by T. G. Ayer
Reacting to Susie’s attack, the demon punched her in the head and swung her around. She flailed like a rag doll and hit the carpeted floor. But there was a strength in her that Vee admired, and she watched as the woman tried to get back onto her feet.
Vee wasn’t sure what Susie had thought she could do against the attacking demon, but the woman must have been desperate to get away, to fend him off.
It was hopeless.
As Susie rose to her knees, preparing to boost herself to her feet, the demon swung a hand at her neck. And spilled her blood onto the floor.
The aura of the lifeblood shimmered with white fractal patterns as it gushed, as Susie grabbed her throat. Blood seeped from her wound, dripping past her fingers and falling onto the carpet and matched up perfectly with the large stain.
The demon wasn’t wasting time. He grabbed for an ankle and dragged Susie into the bedroom, stopping only when he reached the bed. Fluctuations in Susie’s aural patterns implied a range of emotions that Vee assumed ran from terror, anger, shame, and helplessness.
Still, the woman didn’t just lie there waiting to die. She got to her feet, managing to stand despite the blood loss. But her attempt to flee failed as the demon smashed his fist onto the back of her head and she sank to the ground weakened by the blow. He didn’t give her time to move, just grabbed her and tossed her onto the bed where she moaned and tried to roll over. His blatant disregard for her, made Vee wonder if he believed she was not worth the effort.
The demon lunged for Susie who scrambled backward on the bed, but the demon was on her in half a second, moving so fast Vee suspected he’d done a partial jump. As he swiped at her, Vee confirmed his species.
A pey.
To encounter a second pey demon within the same twelve-hour period was highly unusual.
Worse yet, here he was murdering a woman in a high-profile neighborhood. It was almost as if he was acting without forethought, without planning.
Vee focused on his movements as he attacked the victim, shredding her abdomen and moving over her to feed at her neck. Fueled perhaps by adrenaline, the woman bucked against him hard and tried to move away. The movement brought her to the edge of the bed, but the demon was still in control, feeding on her until her strength began to wane. Vee swallowed as she watched Susie’s aural patterns fluctuate and fade at the point of her death.
Vee had stiffened as the demon got to his feet and stalked into the front room. Her focus had been on the aural patterns in the bedroom during the attack, so when the demon exited the room to be confronted by another person, it was a surprise.
Vee would have come across the aura of the newcomer eventually, but to now see that there was another victim in this crime was a shock. She’d suspected as much considering the attack had happened in the bathroom, and the woman had been dead on the bed within seconds, no time for the demon to take her out to the living room and attack her there—especially to justify the blood in the living room. Despite Susie’s best attempts at escape, she’d been overpowered with no hope of surviving.
Now, Vee watched as the demon stared down the visitor who was much smaller in size than Susie, appearing to be another slight-built woman or a teenager.
The person backed away, bumped into something, probably the central feature table that Vee had seen when she’d entered. This was how it was knocked over.
The demon lunged at the victim, swiping hard at the neck area, likely using his long, curved claws. The trajectory of the swipe sent blood spurting in a wide arc resulting in the spatter patterns on the wall and picture window behind the victim.
Still, it appeared that the attacker hadn’t killed the victim. Vee was about to forward through the aural pattern when she paused. Something was strange about the person’s aura, a strong glow of fractal patterns in the abdominal area. Vee concentrated on the looping swirls of color but already had a suspicion about the glow as she honed in on the shimmering pale blue and gold lines.
The second victim was a woman, and she was carrying a child.
Chapter 13
Vee’s stomach churned.
The demon paused, hovering over the woman and Vee had to wonder if he’d also realized that the woman was pregnant. His attack stopped, and he knelt before the victim whose aura implied pure terror.
Her hands lay over her abdomen, and Vee felt almost ill when she recalled that the pey had attacked Susie with a blow to the gut first. Had he done the same with this unknown victim, she’d have lost her child instantly.
But the pey seemed to have ceased his attack, waving at her to get to her feet. She obeyed, seeming to not have the same ability to resist as Susie had, which again implied that the woman was much younger or probably just not as strong as Susie.
It also explained what had given Susie such strength to fight back; she’d known the other woman was coming to see her. Vee had noticed that the second woman had entered the apartment alone, probably with a second key from the front desk. Which could mean Susie had had an arrangement with the hotel for a key for a second guest.
The demon closed in on the woman and wrapped his arms around her. Then both the aural patterns vanished.
In the second before the demon jumped the victim away, Vee caught the golden glint of something at the woman’s neck. It was possible that she too had worn some sort of gold jewelry, which from its aural patterns had a high chance of being made of the same metal as the one she’d seen Susie drop onto the bathroom counter.
Vee took a shuddering breath and straightened. Looking up, she found herself standing in the living room a foot from the second bloodstain.
Monroe was talking to a couple of cops nearby and from what Vee could tell the outer room had been emptied as she’d worked. She hadn’t realized that she’d moved into the living area and was grateful that Monroe had seen fit to preempt Vee’s need for privacy and had evacuated the outer suite.
Monroe looked over at Vee, who jerked her head at the detective then walked back into the interior room.
