Murder in Misery (Spook Squad) (14 page)

“Love you too Ma.” Keegan waved over her shoulder good bye and headed towards her car in a worse mood than she was in before she arrived. Instead of focusing on Matt she couldn’t stop thinking about her family and how she hadn’t actually seen them in years.

She listened before she reached over to her nightstand and began s
cribbling an address out. “Okay, let the uniforms and homicide know that I’m on my way.”

Pulling her hair back into a messy pony tail, Keegan changed from her pajamas an
d into a pair black slacks and she pulled a shirt on followed by her favorite jacket. She clipped her gun and badge to her belt before grabbing her cell phone and heading out.

The scene was awash in red and blue flashing lights when she arrived. There was nothing spectacular about the house except for the amount of people wrapped in robes and their feet sheathed in house slippers standing just outside of the yellow police tape on the sidewalk wanting to know what was going on at their neighbor’s home. Reporters hadn’t shown up yet so the murder had just been called in to the PD.

She flashed her badge at Officer Bayard, who seemed to always pull the short end of the straw to be set just outside the crime scene logging
which officers and techs came onto the scene, what time they arrived and departed.

“Evening Detective Morne.
” Bayard’s voice was rough and his eyes were blood shot and swollen.

“Who was the first officer o
n scene?” Keegan asked as she clipped her badge back in place.

He coughed trying to clear his throat or attempting to fight off the rush of guilt that surrounded him like a shroud. “Thibodeaux, he was escorted back to the precinct.”

“What happened?”

“The vic
tim was still breathing when he arrived, other than that I’m not sure what had happened other than what Cassidy was screeching about him contaminating the crime scene or some crap like that while Detective Hollis tried to calm him down.”

Ke
egan rested a hand on his wrist. “Officer Thibodeaux did the right thing, trying to save that victim’s life. If Detective Cassidy can’t see that then he’s more of a jackass then I originally thought he was.” 

Officer Bayard snorted.
“Well you better head up there before he pulls a Queen of Hearts on you and lobs your head off for getting here after everyone else.”

“He
wouldn’t dare try that with me.” Keegan patted him on the back as she trudge through soppy grass. She flashed her badge at another officer before she was admitted into the house.

Immediately she was struck by the scent of blood. It slammed into her far more quickly then her eyes and brain could process what she was seeing. Arterial spray across the beige walls of the living room. Spatters of blood soaked and dried in the sofa. She heard the tell tale click and whirr of a camera documenting every inch of space in the main room.

“Glad to see you could take the time out of your busy schedule to make it Detective Morne.”

Keegan brushed passed the balding detective growling out, “Can it Cassidy. I don’t have the time or patience to deal with your shit.”

“Well excuse me,” Cassidy did a mock bow. “I’ll just go escort the doc in and see if she has time to deal with my shit.”

“No one
has time to deal with your shit.” Hollis grumbled as he approached the duo. “We think whatever or whoever did this might have some kind of involvement with the Barr case. That is why we called you in.”

Keegan nodded and ignored the dark rimmed eyes. She did not care if Matthew Hollis wasn’t getting enough
sleep or if he was stressed out. No she didn’t care about him at all.

As Matt passed over a set of booties to cover her shoes with she paused. It couldn’t be that bad but looking down at the set he was exchanging for a fresh pair she knew wherever the body was, there was going to be a lot of blood surrounding it. She also took the proffered set of examination gloves and pulled them on as he led the way around a couch and through the tiny pathway only a pet could use between the sofa and recliner.

“Who was she?” Keegan asked as she squatted down next to the body. She leaned a bit closer to inspect the mangled flesh. She grimaced at the way bits and pieces of what should have been on the inside of this woman’s body were pulled to the outside.

“Her
name was Elaine Phillips. Her driver’s license says she was twenty-nine and lived here. I had Cassidy run the background on her and we found out she was pulled in once for a misdemeanor of public intoxication. Other than that she was squeaky clean.”

“
She’s also another supernatural.” Keegan murmured. Her gloved finger tips pulled up Elaine’s lip to get a view of some vicious looking incisors. Keegan exposed the eyes and bit her tongue. They were diamond shaped pupils, eyes just like a cat’s. “Can I inspect her hands?”

“Go for it.
” Hollis gave a wild gesture before he disappeared to his crew of men documenting the scene.

Elaine’s fingernails indicated she was trying to shift before she was attacked. The muscles in her hands froze in a gnarled and painful contortion. The tips of her fingers had changed into claws. Always the fi
rst part of a shifter to change was the teeth, eyes and hands. They were best and quickest weapons available to use in order to protect her self with.

“How much have you moved the body?” Dr. Biggerson had set her bag down behind her in a clear spot of carpet and squatted next to Keegan.

“I needed to see her hands,” Keegan gestured to their claw like appearance. “I would advise you to wear the thicker gloves while working on her Sarah. She was beginning to change and if you happen to cut your self and get any of her blood or fluids in your cut, you run the risk of changing.”

“Have you advised the rest of the investigators of this?” Sarah whispered as she dug through her bag for the right set of examination gloves.

“No,” Keegan whispered back as she looked across the room. Almost every detective had protective gear on but there was blood everywhere. There was so much potential for harm. “They know how to conduct themselves in a crime scene. If they feel they have been exposed to anything they report to get tested.”

The sound of gunfire snapped everyone from what they were doing and sent several officers racing towards the sound. Keegan could hear the shrieks coming from
the people who had been waiting for a glimpse of the grisly horrors of a crime scene. She heard the shouts from detectives and officers who were already outside directing people away from the scene.

