Lucifer’s Wake Read online

  “That’s strange,” Micah said as they pulled into his brother’s driveway. “I thought both of them worked today. The van is in the driveway.”

  It was strange indeed, and when they stepped inside of the house, Kyle wheeled in with a big smile on his face.

  “You guys are back. We were going to call you but didn’t know what you were into at the moment.”

  “Um—why are you here?” Micah asked his brother. Just then, Rachel also appeared in front of them.

  “Hi, guys,” she said with a bubbly expression. She nudged Kyle. “Did you ask them?”

  “No. They just got inside,” he nudged back.

  Raine snickered. Micah frowned. “Will one of you tell us what’s going on?”

  “We want to help,” Rachel said with a grimace at the answer.

  “Like really help,” Kyle said. “We want to help.”

  “Can we help?”

  “Help with what!” Micah looked from them to Raine, who cleared her throat.

  “I think they want to help with the case, Micah,” she whispered loudly.

  “Ha!” he laughed. “You guys aren’t serious, right?”

  Both of them gave him cheesy, pleading grins. He was about to say ‘no’, when Raine blurted out. “Of course, you can. We’re going to need all of the help we can get.”

  “Wait a minute,” Micah started to protest, but Raine grabbed his arm.

  “We really could use their help, and this isn’t an official investigation yet.”

  “And we don’t know how dangerous this is going to be,” he finished protesting. “Someone might have been trying to kill Mya, Greg was cheating on her, and she was involved in something shady called “the book club” which no one knew about.”

  “Wow, you guys have been busy,” Rachel said.

  “Fill us in,” Kyle rubbed his hands together. Raine obliged him, and after she was done, they were practically bouncing in excitement. Micah shook his head.

  “I don’t know about this.”

  “How about,” Raine said. “Rachel and I go to St. Paul, and we’ll talk to the person behind this card while you boys go through the USBs and videos. Maybe, there is something in there about ‘the book club’.”

  “I like it,” Kyle said. “And we can go to my office at the university. We’ve got better equipment there to do research.”

  “Sounds good,” Rachel said. They all turned to Micah who shrugged.

  “Well, since I’m outnumbered….”

  Chapter Four

  “So, you and Micah—where’s this going?”

  Rachel sped down the highway at an alarming rate for a woman who works with kids. Raine held her phone GPS with her hand resting on her knee.

  “This is going slowly,” Raine said as she looked out of the window. “I mean, I’ve been engaged before, and I’m a little afraid of taking that step with another person who is in a risk-oriented job. It’s not fun having to worry about him.”

  “Yeah, well, it doesn’t get any easier when you’re married, and I assume that may be on the table?”

  “You’re fishing, and there is nothing to catch. Micah and I just love each other. We’re enjoying that for now.”

  “Okay. I’ll be good,” Rachel said. “It breaks my heart to think that Mya’s husband cheated on her though. I can understand that he probably wasn’t being fulfilled enough sexually in the relationship though.”

  “That’s not an excuse to cheat,” Raine pointed out.

  “True,” Rachel agreed, “there is never a good reason, but I can put myself in his shoes. Because Mya wasn’t a mom, and she had these passions and desires to make the world a better place, she kinda left her husband out of the equation. Of course, cheating is gonna present itself.”

  Raine didn’t want to think about that part. She knew where Rachel was coming from, but it still frustrated her. Though everyone loved Mya, she was far from perfect. Something in her everyday hero lifestyle is what cause her accident. They were going to find what that was, and maybe, sooner than they thought.

  “What is this place?” Rachel asked as they pulled into a driveway and followed it off the main road they were on. The house was beautiful and big with a sign on the column on the porch that said ‘Havenrest’.

  “I’m not totally sure,” Raine said.

  They parked and got out of the car. Two women were sitting on the porch watching them as she approached. Both of them didn’t look like they felt like talking to the strangers.

  “I think I’ll let you take the lead on this,” Rachel said. Raine snorted a laugh as she stepped onto the first step.

  “Hello, ladies,” Raine greeted. The first thing that caught Raine’s eye was that both of them started to grab a part of their body to shield it. One held both arms against her ribs, and the other against her neck. Both were skinny, but one was sporting a newly developing baby bump. Both looked like that had a lot of scares. They weren’t related. Raine looked at the house and understood. She turned back to the women. “Ladies, I was wondering if you can point me to the woman running the house.”

  “Who are you?” The woman closest to her.

  “We’re friends of Mya,” Raine said. She watched their countenance change. The other lady leaned forward.

  “We ain’t seen Mya all week. She usually stops by to say hi at least. Where is she?”

  “Did she come with you?”

  Raine offered a sympathetic smile. They obviously didn’t know, and she wasn’t the one to tell them. “She’s not with us this time, but can we speak to whoever is in charge?”

  “That’d be Ms. Macy. We’ll get her.” They both got up and went inside of the house. Rachel questioned Raine with a look.

  “This is a home for battered and abused women,” Raine explained. “Something that Mya would be on board helping.”

  The door opened again, and a young woman appeared. She had a rag and a wrench in her hands as she peered at them through dark eyes. “Mya wouldn’t send people here without letting us know first.” The words were not threatening, but definitely blunt. Raine nodded.

