Page 10 of Burn Dragon Burn
“Well, yeah, but why was he your first guess?”
“’Cause you’ liked him since we worked with him in the desert. He’s your kinda no-shit-straight-to-the-point-get-the-job-done Guardsman.”
“And what is wrong with that?” Gil growled.
“Not a damn thing. Simmer down, I’m not criticizing, just statin’ the facts. He’ll work well with Abe and Ben, no doubt about it.”
“I think so, too. There’s also a couple others that are floatin’ around, not really with a Clan, but still pitchin’ in where they can that I want to talk to.”
“Anybody else I know?”
“No, I only know them in a friend-of-a-friend kinda way. Got their military records from the DOD. One’s an intelligence expert, did some work for the CIA and has extensive undercover experience.”
“Now, that’s one area we seriously need some help in.”
“That’s what I was thinkin’, too.” A beep broke into their conversation prompting Gil to add, “Director Isaacs is callin’. I gotta take this. Keep me informed and stay safe, Brother.”
“You know it.” Rafe pulled the phone from his ear, pushed the red button to disconnect the call and laid his phone on the counter.
Grabbing the case file Nat had given him, he looked over the information on the three men and one woman they would be interviewing the next morning. He doubted the woman was involved. Not because women can’t be serial killers, but from her size and weight, he doubted she could’ve moved the bodies from wherever they were murdered to the piers. It just didn’t seem feasible, but he would follow Nat’s lead, and Max would be watching from the other room.
“And he can smell deceit at a hundred yards.”
The more he read about each ‘person of interest’ the more he doubted the killer was in the bunch. Checking through financial records, employment history, known associates – the whole ball of wax, he couldn’t find anything that linked any of them to the Occult, Witches, or even anything remotely Supernatural.
“But that means exactly bupkis,” he muttered. “Getting away with it for this long, he’s had to be careful. Wonder if Gil’s called Calysta?”
Looking at his phone across the living room of his rented condo, he decided to ask Max tomorrow morning about calling the Grand Priestess of All Earthen Witches for her advice. Flying under the radar and involving as few people as possible was how the DPA operated, and Rafe wasn’t about to rock the boat. He’d let the King do it.
Parked outside the DFW airport,he waited for the King of the Big Cats. Waking up to a text that Max took an earlier plane had meant Rafe had showered, shaved and dressed in less than ten minutes to be able to grab a coffee on his way. After staying up half the night studying the victims’ profiles and the witness statements, there was no way he could fight the busy airport traffic without a large cup of hot java.
Grinning as the tall, sleek, always suave, never bothered by anything King sauntered out of the electronic doors, Rafe couldn’t help but snicker, “Damn it, if he doesn’t look like he just stepped out of an ad from a men’s magazine.
South American, fluent in four languages aside from his native Spanish, Maximillian Prentice was just three daysyounger than dirt, sharp as a tack, and fierce as a lion. He’d been allied with the Dragons from the very beginning and had contacts in every nook and cranny of the world.
Popping the trunk open and jumping out of the car, Rafe met Max at the back of the car with a hearty handshake.
“How’s life been treatin’ ya, Old Man?”
“Fine.” Max’s posh accent and knowing smirk guaranteed he had more to add and sure enough, he raised a single eyebrow and nodded. “At least until you called me an old man.”
Chuckling as he released the other man’s hand, Rafe teased, “I call ‘em as I see ‘em.”
“Remind me of that the next time I have my tail in a trap while trying to save your scaly ass.”
With his chuckles turning to laughter, Rafe guffawed, “Never gonna let me live that down are ya’?”
“Not a chance,mi amigo.”
Shutting the trunk after Max’s luggage was stowed, Rafe got back in the car, hooked his belt and once the King was ready, took off towards the exit.
“You eat on the plane? Need coffee? Anything before we head to the police station?”
“No, thank you. I really want to get up to speed on this case. If all that Gil told me is still accurate, we don’t have a lot of time before this mad man will be looking for his next victim.”
Handing Max the files he had reviewed last night, Rafe asked, “So, you agree that this killer is taking them long before we find them.”
“He must be, even though they are not being reported missing right away.” Max laid the manilla folder on his lap, opening it to the middle and asking, “I am right in assuming that they all lived alone, and if they were students, they were loners.”