CHAPTER ONE
Interstate 5, Southbound from Bellingham—September 2, 11:47 A.M.
The siren wails its lonely dirge.
It’s a mournful song, rising and falling, and I know every musical pitch of it by heart. The red and blue emergency lights flash in accompaniment, reflecting off signs and windows, but there is no synchronization to this oft-repeated play. The lights and the siren coexist because they must, though they don’t always dance together.
They are the harbingers—the raven and the lightning; bearers of bad news or bad deeds. Today it’s both.
Jimmy—that’s my partner, FBI Special Agent James Donovan—weaves the black Ford Expedition expertly through the parting sea of traffic as we make our way south on Interstate 5, past Lake Samish and eventually into the flat farmland of Skagit County. The speedometer reads ninety-seven; I try to ignore it.
Jimmy is riding the left shoulder now.
It’s clear as far as the eye can see and traffic is pressing to the right to get out of the way. Motorists stare from their vehicles as we pass, and the draft from the SUV shakes the smaller cars. As we continue south and the drone of the siren begins to fade, the sea of people in our wake share a common emotion: relief.
The raven has passed them by.
The lightning didn’t find them.
Someone else wasn’t so lucky.
Three hours ago, Burlington PD responded to a residence on Ash Way and found the body of Krystal Ballard on her living room floor, her life drained out on the beige carpet in a series of red stains. The cause of death: stabbing. And not the typical two or three jabs, either. She had been stabbed in the chest eleven times.
Eleven times!
Two or three is a kill—eleven is overkill.
Overkill speaks of anger or jealousy or revenge; it speaks volumes about the killer. I’ve seen it before, the sudden outflow of emotion at the point of a knife, relentless and punishing, until the wielder gets tired of hearing the soft wet thud of the blade and steps back to stare at the mess he’s wrought.
It’s almost always a he.
Knife work takes strength. It’s personal and up close.
It comes as no surprise that the ex-husband is already in custody—that’s what happens when you drop your cell phone during the commission of a crime. CSI found it on the living room floor halfway under the couch. It’s surprising how often that happens: someone drops a cell phone, a wallet, even court papers.
“Why, exactly, are we going to a crime that’s already been solved?” I ask Jimmy as we race down the freeway. The baying of the siren and the roar of air rushing past the SUV are giving me a headache; Jimmy just takes it in stride.
“It’s complicated,” he says after a moment.
“Really? That’s your best response?”
He glances at me quickly, annoyed, and then turns his attention back to the road. “I got a call from a friend,” he says. “He’s a detective with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office.”
I wait for more.
I wait for the friend’s name, or the special circumstances of the case, or the reason the unnamed friend needs a tracker when the body has already been recovered and a suspect is in custody, but there’s nothing but silence from the driver’s seat.
“And?” I finally blurt when I can take it no longer.
Jimmy stiffens in his seat, but doesn’t say anything. He can drive ninety-seven miles an hour on a crowded freeway and look like he’s relaxing in a hot tub, but I press him for info and suddenly his spine goes rigid and his knuckles turn white around the steering wheel.
That’s his tell.
Now I know something’s up. Jimmy’s not the secretive type, especially when it comes to tracking. Whatever it is, it’s going to be bad, maybe even really bad. I open my mouth to press him further, but before the words come out, Jimmy cuts me off.
“Leave it be, Steps,” he insists. “I don’t know enough to give you the full brief, all right? I know just enough to piss you off, and I don’t need that right now. We’ll be there in a couple minutes and then we’ll both know a little more.” With that off his chest, he relaxes a little and gives me a forced smile, saying, “Cross my heart.”
Cross my heart!
I was wrong; it’s a catastrophe.
* * *
The two-story houses are lined up like dominoes on each side of the quiet street, each identical to the one next door and across the road except for paint scheme and the personalized décor spilled out upon the flower beds and yards.
It’s a neighborhood of twenty-four cookie-cutter houses on twenty-four miniature lots, with twenty-four double-car garages opening onto two alleys, one behind each row of homes.
