2019
"I need to go away for a while. The world hurts too much, I hurt too much, and it's going to get worse before it gets better," Ray said.
"I understand. Where will you go?" Pride asked.
"Loretta knows someone who has a place for rent out in the bayous, along the marshes. It's far enough inland that storms won't hurt me too much, has wifi and everything, but you need a map to find it. The only dead out there are echos of pirates that used to use the waterways for travel."
"Good. Will you stay in touch? You know I'll worry if I don't hear from you every now and then."
She smiled, but it was a smile tainted by heart-wrenching grief. "You'll hear from me. Promise."
"Pinkie promise?" he asked, holding up his little finger.
She hugged him tightly, a hug he returned. "Always," she whispered.
Then she was in her Cadillac and gone, leaving Pride to continue working with the New Orleans Police Department as they worked to uncover the remains of twenty-one women, twenty who had been found in six by three feet wide graves, three feet down, separated precisely six feet apart, in a field about half an hour outside of New Orleans. All the women had been named, their locations identified, and the killer located. Unfortunately he had died six years before, of a heart attack. His son, now a police officer with the NOPD, had grown up completely unaware of his father's suspected killing spree, and now had to deal with the fact that the killer's first victim was not only still in the basement of the house he had grown up in, she was his mother, who had disappeared when he was five.
A tall man in a shirt and jeans joined him, his dark hair sprinkled with silver.
"Bones is saying it's gonna take a while before they can successfully recover all the suspected victims," the man said. "She's cataloging injuries as she goes, but she's saying that so far they're consistent with what she says is methodical torture, meant to inflict as much pain as possible. Whoever this guy was, he gives new meaning to the word sadist." Pride nodded. "How'd you find this place?"
Pride smiled. "Let's just say I know someone who has a talent for finding people, particularly people other people don't want found."
The man stared at him for a moment, then said, "Don't let Bones hear you say that, not unless you want your ears blistered for the next fifteen minutes about how that kind of stuff is not scientifically proven, etcetera etcetera."
"Understood."
"Otherwise," and here the man shrugged. "I've seen things, so. Anyway, I heard about your agent. I'm sorry for your loss."
Pride nodded. "Chris was a good agent, and I will catch his killer, one way or another."
"I hear ya, brother. I hear ya."
2022
"Can I help you?" Carter asked the woman who had come into NCIS, a sparkly mask on her face. Her blonde hair was a riot of curls barely held back by a scrunchie, and her skin was tanned from time out in the sun. She wore jeans, a brightly colored sweatshirt, and battered boots that had clearly seen better days. A denim messenger bag crossed her chest, and she was fiddling with a set of keys.
"Pride around?" the woman asked.
"Not at the moment. May I ask who's calling on him?"
Instead of answering, the woman headed for the kitchen as if she knew the place.
"How about Tammy, Sebastian, Hannah, or Patton?" she asked, beginning to make herself a cup of tea.
"How about you answer my question before I seriously consider having you arrested for trespassing on federal property?" Carter shot back.
The woman looked at Carter, raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Sugar, you are about as intimidating as a pitbull puppy, and not even as cute as one. Try again, puppy, maybe with a little bit more of a louder bark this time."
Behind them, Tammy had started giggling.
"Intimidating as a pitbull puppy? I so have to remember that," she said, coming into the kitchen to give the woman a hug. "Oh, it is so good to see you again. Pride was threatening to go find you if he didn't hear from you soon. How've you been?"
"'bout as well as I can be. Who's the puppy?" the woman asked, returning the hug, then resuming making her tea.
"That's Special Agent Quinten Carter. He joined us shortly after Chris. He has his uses," Tammy said, grinning at the glare Carter gave them.
"Ditch the suit, and he might have a few more," the woman said, causing Tammy to laugh.
"Don't say that to Hannah; she might get the wrong idea," Tammy said, grinning.
"If it involves bed posts, I do not want to know," the woman said, lifting her mask to take a sip of her tea.
Still ignoring Carter's glares, Tammy giggled. "So, what brings you our way?"
"I may have a case for you. Victim's name is Ensign Eva Fontenot. NOPD just found her, but you won't get a call because she didn't have her military identification with her, which is in her car, parked at the hotel she was staying at."
"Cause of death?" Tammy asked, concern in her eyes.
"Manual strangulation, caused by a guy wearing gloves. He also slammed her head into the brick wall, which stunned her pretty good. How much does Carter know?"
"Nothing. It wasn't something that ever came up," Tammy said.
"In that case, you'd better fill him in, while I drive," the woman said, finishing her tea, then heading for the door, Tammy right beside her.
"Please do," Carter said, following them.
"Her name is Rayhanah Metcalf; she was Chris' girlfriend when he died, and she has a talent for finding people. We've had a few cases land on our laps because of her."
"I see," Carter said.
"I have a way of seeing things very few people can," Rayhanah said, leading them to a battered yellow 1980 Ford Bronco with large tires.
