Chapter Sixteen
India looked up from her computer as someone knocked on her door. “Come in,” she mumbled.
T.K. stood there with a plate of food in her hands. She set the plate down on the table. “What are you doing?”
“I think I’ve found the reason behind Cooper’s killing spree.” She grabbed half the sandwich.
“What is it?”
“It’s a very rare form of adrenalin disorder. I can’t pronounce the name of it but without the protein found in the adrenalin gland the person ages too quickly while the cells inside their body turn to an almost stone like condition. It’s a very rare disease.”
“What does this have to do with Cooper’s killing spree?” T.K. asked.
“I think Cooper was harvesting the glands he needed to keep him alive.”
“Eww… that’s nasty.”
“Remember how after he cut the women open he always took out some of their organs and placed them in jars?” India asked. When T.K. nodded she said, “Now I remember what was so odd about the ritual we saw that night at the warehouse in Boston. We saw Cooper remove a small piece of the woman’s body and he placed it in a small blue container filled with ice. Do you remember?”
T.K. shook her head. “I couldn’t watch what he was doing as long as you did.”
“I remember seeing him place a small container inside the jar I took. It was the only one of the four jars he didn’t seal right away. I didn’t look inside the jar either…I just buried it. The lid came loose when I put it in the ground but I put it back on tight before I covered it with dirt. Don’t you see?” India asked. “It all makes perfect sense now.”
What makes perfect sense?” Cade asked.
India turned and found him standing in her doorway.
“India thinks Cooper was harvesting a certain gland in the women he murdered, something that would stop him from dying,” T.K. told him.
Cade frowned and came further into the room. “Jerah and the others have been working on translating the Egyptian texts we found last night and one of them talks about that.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Apparently, some king a long time ago had the same disease. What passed for doctors back then found the same thing Cooper did, a way to keep the king alive, but it didn’t cure him. In the end, his body began rejecting the treatment and he turned to stone anyway. From what Jerah found out it’s a horrible way to die.”
“It may not be Cooper that has this disease,” India added. “I think its Flynn. Too bad too. I hoped Cooper would suffer that horrible end.”
Cade paused to stare at her glaring gaze. “Why Flynn?”
“When I looked into his eyes just before I slapped him in the cellar I saw something in them that didn’t register at the time but now it does. The whites of his eyes aren’t white anymore. They are a yellowish color. The man didn’t look well at all.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Without the treatment whoever is sick will react to not getting what he or she needs.” Cade shrugged. “Why don’t the two of you join us in the living room?”
“What’s going on?” India asked.
“We have more information on what the DEA and FBI found at the Hudson farm.”
T.K. looked over at India. “There’s more?” She shuddered. “The grisly stuff never stops.”
A few minutes later, they were gathered in the living room.
“Okay, what do we have so far?” Cade asked the others.
Eliot answered, “Flynn, Cooper and Gretchen reached Northumberland Federal Prison safely. They are being held there in seclusion until arraignment tomorrow morning. Also after we left Sunbury, Hank went to the diner and picked up the jar Maude had. She didn’t want to give it up so easy so Hank had no choice but to tell her what was in it. She was horrified when he told her about the contents. She couldn’t believe that Flynn or Cooper would do such a thing.”
“What is he doing with the jar?” Cade asked.
“He’s having it tested by the state labs. If it turns out that whatever is in the jar is part of Helen Leary, he said he would let us know. Also after he spoke to Jonathan Dillman this morning, they were able to round up a small number of locals, Flynn recruited to help him protect the drug empire he had set up.” Elliot shook his head. “Apparently, Dale Two Moons was watching really our backs this morning.”
“What do you mean?”
“At daybreak, DEA was still unloading one of the sheds when somebody took a shot at them. They didn’t see where the shot came from and when they tried to move, they found themselves pinned down. Two Moons heard the shots and tracked them down. He found three locals and took them out of way. He wounded them without killing them. From the men he wounded, Hank was able to ascertain the shipment was due to be shipped out tonight. They are setting up a sting and they hope to capture all the runners.”
“We contacted the Egyptian Embassy,” Quinn spoke up. “You were right.” He looked at India and T.K. “About twenty years ago, they discovered someone had found a burial site of the priests who mummified the Pharaohs. Whoever found the site didn’t leave much. They want the books and the artifacts back. They are sending an attaché to recover everything that was found at the farm.”
“Good luck with that,” Cade told them. “The FBI and DEA need that evidence to prosecute the Hudson’s and everyone associated with them.”
“Hank is a very happy man by the way,” Quinn added with a grin. “They were able to get the entire shipment of Egyptian Gold off the streets. They also found a distillery set up in another shed. Flynn was going to go into the moonshine business.”
