Gator Baitin' (The Grateful Undead series Book 2)

by Susan Stec

  "Yesss, Wolf," Dorius' voice answered.

  "We got three more bodies," Paul said. "Do you still have Eval?"

  "He's down in the basement chained to the wall. Are you sure it's the same demon?" Dorius' voice clearly showed irritation.

  "Yep, rhymes on the walls. The same smell, and all three have been sexually assaulted."

  Marcus walked out of the kitchen. "There are several body parts boiling on the stove. They look like the women's… innards."

  "I'll have another chat with Eval, tonight. Send me a few pictures of the women. Make sure you get their faces. Maybe he knows who they are." Dorius said, and the line went dead.

  Paul tucked the cell into his jeans. "The other two are in the first bedroom down the hall." He pointed in that direction.

  Marcus led Christopher and me down the hall past a bathroom into a small room on the left. I immediately sucked in a whopping breath and regretted it. The taste of copper danced on my tongue. My fangs slipped from my gums and I winced, quickly retracting them. The room was covered in blood.

  One woman hung from the closet door, the other was spread across the bed. Rhymes covered the bare walls. Several pictures and paintings were stacked against the side of the flowered bedspread. A large garbage bag lay at the foot of the bed.

  Paul pointed to the bag. "That's ours—twelve infected animals. Seven of them were trying to get in. They led us here."

  My eyes followed the bloody walls as I read the rhymes painted there.

  These two are lovers

  Not in a biblical way

  The lord frowns on

  The games they play

  Patricia taunts and teases

  With red lips, long tongue

  And fingers, she pleases

  Carol defiles God's plan

  Never taking to her a man

  Her wanton ways abused

  The Lord's words she refused

  "This demon is a really bad poet." Gibbie held his chin as he hovered in front of the wall. "I could make a few corrections here. I mean he really didn't seem to take much time with these. For example, in the one about Carol, the last phrase could definitely use something. I'd quote a bit of scripture, like—"

  "I really don't think poetic alterations are appropriate, do you?" The smell of blood infused the air. My gums tingled with revolting clarity. "Can we just get the pictures and get the hell out of here? This is freaking me out." Disgusted, my eyes played over the room. The desecrated bodies presented a stark and horrid reality.

  "I'm just saying, if you do a job you should do it right, that's all," Gibbie squeaked, landing on my shoulder.

  My nostrils flared. I shook him off, staring from Marcus to Christopher. "I'm ready to hit the road." My fangs dropped and Christopher's eyebrows touched. I quickly retracted them and headed for the front door.

  From the passenger seat of my Jeep, I asked. "So what have we got so far?"

  "Not a whole hell of a lot," Christopher said. "None of this is making sense. All we have is a picture of Sara, a few emails and I copied their date book. Maybe we'll find something out at the mall. I think we should all go. Everyone." He was sitting in the back seat, Captain Marvel tennis shoes tapping the back of my seat.

  I couldn't believe he wanted to take the whole team to the mall. "You're kidding, right?"

  "How else are we going to handle telling them we need to go to Winter Park?" Christopher asked.

  "And just how do you plan on explaining how we came by this bit of information?" Marcus asked.

  I wanted to know the answer to that question myself. We sure as hell couldn't tell them that we'd snooped around the Pastor's home. I turned around in the seat, smiled at Christopher and waited for an answer.

  "We're going to tell them we went to the condo," Christopher said, a big grin on his face.

  ~~~

  Chapter 15

  You've got too much to reveal

  How does it feel

  ~~~

  I wanted to slap something, anything, especially Christopher.

  "If I knew you were going to fess up, I'd have never agreed to snoop in the first place. I really didn't want to get in Dorius' face again, damnit," I argued, hanging over the back of my seat, trying to grab Christopher.

  "Don't get your titties all aflutter. I'm in charge here—I take the fall—remember?" Christopher scooted away, slapping at my hand.

  "Darling, you don't have your seatbelt on. Sit down please, before we get pulled over," Marcus requested from the driver's seat.

