Page 6 of The Raven

“Look here,” I said, reaching up to point at the wings but making sure not to touch it. “Raven’s wings are pointed, and their middle tail feathers are longer. And then there’s the beak, crows’ beaks are straight, ravens have a slight curve.”

Nick chuckled. “I wouldn’t have guessed you were an ornithologist, boss.”

“I’m not. I just happen to know a lot about ravens.”

“Well, crow or raven, why do you think they drew a bird?”

The image of Raven Blackwood flashed in my mind. Not when she was covered in blood and I was pumping her chest, desperate to bring her back. No, the image was of her laughing, flicking her long black hair over one shoulder, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

If only that was the image I could hold onto instead of the one I was left with.

The knot tightened, making it hard to breathe. “Whoever was responsible wanted us to know the reason Boogie was killed.”

“Which is?” Nick said, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Revenge.”

It felt like days had passed by the time I made it home. The scene took hours to process, and every cut inflicted on Boogie’s body needed to be measured and photographed before the coroner could remove his corpse.

The crime scene investigators would take a few days to examine the apartment fully, so when the sun began to rise, I decided to head home and get some sleep, knowing the amount of work that would await me when I rolled into the office later.

My brain churned with theories as I drove home. The drawing had to mean Boogie’s death was linked to Raven, but who would have taken matters into their own hands?

Eric was dead. The only family she had was her mom and stepdad, and they fled the State a few weeks after the incident. Yes, she had friends, but I didn’t think any of them were capable of murder, nor would they have risked their own lives by going against the Vipers.

Who did that leave?

I didn’t know.

I hoped once I got a few hours of shut-eye, I’d be able to think clearly.

Like Boogie, I lived in a top-floor apartment. Unlike Boogie, my complex was in a decent part of the town, and I kept the place obsessively neat and tidy.

My apartment was my sanctuary, my safe place from the craziness of Hadleigh Peak.

The second I stepped inside and locked the door behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief, only to tense again at the tap, tap, tap coming from the direction of my living room.

Someone was in my apartment.

Not turning the lights on, I pulled my gun from its holster under my jacket and held it out in front of me as I slowly tiptoed through the hallway. The tapping grew louder the closer I got to the living area, my heart rate accelerating with every step I took.

Peering around the corner, I found my living room as I’d left it. And yet, the tap, tap, tap continued. My gaze darted to the balcony doors where the noise was coming from, but the blinds I’d pulled earlier in the evening prevented me from seeing what was causing the tapping.

Keeping my gun raised, my senses on full alert, I crept across the room. When I reached the blinds, I positioned myself to one side before peeking through, my body once again relaxing at finding a black raven perched on the small table on the balcony, its beak tapping against the glass top.

I lowered my gun and pulled the cord to adjust the blinds, the early morning sun streaming into my apartment and stinging my eyes. The bird stopped tapping, lifting its head to look at me.

“You scared the shit out of me, little bird,” I muttered, a small smile lifting on my lips at feeling stupid for being spooked over a bird.

“The bird won’t hurt you, Detective,” a soft voice said from behind me.

Years of training had my instincts on high alert in an instant. I spun, aiming my gun at the figure lurking in the shadows of my kitchen, where the sun’s rays hadn’t quite reached.

That strange feeling of familiarity descended through me, and as my eyes trailed over what I could see of the figure, I knew in a beat that it was the same woman I’d seen outside Boogie’s apartment earlier.

How the fuck had she gotten into my apartment? More importantly, why was she in my apartment?

“Will you?” I asked, refusing to lower my gun.

She didn’t reply for a few tense moments, and my finger hovered over the trigger, prepared to fire if she suddenly launched herself at me.

“No. I won’t hurt you.”

I still didn’t lower my gun. “What are you doing in my apartment?”

Again, there was a pause before she answered, and when she did, confusion laced her tone. “I…I don’t know.”

My brows furrowed. Not only because of her strange answer, but because I recognized her voice. Or at least, I thought I did.

“You were on South Street earlier,” I said, my pulse thumping furiously from the adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“Is that a question or a statement?” she replied, her hooded head tilting to one side.

I narrowed my eyes. “Let me rephrase. Were you on South Street earlier?”

“Yes.”

“And what were you doing there?”

“Is this an interview, Detective? Do I need a lawyer?” she replied, a hint of humor in her voice.

Copper’s instinct told me she wasn’t going to attack me. Not yet, anyway. I lowered my gun. “You tell me. Is there something you wish to confess to?”

“Are you asking me if I was the one who sliced and diced Boogie?”

It took every ounce of self-control not to act surprised. We hadn’t released the identity of the murder victim, and we certainly hadn’t released how he was killed. Only the killer would’ve known those details.

“Did you kill him?” I replied, my hand tightening around the gun I still gripped in my hand.

“Would you arrest me if I did?”

Frustration coursed through me that she was still hidden by the shadows, because the more I spoke to her, the more convinced I was becoming that Raven Blackwood was in my apartment.

Which would have been impossible.

“Of course. We can’t have murderers roaming the streets.”

She snorted. “That’s ironic coming from you. What about the six men walking free who committed murder last year? Oh, wait, make that five. Boogie isn’t walking anywhere.”

Anger streaked through me, dampening my curiosity as to who this woman was. If only she knew how fucking hard I’d worked to put the Vipers behind bars. It hadn’t just nearly ruined my career, but it almost killed me.

“I tried my damned hardest to lock up those cunts for what they did to Raven and Eric,” I said through gritted teeth. “I-”

Tap, tap, tap.

The tapping from behind me started again. I peered over my shoulder to see the raven on the balcony outside had tapped its beak against the table, cutting me off from telling the woman that I hadn’t given up.

That I would never give up.

That every damn day, I had to fight against the guilt that wanted to swallow me whole for not being good enough to get justice for Raven.

Abruptly, the raven spread its wings and took off, flying into the sky and disappearing over the roof of my apartment. When I spun back around, the space where the woman had stood only moments ago was now vacant.

I stormed across the room, but I already knew I wouldn’t find her.

Fuck.

I needed to get some sleep.

Exhaustion was making me see ghosts.