Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Burgess sees and starts swearing.
“Shhh.” I motion for him to shut up. “I think I heard something.” It was faint, but it sounded like a bang from deep inside the building.
We wait in silence. A breeze sweeps past me, stirring the feathers.
Another banging sound. Like a door shutting.
I draw my gun and call, “Hello?” I signal to Burgess, who nods and readies his weapon.
“Police. Show yourself!” I shout. I move inside, leading with my gun, peering into corners. “Clear,” I say and cover Burgess as he moves forward. We sweep through the dark warehouse, following the trail of dead birds. There’s a faint sawdusty scent along with the smell of something rotting. Maybe it’s the birds? Their tattered wings tell me they’ve been here a long time. But maybe it’s something else.
I breathe through my mouth and move swiftly through the building, clearing each room. This warehouse hasn’t been used in some time. There’s still some machinery pushed into the corner like oversized insects. Everything is covered in a layer of dust.
The trail of birds ends at a three walled room, some sort of office cubby with a desk but no chair. It’s open on one side, with a metal gate that serves as a door.
There’s a dead bird on the desk, illuminated by a stream of light that comes from the narrow windows by the ceiling. Because of the metal gate, the sunlight falls in a barred pattern, making the bird look like it’s lying in a cell.
A cage.
“Any sign of the body?” Burgess asks.
I step inside to investigate. I check behind the desk, but there’s no body. “No. Are you sure they said there was a body in here?”
A harsh clanging sound makes me turn. Burgess is behind me, sliding the metal gate shut and locking it.
17
Inara
* * *
“What the—?” I face Burgess, who’s backed away from the metal gate. “What are you doing?” I grab the nearest bar and tug, but the metal gate is solidly shut. “Burgess, let me out.”
“No can do. He wants you.” Burgess’s expression is flat, giving nothing away.
I get a flash of a vision—birds flying in my face, descending, blotting out the sun—but shake it off.
“You’re not serious.” I grab the bars again and throw my weight to the right in an attempt to open the door, but it doesn’t budge. “What is going on?”
“He told me to trap you. So I did.”
“Are you serious right now?” I stare at my so-called partner. Years ago, Detective Collins suspected the Bondage Killer might be working with someone in the department. Seems that’s still his MO.
I grip my gun but hesitate. Burgess is just standing there. I could threaten to shoot him, but that feels like a last resort.
“How can you do this?” I ask, attempting to reason. If I can just get Burgess talking, maybe he’ll drop some clues. “Did he threaten you?”
Burgess scoffs.
“Bribes? What did he offer you?”
“Not all of us can marry rich,” he half-sneers, but his heart doesn’t seem to be in it. The tension I felt in the car makes more sense.
He was planning to double-cross me this whole time. Not just double-cross but offer me up on a platter to the very person we’re supposed to be investigating.
“How did he contact you?”
Burgess shakes his head, backing away. “Give it up, Inara. You won’t win.”
He’s really going to leave me in here.
“You need to let me out.” I raise my weapon, steadying it, and aim for his leg. “Unlock the door, or I’ll shoot. Don’t make me do this.”
“You won’t shoot me.” Burgess keeps backing away. “You care way too much about the moral high ground.”
“You’re right, she does. But I don’t.” The voice comes from above.
“What?” Burgess looks up. A shadow falls over him.
Something falls and detonates.
Bang! Smoke explodes around Burgess, swallowing him whole.
My ears are ringing in the aftermath of the sound, but my training holds. I keep my grip on my gun, pointing it at the ground until I can figure out who I should shoot.
Burgess swears, stumbling amidst the smoke, disoriented. He’s an easy target for the huge, helmeted figure who appears above him.
It’s Rex. It has to be. My heart lifts.
But then Burgess raises his gun, firing wildly.
“No!” I scream. I bite back Rex’s name before I blurt it out. I’m terrified that one of Burgess’s shots will hit Rex. I raise my gun, aiming for Burgess, but hesitate.
The dark form leaps from above, landing in front of Burgess.
Burgess raises his gun, firing straight into the helmeted figure’s chest. My shout is drowned out by the blasts of the gun. Bullets ricochet, and I flinch backward. I retreat deeper into the cell, but not so far that I can’t watch what happens next.
The bullets seem to bounce off Rex’s armored chest. In his suit, he’s larger than life.