Shadow Harvest (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #7) Page 6

  "Let's knock on some doors. See if anyone heard anything."

  "Okay."

  "Let's check the first apartment, I heard their TV on."

  Loki led the way downstairs. When he knocked on the door the TV played on, no other sounds joining it.

  "You think no one’s home or no one’s alive?" I asked.

  Loki frowned. "Perhaps they just left the TV on."

  "Want to find out?"

  Loki picked the lock and called out a greeting as he slowly opened the door. The thick scent of rotting food hit us as we entered. Blue followed his nose toward the kitchen. The living room had a couch facing a TV. Loki crossed the room and turned it off. Three empty plates, with old food crusted onto them sat on the coffee table facing the TV. Loki and I followed Blue into the kitchen slowly, our knees bent, hands loose at our sides, ready for an attack, ready for anything.

  The apartment had the same layout as the one above it but the kitchen was not the neat and simple abode of a bachelor. There was food scattered across the counter. An open window carried the smell of rot toward us as the wind blew in. The sink was full of dishes. Several pots crowded the stove and a rice cooker crusted with rice sat on the counter.

  In the bedroom we found three single beds and men’s clothing, all large sizes. "What do you think?" I asked Loki.

  "Apprentices?" Loki suggested.

  "Big ones," I said, holding up a shirt that I could fit into twice. "Who left in a hurry days ago."

  "Or are just total slobs," Loki suggested.

  "Sydney," I heard Mitchel's voice coming from the hall. He was standing in the living room when we came out of the bedroom. "Smells terrible in here," he said.

  "What did you find downstairs?"

  "Nothing. The place was clean."

  "Check this apartment." Turning to Loki I continued, "Let's see what's going on in the middle apartment." He nodded.

  We left Mitchel and returned to the one apartment we hadn't checked. Again we knocked and I watched Blue's ears but there didn't appear to be anyone home. Loki picked the lock and we entered another living room. This one also had a TV but it was off. A worn leather couch faced it. Other than that the living room was bare. The kitchen was clean, fridge empty. In the bedroom we found a double bed, stripped, mattress bare, new looking.

  Loki opened the closet and found just a few empty hangers. "I guess no one lives here."

  "There was a light on in here last night," I said.

  Loki turned to me, his brows raised. "How do you know?"

  "I took a run. Checked out the place."

  Loki nodded looking over at the drawn curtains. "Did you see any movement?"

  "No, but there is no light on in here now." I stepped over to the switch by the door. A single dome in the ceiling flickered and then slowly glowed to life. "Someone turned off this light when they left." I glanced around the bare space. "I wonder what they were looking for."

  "None of the other apartments looked like they'd been searched," Loki said.

  "No," I agreed.

  Blue, who'd been investigating the apartment, came into the bedroom and trotted around the edge, sniffing. "What is he looking for?" Loki asked.

  "Anything and everything," I answered.

  Blue stopped at the closet and pushed his way in. His tail wagged as he sniffed around the floor of the small space. He came back out and continued along the perimeter until he reached the bed. He lowered himself down and checked under it, his sniffing loud in the barren, silent room.

  When he was done Blue came and sat by my side. I chewed on my lip. "Any thoughts?" I asked Loki.

  "I have no idea," he answered.

  #

  Loki was standing at the end of the bed. I was near the head, Blue leaning against my right side, my hand resting on his head when I felt his ears perk. Then he was gone, like a shot, bolting through the bedroom door. I followed, my instincts carrying me as quickly as my feet. I saw the tip of his tail disappearing out the apartment door and ran after him. Loki was right behind me. We sprinted down the steps, returning to the apartment below.

  Blue barked from the kitchen and we ran through the living room. Mitchel was standing there, his hands up, pushed back against the sink, Blue was in front of him, hackles raised, a deep growl emanating from his chest. "Whoa," Mitchel said. "What the hell?"

  Mitchel still held his bug-tracking device. It was emanating a low beep. Behind him a partially open window looked out onto a fire escape and another building beyond it. "Shh, Blue," I said, thinking I heard something out there.

