The Smokiest Grave (The Unnatural Series Book 1) Read online

  David was drumming his fingers on his desk, “I need you to do something for me before you go.”

  Cat sighed, “This is not the time.”

  “Cat, you know me,” David hissed his words. She smiled, slightly glad her influence had taught him to not be a pushover like he used to be.

  “Alright, what?”

  “Booster is in town,” David said, knowing Cat wanted to tag him. He was the only target to ever outsmart the system by following the law. Or so he wanted people to think. But she knew better. He was a drug dealer trying to evolve into a murderer. Cat hadn’t been able to find the proof.

  “You know we can’t bag and tag him unless he breaks the law.”

  “Which he did this morning by missing his court date.” David sounded happier than a chubby kid eating cake. “The chief says we have to go in with a partner, no alone stuff. Those were his words.”

  “I bet they were.” Cat gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. “Alright, text me the address.” Her phone didn’t have cool things like a GPS, but she had a map. She turned on the ignition with her face tight. She had wanted this bastard for a while now, and today might be her day. “Oh, bring my CIU weapons. The boss made me leave them-”

  David cut her off, “You got it.” She could hear him scrambling around for his things, “By the way, if I get my ass chewed out for helping you without authorization, I’m chewing yours.”

  She skidded out of the parking lot bursting into laughter, “You’ll lose all your teeth, Dee,” she said with a smile.

  “Now that’s a hard ass-” Cat interrupted him this time.

  “Besides, who the hell is going to find out you used some special gift to find a guy for me? We got this,” Cat brushed her fingers along her eyebrow, wishing he knew about her being an Unnatural, as well. He would probably be the one person that wouldn’t discard her for her gifts, but she couldn’t risk it.

  “I’ll meet you there in ten,” his joyous laugh warmed Cat’s heart. David had become a good friend this past year.

  Adrenaline crashed its way into her like water slamming her body. She was finally going to bring this guy down. If she was lucky, she would beat Booster’s sorry ass and make it in time to beat Hendrick’s jerk ass.

  That sounded like a good day in her book.

  Twelve

  David was waiting for Cat at the corner of Booster’s block wearing his standard jeans and long sleeves black shirt. Even if she hadn't known David for a year she could tell the intense, brooding man was him by the short buzz cut.

  Not a lot of men wore their hair like that anymore because, in the winter, hair was the only way to keep warm if they didn’t have enough money to buy a heater. In the year she had worked with him he had never changed his hairstyle. Cat could spot him a mile away.

  ***

  David watched her pull into a parking spot a few feet away from the cars near him. He kept leaning against the fence in case Booster had scouts watching.

  I’m just a typical guy leaning against the fence enjoying the sunny day, Booster.

  The only thing about him that stuck out was the lime green CIU police badge around his neck, but he did his best to conceal the symbol. Protocol said the identification had to be easily seen by people.

  He wasn’t a big fan of them, but he had rules to follow.

  ***

  “Took your time, didn’t you?” He was mad at her again. She could tell by the way his eyebrows were all squished together like two stiff caterpillars. Those brows always gave away his mood.

  She got a kick out of their dance every time though, “Don’t caterpillar me. I was driving from my house,” Cat walked past him pointing at her eyebrows.

  She smiled when he touched his eyebrows. “Suck it,” David put his hands at his sides mumbling angry words at her.

  “Really? Suck it?” Cat was now bunching her eyebrows in distaste, “Have you been out for drinks with that guy again?”

  “So, what if I have?” David said, watching Cat’s smile grow. That famous saying: you are who you hang out with, described David. Whenever he spent any length of time with people who thought they were hot stuff, he cussed more and said things like ‘suck it.’

  Cat dropped the matter. She didn’t want to fight.

  She clenched her jaw. David didn’t have anything in his hands. “Where are my daggers?” She smacked his shoulder, “And where is your car?”

  “It’s parked closer to the house.” He looked at her and lowered his eyebrows, bending over. “About that, you don’t really need them, right?”

