“I believe it was a Burmese python and I’m thinking the damned thing was close to eighteen feet.” He hesitated, watching her. “You ready for today?”
“Damned ready.” She hesitated, ready to swing her legs off the bed. “Axel, it’s like something out of a slasher movie. Someone tried to poison my dog with a hunk of human flesh.”
“There’s another victim, I’m afraid. And whoever did it intended for Titan to die, too.”
“Thank goodness your quick thinking saved him,” she said, rising quickly. He noted the ease and agility of her movements, and loved the fact they were so comfortable together.
She paused suddenly, diving into her closet.
“Your friends are up!” she said.
“I’m pretty sure they know we’re both in here.”
“Yes, I know, but we should be out there. And we have to get to Andrew’s. I know that a dog’s life isn’t a human life, but—”
“You love your dog. Yes, you’re right. Let’s move.”
She wagged a finger at him. “Separate showers—fast ones.”
He laughed. “Hey, I’m well behaved. You’re the temptress.”
They showered—separately—and dressed and emerged from the bedroom within minutes to find Jon Dickson on the phone. Kylie was pouring coffee.
“I found the pot and figured we should start off awake,” Kylie said. “I hope you don’t mind me just making myself at home in your kitchen.”
“I’m grateful you made yourself at home,” Raina told her. “I love coming out to coffee that’s already brewed.”
“We need to get over to Andrew’s—he says he has plenty of food. Nigel is meeting us out there,” Jon said. “He’s gathered everything he can and thinks we should all go through the dossiers on the victims. They’re working on the DNA from the piece you found in the yard, and will hopefully come up with a match.” He studied Axel for a minute. “I’m not sure your friend believed in your theory that this has been going on a long time until yesterday. Now, well, he’s wondering just what else might be found, or what unsolved cases might have ties. He said someone named Vinnie Magruder is coming out, as well. Who is Vinnie Magruder?”
“He was a Miami-Dade patrolman when I was a kid. He had the county beat, covering what wasn’t federal or tribal out here. But then, federal lands, county lands and tribal lands are often hard to determine. I know there have been places where tribal police and county deputies or federal agents have had trouble, but not with Andrew and his officers, and not in any of my dealings. Helps that Andrew, Nigel and I were friends all our lives. Plus, there isn’t a soul I know of who doesn’t want this solved and put to rest.”
“So, we need to do it!” Kylie said, handing them all paper cups.
Axel smiled at her. He hadn’t known her that long, but he liked her a lot. He knew she’d been about to start a dream job in New York City when she and Jon had met; she had given it up to move to Northern Virginia with him. She was a brilliant historian and had quickly found work she loved, doing research on a Revolutionary-era building near their home in Alexandria—work that was exactly what she wanted, done on her own schedule. Adam Harrison had seen the historic property and determined to buy it, with Kylie continuing her work on the research, and starting the process to open the old home as a museum, circa the late 1700s when it had been built.
She also embraced what Jon did and loved the Krewe.
And it just so happened that she herself was unusually talented, like the rest of the Krewe.
He was counting on that now.
“You need the dress, right?” Axel asked her.
“I’m working in the dark here, too. I haven’t figured myself out yet,” Kylie told him. “But yes, I’m thinking we should have the dress.”
They left soon after, taking both cars just in case they discovered later in the day they might need to move separately.
As he drove with Raina, Axel asked her, “You’re seriously all right with all this?”
“I’m not just all right, I’m anxious. I want to do this. I want Jordan to be all right. I want to believe I helped stop whatever is happening, that I’ve helped to save lives, maybe.”
He nodded. “Last night, you saw things. Amazing things.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s what I mean, though. It was like Kylie said. I don’t understand myself, either. But I want to test the limits and