Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (5 page)

“OK, so you won the first round.” Vinny suddenly appeared beside Dillon. “We still got time before the second. So tell me what you think we got here.”

“Alright.” Dillon didn’t take out his notebook to review, he knew everything by heart already. “None of the three victims are going to turn out to be Arcano. We will need to dig into his business but I am willing to bet that those three were a message. Not sure if that message is for Arcano or for someone else connected to him. They were most definitely killed where the killer or killers left them but there was one serious clean-up and I really am not sure why they went to such an extreme. I think it’s safe to assume that Arcano, his dog and all his stuff was removed from here before those boys in there showed up. Maybe they were part of the crew that cleared the place out? Loose ends that were tied up on the spot?” He paused to organize his thoughts a moment.

“Jane says she saw Arcano in his doorway Friday morning when she walked her dogs. He waved, she saw a giant floral arrangement behind him on a table approximately where our John Does were laid out.” Vinny tossed some of the info they gleaned from Jane at him. “That means that house was being lived in like normal, with furniture and dog up until at least then.”

“Right. I’m guessing the table was centered under the chandelier so that was taken out before the bodies were left. The blood pool is pristine. No voids or any smearing that I could see.” Dillon and Vinny were on the same page so far. “About the furniture being cleared out though...” Dillon was a little hesitant to give Vinny his theory but he figured he may as well start tossing it out in pieces. “How long of a helicopter flight would you say it is from here to the nearest military base?”

“Helicopter flight?” Vinny hadn’t expected to hear that.

“I know it’s out of left field, but humor me here.” Dillon requested.

“Alright...” Vinny looked around to gauge his location. “Well, it would take about thirty to forty minutes to drive to Point Magu Naval Air Station, Port Hueneme. A Black Hawk has a cruising speed of what? 130 miles per hour? So that’s what a ten minutes trip? Fifteen tops?” Vinny wasn’t sure where Dillon was going with this.

“I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of asking forensics to take samples of the lawn out back, and some of the plants too.” Dillon paused a moment. “I also asked for number of full spectrum camera shots to be taken of the back yard from the master suite balcony.”

“What are you thinking here?” Vinny thought he was catching on but it seemed implausible.

“Sir, I know this will sound far fetched but I am thinking a very well oiled, well funded machine flew in here and cleaned the place out. Did you notice the patio furniture on the main patio in the back was in disarray?”

“Well I wouldn’t say disarray.” Vinny disagreed with Dillon’s description. “It looked more like someone had moved it, maybe to wash the patio or something.”

“Perhaps, but I know for a fact that a helo can easily land on that pad.” Although it wasn’t in his public record and Vinny wouldn’t know, Dillon was former Army, intelligence no less. He knew a little bit about this subject.

“A helicopter? Are you kidding me?” Vinny raked his fingers through his glossy black hair. “No way. They are way too loud to come in and out of here undetected. Even at night.”

“Not a specific type of helicopter, sir.” Dillon waited for Vinny’s reaction. “You read about the MH-X, the Stealth Eagle or Silent Eagle? The specialized Black Hawk they used to get in and cap Bin Laden?”

“You telling me those are real?” It was amazing how Vinny could whisper and yell at the same time.

“While I am not at liberty to give specifics, I can tell you that I personally have flown such aircraft and they are so silent that one could land behind you right now and the only tip off would be the wind picking up.” Dillon got in real close to Vinny. “The payload is the issue. They would have to make a few trips, even with the exterior cargo hook. But with a big enough team and a couple hours, it could be done. I have contacts, I could make some calls.”

It was extremely far fetched. Vinny’s first thought was to the old saying about when you hear hoofbeats, you think horse, not zebra. Dillon’s theory was definitely in the zebra category and the implication of such an operation made Vinny’s mind whirl with all sorts of conspiracy theories. He wasn’t sure he was ready to make such a leap. They needed to dig into this Casius Arcano and his family business first. They also needed to find out who the hell those bodies were.