  Blue quieted but his hackles remained raised, ears forward, body filled with tension. "Mitchel," I said, "come to me."

  "He won't bite me?"

  "Not unless I tell him to."

  Mitchel slowly inched to the side, moving around Blue. I stepped up to the sink and smelled the putrid scent of still water left in a dirty sink for days. I leaned forward, trying to see onto the fire escape. I heard a rustle. A bird? Blue growled behind me, one short, low-pitched warning. There was a person out there. Turning around I motioned to Loki, then pointed out the window. His eyebrows pulled together in question. I pursed my lips and pointed again, raising my eyebrows. He nodded and pulled a black pistol from inside his black blazer. I reached my hand out for it. He looked at my waiting palm and thought for just a moment before handing over the weapon.

  I moved dishes over so that I could climb onto the countertop and, crouching next to the open window, tried to see out again. The glass was smeared with grease and dirt. From my angle I could only see the metal landing of the fire escape right outside the window and a few empty steps leading up. Keeping my body back, gun in my right hand, I used my left to open the window further. It rose easily and quietly.

  I pushed it as high as it would go, a space big enough for me but not much larger. Not wanting to stick my head out and get it shot off I grabbed a pot soaking in the sink and shaking off the brown water pushed it outside, watching the reflection in the bottom on it. In the blurry image I saw a small figure crouched on the steps. When it saw the pot it turned and began to run up the fire escape, headed for the roof.

  I dropped the pot and dove out the window. I heard Blue's nails as he scrambled up onto the counter and followed. One hand on the railing, the other holding my gun, I ran up the fire escape, unconcerned by the loud clanging my weight made on the old metal structure. The figure was a flight ahead of me. Clad all in black, lithe and fast, it was pulling away.

  When I reached the roof I saw it running across the open space and took after it. The roof was old. Made of tar, it was dappled by depressions filled with water. I splashed through a puddle, water spraying up my leg. "Stop!" I yelled but the figure kept going. Blue streaked past me, his ears flat to his head, legs pumping hard underneath him.

  The person looked back, a female face. I saw just a flash of flesh as she glanced over her shoulder, a brief expression of horror crossing her features before she faced forward and hit a new level of speed. But she was not faster than Blue. He leapt onto her back. They flew forward onto the roof. I heard a scream of fear and pain and then silence.

  Blue had her face down, his paws on her shoulders, jaws around her neck. I ran up to them, gun in both hands extended out. "Come," I said. Blue retreated to my side. The figure lay motionless. "Roll over," I said. She didn't move. Loki joined us then. "Tell her to roll over, slowly," I said.

  Loki spoke and the figure rolled onto her back. She had jet black hair, straight and chin-length framing a beautiful face. "Who are you?" I asked.

  Loki translated. The girl, who couldn't have been much more than seventeen, licked her lips. She had a smear of dirt across her forehead from the roof. Her palms were black with soot. She narrowed her eyes at Loki, rage emanating from her dark irises. When she spoke the words were tight, sounding almost like a curse. "She is Sing's granddaughter," Loki translated.

  "Does she know Merl?" Loki began to translate.

  "You know Merl?" she sai
d, interrupting us, now in English. The girl looked over at Blue and seemed to relax. "You are friends of Merl"?

  "Yes," I said. "You know him?"

  "Yes, he is in grave danger."

  "Tell me, where is he?"

  She began to sit up and then an almost silent thwap raced through the air. She crumpled back to the roof, her head twisting, face down, her hair fanning out in a small arch as she dropped. Loki and I both knew that sound and crouched down, our heads swiveling, looking for the shooter.

  There was one building higher than us. And there was one open window. A black hole in a checkerboard of glass. "Move," I said, but there was no reason, Loki was already zig-zagging across the roof. With Blue close to me, I followed, keeping my body upright and narrow, while making fast, jerking movements. But nobody fired. We dove back down the fire escape and reentered the kitchen. Loki was on a walkie talkie barking commands. I heard commotion from the street as engines roared, doors slammed. Those men we'd brought were going after the shooter. But he or she had a head start and a big building to hide in.

