Page 83 of The Fragile Ones
“Strangulation, and she had the same branding on her skin that appears to have been there since she was a baby. It shows the numbers 117 from the autopsy photos.”
“Where was she found?”
“Looks like,” he said looking at the map, “one street west of Sandstone in a vacant lot.”
“Near the swing area?”
“Yep.”
“Near the Mayfields’ house?”
“Yes. I see where you’re going with this.”
“Looks like we have some serious questions for the chief tomorrow.”
“No suspects. Not many leads, just town gossip that didn’t pan out. Looks like they did a canvass, but nothing substantial.”
Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the walls and flickering the lights.
“Maybe we should continue in the morning?” said Katie. Her energy was fading and she wanted to get comfortable, take a shower, and sleep on that fantastic feather bed.
Another cracking explosion was followed by heavy rain pelting the windows and door.
McGaven sat up and said, “I think you’re right.” He leaned down to pet Cisco.
“Seven a.m.?”
“Make it eight. I want to try those world-famous biscuits,” he said, putting his shoes on.
“How about meeting for breakfast at eight?” Katie said.
“Sounds great,” he said. “Oh, lock your door and be safe.”
Katie could hear him walking away down the flooded path.
“C’mon, Cisco, let’s go to bed.”
It took Katie only fifteen minutes after a hot shower to be tucked into the most comfortable bed she had ever experienced. She started thinking about the case, but then fell into a deep sleep, lulled by the heavy rain and thunder.
Lightning filled the room. Flashes exploding all around her. Katie woke with a start; she had been dreaming about the battlefield in Afghanistan and was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Cisco had climbed onto the bed to give her comfort and she stroked his head as he snuggled against her, her heart rate slowly returning to normal.
Another flash illuminated her room before it blacked out again. There was a rattling sound at the door; she distinctly heard it in a pause between thunder claps. Cisco sat up straight; he too had heard something that didn’t have anything to do with the storm. His ears went back and, in the dark, his amber wolf eyes glowed as he fixated on the front door.
Katie quickly got out of bed. Cisco wanted to follow, but she commanded him to stay in his current position on a ready. She retrieved her Glock from the nightstand and prepared herself with the weapon strategically directed in front of her.
A huge crash tore the sky, the sound coming from all around her, taking the electricity out. Everything went black. Katie used the cover to creep barefoot toward the door before lightning lit up the room again. She could make out the outline of a figure on the other side of the red curtains, shorter and stockier than her partner.
Katie kept moving until she reached the door. She shifted to the left side, disengaging the lock, and put her fingers on the door handle, turning it slowly until it stopped. Then, she yanked the door wide open in one quick movement, immediately feeling the rain blowing against her face.
Before her was a man wearing a rain poncho with the hood pulled tightly around his face.
“Who are you?” she demanded training her weapon on the figure.
He froze.
“What are you doing here?” she said.
The man took a step back.