“I imagine Dillman is relieved,” Cade said.
“Yes, he is actually. There have been more than a few instances when the locals have ingested his moonshine and they have been hospitalized. Apparently, if you don’t make it right, moonshine is pure poison.”
“Hmm…” Cade shook his head. “No wonder the man was so cooperative. We just rid him of his worst nightmare.” He turned to look at Faith. “Did the report come in on the jar India had buried?”
“Yes, we got it today.” Faith searched the papers on the coffee table. She picked out one and handed it to him.
Cade checked the paper then said, “According to this report, there was a small insulated container found inside the jar. It did contain a small gland. It matched the rest of the organs that were in the jar. We’ll have to wait until the state labs can confirm who the organs belong to but it’s a sure bet they will belong to Jenna Kramer.”
“When all the details of this case are made public, people aren’t going to believe the depths of their evil,” India said.
“Well, all of this is a little hard to believe.” T.K. shook her head. “And the fact that it’s been going on for so long and no one reported it before now. That’s what’s so shocking, no one had a clue what was really going on at the Hudson farm.” She turned to Cade. “Why is that?”
“I think Dillman knew something was going on he just didn’t know what. He certainly didn’t realize all of this was happening, otherwise he would have informed the police long before now.” Cade shrugged. “Flynn was very careful not to raise anyone’s suspicions around the place he called home.”
“Plus, not all the bodies have been found either,” Kanan remarked. “So far, only eleven bodies have turned up and according to what we found last night, there have been twenty three murders.”
“Hopefully ,the diaries we found will tell us where the other bodies are hidden,” India said.
“Speaking of victims,” Fallon said. “I’m very sorry about your mother. I understand she was one of his victims.”
India nodded. “I didn’t know myself until I saw her head on display. I’m going to have a talk with social services when I get back to Boston.”
“Speaking of Boston,” Cade informed them. “The Boston police want to depose you in the case of James Kingston’s death.”
“What does that mean?” T.K. asked.
“It means we have to tell them what led up to his going to Gretchen Hawks place to arrest her,” India explained to her friend.
“They want all of us to come up there tomorrow,” Cade said. “We’ll have to give a deposition as well. They want to close their part of the case regarding Kingston’s death. The information from the deposition will be read into the federal case against the Hudsons.” Cade took a deep breath and when he exhaled he said, “Then I think you two should come back here and stay with us until the trial is over.”
“Why?” India frowned.
“Because we don’t know how many associates Flynn has out there. They might be willing to kill you in order to prevent you from testifying against him. The FBI and DEA are under the impression you are their key witnesses and they want us to protect you until the trial.”
“Does that mean I can’t go back to my job in Raleigh?” India asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Cade replied. “Briar will have to stay as well.”
“I was going to talk to you about that,” Briar told his brother.
“We’ve been discussing the possibility of what you want to talk about,” Elliot said, then he smiled. “We’d love for you to join us.”
“How did you know that’s what I was going to say?” Briar cocked his head to one side.
“Because you fit right in with us this weekend.” Elliot grinned at him. “If you hadn’t asked us, we were going to ask you.”
India turned to T.K., “How do you feel about this?”
T.K. shrugged. “I can draw anywhere and now, I might have the time I need to work on some of the illustrations I need to draw.”
India turned to Cade. “How much time are we going to have in Boston tomorrow?”
“Not much, why?” he asked.
“I have some personal business to take care of that’s all.”
“I’m sorry but you’re not going anywhere alone,” Cade informed her. “One of us has to be with you at all times. That’s just the way this works.”
“I can live with that. I just need to find out if social services knew how my mother was murdered fifteen years ago.”
“I know this may not mean anything but does it really matter now?” Cade asked carefully. “You were only ten when she died, maybe they didn’t want you know for a reason.”
“I thought about that. But since I went into foster care after she died they could have told me at some point in time. I’d had to live in seven foster homes in the next eight years.”
“Why so many?” Fallon asked.
India shrugged. “I had problems as many kids do but after T.K. and I saw Cooper murder Jenna I also had bad nightmares. I’d wake up the whole household screaming my head off. I guess I wasn’t the easiest person to have around. I found it hard to fit in with the other families.”
“Are you going to try and see your grandparents while you’re in town?” Briar asked.
“I don’t know if I will or not. I’ll have to think about it.”
“You should at least tell them what you found,” Cade said. “They were your mother’s parents they deserve to know what happened to her.”
India’s eye flared with rage but she didn’t say anything. Finally, she shrugged, “You can tell them, if you like but don’t expect much of a reaction. They cut us both out of their lives a long time ago. They have no attachment, believe me.”
