Are you sure it was Miguel? Brett asked.
Of course Im sure! Derby said indignantly. Im old, but Im not senile, at least not yet! And my eyesight is probably as good as yours, especially when I was standing as close to him as I am to you.
Im sorry, Brett said. What did he say?
Well, he didnt, Derby told him. Ive never seen anyone act so strangely in my life. He just stood there, as if he was completely unaware of me. Like...like a zombie.
Like a zombie, Diego repeated.
Did he shuffle when he walked? Was his flesh rotting off? Brett asked.
Dont be ridiculous! Derby said indignantly. Im not a fool, and youve seen too many movies. He just wasnt right. It was as if he didnt even know I was there, that I was talking to him. Id say he totally ignored me, but I dont think he really even saw me. It was weird. I figured maybe he was heading home, except he didnt head for the front door. I thought maybe he was going around to the side door, that he wasnt dead and the papers had had it all wrong. I figured he could be on some kind of medication that was making him spacey. Anyway, I figured hed get home and his wife could deal with him. Rocko and I, we just kept walking.
Thank you, Mr. Derby, thank you very much, Brett said, but some of his skepticism must have been evident.
Derby wagged a finger at him. Listen, Mr. Whatever Special Agent, Im telling you Gods truth. Im as sane as you are, and Im not in the habit of seeing zombies around every corner. I saw Miguel Gomez, and he was not himself, not to mention the fact that someone who was supposedly burned to ashes would have a hard time coming back as a zombie.
I agree with you completely, sir, Brett assured him. And I thank you for your help. I would like to ask you, though, not to speak with the media.
Not a problem, Derby said. Well, not for me, but I did tell my wife when she was headed to bingo, so Im not sure who else knows that I saw Miguel by now. If you have any more questions, I live catty-corner across the street.
Brett thanked him again and looked at Diego.
Miguel Gomez is alive after all, Diego said.
And he killed his wife? Brett said, puzzled. I just cant believe that Miguel Gomez would have killed the woman he loved so much.
Zombies kill anyone, Diego said lightly.
Brett looked at his partner.
Sorry, Diego said. But you know its going to hit the news. By now everyone at bingo knows that one way or another, Miguel came back from the dead, and if they dont know by now that his wifes been killed, they will soon. Ill go try a few more houses, find out if anyone else saw Miguel.
* * *
Being in the water with Cocoa was an incredible high. Lara couldnt remember when shed felt quite so exhilarated. Shed done flipper shakes, dancing, dorsal pulls, splashing and more. Now they were playing with toys.
First she threw balls and rings. Then Rick told her that Cocoa was great at diving and finding things by sight, so they often sent her down to find anything someone had accidentally dropped.
Guests use their phones and iPads as cameras on the docks and sometimes even on the platforms, he told her. But whatever they drop, Cocoa will find it. Not that your average cell phone still works after a dip in the lagoon, but Cocoa will bring them back up. Here, Ill show you how good she is.
You going to sacrifice your cell phone? she asked skeptically.
No, he assured her. I have some little boxes that sink, same general size as a phone or a small camera. Cocoa has picked up lots of cameras, and a purse or two, as well. Here, Ill show you. Take the box. Drop it, and then twirl your hand like this he demonstrated and say, Cocoa, will you get that for me, please?
Lara did as Rick instructed. Cocoa was great, chattering her pleasure each time she made a retrieval.
Shouldnt I be giving her a fish? Lara asked. Shes done all her tricks, so doesnt she get a reward?
Do you give a dog a treat every time you see it? Or do you let it know how much you care by petting it?
So I should just stroke her?
Yes, give her a nice stroke along the back, and then, when were finished, well give her some fish.
Lara tossed the boxes, first one, and then another. Rick told her to give specific vocal commands, asking Cocoa to get the big box or the little one.
It was amazing the way the dolphin responded.
Shes brilliant! Lara told him.
I agree. Shes my girl, but she sure likes you.
So I actually have a real friend in Miami, Lara thought wryly.
She happily tossed boxes and asked Cocoa to bring them up, and Cocoa kept complying.