  I looked around the kitchen, my heart beating hard in my chest, my mind ticking slowly over what I'd just seen, when I realized that Mitchel was not here. "Blue," he was right next to me. "Search," I said. He lowered his nose to the ground and began to search the apartment. Moments later he barked to let me know the apartment was empty.

  I walked out into the hall. There were men coming in the front door. I looked down the stairs and recognized our driver. "Did you see Mitchel?" I called down to him. He looked up at me and shook his head.

  "Search," I said again to Blue, motioning upstairs. He started up the steps and I followed slowly. I held my gun up, muzzle pointing toward the ceiling. Blue gave another bark. He'd found him. "Mitchel?" I called. But no answer came. The door of the top floor apartment was open just wide enough for Blue to fit through. I kicked it open all the way. It bounced against the wall with a small thunk. Sing's living room looked the same; undisturbed and abandoned.

  Blue barked again from the bedroom. "Mitchel," I called again.

  "In here," he answered. "I found something."

  I let out a breath but kept my gun up until I walked into the bedroom and confirmed that he was alone. Mitchel was standing in front of the closet. "Look," he said, motioning me over. I stepped up next to him. He'd pushed away the hanging clothing and pried open a panel in the back of the small space. A series of switches with lights glowing next to them. "What is it?" I asked.

  "A ridiculously sophisticated signal blocking system," he said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I think this thing disabled Merl's beacons. It's possible he's fine and his phone is just out of service. You couldn't sneak a listening device or tracking device past this thing. Not in a million years."

  Mitchel looked over at me then and his brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

  "That was Sing's granddaughter we chased onto the roof."

  "You grabbed her?"

  "She's dead."

  His face went white. "How?"

  "Shot in the head."

  "Why?"

  "No idea. But I'd guess that Merl is not just out of cell range."

  Mitchel turned back to the device in the wall. "Sing must have been involved in something pretty serious."

  "Or his granddaughter was," I said. "Does that look like something an 80-year old would set up or a teenager?"

  "Teenager," Mitchel answered.

  #

  "This thing is still working?" I asked.

  "Yes."

  "Turn it off."

  "It will take a little while,” Mitchel said. “And I'll need my laptop."

  "Okay."

  I turned to go find Loki when I heard him in the living room.

  "Sydney?"

  "In here."

  Loki came in. "Did you find the shooter?" I asked.

  "Not yet but we are still looking." His walkie talkie crackled and a voice spoke in Mandarin, a language I had zero familiarity with. Loki responded and then returned his attention to me. "I'd like to get you back to the apartment."

  "Why?"

  "Security reasons."

  I laughed and began to walk by him. "Loki, I'm not in danger."

  He followed me. "You are very important to Mr. Lenox and he insisted that my priority must be your safety."

  I turned and faced him. "I thought you were supposed to do whatever I needed."

  He looked pained. "Yes."

  "Well, what I need is to go take a look at that girl's body. See if she has any ID. If you want to be helpful you can come with me. And..." A photograph on a shelf behind Loki caught my attention and I stopped speaking. I walked past him and picked up the silver framed image. The girl on the roof, the crumpled body, was alive and younger in the photo, smiling under a blossoming cherry tree. She was with a puppy, a Doberman Pinscher.

  "We've got to find the girl's apartment," I said. "Mitchel," I called.

  "Yeah," he answered from the other room, sounding distracted.

  "We need to know where Sing's granddaughter lives."

  He came into the room. "I should be able to figure that out. But it's going to take a while to shut this thing down."

  I turned to Loki. "Mitchel needs a ride back to the apartment, he needs his laptop." Loki spoke into his walkie talkie again. "Mitch, I'll call you if we find ID on the girl—otherwise I want you to find her place first."

  "Okay."