Vee beckoned Monroe to the bathroom even as the other woman asked, “What can you tell?”
Vee sighed and waved a hand at the bathtub. “She ate a meal, then had a soak in the tub. The attacker entered the bathroom and surprised her. She fought him, and he reacted with a blow to her neck. Causing the bloodstain here.”
Monroe nodded. “That’s more or less what I thought. There was water at the bottom of the tub, along with granules from what looked like bath-salts, or a bath bomb.”
“Yeah, the bloodstain and the drag marks are pretty self-explanatory. She fought him though. He came up behind her, and she would have seen him in the mirror before he struck.”
Monroe frowned. “How can you tell that she was at the washbasin?” Her expression had begun to fill with suspicion.
Vee shrugged. “There is a blood droplet from a broken fingernail behind the faucet. You may want to get a sample.”
Monroe nodded, although the detective didn’t look pleased. “Yeah, the techs haven’t come in here yet. But a broken fingernail isn’t something they should have missed.”
“Not a fingernail. It’s a drop of blood.”
“And you noticed this how?”
“I considered various possible scenarios and checked the bathroom accordingly.” Vee gave a shrug and took a few steps back. “I’d guess he grabbed her from behind and she’d have kicked. Explains the bruises on her knees and toes—kicking out and hitting the cupboards.”
Monroe’s eyes were dark as she stared around the room, and then focused on the double washbasin.
Vee continued, “At that point, I’d guess she would have reacted with greater desperation. Probably reached out to grab him, scratch him, pull his hair. Anything to stop him.”
“And how the hell can you tell such a thing?” The detective’s brow furrowed as she scowled at Vee.
“I can’t tell. I’m thinking of possible scenarios. It’s possible she did nothing, but would that explain the bruising on her kne
es and feet, the bruising on her fingers and the broken nails. We should consider that a possibility. Not investigating all the possible scenarios and outcomes is reckless and lazy.”
Vee wanted to bite her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. Monroe was a touchy woman, easily offended. And she had never been happy with Vee’s involvement. Vee didn’t need to alienate the woman by being insensitive. But when she looked over at Monroe’s reflection in the mirror, she found that despite the detective’s cold frown and stiff spine, the woman was nodding slowly as she scanned the room.
“I’ll have the team double-check her fingernails. That’s a standard thing anyway, but I’ll chase the results.” She looked up at Vee. “If we’re still helping you out.”
Vee pursed her lips. “Yeah. Just don’t let those two find out.”
Monroe nodded then retrieved her little notebook from inside her jacket pocket and began to scribble on it.
Vee glanced around for where she’d seen the golden chain fall, spotting a pair of hotel-issue slippers beside the counter. “Oh, and there is a piece of jewelry inside one of those slippers beside the washbasin.”
The detective paused in her scribbling and glanced over in the direction in which Vee was looking. “Don’t tell me…you considered all possible scenarios?” she asked, her expression bland.
Vee resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead turned and headed back into the bedroom. “Here he left her on the floor probably thinking she was done. But maybe she tries to move… to stand. He’s likely done. This is taking too long. He grabs her and pushed her onto the bed—”
“Grabs her shoulders which is evident by the bruising on her shoulders,” Monroe said with a nod.
“She lands and then he guts her. She’s still desperate to get away and tries to pull herself to the edge of the bed. But he finishes her off.”
“Yeah, that much I can see too. But my question is what the hell happened to all the blood. There isn’t enough here to warrant the kind of attack you are talking about.”
Vee lifted her hand, intending to dig into her bag for her evidence kits, but a small plastic bag was placed into her palm. She cast Monroe a grateful smile and held onto it as she crouched down beside the body and used the enclosed tweezer to remove the evidence.
The girl’s fingers were rigid despite the warmth of the apartment. Reaching out, Vee grabbed a hold of what looked like a long strand of dark hair. She drew the tweezer away, depositing the strand of black hair into the plastic bag. Vee scribbled the codes for her lab sample and then handed the bag to Monroe who was closest. Vee kept going, removing another strand of hair from beneath the victim’s body.
At last, Vee studied the body itself, lifting the sheet to inspect Susie in case of rape, not required considering what Vee had already seen, but she had to go through the motions of being a good investigative officer exploring all options. “The forensics team will do a rape kit, but she doesn’t appear to have been sexually assaulted,” Vee murmured, more to herself than anything. She got to her feet and stared down at the woman.
When she sighed, Monroe asked, “All done?” Vee nodded. “What you got?”
“I’m still not sure how the killer gained entry, but the victim had no other visitors until the killer arrived. She called for room service. The killer was already here, waiting for his moment to strike.” Vee mimicked the move in the specific spot that the killer had stood before he’d hit the victim.
“And the dine and dash?” Monroe cocked her head at the ravaged neck of the victim.
Vee made a face. “Looks a lot as though he bled her somehow.” Though Vee faked ignorance of the somehow, she knew all too well. The pit of her stomach burned at the thought, and she knew she had to get a report into Rossi ASAP.
