Hunter's Desire

by Meg Ripley

  It killed him to leave her alone with the burden of the devastating news, but she took her opportunity for privacy and didn’t ask him to stay. He hunted down the rest of his clothes and found a box of granola bars in her cupboard, bringing that and a jug of orange juice. She wouldn’t want to stop to eat breakfast, but she would definitely need to keep her energy up.

  He only had the car running for a few minutes before she emerged, looking calm and well put together. When their eyes met, she offered a watery, faltering smile, the corners of her mouth falling almost as soon as they turned up. That was all that betrayed her veneer; the only hint of the havoc wreaking inside of her.

  Jason drove with purpose, at a loss to do anything besides honor her only stated request. It was his father’s brand of comfort; a proximate silence. It was still early enough to be dark outside, and he embraced the excuse to concentrate on navigation through the strange neighborhood and onto the parkway headed north.

  They were only halfway there when the sun blasted the clouds pink, and in the strengthening light, he saw more of the strain etched on her face.

  “How...uh...how are you holding up?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just...numb...right now.”

  “Numb. Well, numb is good, isn’t it?”

  “Jason, are you more comfortable with silence?”

  “No, I could talk. If you want to talk. Or we don’t have to, if you’d rather not.”

  “I’d like to listen to some music.” She turned on the radio and selected the scan button. Classical music gave way to static and then the news broke through. By the time he heard her father’s name, he tried to change the station, but she slapped his hand away.

  “It’s probably best if we don’t listen to this,” Jason tried.

  “Shh. I want to hear it.”

  Jason barely heard any of it at all. His heart was pounding in his ears, drowning out the reporter’s voice, and his attention was locked on the road.

  “I’m going to pull over,” he finally said, thinking he’d be helping her.

  “Don’t you dare stop.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The police were not releasing many details and so the news program had little to report; only that a body had been discovered that morning in the home of Neil Simmons and the police had not yet released an identification. There were signs of a struggle and the suspicion of foul play, but that was it. No information on who called the police, who found the body, or if there was anything missing.

  “Maybe it’s not him,” Jason suggested with a note of forced optimism.

  “A body was found in his house. He’s either the guy they take to the morgue or the guy they take to prison. And they called me to the morgue.”

  Unable to argue the logic of that, he lapsed back into silence. She left the news on, though no updates would be reported. Not until the police spoke to her and had a positive ID and an investigation underway.

  An investigation he planned to keep a close eye on. Not only for Mary’s benefit, but because Neil had been a good man and somebody Jason would have been happy to call a friend.

  When they reached the county coroner, she allowed him to take her arm and escort her through the door. She gave her name to the receptionist, and a moment later, a deputy arrived to escort her to the back. Jason stuck close to her, determined to stay at her side until they forced him to leave.

  A glass partition separated them from a small booth and a brightly lit room with a lone figure on the table. A man in crisp scrubs stepped forward and pulled the sheet down, allowing them a long look under the brutal light. There was no doubt about it. The man was Neil Simmons.

  “Can you make an identification, ma’am?”

  “Yes, it’s my father. It’s Neil Simmons.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. My condolences for your loss. The detective is going to want to speak with you.”

  She blinked. “Right now?”

  “I’m afraid so, Ms. Simmons.” A tall man joined them in the booth, crowding them as he presented his business card. “I’m Detective Tandy. I’ve been assigned to investigate your father’s death.”

  “Was he...was it murder?”

  “Murder is a very big word, Ms. Simmons. It requires a lot of evidence to hold it up. Evidence I’m still gathering. Would you mind speaking with me?”

  “Of course, I’ll help anyway I can. I’m just...I mean he’s…”

  “What’s that?” Jason blurted, too surprised to hold his question until a more appropriate time.

  “What’s what?” Tandy asked.

  “That brown mark on his chest.” It was tough to make out from their angle, no more than a line a quarter inch thick visible above the sheet, but once Jason noticed, he couldn’t take his eyes from it. It almost looked familiar.

  “Did your father have any tattoos or birthmarks on his chest?” Jason asked.

  “No. Nothing like that. What is it, Detective?”

  Tandy gestured at the man in scrubs, and he pulled the sheet down further, exposing the late man’s torso. Once visible, it became clear that it was no mark at all, but rather a massive burn stretching from his waist to his throat. His skin was scorched almost black, charred pieces hanging off the wound. The pattern was obvious to Jason: a distinctive brand.

  “Oh my god,” Mary breathed. “What is that?”

  “It’s pending further investigation. But it appears to be a burn,” Tandy said.

  “A burn? From what? A blow torch?”

  “That’s pending investigation as well.”

  “Pending investigation?” Mary’s voice started to rise, her words hardening.

  “Yes. We need to get the results of the autopsy. The scene needs to be processed. We need to complete our investigation. Then I’ll be able to answer your questions.”

  But Jason didn’t need to wait for the forensic reports to know what killed poor Mr. Simmons. He recognized the blistered remnant of a dragon’s claw.

