Zoology 101

by Larsen, Patti

  Gerri couldn’t help but laugh.

  ***

  INT. – JULIAN BLACK’S MANSION – AFTERNOON

  Kinsey paced in front of the fireplace in the main sitting room at Julian’s mansion, waiting on Simone. The creepy little butler, Clarence, almost didn’t let her in. Kinsey had been forced to shoulder her way inside. It brought her no end of satisfaction, the look of shock on his face or the fact he let her precede him into the house.

  Normally, she would have entered around the side, through the solarium, but they seemed to be doing some construction and the glassed-in area was partitioned off by workmen. That left the front door and Clarence. And Kinsey was glad. She felt all the more empowered by the encounter, though it occurred to her as he left her with a sneer of disdain she’d one upped the help.

  “Ms. DanAllart.” She spun at the sound of a voice she knew, one she used to fear just a little. Julian Black observed her from the doorway, flat and unhappy expression focused on her.

  “Doctor,” she corrected him with just enough of her grandmother’s favorite commanding tone he actually didn’t comment right away. The help was one thing. The man of the house quite another. Whatever had gotten into Kinsey, she’d take it. Forever.

  He entered the room at last on soft feet, crossed to the end table and the crystal decanter of what had to be scotch or some other spirit from the deep amber color. Honestly, it was barely past noon. She watched him pour, feeling a tiny slur of worry wake in her stomach. Crushed it with the power of the Nightshades she possessed. While she wasn’t comfortable using her coercive ability on others, something she was sure would never feel right to her, she had no problem using it on herself.

  “I take it you have a reason for being in my house long after you’ve decided to abandon Simone’s project?” He finally turned to Kinsey, cold disapproval radiating from him.

  “If it was your business, I’d be happy to share it with you,” Kinsey said, lowering her tone, measuring her words out in slow, steady beats as Margot always seemed to. Put power in them, though she kept that power tight, controlled and internal. His eyes flashed with something she didn’t recognize, though he stopped pretending to drink.

  “You’re in my house uninvited,” he snapped.

  “And I’ll leave as soon as I talk to Simone.” Kinsey didn’t give him a chance to argue. “If you don’t like it, you can leave the room.”

  He glared at her so long, she was sure he’d come after her again. Part of her worried, as the moments dragged on, it would be physically rather than verbally. Which was ridiculous, wasn’t it? When Julian finally snapped something she didn’t catch and spun to stalk from the room, she exhaled slowly, a shiver of excitement racing through her along with a wash of adrenaline.

  She’d faced him down. Holy shit. She’d really faced him down. The woman she’d been only a few short weeks ago would never have come here, let alone told the man to leave his own room. Whoever she was becoming, Kinsey suddenly really liked herself. For the first time ever.

  When Simone finally swept into the room only a moment later, Kinsey was so deep into her personal power, she addressed the smiling ruby lips and pale, gray eyes of her former patron with a frown she was certain made her look like Margot.

  “I have no idea what your game might be,” she said. “But if you threaten my job again, I promise you, you’ll regret it.”

  Simone came to an abrupt halt, face pale, black bob swinging around her perfect cheeks, blinking rapidly a few times, long lashes stirring her blunt bangs. She pressed both manicured hands to her chest, the gaping neckline of her ivory blouse showing the edge of a lace bra.

  “My dear Kinsey,” Simone said in her silken voice. “Whatever are you talking about?”

  She should have stammered an apology, asked Simone to forgive her for jumping all over her like that. But Kinsey simply couldn’t bring herself to do so. Maybe Simone had no idea what was going on, but Kinsey doubted that very much. And, the longer she stood there, her power tingling inside her, buoying her, the more certain she was the dean’s demands were orchestrated by Simone.

  “You already know,” Kinsey said, raising her chin, keeping her cold tone. She understood why Margot preferred it. There was a certain power just in acting this way. “The Dean was quite clear your funding hinges on my participation in your project. Did you really think I’d come back to work for you if he threatened my job?” Kinsey laughed. My God, it felt good to laugh in her face. Even if Simone was the perfect actress, suddenly hurt by Kinsey’s words, retreating as though damaged. Kinsey wouldn’t let her performance ruin the moment.