The regimented sameness of the neighborhood has its little charms—emphasis on little. It’s the type of neighborhood where barbecue grills are standard, where kids play ball in the street until annoying hours of the night, and where having a car up on blocks in your driveway for more than a day is a stoning offense.
As soon as we turn onto the street I spot our destination. It’s the tenth cookie-cutter on the right, a charming clone dressed in forest-green with tan trim that looks like it has a hint of olive blended in.
The yellow police tape is not part of the décor.
Neither is the mobile command vehicle parked in front, nor the dozen marked and unmarked patrol vehicles scattered along the street and down the back alley, enveloping the crime scene in a dizzying kaleidoscope of flashing lights.
Jimmy pulls his black FBI-issued Ford Expedition to the curb and puts it in park. A few of the neighbors glance our way briefly, but then the crime scene draws their eyes back. Even though there’s nothing to see, they stand on their lawns and watch the sad green house at the end of the street.
I start to get out and Jimmy grabs my arm, pulling me back into the SUV. “What’s up?” I say, glancing down at the four fingers and thumb gripping my forearm like a vise.
“Just … tread softly,” Jimmy says.
“Tread softly?” I scrutinize Jimmy through half-closed eyes, my head tilted back as I stare down my nose at him. “Now, why do I suddenly have this little itch at the base of my skull? Maybe it’s time to fill in some of those details?”
Jimmy’s mouth is tight and pushed to the left. His words come in slow, cautious chunks. “Fine. There are two things you need to know. First, this search … it’s not exactly … official.”
“What’s that mean, not exactly?”
“We weren’t invited,” Jimmy blurts, “not officially.”
A smile creeps up my cheek. “We weren’t invited.” I give a little nod and Jimmy’s already shaking his head. He knows what’s coming. “Yes, that’s interesting,” I continue. “So, then, Mr. Protocol, Mr. FBI-to-the-Core, what are we doing here if it’s not official, if we weren’t invited?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I tread more softly when I know the facts,” I say.
Jimmy turns to face me. “You really can be a pain—” He suddenly stops and points through the windshield. “Here he comes; he can tell you himself.”
“Wait, what about the second thing? You said there are two things I need to know.”
Jimmy’s already out the door, but hesitates. For a moment it looks like he’s going to slam the door and pretend he didn’t hear me, but then he sticks his head in the gap and speaks so fast he sounds like an announcer reading the legal disclaimer at the end of a drug commercial: “Hector Pastori is incident commander. He’s inside the command vehicle and doesn’t know we’re here, so be quiet and move quickly.”
The door slams.
Hector Pastori!
I sit and stare out the windshield as a twitch starts in my left eye and works its way to the right. It was smart of Jimmy not to tell me; if he had, I’d be back at Hangar 7 right now watching a movie in the break room.
There’s nothing wrong with Hector that a weeklong colonoscopy wouldn’t cure. He suffers from chronic envy, the constipated kind that you just can’t get rid of. We first met years ago on a search-and-rescue mission in Mount Rainer National Park that was getting national media attention. He’s a good man-tracker, I’ll give him that, and up until the point when I arrived he was enjoying all the attention.
Our relationship since has been, well, strained.
It’s not my fault if I made him look stupid.
The higher Hector rises through the ranks and the more authority he has, the more he seems to focus in on me whenever our paths cross, which, thankfully, isn’t often.
I watch Jimmy cross around to the front passenger side, where he leans against the fender. A man wearing a crisp white shirt, burgundy tie, dark gray slacks, and black shoes sloppy from the rain is crossing the lawn in our direction. On his belt is a gold detective’s badge, but the brown paper shopping bag he carries by the handle is not department-issued.
As he draws near he glances nervously over his right shoulder at the command vehicle, and I realize he’s part of the unofficial noninvitation. Intrigued, I step quickly from the SUV and join Jimmy at the fender just as the detective comes up and extends a welcoming hand.
“Nice to see you, Kevin,” Jimmy says, taking the hand and shaking firmly.
