Skye's Trail (11 page)

“Cia didn’t tell me you’d called,” he said as he stepped into the cubicle. His eyes went dark as they traveled over her body and lingered on her pebble-hard nipples.

The bullpen around them suddenly seemed quieter. Skye said, “I didn’t call.”

“Where’s Cia?” he asked.

“Waiting for my statement to be printed.” Her voice was unintentionally husky. Inviting.

Rico’s face tightened. His pants stretched over his growing erection. Skye’s clit responded, throbbing as it stood at attention. She couldn’t stop herself from running her fingers along the front of her jeans.

“Fuck!” Rico said. It came out a strangled plea.

Caldwell returned. When she saw them together her lips disappeared in a disapproving frown. Rico stiffened and his cop-mask fell back into place though his face remained slightly flushed.

“Here’s your statement,” Caldwell said as she thrust a small handful of papers into Skye’s hand.

Skye read the statement and signed it then dropped it to Caldwell’s desk.

A uniformed officer stepped into view. Jon and Karen Armstrong trailed behind him. Callie clung to her mother with her head buried in the curve of Karen’s neck.

“Detective Santana,” the officer said. “The Armstrongs wanted to speak with you before they left.”

Karen’s eyes teared up when she spotted Skye. “I never thanked you,” she said and surprised Skye by wrapping her in a hug. Callie whimpered, but didn’t respond otherwise.

“How’s she doing?” Skye asked when the embrace ended.

Callie’s mother shook her head wordlessly. Jon answered, “We’re leaving for home in a couple of hours. The psychiatrist we’ve consulted thinks that once we get her back in familiar surroundings she’ll come out of this withdrawal.”

Karen murmured softly, “Callie, do you remember Skye? She found you in the woods.” The small girl’s only response was to tighten her grip on her mother.

Jon rubbed a hand over his face in emotional exhaustion. “We might as well go to the airport and wait for our flight.” He smiled at Skye. “Thank you. It seems so inadequate, but thank you.”

Skye studied the family. Sorrow moved through her at the child’s withdrawal. This wasn’t the same child she’d found in the woods. “Can I have a few minutes with her?”

Caldwell spoke instantly. “That wouldn’t be advisable.”

The Armstrongs’ faces showed their confusion at the detective’s quick objection. “Can you help her?” Karen’s voice was tentative, painfully hopeful.

“Maybe,” Skye said.

“You’ve had to deal with a lot of traumatized children, haven’t you?” Jon asked.

“Yes.”

He took only a second to think it over before nodding decisively. “Could you suggest a place? We’ve already checked out of our hotel room.”

Rico spoke up, “You can use a room here. Follow me.”

He led them to an interrogation room. At the door he took Skye’s arm. Next to him Detective Caldwell stiffened. Rico said, “I’d like to be present for this.” His eyes touched hers, then moved over to the one-way window at the end of the room. Skye hesitated briefly then said, “Just you.” Rico nodded and she followed the Armstrongs into the room.

Skye pulled three chairs away from the table. She positioned hers so that her back was to the room she knew Rico would be watching from. The Armstrongs sat facing her.

Karen tried to pry Callie away from her body and turn her to face Skye. The little girl whimpered and clutched harder. “Leave her. She’s fine,” Skye said.

Then she waited.

She let the silence fill the room.

She let the silence fill herself.

She waited for some of the silence to fill the child, saw it in the slight loosening of Callie’s arms. When she saw that subtle hint, Skye reached over and began stroking the girl’s baby-fine hair.

Her voice was whisper-soft, gentle like a night breeze. “Do you remember who I am, Callie?”

The girl nodded “yes” against her mother’s shoulder.

“Are you afraid of me?”

The girl shook her head “no”.

Skye laughed. It was soft and inviting, reassuring. “Are you sure you’re not afraid?”

Callie’s head turned slightly so she could see Skye out of the corner of one eye. It was all Skye needed. Without hesitation she let the little girl fall into the endless blue of her eyes.

Chapter Six

“Did someone come to your hotel room and go with you and Brittany?” Skye asked.

“No.”

“What were you and Brittany doing before you left in the car?”

“I was watching TV. Brittany was talking on the phone.”

“Do you know who she was talking to?”

“No.” The child gave an exaggerated frown. “Brittany
always
whispered when she was on the phone.”