  “I had no idea anything of the sort might happen.” Simone didn’t try to approach, regret in her lovely voice. Kinsey held firm. Refused to give in. She’d gained too much ground. But, her heart couldn’t help but soften just a tiny bit. “When you decided to stop the research, it was a natural decision to stop the funding. But, if it’s threatening your position at the college, I’ll reinstate it immediately.”

  Kinsey shook her head. “Don’t bother. Not on my account.”

  Simone shrugged, hands spread wide. “I’m sorry for this animosity between us, Kinsey. No matter your decision, I had hoped we could remain friends.”

  Real doubt woke for the first time. Was Kinsey overreacting? Simone seemed genuine… and yet, she was a Nightshade, wasn’t she? She had the same ability as Kinsey, to influence others. She could be manipulating her right now, more subtly than Kinsey could detect.

  She just couldn’t take that chance.

  “I have to be done, Simone.” Kinsey strode toward the door, past her former benefactor. “I thought I made that clear. If I want to work for the department, I can’t be associated with you.” She paused when she was next to the other woman. “I’m sorry.”

  Though it was a moment of triumph in many ways, Kinsey still felt like shit when she left.

  ***

  INT. – KINSEY’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

  Gerri upended the bottle of beer, the sides of the glass still cold, setting it aside in favor of the fresh one Kinsey handed to her with a grin. The first beer happily in her belly, the detective exhaled a long, slow sigh, forcing herself to sip the beginnings of the second.

  She guessed she should be grateful she really didn’t get drunk anymore. The taste was like heaven, still, but the buzz long gone, no matter how much she drank. A side effect of the bheast race, maybe? Gerri didn’t care to ask.

  So much for sipping. By the time Kinsey took her seat at the table in her small dining room, Gerri’s beer had mostly migrated into her. She waved off her friend’s attempt to get her another, rising herself to the smell of hot, fresh lasagna the anthropologist set in front of her and Ray.

  “You’d both be proud of me.” Kinsey had already told them about her meeting with the dean and board, and with Julian and Simone. “I kicked serious ass.”

  She sounded proud of herself, more than enough to set Gerri’s mind at ease, though it was Ray who played Devil’s Advocate, a job usually reserved for the red haired police woman.

  “You’re certain your position at the college is secure?” Her wine glass clinked on the edge of her plate. Gerri was already on her way back from the kitchen, two beers in her hands, knowing she’d go through them. She really had to replenish Kinsey’s supply. A six pack barely made a dent in her thirst these days.

  Gerri sat as Kinsey shrugged, mouth full of pasta. She was grinning around her food, though the detective wasn’t so sure her blonde friend was right in the head. Except, when Kinsey finally swallowed, she reached over and patted the medical examiner’s hand with her usual kindness.

  “No matter what happens,” Kinsey said, a new spark of courage in her eyes, a sense of personal power Gerri had never seen from her before, “I’ll be absolutely fine.”

  Gerri had no doubt of that. And felt an odd twinge of regret. Not that she begrudged Kinsey her self-confidence. In fact, she was so proud of the blonde she could barely resist huggin
g her to pieces. But, part of her understood the days of Kinsey needing Gerri were numbered.

  She liked being needed.

  “Simone must have been spitting bullets.” Gerri would have paid to be there.

  “Not at all.” Kinsey’s hesitation took the happy out of it. “She seemed genuinely hurt.”

  “You’re not buying it.” Gerri’s gut clenched, even Ray’s pale face tightening in response.

  “Of course not.” Kinsey swallowed a mouthful of wine, her smile a little too bright as she changed the subject. “How’s the case going?”

  Gerri sat back, fork toying with the edge of her lasagna. She was hungry, and Kinsey’s cooking always satisfied, but her mind was working too hard for her to eat just yet. “Abigail Armstrong, the activist?”

  Ray nodded, swallowed her own bite of dinner. “The woman who we thought killed the cosmetics CEO.”