  "Yeah, well, he tossed the car-seat. Yell at him!" I glared at Marcus then reached for Christopher and grabbed him by the hair. "I am not getting Dorius involved in this! We made a pact, damn you."

  "Get over it! We need to tell him. Trust me for once, will ya? And I'm not sitting in a stupid kid seat. It's demeaning," Christopher grumbled, kicked the back of my seat and bounced me off the dashboard.

  I sat back in the seat and smiled at the fistful of blond hair in my hand.

  He nudged the seat with a quick tap. "Pull my hair one more time and we'll see whose grows back fastest."

  I shook the hair off my hand.

  "We will be purchasing another car-seat when we go to the mall." Marcus adjusted the rear-view mirror and did a little warning thing with his fingers. "I know you don't like it, but you will use the car-seat. We don't need any unwanted attention from the local authorities."

  "Go ahead, spend your money. I'll just burn the damn thing with the animal carcasses." A snarky smile spread across Christopher's face.

  Marcus let out a sigh of exasperation and changed the subject. "At least we've agreed to discuss this with the others.

  "We have not!" I was livid.

  "Susan," Marcus warned, "I see nothing wrong with telling the others. However, I feel keeping Dorius out of this for the moment would be a wise choice, Christopher."

  "You tell one, you tell them all." I buckled my seatbelt, crossed my arms over my chest and tossed him a defiant look.

  Christopher shoved his cellphone between the bucket seats and aimed the viewing screen at Marcus. "This is going to get me in Dorius' good graces."

  Marcus' nostrils flared.

  I grabbed the phone. It was a picture of the painting from the condo. Christopher plucked the cell out of my hands and sat back.

  Marcus was uncomfortably quiet all the way home and I couldn't read his thoughts.

  "We need to talk," Christopher announced as the three of us entered the living room where most of the team sat. I tried to grab him. He wiggled away and headed straight for my mother.

  "We already heard about the bodies," Mom sang from the dining room as Christopher strutted up. She was sitting in front of the laptop, a big smile on her face that the little immortal was about to wipe clean.

  "We still need to talk," Christopher said, throwing a trash bag of animal bodies on the floor in front of the gator mounted under the coffee table.

  "We have some additional information for you, Chick," Marcus told her in a pleasant voice. I watched his butt swagger toward them.

  I smiled at Christopher, who was trying to one up Marcus.

  "Where's the wolf?" Christopher asked, climbing on a barstool near the kitchen counter, out of my reach. He began to swing his little Spidey tennis shoes and pulled a crumpled pack of Virginia Slims out of his cute little shorts. I gave him another warning glance. He ignored it.

  "Don't even think about smoking indoors," Mom said. "Take it out to the back porch."

  Christopher reluctantly shoved the pack back into his shorts. "So where's Paul? We've got vamp-animals to burn."

  "He's at the barn. Get your ass down and take them to him. He's not your slave, young man," Mom told him, getting a cocky grin from Christopher. He didn't budge.

  "Chick, you promised. No sucking," Jake warned, looking uncomfortable and scooting down the picnic table bench to get away from her.

  "Sheesh, what it is with the teeth? Get over it," Gibbie said, from th
e ceiling fan above the table. His red hair flew about his face as the blades carried him on a merry-go-round ride at break-neck speed. One small hand tried to catch wind the other gripped the fan blade. He was clad in a tight pair of jeans, a billowy red shirt and Jesus sandals—little pink toes wiggling in the breeze.

  I reached over and turned the knob on the wall next to the couch and slowed down the fan's speed.

  "Can someone find Chick a mint? I can't concentrate with her breath smelling like blood. It makes me sick." Jake was a tad testy since the dragon showed itself. He grinned, leaned sideways, and farted.

  Mom jumped away from the table and fanned the air in front of her nose. "Unless you want to be the dragon all the time, I'd stick a cork in it, Jake because I just ordered a hundred feet of heavy chain and a studded collar that'd fit around a semi-trailer."

  Jake stopped grinning and quickly buttoned his golf shirt up to his neck.

