Guarded, page 29
part #2 of Tidewater Series
Fear had her grabbing for her cell. She needed to get Dev in here. Or Seth. Or hell, even Payne.
“Shelley, the killer’s in the zoo. Someone else has died.” Jules shook her head, as if trying to clear the confusion. “I can’t understand the new spirit. Too many voices.”
“Beau. Is it Beau?” Fear squeezed Shelley’s chest, but Jules managed to give her head a small shake.
“No. In danger. The killer. The animals running free.”
Shelley jumped up. “Most of the animals in the cages are harmless, but not all. There’s a Komodo dragon and . . . Oh my God! Where’s Miah? Is she still locked up?” Shelley pushed down the image of a frightened Beau being hunted by a maniac in the zoo. But she couldn’t keep her stomach from knotting. “Jules! Where’s Miah?”
“Who?” Jules was fading again. “I don’t know. Seth. Where’s Seth? He needs to know the killer’s there. Call the police.”
“If Beau’s in the zoo with the killer and the animals are running loose, he’s in twice as much danger. I can get the animals back in their cages. I can save them.”
“Go. Get Seth. So tired.” Jules’s eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. Shelley gently lowered Jules back to Seth’s jacket after patting it for his car key. Shelley pocketed it. Jules mumbled in her sleep.
She hated the idea of leaving Jules like that on the floor, but if she called out to Seth, everyone would come running. And there would be no one to help Beau or the animals in the zoo.
“I’ll call Seth as soon as I’m on the road,” she whispered, then stole out the door.
Dev and the others were steadily moving toward the front exit, so Shelley had to hurry. She slipped out the back door. Seth’s car had been parked there after Ryan had added more antifreeze. Whether it was luck or planning, there were no other cars on this side of the parking lot. She backed out of the lot and headed to Elkridge. Guilt and determination warred inside her as she sent Dev a text: J had another V. B is at the zoo. Danger. Animals loose. Going to put them back. Tell S. that J. needs him now.
* * *
DEV HAD BEEN surprised when Seth volunteered to join the deputy on the ride to Elkridge. Especially when he’d turned to him and said, “Clean up that mess inside, kid. When you’re done, meet us at the sheriff’s office. We don’t have time to wait for you.”
Seth then gestured for Munro to lead the way to his squad car. The two men climbed in, Seth keeping up the conversation about the linked cases the entire time.
And just like that, Dev understood. Seth was playing the “kid” card to distract Payne, presumably so Dev could check on Shelley and Jules and get them headed back to Tidewater. He headed inside.
“Were all the chicks in your classes that hot?” Ian asked, popping a piece of grape bubblegum into his mouth. “Damn, I made a mistake joining the Marines. I should have gone to get my edumacation with you.”
Dev made his way to the ladies-room door and knocked lightly. No one answered. He glanced at Ian who took it as an invitation to speak.
“Cary Devon Jones, you’re being downright rude not answering me,” Ian said in a perfect imitation of their Gram.
Dev laughed in spite of himself. “Shut up.” He knocked again. “Jules? Shells? You in there?”
“What do you know? He does speak. I’m so shocked I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Dev was about to tell his cousin exactly what he could do, when he heard Jules weakly call his name through the peeling white door.
He pushed it open and his heart sank. Jules sat, pale-faced and swaying slightly in the empty bathroom. Crossing to her, he squatted down. “Jules, where’s Shelley?”
“The zoo.” Jules’s weak voice took on an urgent tone. “Shelley’s going to the zoo. We got a tip that Beau is in danger. He’s trapped in the zoo and someone is setting the animals free. But she left too soon. She doesn’t know she’s a target. Seth? Where’s Seth?” She sank back onto her makeshift pallet of jackets as if her energy was suddenly depleted.
“Seth’s with the deputy,” Ryan said, appearing in the doorway behind them. Without being asked, he pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed. He stepped into the hallway saying, “Seth . . .”
Dev turned to see Ian’s normally jovial expression harden. “Ryan can stay with her. Let’s go,” he said, as if Dev wasn’t already bolting out the back door and into the empty parking lot.
