Birds of Prey (13 page)

“Yeah,” she agreed.

Aubrey went back through the door and upwind from the room. She took several deep breaths before pulling out her cell phone. She hit the number she’d saved for Cody and pressed send. She didn’t know how she was going to explain this.

Chapter Ten

Cody pointed Byron to where Aubrey and Mike were standing with another man against the railing two doors down from the open room.

“Watch them,” he ordered. “They are not to go anywhere.”

“Yes, sir,” Byron said as he moved quickly.

Fuming, Cody entered the motel room.

Of course Aubrey hadn’t called him as soon as she’d realised she had something solid to go on. No, she’d had to go off on her own and come across another dead body. He wanted to strangle her. And at the same time pull her into his arms to comfort her after finding the scene. But he would have to think about that later. Right now, he had work to do.

The kid on the bed—and damn, he was just a kid—was lying flat with legs stretched out and arms out to the sides.

Dark blood spattered the body and soaked the sheets. Cody gulped, hard—everything from the mattress to the walls was covered. Even tiny, gooey droplets dangled from the edges of the nearby lampshade. The stench was enough to make him gag.

Cody’s sharpened senses always were a bit of a hindrance at crime scenes. It could be overwhelming at times. He’d learned several tricks to get through the blood, guts, and other disgusting things he found himself in.

It was never easy.

He peered down at the wound across the neck. The edge of the cut wasn’t smooth. There was a jaggedness to it that told him that it had been a military blade. He had seen it before.

“Make sure you get plenty of pictures,” he ordered.

When Ryder didn’t respond, Cody looked up at him.

Ryder was staring at the body.

“What?” Cody asked.

“He was at the bar last night,” Ryder told him.

Cody frowned. “You’re kidding.”

“He was at one of the tables by the door. We passed him when we left. He was with another man. Black hair, about six foot two, hairy and ugly as sin,” Ryder provided.

“Did you get a picture?”

“Yeah.”

“But no sign of our guy?”

Ryder shook his head.

“So did we make someone nervous last night? Or was the kid going to be killed no matter what?” Cody backed away from the body to look around the rest of the room. The closet doors were missing. Five shirts and two pairs of jeans hung inside it.

A pile of dirty clothes lay on the floor.

He strolled to the bathroom. Small bottles sat scattered around the tiny lavatory. The kid had obviously been living on a tight budget.

Cody had to wonder why anyone would want to live this way.

Why hadn’t he been trying to join one of the groups? Cody knew he was a bird shifter. Owl was his guess, but he would need more information before he knew for sure.

He could have joined the Flock or even the Owl Parliament. They would have made sure that he was taken care of. The groups of shifters took care of one another. His family had always been a member of the Flock.

A Flock, which was made up of several different species, had worked well for them. Cody’s great-uncle had mated with a hawk.

The Flock member numbers had started to grow in the early nineties. Since offspring from two different species wouldn’t have their shifted form until after they’d hit puberty, it was hard to tell which parent species they would inherit. Being members of a Flock eased the tension of inter-species mating.

So his great-uncle had left the falcon Cast to join the Flock and Cody’s granddad had gone with him. Their family had been members ever since.

This young man hadn’t had that, had been trying to make it on his own, and Cody felt sad for him.

What had the victim got himself into? Why would this kid get involved with their suspect?

Maybe Aubrey could give him more information.

As he passed back through the bedroom, he saw that the coroner had arrived. Cody met his gaze.

“The bodies are really starting to pile up,” the coroner said sadly.

Cody nodded. “Yeah.”

“I hope you catch him.”

“We
will
,” Cody said.

“Damn, this one’s barely an adult,” the coroner stated.

“I know.” Cody patted his back as he walked past.

He reached the entrance and squinted into the bright sunlight. He turned his head and ran his gaze over Aubrey.

She looked up.

Cody jerked his head so that she would come to him. She pushed off the rail and strode over.

“I don’t know whether to beat you or hug you,” he said.

“I
was
going to call you,” she replied.

Cody crossed his arms over his chest.

“I was! We were just going to see if he was still there and stay with him until you arrived.”

“While asking him questions,” Cody guessed.

She instantly looked guilty. “Well…”

Cody twisted his neck, trying to relieve some of his stress. “Just start from the beginning.”

He listened intently as she explained how Mike had found someone who recognised the man in the picture and they had been canvassing the neighbourhood when the owner of the motel had told them that he’d returned.

Cody was shaking his head before she had even finished.

“What?”

He had to take several deep breaths. “So you thought it would be okay to knock on this guy’s door?”

“Yes,” she answered carefully.

“Damn it, Aubrey!” He grabbed her arm then pulled her farther away from the others.

She didn’t fight him as he propelled her forward. Once he’d put a good amount of distance between them and everyone else, he spun her around.

“You don’t even have a gun!” He tried not to shout. And he couldn’t get the image out of his head of Aubrey facing a man who had already killed three people.

“Well, no, I…”

“So you were just going to knock on some stranger’s door and start questioning him?” Cody inquired. “Oh, but you
were
going to call me. Hope I got there before he shot you or something?”

Her eyes widened. “Cody.”

He turned to pace again. He found himself pacing more and more around her. “Did you recognise him?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course, I would tell you if I did.”

“He was at the bar last night. Ryder recognised him.”

“Oh shit!”

“Now do you see what I’m talking about? You’re getting deeper and deeper into this investigation. When you run off on your own, I can’t protect you.”

“Cody,” she repeated and stepped in front of him.

He stopped and glared.

“I’m sorry.” She cupped his cheeks before lifting up and kissing him lightly on his lips. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Of course you didn’t,” he agreed. Some of his anger ebbed.

“I just wanted to get some answers.”