“Thanks for coming,” the detective replies. “It means a lot.”
Jimmy throws a thumb in my direction. “Kevin, this is Operations Specialist Magnus Craig. He’s our lead tracker.”
“Magnus,” Kevin says, repeating the name so he won’t forget it. It’s a good memory trick, especially for a detective. “Thanks for coming,” he says, thrusting his hand out.
“Call me Steps,” I say, taking his hand.
“Steps?” He gives me a quizzical look.
I shrug. “It’s a long story.”
“This is an old friend of mine, Detective Kevin Mueller,” Jimmy explains. “He’s been with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office probably longer than he cares to remember. We used to be on the same softball team.”
“Softball? When were you on a softball team?”
“During a different life,” Jimmy replies dryly. He scowls up at the ugly, weeping sky a moment before turning his eyes back to the crime scene. “Why don’t you tell us why we’re here, Kevin?”
He does.
It’s the same old script: love betrayed, money pilfered, and murder most heinous, just retold a different way—and Kevin doesn’t spare the details. As it turns out, the suspect, Archie Everard, is a high school friend of his and, according to him, incapable of harming a soul, despite his six-foot-six linebacker build.
“He’s a gentle giant,” Kevin says, wearing out an already overused cliché.
I’ve heard it all before, the same sentiment, the same conviction, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s to never underestimate the dark shadow that lies upon every human heart. Sometimes it’s small and buried deep, other times it’s all-consuming.
Every so-called gentle giant is just one beanstalk away from becoming a raging titan.
Archie Everard has every reason to be a raging titan. Four years ago he married Krystal Moon Beam—yeah, her parents were hippies—and for the first year he thought life couldn’t get any better.
Then Krystal convinced him to sell a forty-acre blueberry field for a hefty sum. Archie had other fields, two hundred and thirty-five acres’ worth, so the loss of the smaller parcel wasn’t a big blow to his farming operation, but it was land that had been in the family for eight decades. The sale came with a lot of personal guilt on Archie’s part.
It wasn’t long before the money started to disappear from the happy couple’s investment fund in five-thousand- and ten-thousand-dollar chunks. By the time Archie discovered the loss, $655,000 had been siphoned off. When he confronted Krystal about the withdrawals she didn’t even blink.
“She broke his heart,” Kevin says. “Told Archie she wanted a divorce, which he gave her, with a verbal agreement that she return half the money. She didn’t, of course. She moved here”—he lifts his chin at the house—“and then six months later she marries this guy from Seattle named John Ballard.”
“Ballard?” Jimmy chews the name. “Where’s he?”
“According to the neighbor, he spent last night at his condo in Seattle, something about an early audition today.”
“Audition?”
“He’s an actor,” Kevin replies.
“So he’s unemployed,” I say.
Kevin laughs; it’s short, but from the belly. It’s a good laugh, the kind that puts a smile on your face. “Yeah,” the detective says, “I think that qualifies as unemployed. He used to deal blackjack at the casino, but that didn’t last long. We asked Seattle PD to do the death notification a couple hours ago. Last I heard, one of their support officers was driving him up here.” He glances at his watch. “They should be here anytime now.”
“How can we help, Kevin?” Jimmy asks. “Archie’s already under arrest. I’ve got to think they have more than just the cell phone.”
“They do.” The words crawl up his throat like bile. Kevin shakes his head and you can see that he’s hurting, that he can’t believe what he’s about to say. “They found his fingerprints on the back doorknob.” The detective seems to deflate as he exhales the words, and then silence fills the void between us.
“Has Archie visited Krystal since she moved here?” Jimmy asks in a soft tone.
“No,” Kevin replies. “He’s adamant about it.”
Jimmy and I exchange a troubled glance. If Archie has already locked himself into a statement by saying that he’s never been to the house, it’s going to be nearly impossible to explain away his fingerprints.
“He’s innocent,” Kevin insists. “I’ll take my badge off right now and retire if I’m wrong. You told me last year how amazing your partner is at murder scenes.” He looks at me—studies me up and down. “All I’m asking is if you’ll take a look around and see if we missed something.”
