about his date night. “Are you and Nigel pretending to go on a date together?” she asked. “Oh!” she said. “I mean, if it’s for real, it would be fine, of course. I just didn’t—”

  “It’s not for real,” he told her, smiling, but still wearing that slightly distant, distracted look. “We’re looking for the guy who might have had a date with Jennifer Lowry. Raina, you’ve been phenomenal. Frankly, you’ve been a phenomena. I can’t keep dragging you along on all these things. It isn’t right—”

  “It won’t be right for you to just drop me off and leave me, either,” she said.

  He frowned, looking at her. “I think I’ll tell Nigel we need a patrol to watch your place. I feel good with Titan, that dog is amazing. But if you’re worried—”

  “I am worried, and I don’t want a patrol car watching my place. I want to go with you.”

  He glanced her way again. “Raina, it’s not fair to you.”

  “It’s not fair for you to leave me. Besides, you need me. I brought the authorities to Jennifer Lowry’s body. And I just found an old victim,” she added softly. “I’m an asset on this case, and I’d rather be with you than alone.”

  “Titan can’t go tonight.”

  “Titan knows he needs to guard the house sometimes. He’s had a good day running with Wild Thing. Titan is going to be fine.”

  He was quiet a minute.

  “Please. I want to be with you.”

  He nodded slowly. “All right. We need to get to Nigel’s station. His people were working on the cameras. Then we’ll head to the night spot. Maybe we’ll even have an idea of who we’re looking for.”

  “Do I have two minutes to change?” she asked him.

  “I’ll give you five,” he told her.

  At her house, she refreshed the dog’s food and water bowls and ran in for a fast shower.

  She wondered if he might be thinking about her, naked and under the warm flow of the shower, the way she was thinking about him. Her skin tingled, and she couldn’t help wonder if he didn’t feel just a little of what she was feeling. But she knew he would be far too circumspect to make any kind of move. He would never make that kind of
assumption.

  Not to mention he was more intent on the case at hand than ever.

  She was true to her word. She didn’t make her five-minute limit, but she was ready to go in ten, clad in a casual dress, heeled sandals and a jacket in case the night—or air-conditioning—grew too chilly.

  “You’re quick!” he told her. “I’ll be quicker. We’ll drop by my hotel for just a minute, and then head out.”

  He was staying just a few miles from her house at one of the chain hotels. He left her in the lobby with coffee and brochures that advertised airboat rides and the wonders of the park.

  He was equally fast, and in a matter of minutes had returned. He was quiet as they headed for Nigel’s station.

  At last she said, “Andrew and Nigel were telling me about a young woman who disappeared years ago. You were all in on the search.”

  He nodded. “We were young then—too young to be much good, but we did know the area where we were searching. Everyone came out. You haven’t been to the village yet, but believe me, we’re all the same beneath our skin. We all care when a young woman disappears. We never found her, though.” He looked over at her.

  “And you think that maybe...?”

  “I’m not an expert on bones, I’m afraid. That could have been a man or a woman, dead a few years or maybe a hundred, though I sincerely doubt that. That environment can be harsh and brutal even on bone.”

  Raina shook her head. “That was...thirteen years ago. Almost fourteen. Could the same person have abducted her...and still be killing people now?”

  “I don’t know. I hope not. If so, there may be more bodies out there. More people who’ve disappeared.” He was quiet a minute and then he turned to her. “Here’s what scares me—that the murderer isn’t just one person. But maybe, just maybe, the murders are being perpetrated for one reason—and perhaps orchestrated by one person. Or one group.”

  “Like an order of assassins?” she asked, frowning.

  “Or, more likely, a murder association. Murder for a reason. Maybe even for hire. I don’t know. I have my own sense of intuition, you know, but nothing as good as the magic in your touch. I truly believe these people are being killed for a reason. We just have to find out what that reason might be.” He was quiet a minute. “There’s something. Something these victims have in common. I can’t help but believe if we find out what it is, we’ll understand what’s going on.”

  “But what might thirteen years ago have to do with today?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. And maybe it doesn’t.” He glanced her way. “But my intuition tells me they’re all connected.”

  Ten

  “We have some footage from a bank security camera and a traffic cam,” Nigel’s tech, Jeff Gamble, told them. He was a serious young tech at Nigel’s station. “I’ve gone over them, and looked for our girl. And this is what I’ve found. Bank camera first.”

  There was Jennifer, a cup of coffee in her hands. She was greeting a patron in a dark suit. Somehow, though, the man had managed to approach the coffee shop with his back to the camera, talk to Jennifer with his back to the camera, enter the coffee shop and leave backward, ostensibly opening the door with his back to carry out a cardboard tray with several cups of coffee in it.

  Axel asked him to run it several times. He studied the way the man moved. Studied his height, and everything he could.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Anything better from the traffic cam? Was it at a different angle?”

  “Oh, yes, but you’ll see why that didn’t go so well, either,” Gamble said, shaking his head. “I’ve enlarged the best I can, but see for yourself. It’s as if this guy knew where the cameras were. The traffic cam has only his back, too.”

  Jeff Gamble was telling them the absolute truth. He slowed down the footage, froze it, went over and over it, but it was true.

