by T. G. Ayer
“What happened, Dr. Feldman?” asked Monroe, her own face pale now, her voice gruff.
Max stumbled and Vee led him to the chair behind his desk. She ran over, grabbed three lab coats from the rack by the door and wrapped them around Max.
Monroe returned her attention to her phone, calling in the ambulance while Vee inspected the bloodied, frozen wound on Max’s temple. He winced and then smiled, the movement lifting his bushy, frosty eyebrows. Vee brushed the white dusting off and sank down beside him.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Syama head out of the lab to keep watch from outside while Akil waited just inside the door, perched on the backrest of an office chair. Seems he didn’t have issues with the smell of chemicals.
Vee focused on Max who sat beside her, shuddering a little slower now. “Feeling better?” she asked softly.
His nod was firm, and nothing about him spoke of fear or trauma. He just appeared a little dazed. And frozen.
“Remember anything?”
Max’s jaw pulsed. “I came out from the freezer . . . I was storing one of the bodies from today’s scheduled autopsies.” He glanced back at the giant metal door that was now securely shut, keeping the icy air inside. “A man was here, masked. Waved a gun around. Asked for the jogger’s body. I refused.”
Vee shook her head. “Gave him a hard time, huh?”
Max grinned then winced and pointed to his forehead. “Got this for my troubles.”
Pursing her lips, she studied the wound keeping her expression sober. “That could be a good war story for the ladies. Strong men make the girls weak in the knees.” Max chuckled and Vee said, “Remember anything after he hit you?”
“Nope. Lights out.” Max frowned. “Thing is . . . he mentioned the jogger by the case number.”
Syama had completed her investigation and had positioned herself by the door to wait for Vee.
Vee got to her feet and stared at the refrigerator door. “And how would he have known that?”
She hurried to the freezer and tugged open the door, lifting the sheets off the corpses one at a time to check for the jogger. Of the eight bodies in the frozen room, none of them were the second victim.
Shivering, Vee shut the door and returned to Max’s side as Monroe approached. Just as the detective opened her mouth to ask a question, Vee cut her off. “The jogger is gone.”
Monroe clamped her mouth shut, her face growing hard. “Well, fuck,” she growled, turning on her heel and walking away. Muttering a few more expletives, which were muffled by a hand over her face, Monroe turned to Vee. “What the hell is going on here?”
Vee lifted and dropped a shoulder. “You have a mole.”
“Like hell we do,” Monroe snapped, the words blasting from her lips like bullets. “How do I know it’s not one of your team?”
Vee arched an eyebrow. “We asked for the watch and only its sim card was sent over. What’s up with that?” Vee paused. “We’ve been generous even though the FBI has jurisdiction.”
Monroe’s face looked like she was about to explode. Vee waited, arms folded as she leaned against the autopsy table, waiting for it to sink in. Finally, the detective let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m going upstairs. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Monroe left, but her unsaid words hovered around in the room.
Hopefully whatever else you need hasn’t gone missing as well.
Once Monroe left, Vee sighed and pushed another office chair beside Max. She took a seat and kept an eye on him. The color was slowly returning to his cheeks and Vee felt a rush of relief.
She sighed. “Well, at least you managed to complete the autopsy.”
Max gave her a rueful smile.
Vee stiffened.
“What?” asked Max, the lines in his forehead deepening.
“They’ve taken the body, but what about the other parts of it that you tested?”
“I just got them back before the invasion of the body-snatchers.”
Vee choked and let out a laugh at the coroner’s reference. At least he was back to being in good spirits, enough to make jokes.
“So they’re safe?”
He gave a no idea shrug. Vee hurried over to the inner office, unsurprised to see that the surface of the desk was a mess. Drawers were opened and chairs overturned.
“They did a number on the place,” she called over her shoulder. “Where’s this safe of yours?”
When Max answered his voice came from the doorway. Vee glanced up. “Behind the whiteboard. It looks secure.”
Vee glanced over at the whiteboard on the wall. Although she was curious about how and why he’d hidden a safe behind the board, she was satisfied to know that at least that evidence was safe.
Vee walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder as she passed him. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
He nodded.
“And call me if you hear anything?”
He patted Vee’s hand which was still on his shoulder. “I’ll be fine, my dear. You go on and do your job.”
Vee saluted him with two fingers to her temple and headed out of the autopsy lab, a white owl flying over her shoulder.
Chapter 39
The next morning, Vee was eating a bowl of cornflakes, while Akil sat on the table swaying his legs like a kid on a swing when she received an update-that-wasn’t-an-update from Brent that was disappointing, to say the least.
FYI. Identity of the victim unknown. No dental records, no match to any missing person’s report. He’s a regular John Doe. Info is a little too bare so I’m digging deeper. My paranoid side is suspicious.
Vee sent off her thanks, and agreed with Brent. It was far too coincidental that the killers had chosen a victim who was totally untraceable. Coincidences like that only happened in the movies.
The only thing she could think of that would help was being able to track the body parts they did have on hand. Vee glanced at her watch, thinking a stop at the coroner’s office would help her investigation, then sent Akil to fetch Syama. Max had something she needed.
