“We have everything,” Miller said from the doorway.
“How’s her mum?” I asked.
“As expected.”
“Dad? Where’s he?”
“They’re divorced.”
“Has her mum someone who can be with her?”
“Helena’s aunt is driving up from Southampton.”
I made one last visual sweep of the room and again nothing stood out. We said our goodbyes, and as with all lost persons cases we promised Helena’s mother we’d do everything within our power to find her. It was their eyes that haunted you. That look of terror, their pleading with you not to fail them, fail her.
Miller and I drove back to Scotland Yard together. Other than sharing words of support and a promise we’d find her, we said very little.
By the time we’d returned, everyone was on high alert. Extra officers were brought in and had gathered in the main conference room for the pre-scheduled debriefing. I remained at the back of the room standing beside Miller, both of us receiving critical stares. The truth in their accusations made me sick to my stomach. I deserved it. I’d not been as attentive as I should have been to the constable under my command. Disallowing myself to wallow in self-hate, I focused on what we had so far.
Chief Inspector Abe Flock addressed the room and outlined our plan of action. Flock was a hard-faced, rotund man who scared the shit out of the junior officers, and with good reason. If he caught you messing up, he hung you out to dry as an example. My moment of being publically humiliated by Flock was a matter of when, not if.
Afterward he approached Miller and I, and took us aside to talk privately. We told him everything we knew and answered all his questions as methodically as we could. He shared with us that a press release was set for this afternoon. Flock offered his condolences to us but I could see the blame in his eyes, the need for answers which we just didn’t have.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Miller told him. “If this is connected to the Hauville case, why target a policewoman?”
“We’re not certain that’s the connection,” Inspector Flock said. “And if Helena has been abducted, the person may not even know she’s a policewoman.”
“Helena came with me when I interviewed Mrs. Hauville,” I said.
Flock shrugged it off. “Does Helena have a boyfriend?”
“Well...” Miller glanced my way.
“Someone here?” Flock realized from Miller’s hesitancy. “Well?”
“She’s good friends with Dr. Russell,” Miller said.
“Our coroner?” Flock looked surprised. “Well, are they fucking?”
I held back on the urge to roll my eyes. “Not as far as I know, sir.”
“Then how are they romantically involved?” he said.
“The blossoming of a new love?” Miller cringed. “Off the record.”
“It’s on the bloody record now,” Flock said. “Go interview Russell.”
After agreeing with Miller that it was best for me to speak with Riley alone, I returned to the morgue. If I was going to be of any use to Helena I’d have to kick my skills into high gear and put all personal needs aside.
I prayed that Helena’s disappearance had nothing to do with Eden’s death. I really was going to have to persuade Riley to let me look more closely at the girl’s body.
He sat on a wooden barstool, hunched over the lens of a microscope. His ability to keep working considering the circumstances was awe inspiring.
He raised his head. “You found her?”
“Not yet, Riley,” I said. “I’m so sorry. Miller and I just got back from her mums.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s holding up.”
He stood. “Do you have anything? Any leads?”
“Nothing yet. Everyone is on this. We’ll find her.” I looked around at all the sterility, the starkness of all these clean lines and chrome. “Isn’t there someone else who can cover for you?”
“Work is the only way I can stay sane.”
“I understand.”
“Fill me in.” He blew out a sigh. “Every step of the way.”
“I have you on speed-dial.”
“How are you doing?”
“Other than feeling shitty?”
“Ingrid, this is hardly your fault.”
“I’m her boss.”
He picked up a tray of instruments. “Still.”
I gestured for him to put it down.
His shoulders slumped. “You want to know where I was last night?”
“I’m sorry, Riley. It’s protocol. You know that.”
“You’re not checking on how I’m doing. You’re interviewing me.”
“Riley—”
“No, that’s okay. Of course. Rule me out so you can find her. What do you need?” He cleared his throat. “Last night, of course. I met my brother for dinner at Fred’s Cafe in Covent Garden. He’s a teacher. I have the receipt somewhere. No, wait. He paid. It was his turn. We take it in turns. I came back here around 0800, right after they found our Jane Doe.” Riley raised his gloved hands. “I’ll get you his number.”
The silence that followed did its bit to strain the tension. Both of us knew our conversation in the cafeteria was far from over.
“I’ve filed a complaint,” Riley said.
The tightness in my throat nearly choked me.
“See that.” He gestured with his head.
There, a few feet away on an examination table, lay a body covered in a green sheet.
“We’re slipping,” Riley said. “I know that all resources are on finding Helena, but breaching protocol like this is unacceptable. I was only gone ten minutes, and when I returned that was waiting for me. The corpse is male. He wasn’t signed in. No toe tag. No record. Just another dead body in my morgue. With no record, I have no idea where he was found. If he came from a hospital. How he was found. Who found him. If there were any witnesses.” He shrugged. “You get the idea. Someone was sloppy. I need answers. Now. Someone’s getting fired and it’s sure as hell isn’t going to be me.”
“I’ll look into it,” I said. “Who is the tech tonight?”
“Stewart Palmer. He has no idea where the body came from either.”
Bile rose in my throat.