  "I can find out the girl's address," Loki said. "More than likely she lives with her parents. If she is unmarried."

  "Right," I said, nodding my head.

  Loki's walkie talkie crackled. "The car is ready for you," Loki told Mitchel.

  Mitchel left the apartment and Loki and I went through Sing's kitchen and climbed onto the fire escape, returning to the roof. The girl's body was where we had left it. The sun was high in the sky, shining down onto her black outfit. Her hair covered her face. Loki pulled out his phone and took pictures while Blue and I stood by. I looked up at the tall building and saw movement behind the open window. "It's an apartment up there?" I asked.

  "Offices," Loki answered me as he kneeled down next to the girl. He ran his hand lightly over her pants, reaching into her pockets and pulling some folded cash. In her other pocket was a key. But no ID.

  "Will you call the police?" I asked.

  "I've already spoken with the authorities," Loki answered.

  "What does that mean?"

  Loki looked up at me, the sun was in his eyes and he squinted. "It does not need to concern you."

  I let it go. "Okay, let's go talk to some neighbors."

  Loki stood, looking down at the girl. A breeze blew across the roof pushing some of her hair off her face. Her head rested in a pool of blood. "She was pretty," he said.

  I turned away. Mourning for girls I didn't know wasn't something my heart had room for anymore. "Don't worry," I said. "We'll find who did this." I looked back up at the open window the shooter had fired from. "Why do you think they let us live?"

  "I suppose the reason for killing her would answer that," Loki said. He pulled out his cell phone as we headed across the roof. I glanced back at the girl—she looked small. Her black clothing blended with the roof. Camouflaged. Did she know there was a threat against her life? Loki was speaking into his cell phone. His voice sounded hard, professional, almost threatening. He hung up. "I should have her address within the hour."

  "Good."

  My phone rang, it was Mitchel. "Just a heads up," he said. "Your beacons were disabled. So don't do anything crazy."

  I laughed. "Good to know," I said.

  "I'll be able to reboot them though."

  "Okay."

  I returned Loki's gun and he slipped it under his jacket before we headed down to the street. His men were still searching the area and Loki suggested we get some lunch. "I'd rather talk to neighbors," I said, eyeing the shops around us. It was midday now so most were open. "They must have seen someth
ing."

  "They will not want to talk to you," Loki said.

  I raised my eyebrows. "Because I'm a woman?"

  "A foreigner. A woman. An outsider. Young. I could go on."

  "So who will they talk to?"

  "My men will make inquiries. It must be done in a respectful manner."

  "Sure, I understand. But don't you think they are going to want to help catch the person who killed their neighbor's granddaughter?"

  "It is best not to get involved in matters like this," Loki said. "It will have to be done with—" he paused looking for the right word. "With elegance."

  "Elegance," I said with a smile. "Okay, I'll leave that to you. But I can't just sit around with nothing to do."

  "Soon we will have the girl’s address, we can go there together. But first we should eat."

  "You're kind of obsessed with feeding me."

  "Lenox asked that I take good care of you."

  Grief

  Loki took me to lunch at a small place with plastic tables and fluorescent lighting. There was a sink by the entrance where we washed our hands. The proprietor, a woman with her hair pushed away from a broad and handsome face, eyed Blue with suspicion. But a few words from Loki and Blue was allowed to settle under our table.

  I let Loki order, trusting his taste. "I'm not picky," I promised him.

  He smiled, something shy and somehow knowing, as if that might be true about my eating habits but not about other things. The woman brought us bottled water and then disappeared into the back. A moment later the door to the back burst open as a yell rang out. Three cats, white, skinny, tails high, eyes wide, clearly on the run, skittered through the open door. Blue growled from under the table but I shushed him, this was not our fight. I could feel his breath vibrating with tension. Blue wanted to chase those cats.

  They broke for the exit to the crowded street but a man wearing a stained white apron, jeans, and a tank top blocked their way and shooed them back into the kitchen. I watched him close the doors tightly and then turned to Loki.

  "To keep the mice away," he said.