“What happened after Brittany stopped talking on the phone?”

“She watched TV with me. But then she said we were going to leave the hotel room. She said we’d get ice cream.”

“What was on TV?”

“A movie.”

“What movie?”

“Harry Potter.”

“Did you go get ice cream when you left?”

Callie pouted. “No. We went to a place with lots of cars and Brittany told me to wait while she went inside for a few minutes. She said we’d get ice cream after she came back out. Only she was gone a long time and I got scared waiting in the car all by myself. So I got out and went to look for her. Only I couldn’t because the man at the door said this wasn’t a good place for little girls and I needed to go back to the car and get inside and lock the doors.”

“Do you remember the name of the place you were at?”

“No. But there were naked people inside. Somebody opened the door and I saw naked ladies inside.”

“Were they naked all over? Or were they just naked on the top?”

The little girl frowned. “Some were just naked on top. But the ones dancing were
all
naked.”

“Was everybody inside naked, or just some people?”

“Just some people.”

“Can you picture it and tell me what it looks like?”

Callie scrunched up her face. “It was like a house only you couldn’t see inside it. They had music playing. I heard people yelling. But that’s all I remember. It was dark.”

“Did the people yelling sound like they were fighting?”

“No. They sounded like Daddy when he’s watching football.”

“Okay. Did you go back to the car and lock the doors?”

“Yes.”

“Then what happened?”

“Brittany came back out to the car. There was a man with her. He scared me.”

“What did the man look like?”

Callie struggled with an answer. “He just looked like a man. Only he scared me. When he got in the car I got down on the floor in the back. I didn’t want him to look at me. And Brittany didn’t tell me to get up and put my seat belt on.”

“Did the man know you were in the car?”

“I think so.”

“Did he scare Brittany?”

“No. She talked to him while she was driving.”

“What did she say?”

“That she couldn’t do it tonight. She had to baby-sit me.” Callie frowned again. “I’m not a baby.”

“Did Brittany say anything else?”

“No.”

“Where did you go in the car?”

“To the woods.”

“Where you got lost?”

“Yes.”

“What happened there?”

“We stopped and there was another car. Brittany told me to stay in the car, but I didn’t. She and the man walked over to where the people were standing.”

“How many people did you see?”

“I saw a girl and another girl and another girl and another man. The tallest girl and Brittany started talking.”

“Could you see the other people’s faces?”

“No.”

“What color clothes were they wearing?”

“Black. Everybody had black clothes on.”

“Did they have their bodies pierced like Brittany did?”

“I think the girls did.”

“Could you hear what they were talking about?”

“Not at first. But then Brittany said she couldn’t because she was babysitting. The other girl said it didn’t matter that I could come with them. She said if they used me in the ceremony it might even make the magic stronger. The other girl knew my name. She said for me to come over to the car. Only I was too scared to move.”

“What happened next?”

“The man started back to the car. And Brittany screamed for me to run as fast as I could.” Tears began trailing down Callie’s cheeks. “I didn’t want to leave Brittany. But she kept screaming for me to run. I started running. Then when I looked back, I saw horrible red eyes chasing after me. So I ran even faster.”

“And you got lost?” Skye’s voice was gentle, soothing.

“Yes.”

“Did anything bad happen to you when you were lost?”

“No.” The voice was small. “But I was scared. I thought they’d find me. All night long I saw eyes staring at me, only they were yellow instead of red. I ran as far as I could. Then I climbed a tree.”

“And now you’re back with your mom and dad who love you very much. Right?”

“Yes.” Callie added in a whisper. “But I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Brittany’s friends. They’ll take all my blood and kill me.”

“Why do you think that might happen?”

“Because that’s what they did to Brittany. They took all her blood and killed her.”

“How do you know that?”

“Mom and Dad were talking about it.”

“Did they talk about anything else that scares you?”

Callie took a minute before answering the question. “No.”

Once again Skye let the silence fill the room.

Waited for it fill the child.

Skye’s voice became a promise of help, a musical sound so beautiful that it couldn’t be denied. “Callie, something scary happened when you went on vacation with your mom and dad and Brittany. Your cousin, Brittany, got killed because she made some very bad friends. But she kept you safe, Callie. And you were brave and tried to help the police find the people who killed your cousin. Now it’s okay to let the scary memories go away. Are you ready to let them go?”