  Kinsey shuddered. “Don’t remind me about Ian Moore,” she said. “Boy gives me the creeps to this day.”

  Gerri’s foot bobbed over her crossed knee. “She knew our vic, but it turns out they were friends. Diane Lane used to be in HACT.”

  “It makes me wonder if the woman is a paranormal,” Ray said. “One of the races.”

  “Why do you say that?” Kinsey perked, naturally. She loved this shit. Gerri dug into her meal, head down, focused on eating while Ray went on. Way to bury her head in the sand.

  Why did talking about this stuff still make her uncomfortable?

  “Diane Lane was part cubi.” Ray filled Kinsey in briefly, explaining what she found, the woman’s heart size. “And, if Gerri’s intel is correct, she had a very active love life, indicative, I believe, of the cubi race?”

  Kinsey’s nod was slow but positive. “Definitely,” she said. “And the fact she has a heart must be the reason the body hasn’t disappeared.”

  Gerri looked up at that, body jerking in response to her friend’s words. “Disappeared?”

  The blonde’s blue eyes were steady, quiet. “Surely you haven’t forgotten what happened to Aisling and Roxy.”

  Of course she hadn’t. The detective’s brain stuttered, rewound to the case of Missy Spence, the poor, dead child whose shot at justice vanished with her subsequent disappearance, just like the two dancers. Which made Gerri wonder, once and for all, if the girl she’d tried to find justice for was a paranormal. Or, if the man who killed her—the senator she could never bring to trial—was paranormal, too.

  Bile churned around Gerri’s beer and lasagna, enough she sat back again, dropping her fork. “I want a constant guard on that body,” she said.

  Ray shook her head. “No need,” she said. “Remember, I didn’t even get a chance to do an autopsy last time. And, all the notes and records vanished along with the corpses.” She took a delicate taste of her meal. “The only reason I had the X-rays of Aisling to uncover the truth was because I took them home.”

  Gerri relaxed a little. “So, you’re saying if the body was going to disappear, it would have before you had a chance to act.”

  Ray nodded, Kinsey, too. Okay, she’d buy that.

  “I take it there’s a way to explain a heart that small?” Gerri’s churning gut settled, her hunger returning in a ravenous wave. She dug in once again while Ray spoke.

  “An anomaly,” she said. “The world is full of them.”

  And paranormals. Gerri wondered how many “unexplainable” events were actually weird shit disguised as, well, weird shit.

  She really needed to get over her aversion to this stuff.

  “One thing I did note,” Ray said. “I found bite marks on the body after it was cleaned.”

  “Like, vermin?” Kinsey pushed her plate aside, still with a large chunk of lasagna left on it. Gerri helped herself, her own empty. The blonde smiled at her while Ray went on.

  “No, bigger than that. Canine.” She frowned into her wine glass. “But not chew marks, as if they were trying to eat her. More like they were attempting to drag her away.”

  That gave Gerri shivers, enough she stopped in mid-sop, a piece of garlic bread dangling over her plate, dripping sauce. “Wolves?” Wasn’t that what Diane had been focused on?

  Ray shrugged. “I'm not sure” she said. “The lab is typing the imprint. Binks said he’d get back to me ASAP.” She pushed her own plate toward Gerri, the corner of lasagna remaining finding its way into the detective’s stomach. “But, it does make me wonder.”

  Gerri chewed the last bite, swallowed. The formerly delicious meal tasted like sawdust. “She was cubi,” she said. “Are you thinking bheast?”

  Kinsey’s wine glass rattled against her plate. “You think a bheast attacked her?”

  Gerri shrugged, sank back against the soft rest of her chair, beer in hand. “I saw excellent indication she was chased through those woods. And it’s possible she was either pushed over the edge, or fell trying to escape.”

  “Why would she have issues with a werewolf?” Ray’s term made Gerri growl.

  “I don’t know,” the detective said. “But I caught a scent I didn’t recognize, one that triggered my instincts. I have no idea what I was smelling. But it felt familiar.” Like me, she finally admitted to herself.

  All three women sat in silence a long moment. Only the ring of Gerri’s phone broke them out of their frozen, thoughtful state. She fished it free, checked the screen. Answered with a sigh.