They were in his car and on the darkening road in under a minute. Dev pushed away his fear and his fury at her leaving him as fiercely as he pushed the gas pedal to the floor.
The scent of Ian’s grape gum mixed with the fumes of motor oil made Dev’s stomach twist.
“You wanna tell me how your girlfriend and her sister got a tip in a bathroom?” Ian asked, rubbing his chin with one hand and pulling out his cell with the other. Without waiting for a response, he dialed. “Ryan, it’s me. They back yet?” Ian paused, listening. “Good. That should put you only a few minutes behind us. Meet you at the zoo.”
Ian shifted in his seat and said, “Want to explain why your little girlfriend went all Mary Jane Watson on us? We were there to help her, but no. She has to put herself in danger.”
Dev considered not answering. Considered it long enough to let the silence in the car grow thick and heavy. God, he hated keeping secrets from his cousins. They were more than family. They were friends. As kids it had always been the McKinnon clan, back to back to back. It didn’t surprise him that Ian and Ryan would do what was needed without explanation, but it burned at his gut keeping something from them that could potentially put them at risk.
Counting on his cousin’s ability to see past the ordinary, he said, “It’s not like that. She’s not Mary Jane Watson.”
Ian snorted. “Right. Your little chica didn’t just jet off to the zoo, where a body was found in the trunk of her car this morning? She might be a hot piece of ass, but she has a proclivity for finding trouble. I say toss this one back.”
“Ian, I’m only going to say this once. Call her a piece of anything again, and I’ll make you eat your balls for breakfast.”
“Fuck you, Cuz.”
“Very mature. They teach you that phrase in the military?” Dev white-knuckled the steering wheel, pissed at Ian for being a dick. Pissed at himself more for losing his temper. Exhaling hard, he said, “Ian, it’s complicated.”
“Bullshit.” Ian’s normally easygoing personality evaporated. “You’ve dragged Ryan and me into this. We’re withholding information from the police. Oh wait, I forgot, you are the fucking police! Tell me how it’s not like that?”
Praying he was doing the right thing, Dev said, “You know Aunt Marlene? Shelley’s kind of like her, only—”
“She’s crazy?”
“No, she’s gifted,” Dev said and cringed. “Shelley can just do things other people can’t.”
“Like tell fortunes in bowls of vodka?”
“No, Shells uh . . . talks to animals.” When Ian didn’t do more than gape at him, Dev added, “It’s why she’s going to the zoo. She’s going to get the animals to help her find Beau before she coaxes them back into their cages.”
“You really believe this shit you’re telling me?”
“It’s not shit,” Dev snapped. “Just keep your mouth shut and listen when we get there. You’ll see for yourself. It’s fucking amazing.”
“Great, I’m probably going to get arrested or maybe even eaten by some wild animal because you’re screwing Dr. Dolittle.”
CHAPTER 24
ADAM CLAPPED HIS hands to his ears. Every fucking animal in the zoo was screeching, baying, roaring, bellowing, or shrieking. Who knew turtles made noises? Snakes slithered across the dark ground in front of him. The moonlight filtering between the trees barely lit the chilly paths.
Fall leaves showered around him as squirrels and golden lion tamarins hopped from branch to branch overhead. The forest surrounding the zoo was alive with animals awake when they should have been sleeping.
Up ahead, the tigress roared a warning. He recognized the sound. It was the same roar she had made when he’d shot her with the tranquilizer just before taking her cubs earlier in the week. But who would be shooting her now?
He ground his back teeth until his jaw popped. That fucking bitch was double-crossing him. She had sworn after he’d caught her stealing the first cub that she’d let him relocate the animals. She was going back on her word now? Did she have a death wish?
In a bolt of clarity, it made sense. She hadn’t reset the cameras in the tiger cage by mistake as she’d claimed. She’d planned to double-cross him all along. Fucking bitch was in for a rude surprise if she thought that.
Adam raced to Miah’s enclosure. With the dark all around him protecting him from the cameras he hadn’t had a chance to disable, he searched for that traitorous bitch. His blood surged as he found her, hovering just outside Miah’s pen, reloading the tranq gun.