“Alright, you got your own car so meet me over at Lost Hills and you can start making your calls. I’ll see you there in ten.” Vinny turned without another word and got into his car.

Dillon knew how it must have sounded but if he was right, forensics was going to find jet fuel residue on the plants out back and those full spectrum photographs were going to pull a signature from where that helo had landed. If neither of those things showed up, he knew it was going to be goodbye candidate number eight.

Lou had no idea how long she had been asleep. Although she thought
she had only just dozed off, she remembered it had still been dark when she parked herself in the chair, but now the sun was blindingly bright. When her eyes finally adjusted she could see the black ball of puff named Angus, her cat, staring at her as though she was annoying him yet again. Angus was strictly an indoor cat due to the coyotes, bobcats and occasional mountain lion that frequented the area. Lou had her terrace gated off tightly so that Angus couldn’t get out into the yard but could enjoy the fresh air and watch the birds. As a result, the chair Lou was currently sitting in had been claimed by Angus long ago and he was clearly not happy with her being in it.

“Fine, I’m moving! So sorry your majesty.” Her butt barely left the seat before Angus hopped up and began kneading the cushion, as if Lou had ruined it. Once he felt it was sufficiently fluffed, he laid down and began licking his paws. “Technically it is my chair ya know.” She informed him in a scolding manner, complete with hands on her hips. Angus paused for a moment and looked at her as if to say ‘
keep thinkin’ that lady.
’ then resumed his morning grooming. Lou was a sucker for the feline no matter what mood he was in so she leaned down and gave him a kiss. “You are so lucky you’re cute.”

In spite of himself he began to purr and gave her a nudge with his forehead before he got back to grooming in the morning sunshine.

When Lou heard her mother calling her from inside, she realized it must have been much later then she thought. She walked into her room and looked at the clock to see that it was nearly 9 a.m.

“I’m here.” Lou answered and her mother emerged from the hall looking a little frazzled. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ll get to that.” Her mother said, flapping her hand in a dismissive manner as she approached. “First of all, good morning.” She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

“Morning Momma. Now what’s wrong?” Lou sat down and prepared herself for the latest dilemma.

“How are you feeling?” Shevaun had gotten into the routine of demanding a status report from her daughter first thing each morning.

“I feel fine. Better, in fact. I need coffee though.” Lou started to get up. “I’ll get it. Where’s your mug? Where were you, anyway?” Shevaun glanced about, looking for Lou’s cup..

“It’s out on the terrace, where I was before Angus evicted me from my chair.” Lou grinned as she watched her mother walk outside. She could hear her mutter something to Angus before returning with the mug. “Tell me what’s going on. You’re starting to freak me out.”

“Well, I got a call from Jane a few minutes ago and you are not gonna believe what’s going on.” Shevaun stepped to the sideboard next to Lou’s entertainment center that Lou had set up as a coffee bar of sorts. She pulled a mug from the cupboard underneath and began making them both a cup.

“I need that coffee before I speculate. Just tell me.” Lou scrubbed her hands over her face to try and clear the fog from her mind.

“Alright, well, Jane called and said that she had been woken up before dawn this morning by some deputies. they had the house across the street totally taped off and there were uniforms everywhere.” Shevaun handed Lou her steamy mug and sat down in the chair next to her before continuing. “Do you remember her neighbor? The nice fellow we met at her Labor Day party?”

“Momma, I barely remember you right now.” Lou confessed, hoping caffeine would make her mother’s story easier to follow.

“Hmm... fine. Anyway, Vinny wouldn’t...”

“Vinny was there?” Lou cut her off and nearly spilled her coffee all over herself.

“That is what I am trying to tell you!” Shevaun looked at her with disapproval. “Let me finish will you?”

“Sorry. Go on.”

