Catastrophe by Liz Schulte Read Free Book Online Page A

need to solve the case. I’m just trying to do my job.”
    He looked over at me. “I’ll do it—but don’t screw me on this. Keep me in the loop. Leilah kind of terrifies me.”
    Well, she was a dragon. “She’s kind of awesome.”
    “Sure, sure. She could transform into her actual form and swallow us whole if we displease her, but yeah, she’s awesome.”
    I laughed. “What do you know about the rest of them?”
    “Nothing. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you—again swallowing me whole. The thing about the council is they don’t want to be known or seen. I have personally only met one member that I know of. I mean, it is possible I have met others and not known it. The council is everywhere. Doesn’t it freak you out?”
    I rolled my eyes. “Not even a little. I hate secrets. Wouldn’t life be easier without them?”
    “I think we’re going to get along just fine.” Amos smiled at me.

Chapter 5
     
     
    Back at the hotel, I spread out the contents of all of the duffel bags, making sure they were completely empty. After I tossed the clothing to the side, all that was left were a few random weapons, a city map, and a completely empty notebook. If they ever had anything worth looking at, it was long gone. And since each of them ended up dead, I was willing to bet they had uncovered something. Why else would kill them and risk more bounty hunters being sent down?
    I shook my head and stuffed everything back in the bags. Next I laid the pictures back out and looked closer at each of them. Something about the body parts left behind in the cemetery had been bugging me, but I couldn’t quite place what it was. Each scene had completely different pieces. Some overlapped, but not that much. The internal organs were always gone, but sometimes an arm or a leg would be left. Other times a finger or ear or hunk of skin. It appeared random…all except one thing. I ran my finger over each of the pictures. Nearly all the pieces left behind were in some way marked. Whether it was a piercing or a tattoo, the piece left had some sort of identifying piece to it.
    I looked at the ghoul’s pinkie finger lying on the desk in my room. One of the fingers at the cemetery had a tattoo, and the other one that was missing the tip was also tattooed, but this one appeared normal. There was only one way to find out. I picked up my knife and sliced down the center of the finger, holding my breath as I peeled away the skin. It didn’t take long to spot the metal plate at the base of the finger. I leaned back in my chair. Interesting.
    The killer was leaving behind anything man-made.
    There was a knock on my door. I grabbed the finger and the pictures and tossed them into the room safe. I never put out the “Do not disturb” sign. At least in the Abyss hotels, they knew better than to disturb you. I cracked open the door. “What do you want?” I growled.
    Amos stood on the other side. “You need to work on your door-answering skills,” he said.
    I opened the door to let him in, hanging the sign. “I don’t need humans poking around in my business,” I said. “Better to scare them off. Why are you back so soon? What did you find?”
    “Nothing yet, but there’s a crime scene,” he said. “It’s just down the road from here. I couldn’t get close enough to see, but I heard people talking. They said it looked like an animal attack. I thought you’d want to know while it’s still fresh and there is something to see.”
    Fresh was good. It could still have a scent on it. I took the ID and credit cards Sy had given to me and slipped them into my back pocket. Now was as good as any time to start playing human. “You are absolutely right.” I was out the door and headed down the hall before Amos caught up.
    “Want me to come with you?” he asked hopefully.
    “Did you work with the other bounty hunters who came down here?”
    “Not really,” he said. “I didn’t even know they were here until after the bodies were