Kevin looks down, flicking his finger against the handle of the paper bag. “Archie can’t go to prison. It’s just not right.” He hands me the bag. “Jimmy said you needed this.”
* * *
There’s always a shoe.
It’s become part of our search ritual, not because we need to check the pattern on the sole or the size of the foot. Those are some of the excuses we use, but the real reason is more complicated.
Since the age of eight, the year I died and was revived, I’ve had the ability to see what I call shine. Others might call it the human aura, or even life energy, but I prefer shine; it sounds less bizarre, and it’s an actual tracking term, though the shine that trackers see is far different from what I see.
To me it looks like neon color and comes in every imaginable hue. Often, multiple colors will populate the shine, though there is always one that dominates. I call this color or combination of colors the shine’s essence. Every shine also has a texture. It could be sandy, rough, glassy, rusty, bubbly, muddy, woven, fuzz, or a million other textures.
Each shine stands unique.
It’s like fingerprints or DNA: I’ve never come across a shine that duplicates another. It allows me to walk onto a crime scene and see where everyone walked, what they touched, and where they left behind blood or semen or saliva. Sometimes I know who the shine belongs to because I have a shoe, or because they’re present; other times the owner of the shine isn’t revealed until the case develops further.
Weird, I know.
What makes it stranger is no one can know about it, and for good reason. Imagine sitting in the jury box during a murder trial and hearing a so-called expert tracker talking about some magical glow that only he can see. Not only would the case be tossed out, but the judge would probably order an involuntary mental health evaluation.
So I pretend.
I’ve learned the art of “real” man-tracking to gloss over my secret. When we’re in the field I study the ground intently, looking for the real clues along the path of the shine. If the suspect brushed up against a plant at some point and broke a stem or branch, the shine points the way and I can highlight the damage as a sign of passage.
There are only three people who know my secret: Jimmy, my dad, and my boss, FBI Director Robert Carlson. Dad and Carlson were best friends and coworkers in the U.S. Army in West Germany in the late seventies. I grew up calling him Uncle Robert … and still do to this day. Jimmy has a coronary every time; it’s hysterical.
I suppose it’s no surprise that Dad told Uncle Robert about my special ability. My mother doesn’t even know, but the director of the FBI knows; go figure. So here I am, standing on wet pavement under an overcast sky, staring at a blue and white size 11½ Nike taken from Archie Everard’s closet.
“Jimmy said you needed to examine it before you could start a track,” Detective Mueller says, gesturing toward the shoe.
“Jimmy … is … correct,” I say, releasing the words one at a time as I turn the shoe slowly in my hands. “It looks like Archie has high arches,” I say, running my finger along the outside edge of the sole. “See the wear pattern? That’s supination; he’s not rolling his feet inward enough when he walks. You should warn him about that. He could end up with knee problems or plantar fasciitis. That’s actually kind of ironic; a guy named Archie who has high arches.” I pause for effect. “Archie … arches, get it?”
“I think Archie has bigger problems at the moment, Steps,” Jimmy says.
No one gets my jokes.
“Let’s get to it, then,” I say.
Getting the Nike was just a ruse to identify Archie’s shine. People are generally a little squeamish about wearing someone else’s sweaty shoes, so it’s a great way to identify shine when the subject isn’t standing in front of you. I saw it as soon as I took off my glasses. In addition to high arches, Archie has shine that radiates deep turquoise. The texture looks like waves of heat. It’s an interesting combination.
“Take this,” I say, handing the shoe to Jimmy.
When I was young I learned to dim the pulsing mass of superfluous shine that constantly clutters my vision, filtering it down so that just one shine remains. It’s pretty effective, but gives me wicked headaches. With my glasses still in my hand, I block out all but Archie’s unique turquoise shine and I let my eyes walk slowly over the front of the house.
“Who found the body?” Jimmy asks.
I don’t know if he’s trying to buy me time or is just curious. Either way, I’m grateful for the distraction.
