Page 6 of Liaising Kai

“You get a raise,” she said quickly, taking the cup and greedily downing a hot mouthful of the cream-leaden nectar of the gods.

“I suspected you wouldn’t have time to pick up anything, and if I know you, you also skipped breakfast.”

“Kiss ass,” Derrick said affectionately as he, Lucy, and Amber came up to them, Amber’s eyes sparkling. Noting the camera in her hands, Kai took another fortifying gulp.

“Have you gone inside yet?” Kai asked. She pulled out the breakfast sandwich, juggling the coffee and wolfing down the delicious still-warm eggs, cheese, and ham.

“No, we actually just got here. It’s more of a trip from Pendleton.”

“Right. Okay, let’s do this.” She finished off the sandwich and stuffed the wrapping back in the bag, tossing it into the open window of her car.

“A neighbor walking her dog called it in to the locals when she saw the door ajar, the jamb broken,” Derrick said as he consulted his pad. “Dawn Weston. She’s over there.” Derrick pointed to a woman with curly brown hair, a pretty oval face that was quite distressed. She was dressed in a sweater and blue jeans with a little white dog on a leash.

Kai walked over to the woman and smiled. Dawn smiled back with a nod. “Hi, Dawn. I’m Supervisory Special Agent Kai Talbot with NCIS.” Kai pulled out her badge and flipped through her credentials. “Agents Gunn, Michaels, Montgomery, and Beck. We’re sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.”

Dawn brushed at her cheek and nodded to each one of them, her voice hitching. “I want to help any way I can.”

“Did you go into the house?” Amber asked.

“No, I was way too scared after I saw the way the door looked. I just called the police.” She glanced toward the open door, a police officer guarding it. “I have to say. I’m glad I didn’t. I wouldn’t have wanted to remember Mayta like that.”

“Mayta?”

“Mosquera,” Derrick filled in. “Petty Officer second class.”

“Did you hear anything strange last night? Any sounds that were out of the ordinary?” Austin asked.

“No. I was working on a graphics project. I work from home, and I had headphones on.” She smiled sadly. “The music makes it more fun.”

“Was there anyone you know of who wanted to hurt your neighbor?”

“No, everyone loved her. She was so sweet.” The dog started to bark, and she bent down to pick him up, snugging him against her. “Shush, Roscoe.” He quieted.

“Thank you for your time, and if you think of anything else. Anything at all, call me.” Kai pulled out a card and Dawn took it. She threw one more glance at the house and turned back toward her own, then stopped walking.

“Mayta was seeing someone. There was a man who came by the last couple of months. Tall, handsome, blond hair, always impeccably put together. I think he was her boyfriend.”

“That’s very helpful. Would you be able to recognize him from a photo?”

Dawn nodded. “Absolutely. Like I said, he was good-looking.”

Kai turned and started for the house. When she got inside, she saw the whole place had been trashed. Blood was everywhere, looking like the woman had put up one hell of a fight.

She kept Lucy in her peripheral and noted the horror on her face. She was just out of FLETC, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, a newly minted Special Agent probie with a college degree and a couple years of the sheriff’s department under her belt.

They found her still bound to a chair in the living room, her chin on her chest, her thick, dark hair saturated in blood. Kelly was crouched next to her.

She looked up at Kai. “This was brutal. She was bound, beaten severely, then shot in the back of the head.” Kelly lifted the woman’s face. “Executed.”

Kai noted the mottled bruises on her face, the swollen flesh around her eyes, and cheeks. Her nose was broken, blood all over her face with lacerations on her body. Probably from the fight. “Time of death?”

“According to liver temp, between nine-thirty and ten o’clock last night.”

“Okay, thanks, Kelly.” She turned to the team. “Finish up the photos and gather evidence. I’ll see you back at Pendleton.”

When she got to the base and her office, her boss wanted her to speak to the director. She entered her boss’s office and the face of the director popped onto the screen. “I want a sitrep on this petty officer you found dead. She was executed?”

“Yes, sir. Brutally tortured, then executed.”

---