Vee glanced at the detective who held up a hand. “I’m sure autopsy is going to confirm all those injuries exactly as you’ve described, but the forensics techs are going to ask what the perp did with the blood. Did he drain her elsewhere then return with the body or are we dealing with a vampire?” Monroe’s loud snort showed how little she believed in the supernatural. The woman liked her facts hard and visible.
Vee shrugged. “Whatever he did, you’re right. There’s a lot of blood unaccounted for.” Vee turned and looked at the picture window. “He was done here, so he left the room. Possibly he was looking for something.”
Vee moved out of the bedroom and traced the demon’s steps, stopping only when she got to the bloodstain on the carpet.
“We have a second victim.”
“This stain’s not Susie’s?” Monroe’s spine stiffened as she studied the blood.
Vee shook her head. “There isn’t anything to explain why he would have brought Susie out here.” Vee paused and waved a hand at the inner room. “When during his attack would he have had the time? Or the reason?”
“So someone else entered the suite and was attacked here.” Vee nodded as Monroe walked around the toppled end table to study the spatter on the window. “So, we have two murder victims.”
“No.”
“What do you mean?” Monroe scowled.
“We have one murder victim and one abduction victim.”
“Now how did you manage a conclusion like that?”
“Not enough blood spatter to indicate murder. And she’s not here. It’s possible he took her elsewhere to kill her, but that makes no sense, especially since he’d already begun his attack.” Vee motioned at the bloodstained carpet.
“The woman in there didn’t have enough blood to match the spatter and stains either.”
“Good point. I just think that the lack of a body implies he took her. And it’s likely that she’d been special enough to take her body away and not Susie’s. There’s something different about the second woman.” Vee was trying to find a way to come to that conclusion out loud without making the detective suspicious.
“What do you mean?”
“I think he may have changed his mind about killing her. He’d inflicted the first injury, but then he stopped and allowed her to live. Even took her away alive. There’s something that he wants from her.”
“You think he’s a sex fiend or something? Get his rocks off on raping a dying woman? Blood fetish maybe?”
Vee shook her head. “Susie wasn’t raped. I don’t think this is a sex-related crime. Something else is going on here.” As Vee thought about it, she wondered if they could obtain enough evidence to test for pregnancy. She looked at Monroe. “I have a gut feeling but don’t laugh.” Vee felt bad about playing Monroe, but there was no other way to explain her reasoning to the detective.
“You want me to pinkie swear?” The woman snorted. “Tell me what you got.”
Vee shrugged and pointed to the bloodstain. “Let’s see how much blood we can sample for an HCG test.”
Monroe’s eyes winded. “You think she’s pregnant.”
“I think she is. But it would be nice to get some proof.”
“How in the holy heck did you deduce something like that?”
“Just a hunch. I’m trying to understand why he’d take her. What could she have had that he’d let her live? Pregnancy is a strong possibility.”
“That would imply they want the baby for something. Could it be possible that he was here for the baby in the first place and Susie was just collateral damage?”
“Possible.” Vee’s response was non-committal as she didn’t want to interfere too much with the detective’s own deductions. Vee’s own deductions were based on the hesitation the demon had experienced. She knew the abduction had been impulse-driven. But she wasn’t able to reveal that without blowing Monroe’s mind. “For now, let’s assume there is a pregnant woman missing. I’d also like to have the DNA compared for familial relationships. And get me what you have on Susie’s background and history.”
“Think they’re related?” Monroe nodded as she scribbled on her notepad.
Vee gave the detective an apologetic smile. “Gut feeling.”
Monroe looked up and grinned. “So far that gut of yours has proven correct. Let’s hope your track record can maintain its GPA.”
Vee rolled her eyes and received a snort from Monroe. Strange that the woman had actually begun to warm up to Vee. Monroe had always been testy and sharp, and Vee had often thought the detective had passionately disliked her.
“So, can I assume that you want our precinct to handle the case?” asked Monroe as she tucked her notebook back inside her jacket pocket.
Vee considered it for a moment. “Let’s leave it as unofficial for now. I don’t think the FBI has the power to pass judgment on a complicated jurisdictional battle—even if we supported your claim. You might want to verify with the chief. Either way, until I gather sufficient intel, I’ll mark this one as a joint effort.”
“Then you are going to eventually take it from us?” Now Monroe’s tone had turned cool.
Vee shook her head. “No. Even if we do technically, I’d still like for you to remain on board. I just hope that your jurisdictional battle doesn’t rule for the assholes. It probably won’t but the way things go, assholes may know assholes who may know assholes.” Vee shrugged.
Monroe grinned then suppressed her expression. The techs had returned and were back to being busy. “So, how do we find the abduction victim? We don’t even know who she is?”
“I’d start with finding out everything we possibly can about Susie, then check on all the people she’s interacted with in the last few months, track their movements, get in touch, see who’s been missing or who’s been acting weird,” Vee spoke without thinking, then realized that Monroe had been thinking out loud.
The detective grunted, and Vee glanced back to see anger and irritation flicker across her eyes.
Great. Way to go on destroying what little professionalism we had.
The whole afternoon had passed—evidenced by the weaker light outside, and by the low insistent throbbing in Vee’s wing where the wound was slowly healing. Deciding it was time she reported into her boss anyway, Vee turned to Monroe. “Keep me posted?”