“I know.” He dropped his hands onto her shoulders, because he did know. It didn’t surprise him that Aubrey hadn’t called him first, it just worried him. “You’re going to give me grey hair.”

She laughed softly. “It may be a little too late, I think I saw a few strands…” She tunnelled her fingers through his hair.

“Hey!” he complained and pushed her away.

She dropped back on the flats of her feet, smiling. “Are we okay?”

“Yeah.” He returned her smile. “We’re okay.”

“Good,” she said, with obvious relief.

“Why don’t you and Mike go ahead and take off? I’ll stop by later and you can give me copies of everything you have compiled. And I do mean
everything
. I want names and witness statements.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ve got to head into the Cast at least for a little while. But why don’t you come by my house later? Just text me when you’re headed over.”

“Sounds good.” He pulled her in for another slow kiss.

She sighed when he released her.

“I’ll send Mike down to you,” he said as he started away. She was closer to the stairs and there was no need for her to go back around the room. He didn’t want her anywhere near that horrific scene.

It was stupid. She’d already been inside and he couldn’t take what she’d seen away. But he wanted to.

He was almost at the motel room door when he saw that Ryder had joined Mike where the man still stood. Mike had one hand on Ryder’s arm and was stroking up and down. Their heads were close together as they spoke.

Cody cleared his throat and Ryder jumped away. Mike looked disappointed for a moment, but his face quickly cleared.

He couldn’t hear what Mike had said to Ryder, making his friend blush, which shocked Cody. He’d never seen Ryder react to anyone that way.

“We clear?” Mike asked when he reached him.

“Yeah, I’ll catch up with Aubrey later. She’ll give me copies of everything you found out.”

Mike nodded. Cody expected him to leave. Instead, he looked down towards the parking lot where Aubrey would be waiting for him.

“This isn’t easy for her,” Mike told him, speaking low. “She’s trying to find out what happened to her uncle. Plus she’s still unsure where you fit in with her.

So Aubrey had told him.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Mike said when Cody didn’t respond.

Cody nodded.

Mike dipped his head. “Do I need to give you the other warning?”

“Other?” Cody questioned, not understanding.

“Yeah, you know, the one about if you hurt her, I’ll take you out to the lake and drown you. After I rip you apart, of course.”

Cody widened his eyes at the threat. “Uh, no. No, I don’t need that warning.”

“Good.”

With that, Mike started to stalk away. Cody rotated to watch him go. Should he be amused? Angry?

He wasn’t sure.

“Hey, boss!” Byron called to him.

He snapped back into work mode and followed the sounds of his team. Amused, he was amused.

* * * *

Aubrey pulled up in front of her house and turned the motor off. It had been a long day and all she wanted was a hot shower and a big glass of wine.

However, Cody had called and he was finally able to tear himself away from his office. It was going on ten at night. She’d put in a full shift at the Cast compound. The entire time she hadn’t been able to help but run through what she could’ve done differently to have helped the latest victim.

Had she missed someone? Should she have shown the picture around more?

Not that she could do a whole hell of a lot now, but she didn’t want there to be a fourth murder. She’d carried the photo all day. She’d questioned everyone she’d passed at the Cast.

Not one person had admitted to ever having seen him before.

It was hard to believe that anyone from the Cast had been involved in the car bomb that had taken out Greg, but she just didn’t see how it would have been possible for a Cast member not to be involved.

They had a damn good security system. It would be quite a feat not to be spotted by the cameras or team.

She pushed open her car door and climbed out. She stretched her arms over her head and rolled her neck.

She’d just spent the last two hours going over the security cameras of the night before Gregory’s death. It was the third time she’d viewed the film. She still hadn’t found anything new.

And it was bugging her.

Gregory had always parked in the main garage. His SUV had pulled in at seven that night and hadn’t moved.

The garage’s main door had an alarm and a key code. The only other way to get inside was from the utility room in the house.

A cold chill ran down her spine, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. She slowly lowered her arms.

She tried to act as casual as she could while she leaned in and grabbed her bag from the backseat, using the move to search the area and find where the unease was coming from.

She had extremely sharp eyesight, so if someone or something was there, she should be able to see them.

The feeling was starting to wane, but that didn’t mean that she was alone. She took several deep breaths, pulling in any unknown scents.

Nothing. She didn’t catch a thing.

Slowly, she started up the walk to her front entrance, on the alert for any threats. She still had her keys in her hand and unlocked the door.

The alarm beeped, telling her that it was still set. She pushed in her code while closing and locking up.

First thing Aubrey wanted to do was go through the house and make certain that it was secure. She started in the kitchen, ensuring that the patio door and all windows were still locked.

The living room had a comfortable, empty feel to it, so she passed through and into the bedrooms. Aubrey didn’t believe anyone had been inside, although she’d been taught to always double-check her residence. With the weird feeling she’d got outside, she just had to know for sure.

Her bedroom was the last room she went through. Her clothes from the night before still lay across the end of the bed. Since she had a bad habit of kicking off her shoes, there were several pairs scattered around.

It might be a good idea to pick up a little before Cody arrived. No, she was just too tired. Luckily, the rest of the house would make up for her bedroom being a little messy.

Satisfied that no one had entered while she had been gone, she kicked her shoes off to add to the others before pulling off her shirt. She still wore a tank top and her jeans. Since she didn’t have enough time to take that shower she was craving, she could at least be comfortable while she waited for Cody.

Besides, if she could talk him into joining her, the shower could lead to a much better night.

In her thick socks, she padded into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. They did have work to do before she could lure Cody into getting naked.

She was chuckling as the bell rang. When she opened the front door, Cody was grinning.

“What?”

“We got a lead,” he told her, walking in then kissing her cheek.

She ran her gaze over the front entrance before closing the door. She still didn’t see anything, but she had felt something.

“What lead?” she questioned, turning to him.