Page 27 of Falcon

“Mommie’s sleeping; she won’t wake up… Daddy…” Jayes broke off as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

“How long has she been asleep?” I asked quietly, as if I were making conversation. Inside, I was screaming. I knew something was seriously wrong.

“Since Mrs Hannigan left.”

“I don’t understand,” I replied.

Jayes glanced at me as if to ask if I was stupid. “I stayed at Mrs Hannigan’s when you took me home. Then she sent me back the next morning because she had to go somewhere. All the doors were locked, but I climbed through a window. Daddy wasn’t there; I’d seen him leave earlier. I couldn’t find Mommy until I saw she was sleeping downstairs.”

Fuck! Trying not to let my anger out, I wondered if Jayes had found Myka dead. Christ. What a shit storm. “Jayes, I’ll take you back and check on your mom.”

“Okay.” The kid didn’t argue, but once again, allowed me to lead him to the truck. I didn’t know what to say. Jayes appeared physically unarmed, but I’d noticed he was still limping badly. It took mere minutes to drive there, and a sense of foreboding came over me.

I checked all the doors before Jayes showed me the window he’d used. I opened it wider and climbed in. The house felt wrong—empty, and there was a terrible smell.

“Where’s your mom?” I asked.

Jayes pointed to a door that I guessed led to the basement. “Okay, Jayes. Go to your room,” I ordered, and Jayes obeyed instantly. Damn, this boy had no stranger danger whatsoever. With my tee, I unlatched the handle and descended some steps. I thought I’d prepared myself for what I was going to find, but I hadn’t.

Myka lay on the floor, as if she’d been thrown down like a rag doll. She was naked and severely injured. I was yanking my phone out while I catalogued her wounds. Hurrying down the remaining few stairs after spitting out the address, I said, “I need an ambulance and the cops; there’s a badly hurt woman.”

Checking for a pulse, I was relieved to find a thready one. Quickly, I fed the information back as I glanced over Myka’s injuries. She’d been beaten severely. Her body was covered in bruises, welts, and cuts. I saw actual boot marks on her stomach, and tufts of hair were strewn about.

Someone had taken a lot of anger out on her. I hurried upstairs to force the front door open and grab a blanket. Under her was a large pool of blood. I couldn’t even tell where she was bleeding from, and I didn’t dare move her. That might cause her more injuries. I heard sirens gradually getting closer, and Cates called out a few minutes later.

“Falcon.”

“Down here!”

Boots stamped above me, and Cates appeared. “Shit, what the fuck?” she gasped and flew down the stairs.

“I found her,” I explained, as Cates nodded.

“That’s Myka Beauregard. Christ, I knew this day would come,” she muttered.

“You know her?” I asked as Cates checked her pulse again.

“Yeah. She’s a nice woman. I’ve been trying to get her to press charges against Dawson, but she refused.”

“Can’t help them if they don’t help themselves,” I said harshly.

Cates shook her head. “It’s not like that. She did make a statement once, and Dawson’s entire family backed him up and gave him an alibi. The previous sheriff let him off. Myka wasn’t seen for three days until she was admitted to the hospital. She declined to speak to the police after that. That’s how I got the job.

“The Book Club erupted in anger that Dawson had got off scot-free with his crime. That the former sheriff messed up Myka’s case so badly was a disgrace. Evidence was contaminated, statements were lost, and then he refused to check the security footage of the place Dawson claimed to be at. It was a total mess, and Ross finally had enough proof to sack him. He’d been trying for three years, but the asshole kept slithering out of it.”

“Damn,” I muttered.

“We were aware Beauregard was beating her, but Myka was too terrified after that to speak up. Such a shame,” Cates murmured. An ambulance shrieked in the distance, coming closer as Cates stood up. “What befell Myka was unfortunate. The town forgot about her. Where’s Jayes?”

“I found him eating from a dumpster and took him to eat. He’s upstairs in his room,” I replied.

“How is he?”

“His ankle is badly hurt and needs an X-ray,” I explained what I’d witnessed the other day, and Cates shook her head.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” she murmured. Damn, that said little.

The paramedics stormed in, and I was shunted to one side.