woman had looked in life. The police detective was right, this had not been a pleasant death.
The body was black, but not in skin tone, burned, charred. From the neck down, Kara could make out clothing, but barely. It was as if whatever the woman had been wearing melted into her skin before being burned even further, almost beyond possible recognition as clothing. What hair was left was sparse and frizzled. There was no way to identify the color.
And the smell. It was horrid beyond imagination.
Kara’s eyes filled again — the smell was stronger here, but it was more than that. She was trying to imagine the blackened thing lying in front of her filled with life, dancing at a club or kicking ass during fight training. She couldn’t. The charred corpse could never have been as alive as her sister, could it?
“What…killed her?” The words spilled out of Kara.
The detective stepped forward, his gaze on the still sheet-covered part of the corpse. “We don’t know. We suspect some kind of electric shock, maybe lightning, but there’s no entrance point. There are some broken bones, but the coroner says that could just be from the body being flung into something like a wall when it got the jolt.
“…Had a case where a boy got flung twenty feet—” Risk took a step forward, cutting the detective’s monologue off short. Poulson tightened his jaw, then continued, “I know it’s probably impossible to tell, but we have to ask. Is this your sister?”
Kara stared at the body for another minute before replying. “Can, can I touch her?”
The detective’s eyebrows shot up, his surprise darting through his eyes.
Kara didn’t know why she needed to touch the body, but somehow she knew it was the only way she’d know for sure. Was that…Kelly?
With a nod, Poulson gave his permission.
Kara curled her fingernails into her palm, bit her lip under the mask, then inched forward away from Risk and toward the body.
Risk placed a hand on each side of her waist, stopping her. “There are other ways. You don’t have to do this.”
He was right. Even as incinerated as the body was, it still had to offer DNA evidence. Kara was no forensics expert, and she knew that had to be a possibility, but she would have to wait for that. She knew she would never accept the truth, not unless she found out for herself, now.
One hand pressed to her mouth to help block the smell the mask couldn’t disguise, she stepped away from Risk and placed her other hand on the dead woman’s blackened forehead.
Nothing. Then memories flooded her. She was in someone’s head — the woman’s? She was sitting at a computer, worried, scared, and Kelly was there taking notes in the notebook Kara had found in the basement. Someone was missing — they would find them — the woman trusted Kelly. Had no one else to trust. Then she was alone — calm, laying out a statue, bowl and stones — all similar to the items Kara had found in Kelly’s plastic tub — then she was somewhere new. It was smoky and dark. A knife pressed against her throat, and someone whispered roughly in her ear. Terror sliced into her, cutting off her voice, leaving her defenseless.
Kara scrambled to pull herself from the vision, to save what she had learned. The woman knew Kelly — had been somewhere Kara had been before. Kara clung to the thought, where?
Just as she felt the answer was within her grasp, she sank back in — smells, sights and sensations warring for her notice. A dank stench surrounded her; pain burned and twisted inside her and light exploded from behind her eyes. Then finally, when she knew she could stand no more, a scream ripped through her.
Breath heaving, Kara realized someone had yanked her backward, breaking her contact with the charred body that used to be a person — a person someone loved surely, but not Kelly.
Thank God. It wasn’t Kelly.
Kara glanced down at her fingers then clasped them in her other hand and pressed them tightly against her chest.
“What happened?” Risk grasped her shoulders so tightly his fingers dug into her flesh. Startled, she looked up at him.
He held her at arm’s length, staring into her eyes, his simmering with an emotion she couldn’t quite peg — anger, concern, what?
Poulson stepped toward them with brows lowered. A low growl rumbled from Risk’s chest and he pulled her to his side, his arm draped around her. To Kara’s surprise, she realized she was shaking.
“Are you all right?” the detective asked, bending to peer at her, crushed as she was against Risk.
Kara closed her eyes, grateful she hadn’t passed out. That was becoming an annoying habit lately. She had to be strong — Kelly was still out there. Kara had to find her.
She opened her eyes and placed a hand on Risk’s chest to push herself away. Once she was standing under her own power again, she looked at all three men. “Fine. I’m fine.” She squeezed the words out of her constricted throat.
Three pairs of eyes stared back at her.
Another rumble started in Risk’s throat and he reached for her again.
“No, really. I’m fine.” She held out one hand, palm out. “Just a bit overwrought. That’s all.” She glanced at the technician, shoving her shaking hands into her jean pockets. “That’s normal, right?”
“Sure it is. I’d be worried if this—” He glanced behind him and, seeming startled to find the body still there, tugged the white sheet over it, covering the corpse from their view. “I’d be worried if something like this didn’t upset you. You’re doing fine.”
Kara smiled, grateful for the support, although she knew what she had just experienced wasn’t normal — not in any way.
“What happened?” Risk asked as soon as they were both belted into his Jeep.
“Nothing. Just like I said, I was overwrought.” Kara ran her fingers up and down the seat strap.
“It wasn’t your sister?”
Kara sucked her lower lip into her mouth, held it there between her teeth. Her eyes huge, she shook her head. “No. Not Kelly.”
Risk stared at her for a second. She was lying. Something had happened when she’d touched that body. Something that scared her, but if she said it wasn’t her sister, he believed her. She wouldn’t be able to hide the emotion that revelation would have brought with it.
He put the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot. He was getting closer. He could feel it. And Kara’s sister was still out there. He still had a chance to find her, for himself and…he glanced at Kara’s petite form…Kara.
The thought sneaked up on him. But him first, he corrected. He had to stick with his plan. He would save Kara’s sister, but for himself. If it saved Kara from a loss as well, that didn’t really matter.
He glanced at her again. Her hands lay limply on her lap.
Risk stared at her pale hands, at the fine bones and delicate fingers. She was tiny — how would she defend herself against Lusse once he’d secured his freedom and left?
She’d have her sister, he reminded himself. If the two of them could free him, they could surely defend themselves, right?
“What happened to her?” she asked, her voice shaking.
Risk glanced up at her wide eyes, startled by her question.
“That woman.” She jerked her head over her shoulder, toward the building they had just left. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, and he didn’t. He’d never seen a corpse like the one lying under that sheet. A witch, he guessed. He couldn’t be sure, not with her life force missing, but there were hints. A lingering scent of power separate from whatever had killed her.
“Detective Poulson…he said, lightning. Do you think…?” She glanced up, her blue eyes filled with hope.
Risk balled his fists. Would lying to her help? No. It was time his little witch learned the truth — or most of