At the coroner’s office, Max was nowhere to be found. Jo, on the other hand, was swaying around to jazzy tunes sung by the golden-voiced Bublé while stitching up a Y-incision—a scene that never failed to amaze Vee. Syama waited outside while Akil flew past Vee and checked out the lab before finding a spot on the windowsill to take up watch.
“Hey, Vee.” She smiled, her teeth glinting eerily as she reached for a pair of scissors to cut off the ends of the twine she’d used to neatly sew up the skin.
“Hey. How’s Max?” Vee asked, still a little worried about the old man.
“He’s ok. Still a little sore in the noggin.” She made a face but Vee could tell Jo was still concerned about him. “Should be back tomorrow.”
Vee gave her a comforting smile. “I’m sure he’ll be right as rain.”
Jo nodded, her smile washing away the concern from her eyes. “So . . . what can I do for you?”
Vee hovered at the head of the table, avoiding the naked corpse as best as she could. “I need those samples of internal organs and some of the pieces of claw that you guys found.”
Jo nodded. “Good thing those weren’t taken. And yes. We have the lungs and small particles of the organs that hadn’t been removed during the disembowelment.”
“I’d have thought it would have been an easy removal.” Vee’s brow furrowed.
“Sometimes it is. A slash of a knife to the abdomen allows gravity to do its job, but the claws did damage that left residual remains.” Jo drew the sheet over the corpse. She headed over to the sink to wash her hands.
“Can I grab them?”
Jo shut the faucet off with the back of her hand and tugged at the dispenser for a paper towel. Then she turned and pointed at the fridge. “The organ samples should be in the safe, but the claws are probably in the in-tray.”
Vee’s spirits were buoyed. “The in-tray?”
“Yes. Max had them sent up to MRI yesterda
y morning.”
She tossed the used towel into the trashcan and headed for the small lab desk where she picked up a yellow, inter-office envelope and handed it to Vee. “That’s the claw fragments. Let me know if you need the rest of the organs.”
Vee nodded, and as she peered inside, she shifted her vision to her aural sight and shivered at the curling aura lines curving around the tiny fragments—gray and gold specks contained within a small plastic bag.
Vee pulled free of the sight and focused on Jo, raising the envelope to her in question. “I’ll take this for now.”
“Just sign it out on the sheet for the paper trail.” Jo waved a finger at the clipboard beside the in-tray and Vee dutifully scribbled her signature.
“I’ll bring it back as soon as I’m done.”
Jo nodded but she already seemed distracted.
Clutching the envelope, Vee jerked a chin at the white owl and hurried out of the morgue to find Syama lurking in the hallway.
They had work to do.
Outside the police station, Vee and Syama got into the car, with Akil in the back seat, watching them in the rearview mirror. Cops milled around and Vee stilled for a moment, staring at face after face, wondering which one of them had fed information to the killers.
With a sigh, she sat back and stared at Syama.
“What’s up?” The hellhound-girl studied Vee’s face. “You have that look on your face that says I’m not going to like what you’re about to ask me to do.”
Vee patted her jacket and the mailing envelope in her inner pocket crackled. “I want to try to track the bone chips.” Syama’s mouth curved in a distasteful twist. “You’re going to have to try as well. The more trackers we have on it the better.”
Syama opened her palm. “Let me see.”
Reaching into her pocket, Vee withdrew the packet and placed it in the hellhound’s waiting hand. Syama opened the envelope and dropped the small plastic bag into her palm.
She stared at it for a moment and sniffed the bag. Then she slid open the zip-lock and inhaled deeper. Shaking her head, Syama looked up at Vee. “Whatever it’s been through . . . whatever processes they’ve used to study the bone, it doesn’t have enough of a scent left for me to track it.” Syama shook her head. “I’m sorry. My scenting ability is always better where demons are concerned because . . . well . . . I am a demon. And you and I both know with effort I can track humans and supernaturals, but with bones that have so little scent on them? It’s almost impossible.” She glared at Akil’s reflection in the mirror, warning him not to say a word. The sirin merely lifted an eyebrow.
Vee groaned. “Okay. There is one other option.” Vee started the car and headed off down the road.
For a while Syama was engrossed in her phone, but then she looked up and asked, “Where are we going?”
Vee ignored her and gritted her teeth as Syama peppered her with questions. Finally she rolled her eyes. “I need shifter help.”
Syama perked up. “Oh?”
As if she really had not known where they were going.
Hiding a smile, Vee drove through Westwood Heights, and drew up alongside Nivaan’s house.
The lights were on inside but Vee was reluctant to enter, the memory of a baby’s cries and a woman’s soft tones echoing in her mind.
Her decision was taken out of her hands when the door opened and Krish hurried down the path to the car. His face bore a wide grin that was somewhat infectious.
“You guys come to visit?”
“Not exactly.”
Vee was distracted as Syama bounded from the car, rushing around to Krish’s side. She had to admit the pair made a cute couple. Vee alighted as well, and leaned against her door. A quick glance revealed Akil in his snowy white owl form, watching from the back seat. Vee was still learning to understand the sirin’s animal expressions, and had no idea what the kid was thinking. Then she considered that it was likely better not to know.
