Fallen Angels

by Judith Post

  “Nothing. He didn’t kill her here. He just brought her home to stage things the way he likes them.”

  By the time Danny drove Enoch to his apartment and dropped him off, both men were pretty depressed. “See you at the morgue tomorrow?” Danny asked.

  “Buzz me when you need me.”

  Chapter 50

  Enoch entered a quiet apartment and didn’t bother to turn on the lights. Voronika had stayed awake during the day. She must be sleeping now. He crossed the living room and opened the sliding door to the balcony, closing it quickly behind him. He stood, staring out at the city without really seeing it. A movement jerked him out of his reverie. A muffled thud followed it and Enoch turned to see Claudia standing beside him.

  “Your friend doesn’t look much happier,” she said.

  "Who's with him now?"

  She held up a hand. "No worry. He's at Maggie's house. Jason's watching over them."

  Enoch nodded. He'd worked with Jason before. A good general. He sighed. “It’s been a bad day.”

  “Bart and I are both sorry about the girl. Our species isn’t the only one that feeds on humans. You did all you could to save her.”

  He gripped the railing. “Do you know how many times my best isn’t good enough?”

  “Yes, I do." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know how many times our best doesn’t make a dent.”

  The balcony door slid open and Voronika came to join them.

  “You shouldn’t be out here!” Claudia snapped.

  “When I’m with him? I’ll take my chances.” Voronika wrapped her arms around Enoch from behind and pressed herself against him. “Did you find Paige?"

  "Yes."

  His tone answered her next question. Instead, she said, "Are you okay?”

  “I’ve been better.”

  Voronika was silent a moment. Finally, she asked Claudia, “And you? How are you and Bart?”

  “I’ve gotta say, you’ve made our jobs easier. The rogue vampires we’ve been chasing for years are all coming here to take a shot at you. We’ve been bagging new ones every night.”

  “Have they bitten anyone?” Enoch asked.

  “Not yet, but we can hunt them anyway. They’ve been on our list a long time. The smarter ones will come a little later when things settle down. They’re the ones you’ll have to watch out for. Wish we could help you, but Caleb’s given strict orders. You two are on your own.”

  “That’s the deal we made.” Enoch rested his elbows on the railing, and Voronika gave him some space.

  "Can you help him with the women? Watch over the next one?" she asked.

  Claudia shook her head. "We have our hands full. You can't help him either. Rogues keep coming. Each nest wants the bragging rights of being the vamps who caught you and gave you to Vlad."

  "Sick bastards."

  "No sicker than your clown killer."

  Enoch winced, and Voronika asked, “Can I get you anything? A hug? A bowl of chicken soup? Maybe a sympathy fuck?”

  He shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not up for it.”

  His refusal surprised her, he could tell, but instead of looking angry or hurt, her face registered concern. “You're hurting now, but take your time. When you’re ready, I am.” She turned and went inside, closing the door as she went.

  “You’ve picked a quality girl,” Claudia said, watching her. “Vlad’s made her life hell. She could have gotten mean and bitter or worse yet, sunk to his level, but she’s stuck it out, persevered.”

  “That’s what we do,” Enoch said. “Keep trying.”

  “Have you ever thought of joining us?” She smiled at his shocked look. “We could do a lot of good if we worked together. Maybe Caleb would let you keep Voronika if you joined Bart and me.”

  “And work for Caleb?”

  She grimaced. “Never gonna happen. Not a good idea. Take care, angel.” And she bounded off the balcony, unfurled long leathery wings, and flew away.

  Enoch gulped in cold, winter air. It burned his lungs. He breathed in more. He knew both Claudia and Voronika felt sorry for him and wanted to make him feel better, but that wasn't going to happen for a while. Paige's death seemed so pointless, his failure so frustrating.

  He looked at the heavens. The clouds had parted. It was a clear, cold night. Stars glimmered like frozen diamonds, so far removed from him that they shed no warmth. Why? he asked. What was he missing in the great scheme of things? Since he lived and worked with mortals, he'd asked himself that many times. What was the meaning of Life on this Earth?

