Believe by Glynis Rankin (best short books to read txt) 📕

and Tom Elton as people before seeing them as victims. In order to do that he had to understand how they lived.  He walked around looking over the shoulders of the crime scene techs as they swept the house for evidence.

 He’s impressed with Tom Elton’s cache of assorted guns on display behind a trick-door in the living room wall.  The gold platted Berretta they found beside his body had half its clip expelled.

The techs found a small fortune of cocaine hidden in a box of frozen peas in the refrigerator. And a drawer full of assorted colorful drug stained paraphernalia in the living area. So it didn’t surprise Wash when they found a hide-a-hole in their walk in closet. It had a large purple velvet lined jewelry box with crimson and diamond jewelry as well as a few thousand dollars in 100 dollar bills.

“Don’t know what’s going on in this house?”

Wash stood in Sara Doe’s bedroom looking at the large knife in a tech’s gloved hand. “Where did you find it?”

“Under the pillow, there are a few razor blades in her sock drawer too.” Wilburn answered, pointing to the open drawers of the bureau.

The room wasn’t, but a closet with a bed, and nowhere near as deck out as the rest of the house. “This is piss poor!”

Wilburn frown. “Why would she need all these blades?”

“They’re for protection; anything else?” Wash went to look inside her closet. There’s just a few worn pieces of clothes and a pair of old boots.

“Kid hasn’t got much.” Wilburn offered while the techs continued to work. “My little sister Carol, she’s fourteen; girl got like all kinds of pictures on her wall and posters of some teen idol.”

 “There are no signs of a hobby or sports, nothing.” Wash stared at her bare walls.  Sara had nothing that said she belonged.  “Who are you Sara Doe?”

He walked over to the open window and looked down. Wash couldn’t make that jump from the window to the closet limb, not with his knees. “Closed door; open window.”

Cases involving kids were always messy.  “Could a fifteen year old girl make that climb?”

“If she’s Gina Carano sure.” Wilburn replied.

Wash nodded; he stopped thinking about the girl to wrap his mind around what he knew about the Elton’s.  Who would want to kill them? Wash asked himself.  That murder room didn’t look like a dealer’s handy work, so who else, the kid?”

He didn’t think that’s likely either.

Wash gazed at the night sky. The full moon was bright, but paled in light of the harsh lighting of the cityscape. He’s tried and knew it was a factor in the way he felt about the victims.

An officer interrupted his mulling. “Doctor Rode said he’s ready for you Wash.”  

Chapter Eight

“Throw the knife out first Sara.”  The officer instructed.

It came out the hole he made between the wooden boards.

 “Now come out, hands first.”

 Sara crawled from her dark hiding place, surprised at the dazzling display of flashing lights from an array of cars and vans that filled the street. She covered her eyes against the glare.

“Hands down!” the officer shouted. He grabbed her by the hands and yanked Sara the rest of the way out the hole. He laid her face down on the ground with his knee planted in her back so she couldn’t move.

  "Oh! You said you wouldn’t hurt me!”  She scowled under his weight.

“I’m sorry,” he removed his knee, “but I needed you to do what I told you, okay.”

 She didn’t reply.  It wasn’t okay the police always lied. She hated them.

The officer placed Sara's hands on top of her head to search her thin frame.  She trembled as his hands ran over the length of her body. Sara blocked out the memories that threatened to surface.  “I’m just making sure you haven’t got any more weapons.”

He cuffed her small hands in his, trapping them behind her back.  “Come on, let’s go.” The officer tried to yank Sara off the ground, but found it difficult. “Stand up Sara.” 

She got to her feet in one swift move.

  Nell’s words boomed in Sara’s ears as the officer led her away. “All we have to do is call the police and they’ll take you away. Bye, bye, locked up never to be seen again.”

  The system in place to protect her taught Sara one thing, she couldn’t rely on the system.   In fact, it trained her to mistrust it from the moment she entered foster care.  She’s been in four homes and each helped to hard-wire fear and mistrust into her brain.

They walked passed officers who cheered, patting each other on the back, shaking hands and smiled, but some of them stared. One tall ghoulish cop in particular stared at her with loathing. The words she’s always heard lay dull in his eyes.

 “We don't like you, and we don't have to. You’re part of the system kid and when you grow up you’ll doubtless go to jail!”

 It surprised Sara that they weren’t heading for a cruiser; instead he took her up the stairs to the house.

“I don’t want to go back in there!” she pulled out of the officer’s tight grip.

“Hey, it’s okay! A detective just wants to talk with you about what happened here tonight. He’s going to help find out who killed your parents.”