He’d always heard of people seeing red, but he hadn’t believed it until now. Fuck. The moment he needed to tap into his calm, it vanished, leaving only the empty raging machine inside him.
Stalking closer to Reyna, he took in everything. The perimeter gate and barrier fence still secure. The bronze padlocks glinting in the moonlight. The single spotlight shining mercilessly down on the tigress sprawled in the grass at the foot of the ramp leading to her house. She roared another warning to her babies.
Adam swung his gaze left and right, searching for the three remaining tiger cubs. The steam rising from the dewy grass was the only movement out there, other than Miah herself. The cubs must still be inside the house.
Reyna, that fucking coward, wouldn’t dare approach them yet. No, from the looks of things, the bitch was going to overdose the tigress by tranquilizing her again. Disgust and fear bit Adam with razor-sharp teeth. Too fucking far. Too far away to stop her.
He ran anyway. Headlong in her direction. She raised the rifle. Took aim. The moment she would have pulled the trigger, something jumped up and knocked it from her hands.
The gun skittered across the dry leaves and into the woods, not far from his feet. Adam picked it up and ducked back into the shadow of the trees. Not to hide from the cameras. If Reyna was brazen enough to stand in the middle of the trail and shoot the tiger through the cage, she’d clearly already handled the security cameras. No, Adam wanted to know who’d interfered with her plans. And why.
“It was you,” a small voice accused. The boy. Beau was here? “No, you can’t do this.”
“Go home, kid.” Reyna pushed the boy aside, knocking him to the ground. “This is none of your business.” He hit the ground with a flump.
“He’ll kill you, just like he did Dr. Kessler.”
Reyna blanched. “Dr. Kessler’s dead?”
“Yes,” his voice quaked, but he didn’t back down. “And my papi told me someone was stealing the animals. I’m going to tell him it’s you.”
“You don’t have a daddy. The whole town knows you’re an orphaned freak.” Reyna’s haughty tone was edged with fear.
“That’s not true.” The boy jumped to his feet, his hands on his hips. “Tomás is my papi.”
“Well, good luck telling him anything. He’s dead too.” Reyna snatched the kid’s arm, wrenching it as she said, “You’re not telling anyone anything.”
Adam’s chest tightened. Because of that crazy bitch, he was going to have to kill a kid. His stomach churned.
“What did you do with my gun?” Reyna’s shriek brought Adam out of his musing. He hid the rifle beneath some leaves. He pulled his gun out of his waistband, then tugged his sleeve down over his right hand.
Reyna shook Beau violently. He appeared frightened but didn’t back down. He kicked her in the shins in an effort to shake off her hold. The kid had guts.
Adam stepped from the shadows. Allowing himself to be seen, he called out, “Beau, close your eyes.”
* * *
SHELLEY PARKED SETH’S car right next to the locked gate. Except it wasn’t locked. It was closed, but the bronze-and-silver padlock lay on the ground. A cool wind slapped her hair in her face. She dug a hair tie out of her pocket and pulled her hair into a quick bun, then opened the gate.
Two steps inside and she nearly collided with a tortoise. While she was certain she could coax the animals back into their cages, she needed time to collect them all. Hurrying back to the gate, she pulled it tightly closed, then dialed Dev’s number. He answered on the first ring.
“Dev, I’m at the zoo—”
“I know. Jules told me.” He sounded out of breath, like he’d been running. “I’ll be there in less than five.”
A roar of pain and anguish erupted from deep inside the zoo grounds. Shelley jumped at the sound. “It’s Miah. Dev, I’ve got to go. Something’s really wrong. Beau’s in trouble, and the animals are running free. You can’t come inside. I need time to put them away.”
“Can’t come inside? Are you nuts? I’m not leaving you in there alone.”
Someone in the background made a comment that sounded remarkably like, “Mary Jane, you see?”
Shelley didn’t have time to argue. “Dev, if the animals get out of the zoo, they risk being killed. Most of these guys are reptiles. People look at reptiles and think Godzilla.” Another roar, this one weaker. “I gotta go. Guard the gate for me.” She’d barely started up the trail when she heard the first gunshot.