  ****

  Jason wasn’t allowed to listen to Mary’s interview with the detective. He busied himself with securing a room at the hotel, since she’d expressed her intentions to stay as close to the investigation, and her father, as possible. He didn’t think she should stay in Albany indefinitely, but he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to go home just yet. And it was convenient for him to have a room in Albany, as he intended on staying and conducting an investigation of his own.

  Telling Tandy what he saw was out of the question, and yet he felt a heavy sense of guilt as soon as he made the decision to keep his mouth shut. Not only was it morally wrong to impede the investigation, it was criminal as well. He was certain the state of New York did not recognize the ancient Dragon Law and would not be impressed with appeals to the binding honor code as a defense, should he ever face a trial for obstructing justice charges.

  He couldn’t tell Tandy, but if he found the dragon himself, he could certainly see to it that justice would be done. He, or she, would be tried by the ancient court of twelve, and the subsequent punishment would be swift and brutal. Even if he cooperated with the police to assist their investigation, a human jail would never be able to hold a determined dragon. It was much better this way, he assured himself over and over, until Mary texted him and requested he pick her up at the police station, hours after he dropped her off.

  She looked exhausted, new lines crowding the corners of her eyes and branching from her tightly held lips. She collapsed in the passenger seat and closed her eyes, her head dropping back and her hands balled in tight fists.

  “Need a drink?”

  “Better make it a double.”

  “There’s a bar not far from here.” He put the car in gear and pulled onto the street, once again focusing on driving so he wouldn’t have to focus on the pain and exhaustion he felt radiating from her. She didn’t speak again until after he’d ordered a double shot of bourbon for both of them.

  “It’s like they think I had something to do with it. I thought they
’d want a list of his enemies or something, and instead they just wanted to know what I was doing all night.”

  “They were questioning you about your alibi?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “That I was home all night.”

  “Home all night...alone?”

  “Well...I didn’t mention you.”

  “Mary! You have an airtight alibi and you are the number one person of interest right now. Why wouldn’t you tell them the truth?”

  “Wait, they actually do think I did it?” She looked completely shocked by the suggestion, even though the police had just interviewed her for hours regarding her whereabouts. Jason felt like he was taking away her last piece of innocence when he nodded.

  “Maybe, yeah. You ever watch crime shows? It’s always the spouse or the kid or the parent or whoever is closest to the victim.”

  “But I love my father.”

  “I know that, but they don’t. Right now, they have to investigate any and all possibilities.”

  So, that means I have to spend an entire afternoon being investigated for my own father’s murder while the actual culprit is probably already in Mexico by now.” She sighed and downed her drink, gesturing at the bartender for another one. The despondence on her face, the dullness in her tone only intensified his guilt. She was right to be angry. The police shouldn’t be wasting their time with her. “What should I do?”

  “Call your lawyer. Cooperate completely.” Jason shrugged and slid his untouched drink over. She took it with a small nod of gratitude. “It’ll become clear soon enough that you had nothing to do with it. Especially since you have an actual airtight alibi.”

  Another round appeared in front of them, and this time, Jason finished his quickly. She shivered and licked her lips as the alcohol hit her stomach, and he felt a sudden pang of desire for her. He stifled it, reminding himself that now certainly wasn’t the time.

  “Feeling any better?” Jason asked.

  “Not really. I just talked to him. We had a big, stupid fight over that fucking theme park.”

  “A fight? Why?”

  “It wasn’t just a theme park to him. It was his...freedom. His pride. Like I was the bad guy for doing my job.”

  Jason didn’t want to talk about the theme park. All he’d lost was a potential investor; she’d lost her only family in the world.

  “I think I just want to go to sleep,” she sighed.

  “Well, I got us a room so we wouldn’t have to drive back tonight.”

  “One room?”

  “Yes.” His eyes widened. “Unless you’d rather have your privacy. I’ll get another room, no problem.”

  “No, that’s not necessary. I enjoy your company.”

  Jason paid the tab and guided her out of the bar with a hand on the small of her back. She leaned against him as they passed through the door, and he longed to wrap his wings around her and carry her away. But instead, he helped her settle in the passenger seat and took her back to the hotel. He’d sprung for one of the few suites, which included a whirlpool tub and a well-stocked mini-fridge.

  “I’ll leave you to get settled. Take a bath and relax,” Jason said, standing near the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to pick up some dinner. Do you have any preferences?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t feel like eating at all.”

  “I know, but you’re still going to have dinner. I’ll be back soon.”

  By the time he returned with cheeseburgers and fries, Mary was curled up on the bed, out cold. Jason stuck the fast-food bags in the fridge, pulled the blanket around her shoulders, and slipped out again without waking her. He didn’t have time to drive all the way to Neil’s empty mansion, but he could fly there in no time. He parked the car outside of town and slunk into the darkness, emerging with powerful strokes of his giant wings, soaring towards the stars.