  When he finally gave up and went back into the apartment, Voronika took his hand. "Tonight, we walk," she said.

  "You heard Claudia. The rogues just keep coming."

  "Let them. When I'm with you, what are they going to do?"

  "If there's a pack…"

  She put a finger to his lips. "I'm taking a stand here, remember? We want them to come. Then you can kill them." She pulled on her coat. "If I'm outside, Vlad will smell my scent. He'll want me. Let's hope he'll want me too much."

  Enoch followed her to the door. Maybe she was right. Maybe there'd be a showdown tonight, and he'd eliminate rogues or Vlad. He was sure in the mood to eliminate something. They didn't talk. They just moved from one part of the city to the next until it was almost daybreak. Nothing happened, but it was better than being cooped up in the apartment, feeling sorry for himself. When sun beams crept over the horizon, they returned home and he tucked her into bed. "Thank you," he said. "I needed that."

  She reached up a hand and stroked his cheek. "Sometimes there are no answers, angel. And you have to accept that."

  He drank a shot of whiskey for breakfast and waited for Danny's call. On the way to the morgue, they didn't speak, but Enoch’s spirits lifted when he saw Doc waiting for them.

  “Sorry, guys,” Doc said in way of greeting. “I know how hard you worked to catch this guy.”

  “He courted her,” Enoch told him, “went to where she worked and seduced her.”

  “She lied to us to run off with him,” Danny said.

  Doc looked down at Paige’s plain face, plainer now with her hair and eyebrows shaved clean, and shook his head. “Was he good looking? My girls have watched one movie after another where the handsome guy falls for the mousey girl. I think it sends the wrong message.”

  "That plain girls can get handsome guys?" Enoch asked.

  "No, that handsome guys prove you're worthy." Doc moved aside and motioned for Enoch to take his place. “Are you going to do your trick?”

  Enoch came and laid a hand on Paige's bare shoulder. He closed his eyes and a chain of women’s dead faces opened their eyes and stated their names for him. When he finished, he grimaced at Doc and Danny.

  “How does it work?” Doc asked.

  “I see them propped up in their clown getup, dead. Then they open their eyes and start talking to me. They tell me their names and a little bit about their deaths. There are a lot of them.”

  “Unless you stop him?”

  “Yes.”

  Doc let out a deep breath. “I can handle the wounds and body parts I see, but I’d have trouble with your gift. It would make it too personal.”

  “It took me a while to get used to it,” Enoch admitted.

  “Anything new for us?” Danny asked Doc.

  “Nothing. This guy doesn’t change his ritual." He turned to Enoch. "Can you tell who’ll be next? Do you see them in order?”

  “Jenny Yost,” Enoch said. “She’ll be propped up against a display case in her flower shop on Wells Street. He’ll strap a flower pot with a big daisy in it on top of her head. He bought it for Katy and never got to use it.”

  Doc winced. “He has a sick sense of humor, doesn’t he?”

  “She’s married with two little kids. She was worried about them and her husband when she died.”

  Danny cussed. “He’s never gone for a mom before.”

  Enoch frowned and looked at his hand. “There’s an
odd feeling this time, something different.”

  “Try again,” Doc said. “Take longer. Let everything soak in.”

  Enoch laid his hand on Paige’s neck where the nylon had bitten into her skin, choking the life out of her. He closed his eyes and let it rest there. Suddenly he jerked away. Without a word, he hurried to the sink and stuck it under scalding, hot water. He soaped and scrubbed for a long time.

  Danny waited until Enoch turned off the water. “Are you okay?”

  “It’s like touching a cesspool of hate. He’s frustrated and furious. He kills them because they’re happy. He can’t stand it that they’re happy with themselves and their lives.”

  “That’s how he picks them? Because they’re happy?” Danny shook his head in disbelief.

  “And generous. They're givers. Think about it,” Enoch said, jamming his hands deep in his pockets. “Katy loved being a waitress; it was the right thing for her, and she passed tips on when other waitresses were short. Gail and Maggie were happy with what they did. Gail cared about her customers, and Maggie cares about her patients. Paige never felt sorry for herself either and helped out her family.”