Then she went down and came up with something else. It was on the tip of her nose, and she nudged it toward Lara.
Not a box, Lara murmured. Cocoa, what did you find down there?
She accepted the pale sticklike thing Cocoa gave her. She looked at it, confused for several seconds.
Then she screamed and it flew from her hand.
Back into the water.
Shed realized what it was.
A human finger.
2
Brett stood glumly listening to Dr. Phil Kinny explain that Maria had died sometime between ten and twelve the previous night. Shed died quickly, at least; her neck had been cleanly snapped on impact with the old banyan tree.
Didnt it take a lot of strength for someone to toss her that far? Brett asked.
Kinny shrugged. Yeah. But Ive seen people do amazing things under certain circumstances. Adrenaline is something we have yet to fully explain. Ive seen a tiny woman lift a three-hundred-pound man once. It was a kidnapping attempt. He was lying on top of her baby.
But did a zombie do it? Diego asked. Brett glared at him, and Diego shrugged. Hey, Im friends with the cops who were first on-site the night of the latest zombie attack. They told me the guy had bullets in his head and kept moving. Thats pretty incredible.
Incredible, yesbut he did go down, Brett said. Miguel is not a zombie. Someone died in that fire. We assumed it was Miguel, but apparently it wasnt. Because if you try to tell me that ash can reconstitute itself into a zombie, Ill tell you that youre full of crap.
Maybe Miguels ghost is walking around, Kinny said.
Do you really believe that? Brett asked.
No. Besides, to the best of my knowledge, ghosts dont kill anyone. Theyre ethereal, ectoplasm or whatever.
Youre a scientist and a doctorand you believe in ghosts? Brett asked him.
Kinny brushed back his hair, watching as his assistants carefully removed Maria Gomezs body from the banyan tree. Its because Im a scientista doctorthat I said what I said. Energy never dies. Where it goes, we dont know. Im a skeptic with an open mind, hows that? Also, Ive been in rooms with the dead when Ive felt something. Call me a hopeful believer. But in this case Im with you, Brett. Miguel Gomez may well be alive. There wasnt enough left to get DNA. That warehouse burned hotter than hell itself. Everything we have is essentially circumstantial, so who knows?
Bretts phone was vibrating in his jacket pocket. He quickly answered it to discover that it was his supervisor, Special Agent in Charge Marshall. Weve gotten a curious call. I know youre at the Gomez house, but I thought you two might want in on this. A human finger was found at the Sea Life Center. One of the dolphins picked it up.
A finger? Brett said. The population in South Florida had exploded in the past several decades, and with the higher population came a higher crime rate. That meant that far too often bodiesand body partswere found in unexpected places.
He wasnt sure why he and Diego were being called to investigate a finger. Not that a finger was a good thing to find.
You want us to check out a finger? he asked.
Yeah, check it out. With Miguel and now Maria dead, I think the Barillo family is sending out lots of warnings. I want you to find out who that finger belonged to, and I want to know if there are more parts to go with it. Youre scuba certified, so I want you in the water. Ill get dive equipment out to you. You and Diego are on this now, too, and I want you taking lead.
Brett was silent.
Hed wanted in on Miguels case before. Hed felt hed owed the man because hed brought him to the Bureau, and now Maria was dead, too. Now he owed them both.
But his boss wasnt taking him off the case, he reminded himself. He could still help find them justice. He was just taking on another case, too.
He wasnt sure about how a finger in the water was connected with Barillo, Miguel and the dead woman in the banyan tree, but he was going to find out. He had worked with dive units before, so he supposed it was a good call.
Dr. Kinny, well see your full report later, he told the ME. Right now we need to go.
Diego arched a brow at him.
Were going diving, my friend, Brett said.
Diego looked surprised, but he only shrugged and said, Where you lead, I follow. Only cause Im paid to, of course.
Hey, when youre lead, I follow, Brett reminded him.
And you make a very good follower, too, Diego said with a grin. Now lead on. Ill follow.
* * *
Its a big city, Meg told Lara over the phone. Miami is a major metropolis, and that means there are murders. Its terrible and, I admit, pretty weird that a dolphin gave you a human finger, but sad to say, things like that happen.
