Skin Contact (Body Finder) Read online

  SKIN CONTACT

  AN ORIGINAL BODY FINDER SHORT STORY

  Kimberly Derting

  All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, photocopying, mechanical, or otherwise—without prior permission of the publisher and author.

  For information, address Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. at 1076 Eagle Drive, Salinas, CA 93905.

  “Skin Contact,” originally published in Enthralled by HarperCollins © 2011.

  Cover and interior design by Alistair Wells.

  Table of Contents

  Praise for The Body Finder

  Introduction

  Skin Contact

  About The Author

  Praise for The Body Finder

  “The romance and the mystery in The Body Finder were so intense that I didn’t know whether to hold my breath or scream. I did know I wouldn’t be getting anything done until I read the whole book.”

  —Melissa Marr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Lovely)

  "You'll be drawn in by the love story-and kept up all night by the suspense."

  —Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Stargazer)

  "A strong debut from a promising author."

  —Publishers Weekly

  "If you're in the mood for some psychological thrillers, evil masterminds, strong heroines and hot heroes, then I'd definitely pick up the Body Finder series."

  —USA Today

  "First-time novelist Derting has written a suspenseful mystery and sensual love story that will captivate readers who enjoy authentic high-school settings, snappy dialogue, sweet romance, and heart-stopping drama. A real page-turner, this will have readers checking behind themselves and refusing to go anywhere alone."

  —ALA Booklist

  "In her debut work, Derting manages to pack a haunting mystery full of plenty of red herrings and creepy encounters, seamlessly interweaving the classic whodunit story with a steamy romance with a drop-dead gorgeous knight in shining armor....Fans of Lisa McMann’s Wake will find this delectable blend of mystery and romance just to their liking."

  —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

  "As always, this author writes a gripping tale...With another sequel set up, this intriguing series continues to provide great entertainment for suspense fans."

  —Kirkus Reviews

  "a refreshing take on paranormal romance... The point of view switch between Violet and the killer is interesting, upping the creepy factor."

  —Romantic Times

  "This creative mystery has it all...the heart of a romance novel wrapped up in pages that almost crackle with the electricity of suspense."

  —Justine Magazine

  "The explicit and unsettlingly candid tone of the killer reminds one of Robert Cormier's Tenderness (Delacorte, 1997), while several twists and turns keep the pages flipping. Older readers will quickly find themselves pulled into Derting's neighborhood."

  —VOYA

  INTRODUCTION

  Back in 2010, Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong came up with the brilliant idea for the authors on the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour to contribute to an anthology in order to offset the costs of our tour. The theme for the stories was “road trips.”

  At the time, I was still working on the second novel in the Body Finder series, DESIRES OF THE DEAD, and I was getting to know a new character named Rafe. I decided that Rafe needed a backstory, preferably one that would haunt him forever.

  This is his story…

  Skin Contact

  RAFE STOPPED WHERE HE WAS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLACKTOP, and stared out ahead of him, straining to see through the darkness. He tried to gauge how far the road stretched before him, tried to calculate how much farther he had to walk.

  He really didn’t need to see, though. He knew, even without ever having been there before. He was close now.

  He started walking again, counting his paces as the chain that dangled from his wallet slapped against his hip in a steady rhythm. Trees framed both sides of the narrow stretch of deserted highway, and the sound of gravel crunching beneath his heavy black boots was the only noise he could hear. Even that seemed too loud, reminding him how alone he was out there, in the dead of the night. He felt like a target, walking down the middle of the road like that.

  It had been easy enough to ignore the strange look he’d gotten from the trucker he’d hitched a ride with when he told the old guy he’d be walking the rest of the way. Rafe knew what he’d been thinking when the rig shuddered to a stop in front of the insignificant mile marker—not even a real exit—with no restaurant or gas station in sight: Walking to where? Where the hell was this kid going, out here in the middle of nowhere?

  But it didn’t matter what that grizzled old fart thought; Rafe needed to be here. He had to find out if this was real or not.

  From somewhere behind him, he heard a bird—an owl, probably. He’d never actually heard one in real life before, only seen them in cartoons when he was a kid. But that was exactly what they’d sounded like on TV, that hoo-hoo sound.

  He continued counting his steps and doing the math in his head. Fifty-six down. A hundred and sixteen to go.

  A hundred and fifteen…a hundred and fourteen…

  How do I know that? How can I possibly know how many more steps I have to take till I get there?

  He shrugged to himself, the weight of his backpack heavy on his shoulder. He just did, that’s how. He used to doubt them, his dreams—the ones that came to him like memories—but he was starting to realize they were rarely wrong.

  Even when he wanted them to be, like this time. He wanted so badly for this one to be wrong…just a plain old stupid, fucking dream.

  He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the cell phone he’d bought at the truck stop where he’d hitched his last ride. It was one of those prepaid deals, so no one could track him down, so no one could figure out where he’d gone. He flipped it open to make sure he still had service—way the hell out here. There were three bars left; he shouldn’t have a problem placing the call when the time came.