Cade stared at her for a moment then looked at Briar. When his brother didn’t react, he let the subject drop. Every family had their secrets and if this was one of India’s, he had no business butting into her business, but when he was alone with Briar, he would get the answers he needed. He didn’t want Flynn, Cooper, or Gretchen getting off on a technicality because India had secrets. “We’ll leave at eight o’clock in the morning so get some rest tonight.”
Everyone disappeared down the hall going to their own bedrooms. When Briar entered his India was already there waiting for him.
When he approached the bed, she gazed up at him. “I’m going to be very selfish tonight and beg you to help me forget what we found today. I want to lose myself in you tonight. Can you help me forget the horrors of the past few days? Can you do that for me?”
Briar leaned over and almost touched her forehead to his. Looking her directly in the eyes he said, “I can do that. I can give you at least a small token of relief.” Then he leaned even closer and pushed her on her back. Coming down on top of her, he crushed her lips with his.
The kiss they shared was hot and India groaned as the heat within her spread out to numb the rest of her pain.
Briar’s hands quickly divested her of her clothes and his own. Now they were skin to skin, writhing as hands, lips and teeth drove them wild with desire. Sitting up, he stared down at her.
India watched him and licked her lips.
He raised a brow and handed her a foil packet to her. Then he reached down and stroked his cock.
India shivered with heat. God, it was so sexy…him stroking himself.
“Sheath me, India.”
She swallowed heavily and tore the package open. Then she approached him. Suddenly, she knew what she wanted. She lowered her mouth and licked his tip with her tongue.
Briar gasped as he sucked in a breath. He got harder too.
India felt empowered, so she lowered her lips and took him into her mouth.
His entire body shook. “Damn, India…” He threw his head back in pleasure.
She loved doing this. She’d never done it before and he tasted wonderful. She sucked and sucked then realized that between her thighs was soaking wet.
He grabbed her head and pulled her off. “Enough or I won’t get to fuck you like you need.”
India was panting. “I loved doing that. Who knew?
“It was too good in fact.” He chuckled and nodded at the forgotten condom in her hand.
She gazed at it. “OH!” Then she rolled it down over his yummy length.
He leaned down and grabbed her up by the waist, turning her around. “On your knees. You are about to get something incredible,” he teased.
Feeling confused she did as he said.
He grabbed her hips and told her, “Open yourself up for me.” His voice had gone low and deep.
Trembling, she reached back and spread her folds.
When he plunged his hard cock into her, India screamed with pleasure as her hands fell away to land on the bed.
“Hang on, babe,” Briar advised.
Thrust after thrust sent her ever closer to the pinnacle of desire.
He had a tight grip on her hips then he reached under her and pinched her nipples as he pumped deeply into her.
India gushed with more juices as she panted wildly. She never knew it could be like this…. so hot. Briar knew what he was doing too. Her body felt hot and tingly all over as she gasped for air. His pinching her nipples harder sent her over the edge and she let out a long low moan as she came. Helpless to speak she raised her ass higher as she fell to her chest on the bed.
He plunged deeply one more time and came hard with a growl.
God, India knew before when they’d been together that it had been incredible, but this was fantastic.
“Damn,” he growled as his essence drained from his body. He had to drag his body off hers and he flopped down on the bed beside her.
India turned her head and smiled at him. “It just keeps getting better. Did you know that? Every single time we get together, you make it better than the time before. That was more than incredible. It was fantastic! How is that possible?”
Briar smiled. “It’s not me baby, that’s all you. You make each and every time sweeter than the time before. But the next time I will have to take us above fantastic.”
They both laughed.
India reached out to brush his cheek. “I think I could very easily fall in love with you if I’m not there already. Are you okay with that? I need to know now before it’s too late.”
“You’d better be in love with me. Because I already love you.”
India felt so complete at his words. She smiled. “I think I need to sleep now.”
Briar leaned over and kissed her forehead. ‘Then sleep little one. I’ll watch over you and keep you safe.”
~* * * *~
A few minutes later, Briar watched as her chest rose and fell and he knew she was asleep. He continued to stare at her in wonder. He couldn’t believe she was here with him.
He’d noticed her a long time ago in the courthouse but couldn’t say anything to her. Him being the District Attorney, it wouldn’t have gone over well for him to be hitting on one of the para legals. He just admired her from afar. Yes, they would wave at each other too. He also would see her in court watching him present cases and he figured she was there to learn.
Once in the elevator, he’d stood next to her and breathed in her sweet scent. That night he’d had a wet dream about her. He’d kept it to himself. Kept his attraction for her to himself.
When she came into his office a week ago, he’d wanted her still. Then she showed him why she was there. He tried to set his feelings aside.
Now she was here in his bed. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. Briar would guard her with his last breath if necessary. That was how much he loved her.