  “Seriously?” She stopped walking. “I can’t use my street daggers on duty David-”

  He laughed, pulling six gold daggers with CIU carved on the blade from his large pants pocket. “It doesn’t feel good to get toyed with, huh?”

  “Suck it,” she said to ease the tension between them. Her attempts worked; they both laughed.

  Cat stuffed some of the daggers in her hair and two in her boots. With her leather pants, she didn’t worry about them cutting into her leg. She rubbed her gun on the leather holster wrapped around her leg.

  They turned into Booster’s junkyard, still smiling widely. The house wasn’t an actual junkyard, but the lawn smelled like one and garbage was piled everywhere. Cat thought with the dead yellow grass and the deep potholes everywhere the place was looking like a junkyard as well.

  The house wasn’t the worst place to live, though. Its unpainted walls and chipped wood still told a story about the war, but the area wasn’t the worst house in town. At least the roof still held firm.

  David knocked on the door, yelling his standard CIU greeting. His yelling and heavy breathing reminded Cat of a story her great-grandma used to tell her called, ‘The Three Little Pigs.’

  We’ll huff and puff Booster.

  A skinny woman in a tight blue dress with dark circles under her bulging eyes and matted blonde hair opened the door. David introduced them, showing her his wallet picture as if the badge around his neck wasn’t enough. But the girl looked like she didn’t understand him, so Cat tried.

  “Where’s Booster?” The woman pursed her lips and turned her head away from Cat. When the woman didn’t respond, Cat went to work. “I was hoping you’d do that.” Cat pushed through the door, slamming the woman against the dirty yellow wall behind her.

  Cat grabbed a dagger from her hair and put the sharp golden point to the woman’s throat. “Wait, wait, wait.” The woman put her hands up. Her eyes opened even wider.

  “Oh, now you understand English?” David said from behind Cat, irritation in his voice. He followed them both in through the door. “If you tell us what we need to know, she won’t hurt you,” his thumb flicked at Cat.

  Okay good cop, bad cop it is.

  Cat gave the woman an evil, sadistic smile. Her eyes were pleading for her to say no, so she could make her. “He’s in the room. Don’t hurt me,” the woman yelled unnecessarily.

  “She tipped him off,” Cat heard a shuffling in the back room of the house.

  “Seriously,” David grunted storming off toward the sound.

  Cat punched the woman right in the middle of both eyes. Her limp body crumbled to the floor, “If he gets away I’m going to make your life hell,” Cat said to her unconscious body as David slammed his shoulder into the back door, forcing the rickety thing open.

  Cat joined David in the room when she heard him groan. The room was full of used needles with sharp broken edges dripping with crimson liquid. Some of that fluid was splattered on the walls.

  When she saw the three half-naked people tied to chairs, bruised and poked full of holes the room looked like a haunted house. The two women and one guy looked like they had been through a dryer with a bunch of rocks and needles.

  What kind of monster could do this?

  The guy slowly lifted his head. His long brown hair was a rat’s nest covering his face. “Help,” was the only thing the man seemed to have the strength to say.
His groggy voice faded as his head drooped back down.

  David yelled her name which pulled Cat out of her shock, “Cat!” She shook her head to focus and saw David at the window next to the bed in the corner.

  He was holding Booster’s leg halfway through the window as he dodged Booster’s fireballs. The orange balls exploded when they hit the walls, barely missing him. David wouldn’t be able to hold him much longer.

  She still had a dagger in her hand. With her head tilted down and a sadistic grin she thought wickedly, This is going to be fun. David knew that look, so he scooted his hands lower and grabbed Booster’s feet.

  That was all the go ahead she needed. She flung her golden blade through the air at Booster’s ankle, efficiently cutting through his myelin sheath, rendering him unable to run away. Cat loved the sweet sound of pain as she hit her mark.