“Find Helena,” Riley said. “Then launch an investigation here.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, Helena left her coat here yesterday morning,” Riley said.”Not sure if that helps. I imagine she has another one.”
“Where?”
“My office.”
“Anything out of the ordinary with her?” I said. “Any emotional change?”
“She did seem a little more...secretive.”
“In what way?”
“Distracted.” He motioned his frustration.
“Specifics would really help.”
“The only thing I can think of was she obsessed over the Hauville case. That girl’s photo.”
“Did she mention she’d found anything?”
“No, but she kept her own copy of that photograph. It really rattled her that the case wasn’t being taken seriously.”
“We all feel that.”
He looked uncomfortable. “Just so you know, we haven’t had sex yet.”
I threw my hands up in a gesture to show I trusted him.
“You should have asked me that,” he said.
“Thank you for your frankness.” I gestured to his office.
“Help yourself.” He gave a weak smile. “Ingrid, if you have to, search my house. Whatever you have to do to find her. You have my full cooperation.”
“I know.”
“Oh, and our conversation in the cafeteria this morning,” he said.
I hesitated, hating this looming beneath the surface.
“You were going to share something with me before we were interrupted?” he said.
“Let’s revisit that another time.”
“Let’s retest your blood. Tomorrow sound good?�
��
I hated the idea. “I can do that.”
“It’s on the back of my chair.” He used his chin to point. “Helena’s coat.”
Riley had managed to make his office cheery. Bright prints hung on the walls and the space was comfortable. His desk was neatly arranged, as was his filing system. All this order was a welcome change from what lay out there.
I recognized Helena’s parka hung over the back of a chair. Searching each pocket, I found nothing, other than a tissue. Inside her inner pocket I removed a crumbled piece of paper and unraveled it. The receipt was from Blackly’s Tattoo Parlor in SoHo, and it was dated five days ago. The same day Helena had taken off to attend a supposed dental appointment.
Riley hadn’t mentioned this, and a tattoo was certainly a conversational piece.
I pulled out my BlackBerry and dialed the number at the top of the receipt. The call didn’t go through. We were too far down in the basement to get any reception. Sitting on the edge of Riley’s desk, I picked up his office phone and redialed.
“Blackly’s,” answered a male with a Cockney accent.
“Hey there,” I said. “Who’s this?”
“Mac. How can I help you?”
“My friend got the coolest tattoo there, and well, we’re like bestest friends and we do everything the same.”
I could almost hear him cringe on the other end, his impatience welling. Right where I needed him.
“Yeah,” I said. “Anyway, I want to get the exact same tattoo.”
“I can do that,” he said. “Who’s your friend?”
“Helena Noble.”
He went quiet for the longest time. “Oh yeah. Blonde? Pretty?”
“That’s her.”
“You want a small, black circle on your left inner forearm?”
A wave of panic. “Yes,” I managed, my hands shaking.
“How about Saturday? Noon?”
I slammed the phone down as a cold sweat beaded my brow. Had Helena set herself up as bait? What kind of danger had she put herself in? Where the hell was she?
In a daze, I made my way out of Riley’s office.
“You’re not taking it then?” he said.
“Huh?”
“Her coat?”
“Riley.” I tried to find the words. “Was Helena guarded over her left arm?”
“How do you mean?” His expression became fraught and he stomped toward me.
“What?”
The male corpse that had been lying on the examination table a few moments ago was gone. The green drape discarded on the floor.
“Fuck,” hissed Riley under his breath.
I followed his gaze.
A shadowy figure stood stock still in the corner. I knew that face, that monk-like garb, those haunting black eyes.
“Riley,” I whispered. “Get in your office. Lock the door.”
“Sir, I’m a doctor. Help is on its way.” He gestured to his office. “Ingrid, call an ambulance. He must have been in a coma.”
I stepped in front of Riley. “Hide. Now!”
The hood slipped off, revealing a flock of white hair. The vampire flew at us, knocking me backwards onto the floor. Trays of instruments crashed around us, green drape went flying, and Riley’s yelling rose above the din.
He let out a death curdling scream...
The creatures fangs buried in Riley’s neck, furiously sucking the life from him, tearing at his flesh. A monstrous vision of horror. I ran toward them, bringing my fist hard against the creature’s face and punching him hard.
Wide-eyed and dazed, Riley staggered forward and slumped to his knees. The vampire was on me now, his teeth bared, fangs finding my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, flinching away from his bite. The coldness of his tongue along my neck searched out my pulse. My scream caught in my throat.
He let me go and I tumbled back to the floor.
On hands and knees, I crawled toward Riley, my hands fumbling at his neck, trying to stem his blood loss. Terror raged through my veins.
I scanned the room for that creature, my gaze sweeping the ceiling, the darkest corners.
Riley’s face contorted in agony. He was bleeding out. I leaped to my feet and grabbed gauze from the countertop and returned to him, ripping the sterile packet open and pulling out squares of fabric before pressing them against the gouge. Bright red blood soaked through the fabric and more poured onto my hands, dripping onto the floor.