“The neighbor,” Detective Mueller says, thumbing toward the town house next door. “She was hyperventilating and pretty freaked out when we got here. Said the back door had been standing ajar for about an hour so she came over to close it, thinking the wind pushed it open. When she looked down the hall she saw a foot sticking out from the living room.”
“How’d she know Krystal was dead? Did she go in?”
“Didn’t have to, there was blood everywhere.”
Finding no evidence of Archie’s unique turquoise shine on the street, in the yard, or up the steps to the front door, I turn to Kevin. “Can we go around back?”
“Lead the way,” he replies.
Following the sidewalk to the end of the block, and then to the right, we soon find ourselves at the alley that runs behind the row of houses. It’s cordoned off with yellow police tape and guarded by a Skagit County deputy.
We stop at the perimeter and Kevin vouches for us. We show our FBI credentials and our names are dutifully added to the log sheet of personnel entering the crime scene, then Kevin lifts the tape and we duck under.
The house is on our right, just ahead.
Passing the gate into the backyard, I make my way to the open rear door—and there it is: a splash of turquoise. The doorknob glows with it. It’s Archie’s shine, there’s no doubt about it, but what I’m seeing just doesn’t make sense. I pull Jimmy aside, out of earshot.
“I’ve got a match.”
Jimmy’s shoulders slump. “That’s it, then. Archie’s our guy.”
“Maybe not.”
Jimmy’s head jerks around. “How do you mean?”
“The shine is on the doorknob,” I say.
“That makes sense. That’s where they got the print.”
“Only the doorknob,” I stress.
It takes a moment for this to register. “How’s that possible?”
“It isn’t,” I say. “Not unless he’s got a magic carpet hidden away somewhere. I’ve got no tracks leading to the door, no elbow brushes against vegetation, no handprints on the gate, no footsteps leading inside the house. It doesn’t make any sen—”
Jimmy’s phone suddenly bursts into song.
It’s Diane—I can tell by the ringtone. She’s the third and final member of the FBI’s Special Tracking Unit, or STU, and a call from her means one of two things: either she has information for us, or a new mission.
The conversation lasts less than a minute before Jimmy ends the call and slides the phone back into his pocket. “Les and Marty are fueling up Betsy,” he says, referring to the Gulfstream G100 corporate jet parked at our office—Hangar 7—at Bellingham International Airport. “We’re heading to El Paso.”
“El Paso? They find a body?”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means not exactly. I’ll explain on the way. We need to wrap this up in a hurry.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Is there anything you can do?”
“I don’t know,” I say resignedly. “I need to see the victim.”
We make our way into the house. Though built just three years ago, it’s now tainted by murder, and that’s a stain that lingers. Kevin runs interference for us as officers from three different jurisdictions cast curious, sometimes annoyed eyes our way. A crime scene investigator is busy taking photos when we step into the living room.
I shudder, wrapping my arms across my chest.
When it comes to corpses, I’ll take fresh bodies any day over those that have been percolating for days or weeks. This one is only hours gone, so it’s not the smell—that hint of iron in the air—that makes me shudder.
The body is a bloody mess.
No, bloody mess doesn’t go far enough describing what we find. Krystal Ballard is prone on the carpet and red from head to toe, like someone painted over her with a heavy brush as some sort of twisted art project. Her clothing is red, her hair is red, her shadow is red.
I can still see the suspect’s shine, though.
And it’s not turquoise.
* * *
A moment later I feel Jimmy’s hand on my shoulder. “We save the ones we can,” he says quietly. It’s our mantra, our clarion call; words meant to remind us that we have a job to do and spur us into action, despite the horror that lies before us.
“We may be too late for her,” I say to Jimmy, “but we can still save Archie.” Turning my gaze to Detective Mueller, I say, “You’re right; he didn’t do this.”
It’s all clear to me now—like neon in the night, but without hard evidence it’s going to be difficult to prove what I know. Meanwhile, Pastori is going to be hard-charging against Archie. Who could blame him? The physical evidence is compelling.