Lara had called Meg as soon as she could. She was amazed by how quickly after her first hysterical reaction everything had changed. She had calmed down in just a couple of minutes and managed quite well, she thought.
Rick had figured out that the object was indeed a human finger at the same time she did. To her relief, she had actually thought to ask Cocoa to go back for the finger before Rick did. Once Cocoa had retrieved it again theyd called the police. Now there were police divers in the lagoon and more cops all over the place.
The finger itself was already on its way to a lab. Sea Life had been closed for the day, and the conversations shed overheard earlier had been surreal. Some of the officers were speculating that the finger was all there was to find, that its removal had been a punishment, a lesson to do better next time, and that the owner was out there somewhere, alive and well, but minus the forefinger of his right hand.
Others were speculating about where the rest of the pieces of the body might be.
And everyone was wondering who had lost his finger and maybe his life.
Somewhere along the line, Lara had realized that she was angry. Whoever had done this deserved to be incarcerated and maybe boiled in oil. She had survived being kidnapped by an insane killer; she wasnt going to be terrified into leaving the new job she loved because of another criminal.
It just wasnt happening, and she had told Meg as much.
Lara, are you okay? Meg asked over the phone. She was at her office in Virginia. It had only been a few months back that she had graduated from the FBI academy at Quantico and become an agenta very special agent, going right from the academy to be part of Adam Harrisons Krewe of Hunters, special units dealing with crimes that crossed the boundary between everyday reality and what could only be called the paranormal. And if it hadnt been for the Krewe Lara wasnt sure that even Meg could have found her where shed been imprisoned in the old gristmill.
Im okay. Im furious that someone killed someone or mutilated him or whatever, and then dumped the remains in our dolphin lagoons. I just called you because...because youre my best friend and an FBI agent. She hesitated. Im just venting. Really.
As she spoke, looking out the window from the second-floor lounge in the small house where the Sea Life staff had their offices, Lara saw that still more law enforcement officials were arriving.
This place is crawling with cops, and I think more have just arrived, Lara said. I think these guys must be FBI. Theyre in suits, she joked.
She realized that if the two men who had just arrived looked up, they would see her. She wasnt sure why, but she felt her face grow flushed.
They really might be FBI, Meg told her. Miami has a large field office. And what with the immigration situation and the drug smuggling, they might be looking for a missing informant or a low-level criminal whos disappeared from their radar.
Lara saw Rick standing by the newcomers and beckoning to her. Ive got to go. Whoever they are, Im guessing the Men in Black want to talk to me.
Hang on a second, Meg said. Matt wants to talk to you. Matt Bosworth was both her partner and her fiancé.
Hey, Matt, Lara said when he took the phone.
Whos there? Can you describe them?
Tall, fit guy who looks Hispanic and another tall, fit dark-haired guy who may or may not be Hispanic.
Most of our guys are fit, Matt said. The Bureau kind of insists on it. And down there, about half the people we work with have dark hair and tons of our agents are Hispanic, Matt said. Whoever they are, Im sure theyll take good care of you. His voice grew more somber. Meg and I can be down by tonight if you want us.
I know, and thank you. She hesitated. The Krewe units came in when something about a situation was unexplainable, otherworldly. Lara had known all her life, throughout their long friendship, that her friend spoke with the dead. At times when shed been with Meg, shed believed she saw ghosts, too. Lara had never known if she really did, or if she somehow saw what Meg saw because she was with her friend. The friend whose talents had been crucial in saving her life.
Sometimes she forgot what it had been likekidnapped and cast into a dark, watery pit. After just a few days shed been on the edge of death; shed been barely able to move when Meg had found her.
But that had been life or death.
While this...
This was no threat to her.
Really, guys. No need for you to get on a plane. Im surrounded by cops with guns. I just called because it was so bizarre and I wanted to talk to my best friend. Trust me, Rick Laramie, the trainer who was with me at the time, was as freaked out as I was at first. But Im fine, honestly. Dont go crazy and turn your lives upside down.
We never go crazy, Matt told her calmly.