“As I was saying, Vinny wouldn’t give her any of the details.” She took a quick sip from her mug before she continued. “He gave her the spiel about an ongoing investigation, la la. However, there are a couple interesting things here. Firstly, she knows there was more then one body found in the house but she doesn’t know who they are and the house is completely empty, like Casius had moved out.”

“Casius? Is that the neighbor?” Lou didn’t recall ever meeting a man with that name.

“Yes, that’s him. Casius Arcano. He was a really nice guy, handsome too. Jane wanted to fix you up with him.” Shevaun wasn’t thrilled with the idea at the time so she had never mentioned it to her daughter.

“Oh lovely. And now there is a multiple homicide at his place. Thanks for skipping that fixer-upper.” Lou snorted at the circumstances. “OK so what’s secondly?”

“Right! Secondly, she thinks she met your new partner!” Her mother grinned before taking another sip.

“Oh? How does she figure that? Vinny has hated everyone he’s test-driven so far.” Lou was well aware that Vinny was interviewing replacements. She hated the whole idea that they were no longer going to be partners but given recent events, she knew it was best for both of them.

“Jane says she just has a feeling. His name is Dillon Cole and he was with Vinny and Caroline when they were interviewing her. Some other deputies tried to get her statement but Jane wouldn’t talk to anyone but Vinny.”

“Caroline was there too?” Lou wondered why she hadn’t heard from Caroline yet on any of this.

“Yes.” Shevaun set her cup down then turned to her daughter with a serious expression. “You still have a lot of healing to do, sugar. I know you are feeling better and I want to know what is going on here too, but you need to stay back on this. You are not ready to go back to work yet.”

“Oh for crying out loud!” Lou got up from her chair and began pacing. “I am fine! Aside from going nuts that is. I need to get back to work! I need to get started working as Principate too! The guys have been working out with me and I have been following my rehab to the letter. I am ready!” The guys to whom Lou was referring were all part of the new world she had recently been inducted into. It was all quite convoluted.

Two months ago Lou caught a case that was almost written off as just another junky prostitute that met her demise through the hazards of the trade. However, when another body turned up, Lou’s gut wouldn’t let it go. In the middle of all that, she passes a well dressed, handsome stranger in the hall of the County Morgue and that split second encounter stirred something that she simply did not want, could not explain, nor did she have the time for. The Laws of Attraction and Fate didn’t care what Lou wanted. That stranger and those victims were the linchpins in a course of events that would change her life forever. It hadn’t just been Lou’s life, it was her mother and Caroline’s too. The three women learned that they all had been just a hair’s breadth away from a totally different universe nearly all their lives.

The stranger Lou passed in the Morgue that day was a man by the name of Maximilian Augustus Julian. To the uninitiated he was just a long time business associate of her step-father. In truth he was what amounted to being the king of a group of people that had been carefully concealed and guarded for thousands of years. The way Lou understood it, ages ago some catastrophic event occurred that resulted in an entire village of people being forever altered. Mutated, so to speak. Back then, these people had not the knowledge or understanding to even guess what happened to them. Even with a millennia of science and technology to work with since then, the truth of what really transpired has long since been lost to time and dust. With what little information they did have about what happened and historical records, they speculated it may have had something to do with radiation exposure from a meteor crash. The smoke from the fire that resulted, inhalation of irradiated dust, or perhaps a combination of all of the above. All Lou could think was that it sounded like something out of a comic book. It was all more than she could wrap her head around and the how and why was really irrelevant at that point. What was important to Lou was that up until then she had been misdirected and sidelined on her cases at every turn up until she learned the truth and it had been because she was dancing on the edge of uncovering the secret of the Sanguinostri. It had been a calculated risk on Max’s part but once she was told everything, understood the situation and discussed it with her mother, Lou was all in. She learned that the cases were in fact related, as her gut had told her, and that her suspect was himself a Sanguinostri gone rogue. Max and his lieutenants, known as the Aegis Council, had been hunting the rogue for years and Lou had stumbled upon him in just a week. It was this fact, among other things, that made Max decide Lou was vital to their operations and he brought her in not only as one of them but made her Principate for the Western Region. The equivalent of sheriff for the West Coast. It had been Lou’s indoctrination and placement as Principate that ultimately lead to the rogue revealing himself when he abducted her.