“I need a piece of paper and a pen,” I say, snapping my fingers anxiously. Jimmy hands me a pen and Kevin hands me his notebook. Walking into the kitchen, I pull up a barstool and scratch out some notes and instructions. Two minutes later I tear the sheet from the notebook, fold it in half, and hand it to Kevin.
“Everything you need is in there: the suspect, how he did it, and how you can prove it. I’d get out of here right now and get started before Pastori has you standing perimeter or booking evidence for the next two days.”
Kevin unfolds the note and I watch as his eyes walk across the words. At first he frowns, but then his whole demeanor changes and he actually smiles. Taking my hand, he shakes it briskly. “I don’t know what to say.” He shakes Jimmy’s hand next, clapping him on the shoulder, and then he’s out the door, off to solve a mystery.
Jimmy’s dumbfounded. “What did you write?”
I shrug and hand his pen back.
“No, seriously, what did you write?”
“You’ll see when he’s done.”
Jimmy just stares at me. “Really? You’re not going to tell me?”
I shake my head and give him a grin. “That’s what you get for not telling me about Pastori.” Jimmy’s still standing in the kitchen, hands on his hips, as I make my way out the front door and back to the Expedition.
I’m halfway across the lawn when I sense an ill wind stirring nearby. My eyes drift to the command vehicle just as Hector Pastori comes stumbling out, cursing the metal steps for making his feet oversized and clumsy. I quickly look away and tuck my head down between my shoulders as far as it will go.
A second later, I’m at the Expedition. I’m home free, my hand is on the door handle, just another second or two … and then Jimmy comes bumbling out the front door. He doesn’t even look up as he starts down the walkway, which is unfortunate because Pastori isn’t looking up either. They nearly collide fifteen feet from the door.
“Youuu,” Pastori says. It’s his fire-breathing dragon imitation; he says a word all long and drawn out and puts every ounce of his breath into it.
“Youuu,” Jimmy mimics, not missing a beat.
“What are you doing here, Donovan?” Pastori demands. “Did I call you? I don’t remember calling you. Yet here you are in the middle of my crime scene.”
“Relax, I’m leaving. Sounds like you already have a suspect in custody anyway.” As he starts to pass Hector, Jimmy pauses and leans in. “Are you sure he’s the guy?”
“He’s under arrest, isn’t he? I don’t need the FBI teaching me how to do my job like I’m some kind of incompetent. Speaking of which, where’s that wannabe tracker you call partner?”
His eyes are already searching; he knows if Jimmy’s here, I’m somewhere close by. Rather than give him the pleasure of spotting me slouching next to the Expedition, I start across the lawn toward him.
“Hey, look, it’s Pastrami,” I say loudly as I draw near and put my arm around Hector.
“It’s Pastori, you degenerate.” He throws my arm off.
“That’s a very unusual name, Pastori Yudegenerate. Are you still looking for missing people on the wrong side of the mountain?”
“SERGEANT!” Pastori bellows, jabbing a finger at an officer near the front door. “Get these sons-of-bitches off my crime scene, and do it now. If they come back, arrest them for obstruction.”
As he storms off, I say, “Geez, Hector, lighten up, buddy.”
His steps falter and his shoulders rise up and he whips around on us with startling speed. “You’re not the only ones with powerful connections, you know.”
“Yeah,” I shoot back. “Ours is the director of the FBI; yours is Wi-Fi. Congratulations.”
He fumes at me with wordless anger, his face red and quivering, ripping my hair out strand by strand with his eyes. After a moment he turns and marches off without looking back.
I just shrug.
It’s a good day after all.
Closing the door on the Expedition, I buckle up and then fish my glasses out of their case and slide them on. “You never answered me earlier,” I say to Jimmy.
“About what?”
“The call you got from Diane, about going to El Paso. I asked if they found a body and you said, Not exactly. Remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well? Did they find a body?”
“Not exactly.”
Copyright © 2018 by Spencer Kope
