[Charlie Rhodes 06.0] The Incubus Impasse

by Amanda M. Lee

  I should’ve seen this coming. “I know you don’t like her.”

  “It’s not about liking her. She’s not exactly someone I would choose to spend my time with, but I don’t dislike her. She seems exceedingly honest and blunt, which are normally traits I like. The thing is ... .”

  “She’s a demon,” I finished.

  “She’s a demon,” he confirmed. “I can’t help but be frightened about what she’s capable of.”

  I pressed the tip of my tongue against the back of my teeth and debated how to answer. Ultimately, I laid it all out. The truth. “People could say the same about me.”

  “No.” He immediately started shaking his head. “You’re not dangerous.”

  “You don’t think that. But other people ... .” I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “How do you think someone would react if they didn’t know me and somehow figured out what I was? Heck, I don’t even know what I am. I have all these questions and there’s nobody to give me answers.”

  He pulled me close, gently brushing my hair away from my face. “You were adopted. You told me the story not long after we met. I didn’t put it together until right now, but ... you think you were abandoned because of what you can do.”

  “It makes sense.”

  “No. Whoever left you ... I have to think there was another reason. Your magic came from somewhere. These people — the mother who gave birth to you at the very least — had to realize how powerful you were. I’m guessing they left you to protect you.”

  “Based on what evidence?”

  “Based on ... this.” He tapped the spot above his heart. “You were taken care of as a child, Charlie. You told me there was no mistreatment in your files. You found adoptive parents who loved you. Did they know?”

  I nodded. “I manifested at a young age. I didn’t know enough to keep it quiet back then. When they realized what I could do they started ... training me, I guess, for lack of a better word ... and my father ran me through constant drills to make sure I knew what to do if someone approached me.”

  “What kind of drills?”

  “Mostly Stranger Danger stuff. They didn’t want someone approaching me, claiming to be a member of my birth family and trying to steal me.”

  “That was smart on their part.” He smoothed my hair and pulled me close. “You’ve dealt with a lot. I’m just now starting to realize how much. If you want to try to find your family, I’ll help.”

  “And how will we do that? I’m not saying I want to go that route, but where would we even start?”

  “There are places, including DNA databases. We could load up a sample and see if there are any matches.”

  It was an option that had never been presented to me before. “What if people are looking for me? Or people who have DNA like mine. Won’t that lead them straight to me?”

  “Not if we make up a fake profile. It’s going to require thought and we need to come up with a solid plan. But it’s doable.”

  I nodded as I absorbed the thought. “Can I think about it? I don’t want to give you an answer right now.”

  “That’s the smart way to go.” He gave me a soft kiss and then released me, linking our fingers and inclining his head down the street. “It’s still early. We should look around a bit, let our dinner settle, before heading back.”

  “You just don’t want to see Laura. You know she’ll be awake when we get back.”

  “I never want to see her. It’s not as if we have to hang around with her. We can go up to our room or hang out on the patio.”

  “And look at the ghosts.”

  He hesitated. “If you want. I can’t see them, but you can. I don’t know if it makes you feel better or worse to see them anchored out there, but I’m open for whatever you want.”

  The offer had my mischievous side coming out. “Anything?”

  “You are the teacher,” he teased.

  “I am indeed.”

  UNFORTUNATELY FOR US, THE LIVING room was packed with people when we got back to the villa. There seemed to be a serious discussion going on.

  “I don’t see why you have to be such a pain,” Laura snapped. “My friend is perfect for this position. I’ve already told you. He’s a real self-starter and will throw himself into the work without complaining.”

  “And he’s friends with you?” Millie challenged. “How did you manage to grow this friendship if you have nothing common?”

  If eyes could start fires, Millie would’ve set a raging inferno in five seconds flat. Laura blasted her with one of the ugliest glares I’d ever seen. “Don’t call my work ethic into question. You might not like me, but I’m a good worker. I’ve always been a good worker.”

  Chris, who was toiling over a map at the coffee table, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Will you stop arguing? I can’t take another second of this.”

  “What’s going on?” Jack asked as he prodded me inside, his expression leery. “It sounds like World War III is about to hit and this is ground zero.”

  “Oh, look who decided to join us,” Laura drawled. “I’m surprised you two bothered to come back. I figured you would be out partying all night again ... like you were last night ... and the night before.”

  “I don’t have to justify my actions to you,” Jack shot back. “If Chris has a problem, he’ll say something.”

  “Chris doesn’t have a problem with it,” our boss announced, speaking of himself in the third person. “The only thing I have a problem with is this constant noise. She hasn’t stopped since the two of you left.”

  On a whim, I decided to take a different tack. “What seems to be the problem, Laura?” I sat on the couch directly next to her and plastered my best “I’m willing to listen, so talk” smile on my face. “You seem disgruntled with life lately. What’s up with that?”

  Laura’s eyes were glittery slits of hate when they landed on me. “Don’t make fun of me. I’m trying to talk about a real issue. We need another person on this team. I need someone I can work with who doesn’t make me want to slit throats.”