“Foster parents!” Sara yelped. “I haven’t got parents!”

  The noise of police chatter inside the house seeped outside to greet them. The overhead light on the porch where they stood allowed the pity to shine in the officer’s blue eyes. She didn’t need or want his pity. It wasn’t going to get her out of this; she’ll need her wit Sara thought. She narrowed her eyes at the officer.

The officer sighed. He grabbed her arm and led her into the house.   

  

                                                    ***          

Xavier stared into the dark, thick underbrush, his heart thumping hard against his chest.  He decided not to transform, but let his nose led him through the thick bushes. Xavier walked fast, ducking under low line limbs and through thick, tall, grass until he could pick up his pace.   He didn’t need a light; his wolf’s vision allowed him to see in the dark.

Xavier ran towards her scent. It blended into a mosaic of aromas, pushing him forward through the dim. He heard the sirens long before he reached a shadowy alcove. Werewolves are supposed to avoid the cops, but curiosity and that wonderful scent got the better of him.

Night fell while Xavier stayed within the shadows. He sat on the hard, dry ground underneath a grove of thick sycamores staring at the chaos.

The police had cornered off an entire block. No one got in or out without being stopped and searched.  A helicopter flew overhead, its lights slicing through the darkness, while news crews’ set up along the yellow police tape. A large crowd gathered to watch the activity surrounding a house peppered with police cruisers, emergency vehicles, officers, and police dogs.

Was she in there? He needn't wonder. Xavier still smelled the scent of blood and fear, but something was different, it had changed. She was no longer a part of the muck that clouded his senses. Instead, he recognized her pleasing odor underneath the layers. its a tantalizing mix of a warm summer breeze combined with the rich headiness of exotic flowers and fruits. In it was her personal uniqueness and charisma.

Xavier inhaled. Her distinctive aroma woke his primitive nature. 

Chapter Nine

“Man Rode, I can’t understand how this doesn’t bother you?”

Wash took pictures of the murder room, imagining seeing things from the viewpoint of the killer.  But he couldn’t see where a dog played in this. There wasn’t a dog bowl, chew toy or food in the place, but there were clear large paw prints tracked in the blood.

 Wash swallowed back the remains of his dinner as the waft of blood and death met him in the room.  All his years as a homicide detective, he’s yet to be gifted with an iron stomach.

“Still having a problem with the aroma of death, Detective?”   Rode smiled.

 Wash dipped a finger into a bottle of Vicks and smeared it under his nose.

  “It’s not just the odor so much as the job that’s got my stomach in a twist.” Wash replied, remembering the conversation he had with Albertson a few minutes ago.

 “So what we got Doctor?” Wash made his way through the splattering of congealed blood and crime markers to reach the medical examiner.  He kneeled beside the dismembered corpse of Nell Elton.

 “It seems body parts Detective,” Rode replied, keeping his head down and his hands inside the cadaver. “Someone ripped your victims apart.”

Wash listened while Rode explained the victim’s wounds. “Their livers, hearts, and a pair of kidneys are missing, but I’ll know more once I get them on the table.”

“So what are you saying, someone killed them for body parts?”

“What I’m saying is, I don’t know how they died, yet.” Rode signaled for a tech for help.

Wash watched Rode, and the tech turned the torso over on its side where the right arm’s missing. “See here, this pattern around her right shoulder. Those deep lacerations are inconsistent with a tool like a serrated knife. Both bodies have the same kind of scratches and wounds; whoever did this I don’t think they were looking for body parts.”

“Then why take their organs?”

Rode didn’t respond. He put the corpse down to examine other areas of the body.

“Doc?”

Rode sighed. “The significant injuries, gouging type and what look like bites, it’s almost.” He sighed again.  “Those scratches appear to be animal mutilation.”

  Wash was aghast. “What?”

Rode gazed up at Wash. “Whoever did this ripped those parts out, Wash. No one does that, not if they plan on selling the parts. They wouldn’t be viable.”

Wash face twisted. “So what’re you saying an animal killed them?”

“I want to show you something.” He grabbed a pen from his pocket and pointed to the victim exposed rib. “See here, those marks are consistent with teeth marks.” He moved the pen around the inside of the corpse. “The element of tearing here and here are all characteristics of animal predation.  These are not post-mortem injuries either.” He put the pen back in his pocket, his eyes austere. “You want to know why they’re removed,   I can’t say for sure, but it wasn’t by human means.”

“There are paw prints around the bodies; you think someone let a dog loose on them?” Wash remembered there’s a murder a few years ago where a man died after a vicious dog attack,