  “But why would anyone hate someone for that?” Doc asked.

  “I don’t know, but that’s what trips his trigger.”

  Danny cocked his head, thinking. “Are you getting to know this guy more each time you touch someone he’s killed?”

  “Not him personally, but more about his motivation, what drives him.”

  “That can’t be fun.”

  “It’s not." Enoch knotted his hand into a fist, "But it helps.”

  “And Jenny Yost is next?”

  “Yeah, there wasn’t a long break before I saw her face either. He’ll wait a little, but Paige’s death isn’t going to satisfy him for very long.”

  Doc stared at Enoch, amazed. “You can tell that too?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “It’s a pleasure watching you work,” he said. “But I’m glad I don’t have what you have. Still, it’s pretty amazing. Good luck with the next girl.”

  Danny nodded at Enoch. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go warn her now. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  "Will Voronika be okay?"

  "She promised to stay in the apartment. No one can get her there, not even Vlad."

  They said their goodbyes to Doc and drove to Wells Street.

  Chapter 51

  When Danny pulled into the small lot behind Jenny Yost's florist shop, he shook his head. "We're only a few blocks down from Paige’s pizza parlor."

  Enoch looked even more irritated than before.

  "What's the deal?" Danny asked.

  “He probably stopped here to buy the carnations he gave her. He was flirting with Paige while he scoped out his next victim.”

  “At least he can’t woo Jenny,” Danny said. “Not with a husband and kids.”

  When they walked into the shop, a young woman in her late twenties turned from the glass case she was filling with fresh-cut flowers. She smiled a greeting.

  “Good morning. Can I help you with something?” Jenny Yost’s skin was a soft mocha color. Her dark curls tumbled around an oval face, and her eyes were a surprising bright blue. She was pretty and friendly and warm and approachable. Danny instantly liked her.

  Danny opened his wallet to show her his badge. “I’m Detective Daniel Nahler, and this is my colleague Enoch Smith. We’re working a murder investigation, and we found your name on the last victim's body.”

  Jenny looked like he’d kicked her in the gut. “Excuse me?”

  “Sorry,” Danny said, putting his badge away. “I just want you to take us seriously. Can we talk?”

  She pulled a stool out from behind the counter and offered it to Danny. He shook his head and leaned against a wall. Enoch followed his example. Jenny sank onto the stool. She looked like she needed support while Danny explained about the clown killer and his victims.

  “And I’m next?” she asked.

  The door opened and a black man with two young children came inside. Jenny smiled at them, and the man hurried to her. “Are you sick? You look pale.”

  “I’m all right. Chris, this is Detective Danny…” She hesitated.

  “Nahler,” Danny finished, “and my colleague Enoch Smith.”

  “Detective?” The man frowned at his wife. “Was the shop robbed?”

  She waved a hand. “Could you explain?”

  Danny glanced at the little girl and boy. Too young to have this kind of worry.

  “Kids, could you go in the back room and get Mommy a rose in each color?”

  “One of each?” the little boy asked. He looked to be about six, the girl younger.

  “I’d like to see how they look together in an arrangement,” Jenny said. “And be careful of the thorns.”

  “I’ll take care of Leila,” the boy said, sounding very grown-up.

  “I know you will. Thank you.” She watched them go, then turned to Danny.

  When he told the husband what he’d just told Jenny, the man rested a protective hand on his wife's shoulder. “Enoch stood watch over the other women and that worked. We saved three of them, but the last victim purposely tricked us and slipped away by herself during the day. She’s dead now,” Danny finished.

  The husband’s grip tightened. “My name's Christian. I usually work these hours, but I took today off to go Christmas shopping with the kids. We want to make it a tradition.” He couldn’t stop touching his wife, laying a hand on her for safe keeping. “I’m home every night by five thirty. I’ll stay with Jenny every minute. If we leave the house, we’ll all go together. And I’ll have a security system installed. You won’t have to worry about her at night.” He reached in his pocket, took out his wallet, and handed Danny a business card. “In case you need to reach me.”