  “I’m off duty, Pierce,” she snapped at her partner.

  “So am I,” he snarled. “But the captain’s orders say otherwise.” He sounded about as happy as she felt, though at the mention of Captain King, Gerri perked.

  “What’s up?”

  “Someone tried to break into Paramount Zoo,” Jackson said. “And since our dead doc worked there, I guess the captain figured you should check it out.”

  ***

  EXT. – PARAMOUNT ZOO – NIGHT

  Gerri crossed the parking lot to the front of the zoo entry, Kinsey and Ray trailing behind her. No use in asking the two to stay behind, not after the conversation they’d just had. She spotted Jackson on the other side of the gate, talking with a young man in a security uniform.

  She wasn’t surprised to see Honnor coming toward her, his giant jackboots clomping loudly over the asphalt, a huge scowl on his face. Gerri stopped in his path, mirroring his expression with one of her own.

  She glanced sideways at the open back doors of the ambulance parked at the entry, two paramedics working over a tall figure. With a start, she realized it was the vet, Matt Brichert. Honnor spoke as she watched Ray cross to the bus, Kinsey staying close beside Gerri.

  “We called the police, as a courtesy,” Honnor grumbled in a deep voice that sounded like he smoked too much. His scent carried the hint of cigars, as if he had to hide the fact he partook. Gerri couldn’t help but grin internally, fully expecting to find out he had a hard-ass wife at home running his life. “But we have everything under control.”

  “You’re still going to tell me what happened.” Gerri’s good cheer rose as he continued to glare. She loved it when her adversaries were confrontational. Gave her an excuse to kick ass.

  Honnor hesitated, and then pushed past her, on his way to the ambulance. Gerri followed, Kinsey silent and watching beside her. When the security chief stopped next to Brichert, Gerri shifted her attention to the lean veterinarian, the bheast within her shifting and muttering to her in discomfort.

  He looked up, met her eyes briefly, before nodding to Honnor. “Whoever it was who attacked me,” he said, “they were after the wolves.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?” Gerri prodded him with her power at the same time she asked the question, letting the bheast out to snuffle him. And had a shock.

  She knew his scent, finally identified it. She’d smelled it before. In the woods, near Diane Lane’s car.

  He ran from her and she chased him. He’d escaped. And now she knew why.

  Stunned by the revelation the vet was a bheast, too, she stare
d at him when he answered her question.

  “I was leaving my office for the evening,” he said, “and heard a commotion near the wolf enclosure. They are usually quiet this time of night, so I went to check on them.” His shoulders rose and fell. “They miss Diane.”

  The female paramedic stepped aside, leaving him with a bandaged spot bright white against his tanned forehead and another on the back of his head. Ray took his pulse, met Gerri’s eyes. Shook her head. The detective knew what that meant, what Ray was looking for.

  She couldn’t see his death. But Gerri had that part figured out all ready.

  “The wolves were worked up over something,” Brichert went on as the male paramedic handed him a bottle of water and a pill, likely for the pain. The vet handed the pill back, but drank half the bottle before going on. “I was circling their enclosure when someone hit me from behind.” He shook his head, then winced, hand rising to touch gingerly at the back bandage. “I didn’t see who it was.”

  Gerri turned, gestured to Jackson. He approached with a grudging frown. Like she gave a shit. She was already calling out her orders before he reached her.

  “Go track down Abigail Armstrong,” she said, “and haul her in to the 9th for questioning.”

  While Gerri didn’t really believe the old activist would be so stupid, she had to cover her bases.

  “Are the wolves all right?” Kinsey’s question reminded Gerri she still had a job to do.

  Honnor nodded, though he seemed surprised to be answering the slim, tiny blonde. “Still present and accounted for.”

  “I’ll need tonight’s security vids,” Gerri said. Waited. The big man’s mouth turned down, but he finally nodded and spun, stomping away with two of his cronies on his tail. Jackson was whispering into his phone on the other side of the entry, hopefully doing his damned job. Gerri needed five minutes alone with Brichert.