A woman screamed, birds took flight, and the zoo itself seemed to explode with noise. But the animals took cover. Following their lead, Shelley slipped off the trail, still headed to the tiger house.
She was almost there when a raccoon darted across her path. She skidded to avoid colliding with it. Instead of running, the bandit-faced animal sat up on its hind legs and met her gaze levelly.
In an instant, images of Beau and Reyna flooded her mind. Shelley saw the woman shake him hard by the shoulders. A long shadow cast the boy in temporary darkness as someone joined them outside the tiger house. Reyna pushed Beau at the shadowy figure, only to jerk backward. Then Beau ran into the woods, where the raccoon had been watching from the tree.
The vision ended, and the raccoon scurried deeper into the woods. A hunch had Shelley following it. The raccoon climbed up a scrub pine and chattered at her.
Beau has to be here.
“Beau,” she called in a stage whisper. “Beau, if you can hear me, it’s Dr. Morgan. Come out.”
The zoo still screamed with animals in a frenzy. Somewhere in the direction from which she’d come, a woman cried out in pain. Shelley cringed at the high-pitched scream. The killer had to be here, and she’d be fracking damned if he got to Beau now.
Using the tone her mother had used on her as a child, Shelley said, “Beau, I need you to come out right this minute.”
Rustling erupted behind her. Shelley spun around to see the boy, sitting up, leaves cascading off him.
“Doc?” His voice was small, frightened. “Is it really you?”
Shelley dropped to her knees, so he could see her better in the moonlight. “It’s me.”
The child’s left eye was still swollen. Silent tears tracked down the boy’s dirty cheeks. He clung to her, his thin body shaking.
Shelley’s heart ached and her eyes stung. She didn’t bother to fight back the tears. “What are you doing here?”
“Two men came to see me today. They said they were your friends. Mama Margaret was so mad after they left, she hit me. I ran away. I looked for my papi, but . . .” he snuffled, “I couldn’t find him. So I went to the clinic to find you. You weren’t there. I hid in the storage shed until I heard yelling inside. I went in and . . .” Beau broke down completely; he pressed his face against her chest and shook. “He killed Dr. Kessler.”
* * *
GUARD THE GATE, right. Dev was going to throttle one stubborn redhead the next time he saw her. Glancing at Ian, he said, “Did you get ahold of the sheriff’s office?”
“Yeah, they’re right behind us. Don’t you hear the sirens?”
Dev hadn’t, but he did now. He didn’t answer as he sped into the zoo parking lot so fast, he swore two wheels left the ground. Cutting the engine, he popped the trunk of his car. As soon as he opened the trunk to reveal his gun box, Ian appeared on his right, stopping him.
“Cuz, the sheriff’s on the way. Maybe the best thing we can do is wait out here. We don’t know how much trouble she’s in.”
Dev jerked his arm free of Ian’s grasp. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Ian’s serious face broke into a wide grin. “Fuck yeah, I’m kidding. Hurry up.”
“Ian, don’t be an asshole,” Ryan said, appearing like a ninja from the mist on Dev’s left. His bald head, covered with a dark skullcap—no doubt to hide the shine the moonlight would have cast—added to his already “don’t fuck with me” look.
Dev opened the box, retrieved his Glock and two clips and quietly lowered the trunk’s lid. The three of them slipped through the gate, then carefully latched it into place.
The zoo was a riot of noise and action. A dozen snakes slithered past them but seemed to take no notice of the men in their quest. Overhead, monkeys shook branches and screamed as they hopped in the same direction the snakes slithered. Even the birds, normally quiet at this hour, called to one another before taking flight. Again, headed in the same direction as all the other animals.
Away from the gate.
Dev would have expected them to race toward freedom. Isn’t that what wild or, hell, even tame, animals usually did when presented with the opportunity? None of these creatures were interested in that.
No, instead of freedom, they each slithered, hopped, and flew deeper into the belly of the zoo. At the fork of the three trails, Dev turned to his cousins. Ryan stared, his patent impassive expression giving nothing away.