  “You could always do us all a favor and slit your own throat,” Millie suggested.

  “Millie.” Chris’s tone was firm as he briefly focused on his beloved aunt. “Don’t add to this insanity.”

  “I don’t know if I can stop,” Millie replied blandly. “I’ll have to think about it and get back to you. In the meantime, Charlie needs to move over here by me. I’m afraid whatever Laura has is catchy and I want to contain it to one person if I can.”

  I remained where I was for a moment, practically daring Laura to explain why she was so peeved with life these days. When she didn’t open her mouth — a true rarity for her — I switched seats and settled next to Millie.

  “Where did you guys go for dinner?” she asked.

  “A raw oyster bar.”

  “Oh. Did you like the oysters?”

  I shook my head. “They’re a little runny for my taste. We ate all of them, though.”

  Millie grinned at Jack. “Trying to get your romance on, huh?”

  “I don’t need oysters for that,” he said, moving to kneel next to Chris for a better look at the map. “What do we have going on here?”

  “I’m marking the locations where each body was found,” Chris responded, his gaze intent as he put an X on the map.

  “Why?”

  “I’m hoping there’s a pattern. When it comes to profiling, the bodies are usually spread in such a manner that it’s easy to find a center.”

  “And that center is where the killer lives,” I surmised.

  “Or works,” Chris agreed. “It’s not an exact science, but we’re not getting anywhere. Hannah keeps running into roadblocks at the coroner’s office. No one there can agree how to classify the deaths.”

  “What does that mean?” Jack asked Hannah.

  “It means that there could be real trouble if some bigwig decides to classify these deaths as natural,” Hannah replied. She looked troubled, which was hard
to take because she was genuinely a lovely person. “If that happens, there will be no reason for us to stay. Law enforcement will stop cooperating because there will be nothing to investigate.”

  “I thought you needed a medical reason to declare a death,” I interjected. “If it’s an unnatural cause, that’s still a medical reason. If it’s natural causes, there must be something identifiable in the reports.”

  She nodded her silvery-blond head in agreement. “They’re using the compound that was detected as a loophole. They say even though they can’t identify it they can deem it the cause of death because it’s present in every body.”

  That was bad news. “And where will they say these women came into contact with the compound?”

  “At their little, ‘We’re going to be television stars’ meetings. They did all know each other, by the way. I don’t know if the police have confirmed that with you, but I heard them talking in the hallway today. The victims all had regular meetings to brainstorm.”

  I glanced at Jack. “Are you going to try to confirm that?”

  “It’s too late to call tonight, but it’s on my list for tomorrow. I don’t know what good it will do us, but maybe if we can find a location where they met regularly ... .”

  “My understanding is that they moved from coffee shop to coffee shop and occasionally even met in parks,” Hannah volunteered. “I don’t know that there is a central location.”

  “Which is why this map is important,” Chris supplied, leaning back to study his handiwork. “Okay. That’s all eight of them. Does anyone see anything important?”

  “You know who’s good at reading maps?” Laura queried.

  “I’m assuming your friend,” Chris replied. “I already told you, Laura, I haven’t made a decision on our new team member. This has got to be our focus right now. The information you sent on your friend has been forwarded to Human Resources. They’ll vet him and we’ll go from there.”

  Laura perked up. “If they don’t find anything wrong with him, does that mean he’s officially part of the team?”

  “No.” Chris was firm. “I’ll want to meet him, see if he has any personality defects, and even then there might be a better candidate.”

  Laura’s neck stiffened. “Personality defects?”

  “He would have to have a few to hang around with you,” Millie noted.

  “That did it.” Laura made a move to stand, but Jack stuck out his foot at an angle and hit the back of her knees, causing her to flop back down on the couch.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Jack warned. “If you go after her I might just let the fight happen. Not only will you get beaten by an older woman, there will be grounds to fire you for assault.”

  “Oh, whatever.” Laura folded her arms over her chest and stared at a blank spot on the wall. “I really hate all of you right now.”

  “I’m sure that will be something to cry into our pillows about tonight when we all go to bed ... not alone,” Hannah offered. She was rarely snarky. I couldn’t help being impressed.

  I decided to hold on to my accolades until we were alone and I could praise her for putting Laura in her place. “What are we looking for on this map?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

  “A pattern,” Chris replied. “Does anyone see anything?”

  “Maybe try numbering the deaths,” Bernard suggested. He was so quiet sometimes I often forgot he was present. Of course, Millie talked enough for the both of them. “Chronologically, I mean. Maybe there’s a pattern in the order they happened.”

  “Good idea.” Chris obligingly checked the files and plotted each death site with an X followed by a number. When he stopped, we all stared at the finished product again.

  Laura, of course, was the first to break the silence. “There’s nothing there,” she groused. “It’s a whole big map of nothing. That was a waste of time.”

  “You could always go to your room and waste time there by yourself,” Jack said. “I don’t think you would hear any complaints from the rest of us.”

  She pretended she didn’t hear him. “There’s no center to that map. There’s no central location for the killer. There are points, but then they drop a bit and then go back up.”