  He ate the miles up quickly, navigating directly to the empty mansion. Behind the wheel of a car, he was just as apt to get lost without a GPS, but as a dragon, his memory was perfect. He could return anywhere with unerring accuracy and it didn’t take him long to reach the home of his eccentric friend. Yellow police tape was pulled tight across the gate and surrounded the perimeter of the property. Jason landed in the backyard, only feet away from the mechanical dragons that could mimic him so perfectly.

  Before he returned to his human form, he scanned the area for any additional security guards or dogs, and he sensed absolutely nothing. The house was completely empty. He slipped through the backdoor, into the kitchen, and down the hallway to the foyer where Neil’s body had been found. Due to the marks on Neil’s chest, he’d just assumed that the cause of death had been a burn or maybe a blow to the head. He did not expect the absolute bloodbath that greeted him under the sudden yellow light.

  He stared, open mouthed; unable to comprehend the sight before his eyes. How could there be so much blood? It was splattered across the walls, the ceiling, the floor—everywhere. Jason had hoped to inspect the entire house for any further sign of dragons, but he remained completely frozen, afraid to take a step forward. The blood was dry now, but he didn’t want to risk disturbing it. After a moment of study, he was able to map a path along the perimeter of the entryway and up the stairs.

  As Jason moved through the house, he noticed more and more traces of blood. Neil might have ended up in the foyer, but that clearly wasn’t where the struggle had started. There was blood on the carpet and the walls all the way to Neil’s bedroom, but the room itself appeared to be clean of blood, if rather messy. Jason had a feeling Neil hadn’t lived in this mess—clearly, somebody had been looking for something. Had it been found?

  He moved from room to room, careful not to touch anything, but looking for any sign of the perpetrator. There was nothing on the second floor, but on his return to the first floor, a flash of light from the floor caught his eye. As he bent to examine the object, his blood ran cold. It was a dragon scale, so dark it almost appeared black. It was only under the right light that he could see it was a deep shade of hunter green. He tore a strip from his shirt and wrapped the material around the scale and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

  Jason began making his way back to the door, his mind racing with ideas for his next move, when the front door flung open.

  “Freeze! Put your hands where we can see them!”

  Jason gasped, his heart leaping to his throat, and he immediately put his hands in the air.

  “Officers, please, I can explain.”

  “You can explain why you are trespassing in a crime scene?” The taller one asked as he approached, mindful of the bloodstains on the floor as he approached.

  “Well...yes.”

  “Explain it at the station,” he said, jerking Jason’s arms behind his back. The handcuffs clicked into place and the officer pushed him against the wall, patting him down from his shoulders to his feet. He was looking for a weapon, and so he missed the scale in Jason’s pocket.

  They took him to the sheriff’s office and left him in an interrogation room, his hands still locked behind his back, his mind racing. Was he under arrest? Did they intend to charge him? He didn’t want to contact his father, but it was beginning to look more and more like he would need a lawyer, at a minimum. He would also need guidance on what to do next. The scale might just be enough to identify the dragon that had been at the crime scene.

  After what felt like an eternity, Tandy arrived, smiling pleasantly as he entered the room.

  “Well, fancy meeting you again. And so far away from Albany.”

  “Detective Tandy,” Jason greeted. “Good to see you again. Am I under arrest?”

  Tandy stepped behind him and unlocked the cuffs. “Not yet. But the night is still young.” He moved to the chair, sitting with deceptive casualness, one leg crossed over the other. “What were you doing at the house?”

  “I was looking for clues.”

/>   “Oh, you were looking for clues. Which police department do you work for?”

  “I don’t work for a police department.”

  “You don’t? Then what makes you think you should interfere with an active homicide investigation? Your fibers and DNA are now going to be all over my crime scene. I should arrest you for obstruction of justice, if not for the murder itself.” His eyes narrowed. “Where were you last night, anyway?”

  “I was with Mary.”

  “Mary?”

  “Shayne. Ms. Simmons.”

  “She didn’t mention you.”

  “We were definitely together.”

  “So, if I call her right now, she’ll corroborate that?”

  “Yes,” he said evenly, despite the sudden pit in his stomach. He really did not want her to know about any of this.

  “Good, she’ll be here in twenty minutes. Now tell me, what sort of clues were you looking for in the middle of night? You know if you have any information, you’re supposed to call me, not go off on your own.”

  “I don’t have any information. I guess I just wanted to...wanted to see.”

  “To see what?”

  “What happened to my friend.”

  “You got an eyeful, didn’t you?”

  “I guess I wasn’t expecting so much blood. It doesn’t seem like there could be so much blood in one person.”

  “It wasn’t only Neil Simmons’ blood. The bodies of his butler, his maid, and his cook were also found. All of them were torn apart. Whoever did this is a very sick person.”

  “But Neil wasn’t ripped apart.”

  “No, I guess he got lucky.” Tandy regarded him for a moment, uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “I want to know what you were doing there.”

  “I was just looking.”

  “You know, if you don’t cooperate, I can make your life very difficult. Why would you want to risk that? You saw something this afternoon. Something that made you curious.”

  Jason nodded, conceding that Tandy’s deduction was correct, but didn’t elaborate.