  I walked to the refrigerator and pulled several bags of blood out. Popping one to my mouth, I threw one at Christopher. It bounced off his head. He picked it up off the counter and, fangs extended, slapped it against his smiling lips.

  Resi and Zaire looked at each other and grinned as Resi booted up the computer.

  "Damn, I missed this family." Zaire slapped the table.

  I drained the bag, tossed it in the trash container at the end of the kitchen counter and turned to Mom. "You didn't see the murder site. It was horrible. Three dead women and stupid rhymes painted all over the walls in their blood. I've been sick since we left." I popped another bag to my teeth, holding one toward everyone at the table.

  Zaire shook her head. "We already had some and Nanna went to the bar across the street. I'm sure she got a little tonight." Zaire laughed.

  "Never mind my sexual needs, missy. You know I have to have sex to keep from killing them. I can't help being a Seraph. Neither can Dorius," Mom said, looking fully sated.

  Resi punched a few keys. "Speaking of Dorius, he's waiting to talk to all of us. Be good. I'm connecting us now."

  I shot Christopher a warning glance. He shot one back.

  "Jake, take the bag of dead animals out to Paul," Mom said.

  Jake got up, picked up the bag and glared at Mom. "You could at least gargle with a little mouthwash after you feed," he said, heading towards the front door.

  I walked around the table. Marcus joined me. Dorius' face filled the small screen. He immediately asked, "What did you find out at the church, Chick?"

  Mom popped in front the computer, pushing Resi against Zaire. Resi flung her hair off her shoulder. Zaire puffed out a mouthful and frowned at her.

  Christopher was working the chair in anticipation. I wanted to pull the plug on the laptop.

  "Not much. Julie was there. But the old man wasn't," Mom said all businesslike. "She told us he cleans the church. She wouldn't give up his address, even when we told her we were investigating the murder of one of her pastors. She wanted to know who we were working for. We told her a family member. She seemed to accept that, but didn't give up any dirt."

  "Did you see Kim?" Dorius asked.

  "Julie said Kim only works the business end of the church. She wasn't there. She's at their cabin on the Saint John's River taking a break after the whole murder thing. Julie said the pastor was a close friend of her sister's."

  Christopher and I exchanged a look. I was sure the next place we were going to search would be the cabin.

  Christopher hopped off the barstool, sauntered over in front of the screen and pushed Marcus and I aside, all alpha like.

  I slapped the back of his head, sending his Spiderman baseball cap flying. "You just listen," I warned, pulling him to my chest, my hands wrapped around his neck.

  He glared at me and blurted, "Look, Dorius, you might as well know we've been doing some investigating, too. We found out where the girls live and searched their condo." I tightened my grip and the rest of his words came out in a strangled voice. "We found some pertinent information. You want to hear it or are you going to yell first?" He wiggled in my arms, giving me a good shove with his elbow.

  The cat was out of the bag and I couldn't take it back. I wanted to slap the smirk right off his little face. But Dorius surprised me with his answer, and I loosened my grip as he spoke.

  "I didn't think it would take you long to get involved, Christopher. I'm not pleased with your inability to follow instructions, but JoAnn warned me you three were up to something, so I'm not at all surprised. What have you found, brother?" Dorius directed his question to Marcus and his eyes followed.

  Christopher huffed, kicking the back of Zaire's shoe under the table. She turned a swing at him. He jumped out of the way and ended up in front of my mother.

  "I'm heading our search." Christopher stuck his face between the screen and my mother. "Get over it, Dorius. If you want the information, I give it, or you don't get it."

  Mom pushed him away, Dorius' eyes followed.

  "Christopher, you try my patience. You are never going to be a rogue hunter. I will not have you out there screwing up an investigation." Dorius had a nasty smile on his face. Clearly, he was not forgetting Christopher was the one who killed his possible mate.

  I smiled, thinking Dorius had finally shifted his anger in a different direction.

  "Big tough man!" Christopher snarled. "You either admit I have what it takes to get this solved or forget it."

  Dorius' head tilted a smile on his lips, and in a singsong voice he answered, "Alright, Christopher, what do you have? I'll decide when you give me your information if it's worth your recognition."