  ***

  Booster yelled in pain from outside the window, “You stupid Natural!” He knew who cut him. Only Cat had enough balls to do that kind of thing to him. The last time a CIU agent tried to hurt him, they had mysteriously disappeared. So, they were usually cautious around him.

  ***

  “Nice to see you, too,” Cat retorted, smiling when David let go so he’d crash onto the gravel outside.

  “All hell! Why did they send you two?” Booster cried out, landing hard on the yellow grass outside and threatening to have her badge for throwing a dagger at him.

  Cat left David to bag and tag Booster, so she could get the witness she hit. She heard David calling their situation in, “Dispatch…” Cat didn’t stay to listen to everything.

  As she turned the corner to grab the woman, a sick feeling in her belly made her stop. Her skin crawled as if someone was watching her. She unclipped her gun holster, letting her hand hover over the cold metal just in case. With a sharp twist, she pulled out her gun and swung the point to the floor where she left the woman.

  What the hell? The woman had escaped? Cat had hit her hard enough to blacken both her eyes she should have been knocked out for a good twenty minutes at least.

  “Dang,” Cat hit the wall denting the surface, “That can’t be good,” Cat whispered, a disturbing feeling hitting the pit of her stomach.

  I have a feeling I’ll be seeing her again.

  Thirteen

  The people that were bound were on the growing list of missing people. It was enough to get the whole department out to Booster’s house. Cat knew they looked familiar.

  “Told you so Dee.” They had bet on whether the people were druggies that double-crossed Booster, which was David’s assumption. Cat’s guess was they were victims that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  “Looks like the witch has done the deed again,” a gray and green suited police officer pretended to whisper to his colleagues to spike a reaction in Cat. Unnaturals were hated, so he might as well have called her a dirty whore or ugly worm. They all meant the same thing to a Natural.

  Cat knew he didn’t really know she was an Unnatural but hearing him say those things made her blood boil. Ignorant Naturals at their best.

  She tried not to react, but her breathing increased as she pushed the thick breath out of her nose, “So that must be why I get to go home to electricity.” She put her finger to her chin for a more dramatic effect, “Oh, wait. No, that’s because I get things done and get paid the big bucks. Isn’t that right, David?” Her finger ran along the muscle of his shoulders. It’s time for us to be petty.

  David turned around from a conversation with someone else, intrigued like a long-lost lover rekindling their passion, he devoured her with his eyes, “Sure is. The electricity works well too. We use a heating lamp and a massage chair and watch porn as she rides me.” David grabbed her by the waist with a smug look directed at the cop. Cat only smiled, loving the angry look on the cop’s face.

  The room erupted in, oohhs. What David had said was the ultimate trifecta. Because electricity was scarce, people had come up with sex goals to accomplish when they got ‘rich.’ Which usually never happened. People might do one of those in their lifetime, but not all three.

  Cat leaned into David, going against her usual brother type relationship, but this particular officer had been giving her hell ever since she turned him down. Now, whenever they were in the same room together, he tried to make her feel like dirt. This is when having a trustworthy partner came in handy.

  Cat’s mouth quirked up at the edges, she would never forget the way the cop’s mouth dropped open and his forehead turned red. No one had ever said no to Brad Fetcher. His father had a lot of connections in the police force considering he was the chief.

  If she were a shallow creep like him, she would have gladly said yes. It just so happened she was not. He got everything handed to him in a silver spoon, so he definitely wasn’t her type. She wanted a man that was strong as she was and had to fight for what he wanted in life.

  Cat didn’t say anything, and she let David grab her by the waist and slyly rubbed against him to make Brad angry. The spoiled look on Brad’s face was enough for her. She gracefully moved away from David letting her hand graze along his chest.

  And the Oscar goes to Cat, a fake audience in her head applauded. She had to stop herself from waving like an idiot.

  The Chief’s ears must have been ringing because he walked in and stormed around like always. His blonde hair was greased back, and his stern, sharp features demanded attention. He was semi-attractive, like his son, but his brown eyes had specks of gold that gave away a softer nature than his son’s.