  “You’re right. Mya didn’t send us. Did you know she was in an accident?” The woman stood up straight with wide eyes. Raine quickly continued. “She’s not dead, but she is in a coma.”

  Ms. Macy sat down on the porch steps and set down the wrench and rag. “I didn’t know. We don’t have TV, and we have limited internet for the ladies’ safety.” She looked up at them. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Raine, and this is my friend, Rachel,” she said sitting down next to Macy. “We’re just wanting to ask some questions that might help understand about the accident.”

  “Questions? That doesn’t make it seem like this was an accident. Why aren’t the police here?”

  “The police don’t know everything about Mya, and they don’t think that someone could want to hurt her.” Raine turned to face her fully. “I’m just trying to make sure if someone did hurt her that they get caught. I know that you want her safe and sound just as much as everyone in the state does.”

  Macy nodded. “Good point. What questions?” Raine pulled out the envelop and card that she had found at Mya’s house. Macy barely glanced at it before she closed her eyes and threw the towel down on the floor. “La’Trena. We call her L.A. for short. I know her handwriting anywhere, and she’s the only one with the nerve to mail something from here.”

  “She’s one of the women here?” Rachel asked.

  “Was,” Macy said. “She came to us one night five months ago looking for shelter. She had a black eye, busted lip, and a sprained ankle. Figured out that she was mixed up with a boyfriend who was bad news—drug deal or something. We took her in, and Mya was the only one that L.A. would actually talk to. Mya came to talk to the women as a group and encourage them. There was no politics or marketing. She came alone, and they saw she was real. She loved them all, but L.A. was only nineteen, and something about her just took Mya by the heart.”

  �
��You said she was here,” Rachel asked. “What happened?”

  Macy looked around to make sure no one else was listening. “She left one day. Went back to that boyfriend. We have strict rules here, and I don’t think she liked them. Mya found her walking the streets and took her out to eat—asked her what the hell she was doing. L.A. gave an award-winning performance, but when they left the restaurant, the boyfriend was waiting. L.A. and her boyfriend robbed Mya. Right then and there.” Macy shook her head. “If I was Mya, I would have been pissed. I would have called the police. But she didn’t. She didn’t want them to be involved.”

  “So, what does this card mean then,” Raine handed it to her. “She said she’s sorry.”

  “It means that L.A. got into some trouble, and Mya either decided to try to help her like always, or she gave up.”

  “She doesn’t seem like the type to give up—ever,” Rachel said. Macy stood up.

  “Exactly. Listen, if you want answers. You need to find L.A. But you’ll probably find that boyfriend of hers, too.”

  “Any ideas where to start looking?”

  “Mya mentioned meeting L.A. at some apartment complex. I’ll write it down for you.”

  Macy disappeared into the house, and Rachel clapped silently. “This is exciting. We’ve got a lead and a suspect. We’re good.”

  Raine laughed. “Hold your horses,” she patted her friend’s back. “I’d rather not go looking for her now that it’s getting late in the evening. Let’s see if the guys found anything and compare notes.”

  Micah counted twelve. Twelve students who came over to talk to Professor Duscane when they saw him wheeling across the campus from his car, and that was only in the past ten minutes. Granted, the reason that it was taking so long to get to the building they were going to was because they were constantly being stopped by students.

  “Sorry,” Kyle said again. “It’s easy to be recognized when you’re in a wheelchair.”

  “I think it’s because you’re like freaking superman to these kids. That last guy would have bottled up your sweat if he could.”

  “I think that may be a bit extreme, brother. Come on. We’re going this way.” Micah followed him through the walkways and to the building where he had his office.

  “You still love doing this? You love teaching still?”

  Kyle nodded. “Yeah. It’s funny that if I could have had my choice, I would be detective by now. Maybe you and I would be working together.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Micah said. “I would probably be still trying to figure out where my life was going.”

  “Maybe you would have ended up with Mya?” Micah wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Kyle shook his head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Raine is amazing, and I think that she is perfect for you.”

  “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it,” Micah said. “Mya. It’s just that I didn’t think I’d be good for anyone. Raine snuck in there.”

  “You gonna pop the question soon?” Micah looked at him with a horrified look. Kyle shrugged. “Hey, you’re not getting younger, and like I said, she’s pretty perfect for you.”

  “Yeah—well—she is.”

  Kyle stopped moving. “You’ve got a ring, don’t you!”

  “Quiet!” Micah hissed.

  “Why? No one around here knows her,” Kyle said. He pumped his fist in the air. “My brother is going to pop the question. When? How? Details!”

  “I don’t know the details. So…yeah. I have a ring, but I’m waiting for the right time. So, you need to keep your excitement down.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Kyle said with some disappointment. He nodded ahead of them. “Here’s my office.”

  They went in and closed the door. Micah dumped the tapes he had been carrying on the table. The office was not just an office, but a small lab.

  “I hold some of my smaller classes in here,” Kyle said. “We’ve got some great equipment including that HD plasma screen right there. We can play the tapes on there.”