  Jennifer Lowry’s possible date for the evening never once showed his face.

  “Well, he’s tall, right? Six or six-one?” Nigel said.

  “Dark-haired, so it appears,” Axel said.

  “I’m sorry, guys—uh, sirs. Detective, Special Agent,” Gamble said, stuttering and looking at them both.

  Axel smiled. “You can only show us what’s there, and we sincerely appreciate your efforts,” he assured him.

  He and Nigel left the conference room where Gamble had allowed them to see the footage on a large screen.

  The size of the screen hadn’t helped when it came to seeing the man’s face.

  They had seen Jennifer Lowry’s face. Seen her smile, even seen her giddy, happy little laugh when she’d moved away, heading back to Dr. Wong’s office.

  “How can anyone know to avoid a camera like that?” Nigel asked with disgust.

  “We’re looking for a tall man with dark hair,” Axel said. “That’s something.”

  “What do you want to bet there are several tall men with dark hair at this place?” Nigel asked him. He shook his head, looking at Axel with his eyes narrowing.

  “Yeah, I know. What if we find the dark-haired six-foot-plus man at the club? If he’s there waiting for her, it means he didn’t kill her,” Axel said.

  “True. He wouldn’t be waiting for her if he knew she was dead.” Nigel shrugged. “Then again, he might not be waiting for her simply because he saw the police likeness on the news.”

  “He might know something.”

  “They talked for two minutes in front of a coffee shop. And she made a date.”

  “Unless she saw him before or again somewhere else we know nothing about. She only talked to him briefly at the coffee shop, but surely she didn’t get to know him through that two minutes. That can’t have been their only meeting. If he’s there, he just might be able to tell us something,” Axel said. They stepped out into the reception room. Raina was there, chatting with the desk sergeant.

  Apparently, he’d known who she was and what she did. He was telling her about his problem with his blue heeler puppy.

  “Remember, they were bred as herding dogs. They nip at the heels of sheep or cattle to keep them in a herd. But you have to let him know he shouldn’t use that behavior with people. Don’t swat him. Be consistent. A firm ‘no’ is most important. The more consistent you are, the better he’ll understand what you mean. And remember, treats are good in training, and so is a show of affection.”

  The sergeant nodded enthusiastically.

  “Another fan?” Axel teased.

  “Another dog-lover,” she said. She glanced at Nigel, smiling a little grimly. “So, we’re off, right? Clubbing? Did the cameras pick up a likeness of the man?”

  “We have the back of his head down pat,” Nigel assured her.

  “Ah.” She cast her head slightly to the side, looking back and forth between them. “Her picture was on the news. If this man saw it...”

  “We’re taking a stab in the dark. If nothing else, we’ve already worked long hours and we’ll hear some music,” Axel said.

  “Music is good,” Raina assured them.

  “And they have food,” Nigel said. When both Axel and Raina looked at him, he returned their stares with exasperation. “Hey, food is good, too. Keeps us going and we have to go for hours on end without it sometimes.”

  “Often,” Axel teased.

  Nigel waved a hand in the air. “Okay, you two just sit there. I’ll order food.”

  Axel drove with Raina beside him while Nigel took the back.

  When they arrived at their destination, Axel quickly knew why the staff at the dentist’s office had been so impressed.

  While a lot of clubs kept loud dance music going, this one catered to good but quiet performers. No DJs were spinning. There was a hostess at the door who led them to a far back table where they had a great view not just of the duo onstage, but of anyone entering or leaving the club, and those seated at the
tables, as well. The couple performing were doing a Simon and Garfunkel number as they headed for their table. Once they were seated and ordering, the duo switched into Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and then a Stevie Nicks/Don Henley number, “Leather and Lace.”

  “They’re good, really good,” Raina commented. “And we can still hear each other.”

  “And order food,” Nigel said. “Sorry—starving.”

  “He’s always starving,” Axel said.

  “Listen, I’m one of the top homicide detectives in the county. That requires nourishment,” Nigel protested.

  Raina smiled at them both.

  “Bring on the food,” she said.

  They ordered. The club offered an eclectic collection of options from sushi to Latin American.

  Axel might’ve teased Nigel about food, but he gave his own order in seconds flat.

  Nigel did the same.

  The duo on stage continued, switching from country to pop and rock, jazz and soul. Axel could see Raina liked the musicians. There were moments when she just watched them without looking anxious at all, then her gaze would turn back to the door.

  He thought that she was exceptionally beautiful as she watched and listened. There was an incredible vibrancy and life in her eyes, in her very being.

  There was just so much about her that appealed to so much within him.

  She glanced his way. “They’re very good. Music like this makes you want to...move,” she said.

  “Ah, yeah. Move,” he murmured. Well, the music was good, she was beautiful and...yeah. It all made him want to move.

  Their food came. As their friendly waiter served them, he obstructed their view slightly.

  They’d just started eating when he noticed Raina had paused, her forkful of food halfway to her mouth.

  She was staring.

  “What? A tall man with dark hair?” Nigel asked.

  She nodded, still for a moment, staring.

  Axel followed the line of her vision.

  “A tall dark-haired man I know,” she said softly.

  * * *

  Raina stood automatically, surprised to see the man she had known most her life and had seen at her home so recently.