  Christopher's body shook with excitement. I put my hands on his shoulders, feeling a bit proud of the little guy. He was finally proving his worth. I couldn't blame him for wanting to show Dorius what he was capable of.

  "We searched the condo and found several things of interest. Kim has communicated with Eval via emails. Marcus made copies for you. And the two girls are going shopping at the Winter Park Mall tomorrow. We can all follow them there. Maybe we'll get further information." Christopher sat down next to Mom, scooting in front of the screen. She raised an eyebrow, evidently not happy with the direction the conversation was going.

  "That's not something that gets us any closer to who is consorting with the demon, Christopher. You have found nothing of concern. Your investigation is merely child's play. Resi and Zaire captured the key, and although Eval is clearly not the only one involved, we have him in our compound to question. That's why I sent the girls back to you. They do their job, and do it well."

  Dorius discounted Christopher completely, his eyes searching for Resi as he continued. "I spoke to Eval. He knows the defiled women found at the crime scene. They sing in the choir at the church. We need to find out who is responsible for their deaths, not where they shop for clothes." Dorius had a very smug look on his face as he turned back to Christopher.

  Mom smiled.

  Christopher gave him one of his own smirks. "Yes, but they didn't find who is responsible, did they? I think I have."

  "I don't have the time for this nonsense. What do you have Christopher?"

  Marcus pushed his thoughts at me while Christopher paused for effect. Susan, Christopher does not know what he is about to unleash. I know this woman in the picture he has taken. Dorius is going to be here in three hours if Christopher shows him that picture. We must stop him.

  I pushed back, Well why the hell didn't you tell me this before he started giving it all up, for Christ's sake? Who is she?

  Just stop him. Now!

  "Umm Christopher, can we talk a minute?" I whispered.

  "We found a painting—I took a picture," Christopher blurted out, ignoring my warning as he pulled his cellphone from his pocket.

  Marcus vibrated. He grabbed Christopher by the shoulder.

  "What does that have to do with this investigation, Christopher?" Dorius sounded bored.

  "You have the same painting in your bedroom above your bed," Chr
istopher said with a smirk.

  Dorius' stature changed so swiftly I gasped. Gibbie flew from the fan to land on Christopher's shoulder.

  "I've searched that condo myself, several times, and I did not find the picture you speak of!"

  There is no going back now. Christopher has accomplished what he intended, Marcus pushed.

  Well, what's the big deal? I pushed back, tired of all of the espionage.

  You are about to find out. Marcus sighed in my head.

  Jake and Paul walked in the front door.

  "The animals are being cremated as we speak. What's next on the agenda?" Paul asked, walking over to the table.

  "Chick, you didn't suck a mint," Jake said, flopping down on the couch and holding his nose.

  Everyone ignored Paul and Jake. Christopher smiled. "Well it was right there in the bedroom, and I took a picture of it with my cell."

  Dorius' voice rang through the room, "Show me the picture, IMMEDIATELY!"

  We all sucked in a breath, except Christopher.

  "Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. It depends on how much credit you plan on giving me," Christopher snarled, his eyes fixed on the laptop.

  "Christopher, show him the picture." Marcus' voice sounded like distant thunder. "If you do not, you will be making a big mistake."

  "Have you seen it, Marcus? Is it her?" Dorius asked, leaning into the camera on his end.

  I heard JoAnn in the background. "Dorius… umm… you might not want to lean in quite that close. It makes you look like a blowfish."

  Dorius sat back, eyes weighing heavily on the screen in front of us as Marcus answered, "Yes, but we don't know if she's the girl's ancestor, Dorius. Calm down. It may be nothing more than a reproduction of the painting for their amusement."

  Dorius' worried eyes moved from Marcus to Christopher. "If you are indeed responsible for finding this painting and photographing it, you have my respect, Christopher, because you have solved a mystery I have been trying to figure out for a long time." He looked up at Marcus. "Julie looks like her, Marcus, so did her mother. That's why I've been so interested in them over the years. But I've been unable to prove more than a simple resemblance."