  Jack furrowed his brow as he studied the map. “She’s right.”

  “Of course I’m right.”

  “Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” Millie drawled. “It’s still garbage.”

  Chris lightly smacked his aunt’s knee as a form of admonishment. “Do you see something, Jack?”

  “I do. Is there a ruler around here?”

  “I have one in my bag. Hold on.” Chris retrieved a ruler and Jack took the marker from him and started drawing lines between the points. When he finished, we were looking at a rather crude pentagram, one that had more than five points thanks to overlap on several sides and an opening where the final point should be.

  “What does that mean?” Laura asked blankly. She was finally interested in the map now that a symbol had appeared. “Isn’t that, like, a witch symbol?”

  “A pagan symbol,” I corrected. “Witches use the pentagram, but so do a lot of other religions.”

  “And demonic figures,” Chris added. “There’s clearly a point missing. Can you get a general location?”

  I knew what they were trying to ascertain. It was obvious that our killer wasn’t yet finished with Charleston. He had at least one more stop.

  “I can give us a general location,” Jack cautioned. “It’s obviously not going to be exact because the lines on this aren’t perfect.”

  “That’s probably because he needs a victim who fits his type,” I offered. “He can’t just go to a point and pick the first person he sees. He has a compulsion to kill women who look alike.”

  “That right there is a point,” Jack noted. “Let’s see what we’ve got.” He used a pencil for the final point, probably so we could move the line if we came up empty. “That’s it. It looks like a neighborhood that’s full of condos and apartments.”

  “Should we head over there?” Millie asked.

  “I think it’s better if I contact the police,” Chris replied. “As much as I would like to be the first one to see this creature, we have to follow procedure. There’s a life in the balance here. We can’t put some innocent woman at risk.”

  Twenty-One

  Not long after Chris placed the call to his local police contact, everyone retired for bed. Well, everyone but Laura. She sat on the couch and gave us the evil eye as we tried to have a discussion, which meant we had to disappear upstairs to have a private moment.

  “I don’t think we should simply ignore this,” I said in a low voice. “This is like a gift. If our guy moves tonight and someone dies in that neighborhood, we’ll never forgive ourselves.”

  He didn’t immediately answer, instead slipping a strand of hair behind my ear as he debated. Finally, he nodded. “We need to slip out. We can’t tell the others.”

  “I’m fine with that. It will be like a sexy date.” I squeezed his hand in a reassuring manner. “I’ll protect you.”

  His expression wavered. “If you say anything like that again, you’re staying here.”

  We both knew that wasn’t true. We were a team. However shaky he seemed at the prospect of heading out and hunting a demon, he knew he needed me. Heck, we needed each other.

  “You need to change your clothes,” he said, looking me up and down. “Go for muted colors but not all black. We’re talking grays and dark blue. If we get stopped by the police it’s going to be hard to explain why we’re dressed as robbers.”

  “Oh. Good point. I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

  “You better be keeping me around for multiple reasons.” He gave me a playful swat on the behind before moving to his bag. “I’m changing my shirt. With Laura still downstairs, we need to be very quiet sneaking out of this place.”

  “Why do I feel like that admonishment to be quiet is aimed at me?”

&nb
sp; He simply stared at me.

  “Fine.” I found a dark blue shirt and wore it over black shorts. The only sneakers I’d brought were white, but Jack said there was nothing we could do about it. We went down the back stairs and escaped through the door that led to the beach. We had to hike around the villa to get to the front parking spots.

  “Is she still up?” I asked when Jack stopped to look in a window.

  He responded by clamping his hand over my mouth and dragging me from the glass pane, shaking his head but remaining silent until we were in the rental. “You know that whispers are like yells when you’re on top of glass like that, right?”

  Honestly, I didn’t know that. “You’re so smart. I learn something new every single day.”

  He shot me a glare and then shook his head. “You are so much work.”

  “I’m worth it, though, right?”

  He stuck the key in the ignition and slid me a look. For a moment, I thought he was going to deny it, but then his expression softened. “You are ... but you’re a pain.”

  I beamed at him. “I think we’re the perfect adventuresome couple. Who else can say they go on regular adventures to fight monsters after dark?”

  He sobered. “Yeah, you need to do what I say when we get there. I don’t want you getting hurt. I can’t take it.”

  “I’ll do what you say.” As long as you’re not in danger, I silently added. If the incubus moved on Jack I would do what was necessary to protect him ... and I wouldn’t apologize after the fact.

  JACK HAD TO PROGRAM A SPECIFIC address into the GPS so he picked an intersection at the center of the area we were heading. When we got close, I picked up on an entirely different vibe than the one we’d been dealing with earlier.

  “This isn’t as pretty as the downtown area.” I wrinkled my nose and glanced around. “Not even a little bit.”

  He smirked as he parked on a side street, killed the lights, and looked up and down the roadway for signs of movement. “Tourists don’t come to this area. It’s still much cleaner and prettier than a lot of other cities I’ve been in. It doesn’t feel unsafe ... except for the fact that we’re looking for a demon.”