  "You'll probably be working with my colleague more than you do me," Danny said and passed the card on to Enoch.

  Enoch glanced at it and scribbled his cell phone number on a scrap of paper to hand to Jenny's husband. "Sorry, I don't carry business cards." He and Christian coordinated times with each other. When Danny walked out of the shop with him, Enoch looked relieved.

  "Jenny's going to be in good hands," he said, "and I won't have to guard her in the evenings. I can stay with Voronika. She's been on her own for a while, and it makes me nervous."

  Danny nodded. He understood. He wanted to be there to pick up Maggie when her shifts ended. Since they'd lost Paige, he felt like Jenny's husband did. He wanted to hold Maggie close to keep her safe.

  Once they were back in Danny’s car, Enoch said, “You know, I’ve seen the killer now. He came to the pizza parlor. I can describe him. I’m not sure it will do any good—he might have been wearing a wig or contacts to throw us off, but it’s worth thinking about.”

  Danny took him to the station and had an artist draw the face that Enoch described. It didn’t look much like the first sketch they’d done after the guy attacked Katy. Not even the eyes were the same. Katy’s attacker had cold, pale gray eyes. Paige’s suitor’s were bright azure.

  “Contacts,” Enoch said. “Voronika wears them when she goes out in public.”

  “It's not much of a disguise, though.” Danny studied the picture. “I guess it doesn’t take much. Brown contacts, a dye job—I can’t see this guy going out to kill his next victim without covering his trail somehow.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking,” Enoch agreed.

  “We’ll put the picture in the paper with the ‘clown killer’ under the drawing. Maybe we’ll get some calls on it. In the meantime…” Danny picked up a piece of paper that someone had just put on his desk… “Want to go with me to look at the pickup the guy drove?”

  “You found it?”

  Danny shook his head. “Don’t get too excited. Found it, yes, but it won’t help. It’s in a ditch, burned to a crisp. Not that there were any fingerprints anywhere anyway. This
guy must watch CSI on TV. He doesn’t make any mistakes.”

  Enoch followed Danny to his Buick. “Our killer’s so cold, he probably doesn’t have sex with them so that he doesn’t leave any DNA behind. Either that, or he hates them too much.”

  “Everyone slips up some time,” Danny said on their way to the truck.

  “That’s not good enough.” Enoch's voice turned cold. “I don’t want to lose one more woman to this bastard.”

  Danny nodded. “Got you. It’s time this guy goes down. And just for the record, I don't want to lose any more uniforms or citizens to vamps.” They'd each reached their limit on victims.

  Chapter 52

  After Danny dropped him off in front of his apartment building, Enoch stood outside for a moment, breathing in the cold winter air, trying to center himself. The pickup would be of no help in finding Paige’s killer. All that was left of it was a blackened shell. Their quarry had advanced from slitting screens and busting in doors to buying vehicles that couldn’t be traced and courting his victims. And the women he chose didn’t have to be single anymore. He’d take any woman who dared to be satisfied with her life.

  He hung his head. They'd failed Paige. They couldn't fail Jenny Yost. Voronika's warning had been serious—You protect the women, or I will. For now, she was giving them the benefit of the doubt. She was staying in the apartment, but how long would that last?

  Enoch was deep in thought when a scuffling noise yanked him back to the present. He blinked, focused, and balled his hands into fists. Vlad stood in front of him, holding a white flag. “Just dropping by?" Enoch snarled. "You have a lot of nerve. Pushing your luck, aren’t you?”

  Vlad shrugged broad shoulders to rearrange his leather jacket and came closer. “Hello, Enoch.” His black hair parted in the center and fell in thick, straight lines to frame his ruggedly handsome face. Deep blue eyes glimmered with amusement. He was as tall as Enoch and just as muscled. With a hint of dark stubble, Vlad was the perfect symbol of a sexy bad boy. And Caleb couldn’t get enough of him.