Heather Graham - Waking the Dead

“So they don’t know what was taken,” Quinn finished. But he was looking curiously at Larue.

“Here’s what we do know. A number of things that had been removed from the Garcia house were taken from the evidence room. The vial you mentioned earlier, and three wrapped packages. In other words, things that were spattered with blood or might have given us a clue as to what a murderer was looking for,” Jake said.

That caused Father Ryan to thump a fist on the table, which in turn caused all the dishes and glasses and flatware to clatter.

“Sorry,” Father Ryan muttered. “But I’ve told Danni—those people were part of my flock and I knew them. I knew them well. There were no drugs, no arms, no implements of any illegality in that house. I’d stake my life on it!”

“I’m not suggesting James Garcia was doing anything illegal,” Larue said. “Not really illegal.”

“What do you mean?” Father Ryan demanded.

“Garcia was one of the most trusted men in his business,” Larue began. “He would pick up items for delivery when he finished for the night so he’d be ready to head out first thing in the morning. This wasn’t official policy, but his supervisors have admitted they had an understanding with certain employees and Garcia was one. He’d had packages waiting to go out at his home. Some had blood spatter. We don’t know precisely what they were, but one of the crime scene techs who’d been collecting objects from the house for analysis told us the packages weren’t in the evidence room. She and a few others were brought down to try to remember. You can knock out a computer, but as long there are still people around, memory serves.” He paused. “The only detail she could recall was that one of the packages was large and flat—presumably a piece of art—and another seemed to contain jewelry....”

They all stared at him. “I just wanted to let you know.” He shrugged. “Garcia might have been killed over something in his house—something he knew nothing about.”

“Are you finding out exactly what packages were being held at Garcia’s house?” Quinn asked.

“We’ll have a full report from Garcia’s company by morning.”

“So where are we? What’ve we got?” Billie asked.

“Five corpses—and a seasoned cop scared out of his wits,” Larue said. “That’s what we’ve got.”

“Plus missing evidence. And fog, mist, smoke,” Quinn added thoughtfully. “Natasha?”

“I haven’t heard a thing from the street,” she replied. “But...”

“But what?” Quinn asked sharply.

Danni stood quickly; she didn’t want Quinn trying to read her mind when her thoughts were still so jumbled. If she acted casual and began to clear the table, he might not notice.

Okay, so Natasha had some kind of sight. She’d told Danni a dozen times that with most people who came to the shop, she read the person more than she ever read a tarot card or tea leaf. And she was very good at it; as a priestess, she knew her followers. She knew when they needed guidance, when they should take a chance and when they should keep their heads down.

But that day, when she’d read Danni’s tea leaves, something had been different. Danni had never seen Natasha quite like she’d been that day.

“I’m sensing that this is a situation we all need to be involved in,” Natasha said, glancing at Danni.

Danni felt Quinn’s eyes on her. Then, when she reached for a plate, she felt his hand. He looked at her as he asked Natasha, “What did you see?”

Natasha seemed to carefully gauge her words. “A very strange sight, and that’s why I’m so curious about your ‘fog’ at the station. I saw Danni standing on a hill, and there was a castle in the background...a medieval castle, I believe. She was shouting, warning someone. The fog—the mist or whatever it was—seemed dark and shadowy. Gloomy. But there was something else.”

“Like what?” Quinn pressed.

“There was a crimson cast to it. Crimson...red...” She paused. “I wish I’d seen more. I wish I knew more.”

“Crimson. Red,” Larue repeated.

“The color of blood,” Billie said.

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