  “Spurlock! Outside, now!” he ordered. His small potbelly, which he hid well with expensive suits, swung towards the door.

  Oooh, he used my last name, he must be mad. “Yes sir,” she said, following him. She heard Brad snicker to his partner. I swear I’m going to beat the hell out of him and record him screaming like a girl. Then, show it to all his friends.

  Stepping outside felt great on Cat’s skin. She loved the way the sun soaked into her pores making her feel better. “Chief if this is about Booster, I-”

  “I don’t care about that worm, this is about you leaving. David put in for time off for you,” he said with a cold, distant look. Cat couldn’t recollect if he had ever smiled. So, the look didn’t bother her.

  “I have business out of town, sir. I’ll only be gone for a week at most.” Cat tried to explain, but the chief had the same blank look and distant brown eyes he wore when he wasn’t listening.

  “No. Not going to happen. We won’t survive without you. Cat you are the only Natural I know that can keep up with strong Unnaturals.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You wouldn’t want to see the town go to the crapper, would you?”

  “Sir, it’s a week, not forever. If that bit is true, why don’t you hire Unnaturals to catch other Unnaturals? Then I could-” He interrupted Cat again. Taking his hand off her like her words were actual flames burning him.

  “You can’t be serious. I wouldn’t hire a filthy Unnatural. They belong in cages, not at my side in a fight.” His tone was bitter and husky. She could tell he meant every word, and it was like rapid punches to her gut.

  Seriously, you’re an ungrateful slug.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way sir, but I’m going. If you don’t like it, fire me.” She put her hands on her hips and let her tone reek of loathing. He grunted at her.

  Just then, David walked up beside her, “Cat, can I speak with you?”

  She was in a staring contest with the chief, waiting for him to back down. And he did. He took a step back and addressed David, “She’s excused.” He turned to her, “I’ll expect you back in a week.” With that he walked away, his plump body extremely rigid. She wouldn’t be surprised if smoke came from his ears.

  “Do you have a death wish? You looked like you were about to fight the chief,” David exclaimed, putting his hand on her shoulder and shaking her lightly.

  “That’s because I was,” she said finally, looking away from
the chief and into David’s eyes. Those hazel orbs had been her steady rock. She marveled how they were able to calm her. She smiled at her friend.

  “You can’t go around beating up the law. He is the only reason you get away with half the stuff you do. If you get fired-” Cat interrupted him.

  “Then, I would start my own investigation unit,” she said, flaring her nostrils in anger. Damn stupid blindsided Natural. David was going to say something when a massive amount of red and green leaves fell from the tree above them.

  Hurry Cat, your window is closing. The Goddess’s voice chimed in her ears. The Goddess has told her that talking telepathically with her was forbidden, so her voice startled Cat.

  I know… I’m trying back off, Cat grunted at the Goddess. She didn’t mean for her to hear the last part, but when she saw a vision of tons of sunken, angry eyes eating her alive, Cat knew she had heard. “Aaah!” Cat screamed, not expecting that. “Alright, I get it.”

  David, thinking she was talking to him continued, “Okay. As long as you control that temper, you will be fine. He wasn’t kidding when he said the town needed you.”

  Cat blinked at him, trying to catch up. A Natural wouldn’t be talking to the Gods. “I’ll try, Dee.”

  He smiled at her, letting his eyebrows soften. “That’s all a partner can ask for. Are you leaving for the airport?”

  “Yeah, not sure I’m going to make it, though,” she said, disappointment making her shoulders droop a little. She took a few steps toward her car down the road.

  “Yeah, you will. I got my cousin to set the alarm off if you ended up staying here too long. That should buy you time. They’ll figure it is fake soon, though,” David said, hitting her with his shoulder as he walked beside her.

  She perked up and gave him a big smile, “When?”

  He looked at his watch, “He should be doing it any minute now. That gives you an extra thirty minutes. Give or take a few minutes. And before you ask, I already booked you on the flight,” he handed her the blue flight ticket.