Albert Von Messenbach had a special kind of hatred for Max which fueled a killing spree designed to mock and torment him for decades. Albert’s power and prestigious reputation as a former Aegis helped him stay below radar for years. Until, that is, he couldn’t resist taking Lou and revealing himself for the monster he was. He had broken every sacred law of the Sanguinostri and betrayed his people so deeply that it nearly got them all exposed. Keeping their existence a secret was the ultimate law. In the end, Max had made a choice to save Lou at all costs. The cost in this instance was that Albert had escaped and was out there somewhere but his crimes labeled him a dead man walking. They would get him sooner or later.

Eight weeks had passed since then and Lou was itching to get back to work. Both as Principate and good old Homicide Detective Lou Donovan. Niko, Yuri, Connor and Finn, Max’s Aegis Council, had all become like her brothers. Niko most of all. They had equipped her house with state of the art electronics and tech gadgets she was sure she would never fully learn how to use. They had taught her everything they thought she would need to know to be a solid Principate. Niko and Conner were working out with her every day under the supervision of her doctors and physical therapist. It was Abby and Frank, Max’s right hands, that had spent night and day with Lou, teaching her about the Sanguinostri itself. The politics, protocols, black and white laws that were never ever compromised. Lou now saw Abby and Frank as family as well and had grown accustomed to their incessant phone calls, checking in to make sure she had everything she needed. They treated her like a queen and she really wanted to prove herself worthy of that treatment.

Lou had come to terms with her new life and was eager to get to living it. The only downside to being privy to everything was having to lie to Vinny and her uncle Seamus. Vinny was expecting his first child and Seamus was now retired from the job. He had been through far too much in nearly being blown up during a meth lab bust several years ago. Her nephew and aunt needed him safe and sound. Lou and her mother had discussed it extensively and both agreed they needed to keep their new lives a secret from him and everyone else outside their circle. It was too complicated and too dangerous. Ignorance was definitely bliss in this case.

“Lou, we need to get you cleared by the doctors first. I will not allow it otherwise.” Shevaun was not budging. “I almost lost you three times now! How much am I expected to take here?”

“I understand.” Lou knew where her mother was coming from. Eight years before the Sanguinostri came along, Lou had decided to go on a date. Unfortunately that one date turned into a year of hell. Robert Sawyer had been a very handsome and helpful clerk at the downtown courthouse whom Lou agreed to have dinner with. He turned out to be a sadistic psychopath that had beaten and left Lou for dead, twice. With the help of a hefty trust fund, Sawyer plead out and was sentenced to ten years but was up for parole mid-summer. That was until Max found out about everything, including the fact that Sawyer had two of his former cell-mates ambush Lou and Vinny several weeks ago. Robert Sawyer was mysteriously beaten to death in prison. It was only minutes before her abduction that Lou found out Max had been the one to do the beating. That was why she went into that bathroom in the first place, to compose herself. Lou chalked that up to one of those black and white secrets that came with being part of the Sanguinostri and to her considerable surprise, she was perfectly fine with that.

“Vinny is coming over during his lunch break to check on you and fill us in.” Her mother informed her. “Max will be coming over with Abby after Vinny leaves. He wants to check on you as well.”

“He checked on me last night.” Lou popped up out of her chair and started to panic about her appearance. Something she had never done until he came into her life. “He is worse than you! Both of you fretting and fussing! I am OK!”

“Oh it must be just awful to have so many people care about you!” Her mother mocked.

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Lou stomped into her closet and started digging through the racks. “Is Vinny bringing this new guy? What did you say his name was? Cole?”