  “Just make sure that the volume is down. I’m not exactly sure what is on these.”

  They played the first one. After watching for a few minutes, Kyle frowned. “I thought you said that these were showing that he was cheating on Mya. It looks like just security camera footage through the house.”

  “Maybe we should fast forward.” But as they went through the video, Micah realized Kyle was right. It was just surveillance. They put in the second tape. Nothing but everyday life flashed on the screen from various angles of the house. Micah started the third tape. It started out the same.

  “Maybe Brooke was mistaken.” He went to remove the tape when Kyle waved his hand at the television.

  “Stop! Look!”

  On the screen, it did show Greg in the living room with another woman. She was older. Dressed in a business suit and heels. As they sat on the couch, she placed some papers on the table in front of them. Then her hand wondered onto his knee. Greg grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Then, he took a pen and signed the papers on the table. Then they both stood up and walked out of the camera view.

  “I wish we could get a view of those papers,” Micah said.

  “I can take a screen shot of it. Might be able to get something,” Kyle said. Greg and the woman came back on the screen. Both were dressed. She, though, had a wad of cash in her hand. They shook hands, and she grabbed the papers before both left again.

  “So, what do we think?” Micah asked. “We can’t say that he was cheating on her. Nothing happened.”

  “There are very few reasons to have a woman who isn’t your wife in your living room, and you give her money—cash.”

  “He didn’t seem like that guy,” Micah said. “Of course, they never do. It’s just—how could someone do this to Mya? Mya.”

  “Mya wasn’t perfect, Micah. Usually, if there is cheating then there is something going on with both people. But like you said, we don’t really know. Let’s keep watching.”

  The other tapes had most of the same footage, and periodically, there were appearances by the same woman. Again, there was an exchange of money and papers that were signed. When they had finished the last tape, Micah sat back.

  “Let’s try to take a look at the shot of the papers.” As they were trying to zoom into n the papers, Micah’s phone rang. “The number is local. I think it’s Greg.”

  Kyle laughed. “He’s probably calling about the fact that you broke into his safe.”

  Micah groaned. “Crap. Forgot about that.” He answered the phone and put in on speaker. “This is Micah.”

  “What the hell did you do!” It was definitely Greg. “You broke into my safe! Are you working for them! I can’t believe I trusted you!”

  “Hold on!” Micah yelled into the phone to stop him. “I didn’t rob you. I have all the tapes here. We met Brooke at the house.”

  “Brooke! Brooke was there! Oh, no. Oh, no. Don’t tell me that she took anything. Did she?”

  Micah looked at Kyle who was listening intently. “Greg, she said that you were cheating on Mya.”

  There was silence on the phone for a few seconds. “That bitch. Did she take the tape?”

  “Yes, she did. We have the oth…”

  Greg’s panicked voice echoed over the phone. He was out of breath like he was walking somewhere fast. “No! I need to get to her before she does something with it. I gotta go.”

  “Greg, wait. Let us…”

  “You’ve done enough!” He yelled. The phone line clicked. Micah shook his head and blew out a deep breath. Kyle bit his lip.

  “Well, if that wasn’t enough for you. I think we’ve figured out what those papers are. I can just make out the words.”

  Micah leaned over to see what Kyle was looking at on his computer screen. They were a little blurry, but he could make them out. Diana L. Richter; Private Investigator.

  “He hired a P.I. But—why?” Kyle said.

  “Equally as important; why did Brooke say that he was
cheating, and what the hell was on that tape.”

  Chapter Five

  “Theory,” Kyle said as he scooped shrimp fired rice onto his plate. “Mya pursued this girl L.A., and her boyfriend was not happy about it. He found out where she lived and tampered with her car.”

  “Both of them are definitely people we need to talk to about this,” Raine said. “Though I find it hard to believe that this girl, who Mya has poured her heart and soul into, would not feel any sort of way about how she treated her. There has to be something more there.”

  “And we tried to get a hold of Greg again, but he isn’t answering his phone,” Micah said. “That’s what I’m worried about. He hired a private investigator for something. Maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with Mya at all, but him.”

  “Too many secrets,” Rachel groaned as she sat back in her chair. Her fork twisted the lo mein noodles until a giant blanket surrounded the utensil. “I feel bad that I just want it to be an accident. I guess the more that you dig into people’s lives, you find that everybody’s life is infinitely more complicated.”

  “Everybody has that one closet that is just full of junk,” Raine says. “The trick is deciding what needs to be thrown away and what needs to be stored.”

  They were all silent for a moment. Micah felt a heaviness on his heart. If only Mya could talk. She wasn’t there to defend herself or tell her side of the story. From what it seemed, she had given everything to the world, and nothing was given back to her; especially, the one thing that she wanted. A child.

  “You were quiet for the rest of the meal.” Raine closed the door to the bedroom behind her. Micah fell onto the bed and groaned.

  “I don’t know why we’re up here doing this?” He said turning onto his back. “This shouldn’t be the way you meet my family.”

  Raine unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off before walking over to him with bare feet. Micah laughed as she pulled his shirt off and started unbuckling his pants. “Come on,” she urged. “These off, too.”