"What happened to your Caddy?" Tammy yelped.
"Tam, I live out in the bayous, remember? The Caddy couldn't handle those roads, so I traded her for this monster, and he does the job just fine," Rayhanah said, as they piled into the truck, with Carter getting in the back.
"True, I suppose, but darn it, I loved that car," Tammy said. "On the other hand, this is very nice," she said, testing out the seat by bouncing on it.
Rayhanah laughed.
Carter did not know what to think, and he was hoping someone would fill him in. Quickly.
They drove through the city, the Bronco rumbling as Ray drove. They pulled up to an area near a giant public library that, to Carter's surprise, was surrounded by police cars, yellow tape, and crime scene vehicles. Ray reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a bagel holder, and got out of the truck.
"I know this is probably a little confusing, but trust me on this. Whatever you do, Ray knows what she's doing; follow her lead," Tammy told Carter quietly, as they flashed their badges and went under the tape.
"Do I have a choice?" Carter muttered.
"Not really," Tammy said, as they approached a gentleman in a suit, quietly talking to an officer.
"Agent Metcalf, NCIS," Rayhanah said. "These are my teammates, Agents Gregorio and Carter. I believe your victim is my case."
"How so? We haven't identified her as military yet," the detective said.
"We have. Her name is Ensign Eva Fontenot, US Navy, and the reason you can't identify her as military is because her military identification is back at the hotel she was staying at. Due to the nature of her work in the Navy, and with us, when she missed her regular check in, we started tracking her," Rayhanah said easily. "When her description came up in your database, and knowing this is the last known area she was seen in, we came moseying."
"Of course. Well, that's one less headache for me," the detective said, shrugging. He led the way over to the body, which was covered up by a white plastic sheet. "Someone called her in about an hour ago. Looks like she was strangled but not with a ligature. Our coroner says she's been out here for at least several hours, and as usual, no one saw anything, no one heard anything."
"Cameras?" Carter asked, watching as Rayhanah carefully folded the sheet back, revealing a young woman with light brown skin and black hair neatly pulled back, her eyes closed in death.
"Nothing in this area. Couple of smokers found her," the detective said.
"She's got a hella welt on the back of her head," Rayhanah said. "My guess; she was ambushed. Someone with big hands grabbed her, slammed her head into that brick wall, and strangled her to death."
"That would do it," the detective said, wincing.
"She should have had a zippered binder with her, a black and blue thing," Rayhanah said. "Had a bunch of papers in it. Seen anything like that?"
"Nope," the detective said, shaking his head. "Was it important?"
"It may have been," Rayhanah said, standing up with a scowl. "The Ensign was working on a project that involved research at the library, and the last time I spoke to her, she said she had some information she wanted to show me. Hopefully someone at the library remembers what she was doing."
"Sounds like you have your hands full," the detective said.
"Always. If you don't mind, have her sent to Jefferson Parish, to the care of Dr. Loretta Wade, and anything you find sent to NCIS," Rayhanah said.
"Will do," the detective said, wandering off.
"Okay, and just how did you know all this?" Carter hissed.
"Like I said, Ray has a talent for finding people. Catch is, those people are dead, but Ray can hear and see them, and no, I'm not joking," Tammy said, following Rayhanah back to the Bronco.
"You're saying she's psychic," Carter said in disbelief. "Does Pride know about this?"
"Knows, accepts, and protects. Ray's helped us with several cases, and she took Chris' death particularly hard because he visited her when he died. She loved him because he accepted her for who she was, craziness and all, so watch your step. This is the first time I have seen Ray since she helped uncover the First Baptist Church Field Women, and their killer, and that was just after Chris' funeral, so you be nice to her or, I swear, I will thump your head so far down your suit pants, you'll be wearing your pants around your neck!" Tammy hissed.
Realizing his coworker was perfectly serious, Carter decided to play along for now.
"Understood. What's our next move?" he asked the two women.
Rayhanah tossed Tammy her keys. "Head for Sheraton Hotel, room 302. Tell the desk clerk you're investigating Ensign Fontenot's murder and you know that was the room she was supposed to be staying in," she said. "I'm going to go to the library and see if Ensign Fontenot will show me what she was looking for. I'll Uber my way back to NCIS when I'm done."
"Keep us posted. You still got our numbers?" Tammy asked. Ray checked her phone and showed her contact list to Tammy, who quickly updated it for her, as well as adding a few new ones. "You really need to meet Rita, Pride's wife, and Connor," she said. "We've got stories for you."
"Show me a plate of Loretta's cajun chicken or Pride's jambalaya, and you can bend my ear all you want, hon," Rayhanah said, heading for the library. "Oh, and watch the driver side door; it sticks a little and you really have to yank it to shut it. And go easy on the gas; I call it a monster for a reason, especially on the highways."
"I am going to have so much fun," Tammy said, grinning.