  When he tucked the phone away again, his fingers brushed over the doll Sophie had given him before she’d disappeared. His chest ached as he rubbed his thumb and forefinger over the woolly hair sticking up from its head. He missed Sophie. He missed holding her, kissing her, arguing with her.

  The doll was one of those ugly little trolls with a scrunched-up face and a naked stocky body and shocking neon-pink hair. Only this one had been altered. Sophie had used a Sharpie to streak its pink hair, and to paint its fingers and toes her favorite color: black. She’d even given it a piercing, shoving a tiny silver stud through its wide, flat nose. She called it her lucky doll.

  “Here. Keep him,” she’d said, pressing the doll into Rafe’s hand and forcing him to close his fingers around it.

  “I’m not keeping Goober.”

  “His name is Goob, and I want you to have him. This way you won’t forget me while I’m gone.”

  Rafe had tossed the doll onto the bed behind him as he reached for Sophie, pulling her down onto his lap and squeezing her, crushing her against his chest as he inhaled the scent of her cheap strawberry shampoo. He didn’t want to think about letting her leave. “Damn it, Soph, don’t go. I don’t want to have to remember you with some fucked-up doll.”

  Sophie gazed up at him, her eyes glittering. She’d cried so many times since she’d told him she was leaving that he wondered how she could possi
bly be doing it again. He, on the other hand, hadn’t shed a single tear, and he knew that made him some kind of prick or something, but he didn’t care. He was too pissed to cry. “I mean it, Sophie. Stay with me; I’ll keep you safe. If that bastard tries to come anywhere near you—”

  She shook her head, wisps of her dirty-blond hair tickling his chin. “My mom needs me, Rafe.” She pushed away from him, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “She can’t take care of Jacob by herself. She can’t get a job if she can’t afford a babysitter, and she can’t get a babysitter without a job.”

  “So you’re supposed to…what? Just quit school so you can babysit your little brother? Connie’s supposed to be the mom, Soph, not you.” Same goddamn argument, different goddamn day. One he’d already lost, even before it had started.

  And Sophie knew it. She bit the ring in her lower lip, the sparkle in her impish pale-gray eyes telling him she was no longer interested in fighting. She shoved him backward until he fell onto his twin bed—the one that was almost too cramped for the two of them. Almost. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he felt the familiar jolt, the charge of electricity he always felt whenever their skin touched. She pressed her chest—her breasts—against him. Sophie was great at distractions. “C’mon, it won’t be forever. I’ll only stay until she can get settled somewhere, get a job, and get Jakey into day care or something. Then I’ll come back.” She nuzzled his neck, her lips and her tongue promising all of the things her words didn’t.

  He sighed, surrendering to everything she offered. But if he was going to let her go, he needed her to have a keepsake too. He tugged at the ring on his finger, a black stone surrounded by carved stainless steel that he’d picked up when they’d gone to get her lip pierced. He’d bought it because of its cool biker vibe, but it had never really meant anything to him. Until now.

  “I want you to have this.” He inched back just far enough so he could hold the ring between them.

  Sophie’s eyes filled with tears again. He loved that about her: she was an emotional wreck.

  He grinned. “Does that mean you’ll take it with you?”

  She sniffed, her fingers shaking as she took the ring. “Does that mean you’ll keep Goob?”

  Rafe grimaced. He reached behind him, his hand searching for the ugly-ass doll. When he found it, he held it up by the tips of its hair. “I’ll keep him safe till you come home, but then you have to take him back.”

  Sophie slipped the chunky steel onto her finger. It was way too big and it spun in loose circles, even when she tried it on her thumb. “I’ll get you a chain,” Rafe promised. “You can wear it around your neck.”

  She’d left just three days later. That was less than two weeks ago.

  Rafe hated her for leaving that doll with him. If he’d never had it in the first place, he might not be here now.

  He jerked his hand out of his pocket as he tried to remember what number he was on. He didn’t want to lose track of how many steps he had left…not now, not when he was so close.

  Twenty-seven.

  A part of him wondered what would happen if he just turned around, if he stopped counting and went back to the interstate. If he went home. Ignored the dream.

  He laughed under his breath, an ugly sound. Like I could do that, he thought bitterly. Especially not this time.

  Even with no light to show him the way, he knew he was close. And he knew it was time to make the call.

  Thirteen.

  Still walking, he reached for the cell phone again, but he hesitated before dialing. He wasn’t sure he was ready to ask for help yet; he didn’t know if he was ready to trust anyone with his secret.

  But what if he was right? What if it had been more than a simple dream?

  Five.

  He stopped. He could see the ghostly shadow of a tiny house now; it was quiet and dark. There were no lights on—inside or out. His skin tightened painfully as he stared at its inky cutout against the backdrop of trees. It was a carbon copy of the house from his dream.