“Can you tell Nivaan that I need to speak to him about the case?”
“Come inside. We’re having a barbecue out back.”
Vee and Syama exchanged glances, and Vee felt worry tease her gut. She shook her head. “Look, I don’t want to disturb you guys. Just tell Nivaan.”
“Tell Nivaan what?” asked the subject of their conversation, who now stood on the threshold of the entrance to the house, arms folded and watching them with a curious expression in his eyes. His hair was hidden by a gray beanie while his short-sleeved black tee emphasized the dark lines of the tattoos that covered his biceps.
Vee swallowed hard and forced a smile on her face. She didn’t have the time to think about guys. Her life was filled with pain and loss and murder. No spare time for hearts and flowers.
She smiled and walked to the front porch. “I need some help tracking the killer.” She figured getting to the point would make things easy for everyone. “I have a sample that we can use, but I’m not sure if you can even use it to track the scent.”
Nivaan nodded and turned on his heel, beckoning her inside. He led her to his office upstairs and Krish and Syama followed, keeping their distance. The door was open and the alpha shifter stepped aside and waited, his gallantry a little out of place in this day and age.
Vee entered and walked inside, withdrawing the envelope from her jacket pocket. Nivaan closed the door and headed for her, but before he could say another word, Vee handed him the envelope. “Tell me if you get anything from this.”
Nivaan’s eyebrows bunched as he took the proffered evidence and peered inside. More frowning. He sat behind his desk and tipped the small plastic packet onto the table, staring at the tiny shards of claw, then lifting his eyes to meet Vee’s gaze.
He didn’t say a word, just gave a short nod.
“So you can sense it well enough to track it?” Vee asked, curious how his sense worked.
Nivaan nodded again, and as Vee turned to study his face she caught a flash of white outside the window as the sirin swooped past and returned to land on the ledge outside the window. She’d forgotten about him.
She dragged her eyes from the window and focused on Nivaan. “You can sense it without touching it?” she asked.
He tilted his head. “It gives off more than a scent. It’s like a resonance that I can feel almost in my bones.” He took a deep breath and straightened. “So, yes. I can track it for you.”
“When?”
“When do you need me?”
Vee blinked at the words, biting her tongue against saying something totally inappropriate. She cleared her throat. “As soon as possible . . . I’d like to track it as soon as possible. I’d need to study it as well, and then we can both go hunting.”
His eyes skimmed Vee’s face, curious now. “How will you hunt him?”
“Hopefully in tandem with you.” Vee reached over and scooped the packet up, holding it in the palm of her hand. The shards looked like broken pieces of bone, nothing out of the ordinary.
Vee sat back and focused on the pieces, shifting her sight until her aural vision kicked in and she could see the shimmering cloud of colors surrounding the claws. The image of a man flickered in her vision, tall, his features so leonine that Vee stiffened.
But overlapping that aura was a second image almost interlacing with the first, and this one too that of a lion, and for one second, one very brief moment, the dual lion aura seemed to jump out at her. Shocked, she flinched and let out a soft gasp feeling the room tilt around her. It had been years since she’d felt like fainting while reading the auras.
What is wrong with me?
“What is it?” asked Nivaan leaning closer. He almost touched Vee’s hand but stopped himself at the last moment as he stared at her. Although her vision was a little skewed, she was still very aware of the lion alpha with his hand mere inches from hers. His expression was perplexed as he studied her face.
Whatever he saw was enough to relax him because he sat back and waited, patience emanating from his body. Vee could
see the movements, his aura an emotional one as opposed to a physical residue.
The suspect with the lion head was far different from Nivaan, which sent a thrill of relief through Vee’s heart.
“What is it?” he asked again, this time his voice a little more fervent.
Vee blinked. “The killer has a face of a lion, but something is wrong with the aura. It’s like he’s there . . . but he isn’t. As if two auras overlap each other.” She squinted at Nivaan, her face now pale. “I’m really not sure what I’m seeing.”
She cleared her throat.
He looked a little off-balance too, affected more than Vee could understand. Nivaan straightened. “I have time now if you need me.”
Again with the double entendre?
Vee eyed the shifter. “Thanks. The quicker we get it done the better.”
Ugh.
She got to her feet and reached out to drop the sample back into the envelope Nivaan held. Vee dropped the plastic bag into the envelope and Nivaan handed it back to Vee. As her fingers closed over the package they brushed his knuckles and her skin sizzled.
She flinched, snatching her hand away and when she glanced up, the hurt in his expression was clear. But what choice did she have? This was work . . . a case. And she knew nothing about him. Why feel guilty when it was likely that he was cheating on his wife?
Vee ignored the low thrum in her belly and headed out of the room. She didn’t look back to check if he’d followed.
Chapter 40
Vee hurried downstairs, not looking back even when she reached her car. Syama scurried after her, the hellhound’s breathing heavy. Vee ignored her.
That doctor-shifter dude had a bad habit of getting under Vee’s skin.
“What’s going on?” Syama’s eyebrow lifted.