Keegan looked down at Dr. Biggerson who
se eyes were filled with terror. “Find the bathroom. Lock the door and stay low. If there is a bathtub get in it. We’ll get you when it is safe.”

She didn’t wait to see if the doctor had
listened to her instructions. Loud snarling pulled her into action. She pulled her gun from her holster and darted towards the door. It was only a second but she froze in her steps. A leopard lunging towards the closest thing he considered a threat and that was Detective Cassidy who was crouched with his gun drawn. Her instincts kicked in as she moved from the relative safety the house offered and out into the yard.

The need to reach out and stop whoever was hiding beneath the skin of their beast
sluiced through her veins. Energy crackled around her and pulled deep from within her core. She saw the reactions of everyone around her as it reached across the space separating them. There were quick glances over the shoulder before refocusing on the main threat. The reaction that stirred her most was from the leopard. It stopped in its tracks with a loud hiss and a spitting snarl in response to the threat she posed. The leopard dodged around Detective Cassidy. Grass and mud spitting up behind the leopard as it charged at Keegan.

Keegan began chanting in her head commanding the leopard to stop and soon the words were pouring from her lips.
She held her ground and she repeated the command for it to stop, to change back over and over in her head. For the briefest of moments she saw what the leopard was seeing. She felt was it was feeling. It was so full of rage and it wasn’t going to stop until it killed everyone in its way.

She didn’t hear the gunfire sailing through the air after the leopard. She
needed to stop what was happening. But she couldn’t. The human was trapped beneath their beast. The animal had taken over and was intent on getting inside the house.

“Stop,” Keegan whispered furiously underneath her breath, “Leave this place.”

Keegan felt the air rush pass her as the leopard dodged around her and around the house towards the woods. Blood roared in her ears while her heart pounded frantically in her chest. Her knees crumbled beneath her.

“Keegan!” Matt’s voice was barely a whisper in her ears
as his hands grasped her cheeks. “Keegan! Are you alright? Keegan answer me!”

The echoes of gun shots through the woods broke Keegan from the blinding fear tearing through her body. She looked frantically around the yard before focusing on Matt in front of her. Her fingers
dug into his arms painfully. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”

Matt wound his arms around Keegan as he looked over her shoulder to see cops tramping out of the woods with their guns holstered. He looked up to his partner, Detective Cassidy to see him shaking his head that they didn’t get the
shifter.

“We need,” Keegan swallowed down a gulp of air as she pulled back from Matt, “Dr. Biggerson is locked up in the bathroom. We need to
tell her it’s okay to come out.”

“You heard her Cassidy,” Matt spoke over her shou
lder and helped her to her feet. “Make sure Doc Biggerson knows she and her team can continue documenting the inside. Then let her know we also need her techs for out here. We’ll start the preliminaries.”

“You got it.
” Cassidy nodded and head back towards the house.

Keegan felt the way Matt was studying her as if he were afraid she was going to pass out. Instead she ran shaking hands through her hair and dug in her jacket pockets for an elastic
band to tie her hair back with. “I’m going to call the rest of my guys in. Maybe Melinda or Gary can pick up the scent where the shifter went. Leeroy might pick up on something. I’ll be on the porch making the calls and then I’ll head back inside to see what I can figure out.”

Matt wisely left Keegan
to herself as he headed back inside to continue the work they had started before the evening was disrupted. The calls to get her guys out of bed or wherever they were only took a few minutes and then she was on her way back inside to try and understand what happened here tonight.

Sarah was being led out of the back hallway where she had taken refuge. She stared at Keegan for a moment before side stepping blood spatters and standing in front of Keegan. “If the guys wouldn’t make fun of me for it I’d hug you until you couldn’t breathe but for now I’ll settle with what the fuck were you thinking and thank jesus you’re okay.”

“I was doing my job Biggerson.” Keegan swatted her on the shoulder. “You okay?”

“I was hiding in a bathtub li
stening to people shoot at shit.” Sarah shrugged, “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Good
now go tell me what killed Elaine. We have got work to do.” Keegan turned away from the work Sarah was doing.

Detective Cassidy
whistled catching her attention. “Your guys are here. Go work your magic.”

Keegan felt relief pour across her shoulders as she spotted Melinda, Gary and Leeroy standing outside the police line with their badges out. She jogged across the yard and grinned at the
scrunched up face Melinda was making. Gary had taken to brushing his nose against his shoulder every few seconds and Leeroy stood stoic between the two.

As soon as they were allowed into the crime scene Keegan led them over towards where the
shifter had been. “There was a leopard here. It charged and tried to attack of few of the officers linger about in the yard. I intervened and got the shifter away from people but it darted towards the woods. I’m hoping that maybe one of you can help pinpoint where it headed. I also thought maybe Leeroy might see something I missed in the last crime scene.”

“Just because I’m a werewol
f doesn’t mean I’m a bloodhound.” Melinda rolled her eyes. “But I already smell the cat and I know Gary does if all his sniffling is anything to go by.”

“I’ll just head inside.
” Leeroy cut away from them while both Melinda and Gary led Keegan towards the woods where the leopard had made its escape.

“So,” Melinda drawled the word out, “Everyone must have been pretty damn scared earlier.”

“Yeah,” Keegan nodded as Melinda led her through a tangle of branches, dead leaves and roots.

“Mostly that Matt dude,” Garry added without any problem. “I could smell him from the tape. What was up with that?”

“The leopard charged me.” Keegan whispered and grimaced as she lost her balance and had to reach out at the nearest tree trunk to steady herself. “He probably thought I was going to be ripped to shreds or something.”