  He hit Enter on the phone and waited.

  “Agent Sara Priest speaking.” Her voice was familiar, even behind the crisp, clipped facade she used for the FBI.

  He paused. And then: “Sara?”

  “Rafe? Where the hell are you? Jen’s freaking out. She’s been calling me every half hour to see if I’ve heard anything.” Hearing Sara say his aunt’s name made him feel guilty all over again; he’d known she’d be worried sick when he’d just up and…vanished like that. Still, there was no way he could have told her what he was planning. Or why.

  But now he felt backed into a corner. He needed help. And Sara was the only person he could think of who might believe him.

  “I had a dream.”

  “What kind of dream? What does that mean, you had a dream?”

  There was no easy way to say this. “It means sometimes my dreams are more than just dreams, Sara. Sometimes my dreams are real. I get how this sounds, but it’s like I can see things before they happen.” He paused, wondering what his confession sounded like from her end. But he didn’t have time to worry about that. Not now.

  There was a long silence, and Rafe wondered what she was thinking…or more likely, what she’d already done. He wondered if she was tracing this call yet. “Can you tell me about your dreams? About this one in particular?” she finally asked.

  Rafe shook his head against the handset. “I will, but I need to see if I’m right about it first.”

  “Can you at least tell me if someone might be hurt? Did you dream that someone was in trouble?”

  Rafe pulled up the images from his dream, the ones that would be forever etched into his memory, branded into his mind’s eye. He flipped through them like photographs—quickly, only wanting to see the ones he needed for the moment, ignoring the ones that were too difficult to look at. He felt sick all over again. “I…I don’t know yet.”

  “Rafe…please…don’t do anything stupid. Wait for the authorities to get there. Or at least wait for me; I’m on my way.” On the other end, he could hear her car’s engine, and he realized she must have been waiting for him to call, she must have had the trace already in place. That was the rub about knowing an FBI agent. But this time he’d needed her.

  “Do me a favor, will ya?” he said before hanging up. “Call Aunt Jenny and tell her I’m okay.” He hit end.

  He stood there for a moment longer, at the end of the road where the small driveway began, staring at the dark outline of the house. He wanted to yell her name: Sophie! But he was too afraid she wouldn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.

  Sophie used to say that they were connected, that they shared something stronger than just love, something that transcended this world. He’d told her that all that cosmic stuff was bullshit and he’d laughed at her for romanticizing everything.

  But she hadn’t been wrong. Even when he’d turned it into a joke, he knew she wasn’t wrong. She was different—special—and they’d belonged together from the moment he first laid eyes on her, when she stopped in the hallway on her first day of school and boldly announced that they were going out on Friday night.

  She’d already been hiding from her father then.

  He closed his eyes, trying to find her, but there was nothing. He was afraid that whatever connection he’d once felt had been severed. And he was terrified of what that meant.

  He started walking again, slowly, trying to remember how this was all going to play out.

  The back door, he realized. If his dream was right, the back door would be open.

  He prayed he was wrong.

  He felt safe moving through the darkness, sheltered by the shadows that masked him, shielded by the night. He passed Connie’s car in the driveway, and felt a burst of panic when he realized it was the only one there. That doesn’t mean I’m too late, he reminded himself. Maybe I got here in time to change things.

  But when he reached the back of the house, he knew otherwise. He moved up the steps, to whe
re the rear door stood slightly ajar. Just as he’d known it would be. Just as he’d hoped it wouldn’t be.

  Exactly like in his dream.

  He didn’t stop to think about what this meant. He pushed the door and it opened silently as he slipped inside, setting his backpack on the floor. The air was still—stale—and once again, Rafe sifted through the mental images that had come to him in his sleep, flashing like unwelcome memories that didn’t belong to him.

  Sophie’s dad showing up without warning.

  Connie screaming at him to leave them alone as she positioned herself between him and the kids—Sophie and Jacob—yelling for them to run. To hide.

  The man’s fists. Relentless. Beating Connie until her face was bloodied and unrecognizable.

  Sophie dragging her little brother out the back door. But to where? Rafe couldn’t be certain; they were no longer a part of the pictures in his head.

  And then: the knife. Rafe hadn’t seen where it had come from. Had Sophie’s father found it in the kitchen, or had it been with him all along? But its appearance, even in his dream, had made Rafe shiver with icy warning and had given him a purpose: Get to Sophie. Save her!

  That was all he had; that was where his dream had ended, when he’d awakened drenched in sweat and foreboding. He’d gathered a few items into his backpack, along with some cash and that fugly doll, and he’d left without telling his aunt where he was going. Or when he might be back. He hadn’t known the answer to either question.

  Now, standing inside the darkened kitchen with the lights still off, he no longer measured his steps by distance but by weight, each one pulling him down, drawing him deeper into despair.

  One. On the other side of the couch, he could see a limp hand on the floor, white even in the shadows of the stark room.