“I’ll call an ambulance,” I said, failing to hide my panic. Hands shaking, wet fingers slipping, I reached for my BlackBerry. It was useless. If I let go of the gauze, Riley would bleed out faster. My gaze flitted to his office. I had to get to his landline.
A door opened.
Jadeon and Orpheus were beside me.
“Call an ambulance,” I yelled. “Hurry. There’s a phone in there.”
Orpheus took over where my hands pressed, enabling me to straighten Riley’s limbs and lay him flat on the floor. Jadeon knelt at Riley’s side. Riley was fading quickly, his paleness transmuting into a dusky hue.
Orpheus lifted Riley’s chin. “Listen to me. I’m going to ask you a question and you must answer.”
Riley prized his eyes open, his pupils dilating.
“Save him!” I yelled.
“Quiet, Ingrid,” Jadeon said. “Let him talk.”
Riley tried to swallow, tried to catch his breath. He wheezed for life, trying to make sense of this attack that had come out of nowhere.
“We’re going to give you a choice,” Jadeon said. “To live. To become immortal.”
“You’re confusing him,” I said. “Just do it.”
Jadeon held his arm up for Riley to see and with a knife taken from God knew where he sliced through his own wrist. “See?” Jadeon showed Riley how quickly his wound healed. “We’re vampires. We can transform you into what we are. Right now. What we can’t guarantee is that your soul will live on.”
“Say yes, Riley,” I said. “Say yes to him.”
A lone tear fell down Riley’s cheek as he watched Jadeon’s wound heal, his face marred with confusion.
“Do it,” I screamed.
Yet Jadeon remained calm, cruelly so, as though death held no fear for him even when it had its claws in someone I cared about.
“Orpheus,” I begged. “I’ll do anything you ask. Just turn him.”
“His swallowing reflex is going,” Orpheus said, throwing a look at Jadeon.
“Wait.” Jadeon grabbed Orpheus’ shoulder.
“There’s no time,” I sobbed.
“Ingrid,” Riley gasped. “Don’t let them...please...”
“No, you don’t mean that,” I said. “Riley, you’re bleeding. By the time the ambulance gets here—”
“I need to hear a ‘yes’ from you, Riley,” said Jadeon.
“No,” mouthed Riley. “I can’t breathe.”
“The blood loss is effecting his decision,” I said.
“Ingrid, I’m sorry,” Orpheus whispered and sat up on his heels.
“Hold him,” Jadeon told me. “Make it easier on him.”
Tears soaked my face, his blood soaking my hands. “You do it. Do it now.” I grabbed Riley into a hug and rocked him.
Vaguely, I sensed Orpheus and Jadeon standing behind me calmly watching. Refusing to do what had to be done.
“Whatever you want from me,” I called back to them. “I’ll give you anything. I’ll be anything you want me to be.”
With Riley in my arms, I kissed his forehead, trying to comfort him, feeling him tremble then grow still, feeling him slip away. “No. No. No. No. No. Please.” I buried my face in the crook of his neck, the agony of losing him too much to bear. Wretchedness washed over me, brought on by the gut wrenching truth that this was my fault.
Riley had tried to save me. He’d taken the time to council me. Yet when he needed me the most I failed him. Was failing him.
Hands trembling, emptiness enveloped me as I laid him back down. Jadeon knelt beside m
e and rested a hand on my shoulder. I shoved his hand away.
“Riley didn’t want to be one of us,” he said. “He just didn’t.”
“You misread him.” My eyes blurred with tears. “You scared him.”
Orpheus picked up a green drape and wiped blood off his hands. Riley’s blood. “We have to move fast,” he said. “We’ll destroy the evidence.”
“What are you talking about?” I stared at my bloodstained hands. “We need the evidence.”
“He has a vampire’s bite,” Jadeon said. “And your fingerprints are on everything.”
Dizziness threatened to drag me to my knees. “What about Helena?”
“We’ll find her,” Jadeon said.
“Do you think she’s in danger?” My body trembled violently. My thoughts scattered.
“We’re here for you,” Jadeon said. “Whatever you need.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth, the shock of it all finding me like a raging nightmare.
“We will find the one who did this,” Orpheus said.
“That’s not enough,” I said. “It’s not enough.”
“Take a breath.” Jadeon grabbed my shoulders. “We need you focused for what is to follow.”
“Follow?” I muttered.
“We’re going to fake your death, Ingrid,” Orpheus said.
“What? No!”
“No one is safe around you,” Jadeon said. “Not while there are those still out there who want you dead.”
“This is my life. You’re talking about my life.”I looked at Riley’s blood on my hands. I’d caused his death by bringing the attention of the elders to me. I looked at Jadeon for answers. I looked at him to make sense of all this. To turn back the clock. To make it go away.
“I have to call my boss,” I sobbed, heading for the phone.
Jadeon stepped in front of me and blocked my way. “It’s over.” He brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “My darling, I’m so sorry.”
The wall clock ticked, each hand sliding forward irrevocably. Time would not wait for anyone, least of all me. The scent of ammonia, the scent of blood, made me queasy. Scarlet smudges were all over my hands, my chest, my face. I was covered in it.
“Please,” I backed away.
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