“This is the best I could do without calling too much attention to myself,” Lily said, handing Sean the bundle. Her adrenaline level was still in overdrive; nonetheless she nearly went into full panic mode when neither wolf was in the hall where she’d left them. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, a plastic supermarket bag with other essentials dangling from her wrist. “Clever. I didn’t even notice a utility closet on this floor.” She ran a hand through her hair, taking in the small, confined space. Leave it to Sean to stay quick-witted in an unexpected crisis.
His face and body language made it clear he’d done this before. “Like they say, any port in a storm,” he replied, stepping into the navy blue scrubs he unwrapped from the bundle. “You’ve got to be resourceful; otherwise you end up in jail for public nudity.”
Jack whined from the corner towards the back, still in wolf form and lying on a stack of standard issue hospital towels, as if to say ‘been there, done that.’
She snickered, a sound somewhere between a chortle and a snort. “Public nudity, huh? I can see it now, WeTV’s newest reality series, Weres gone Wild…drama, hot guys and lots of infighting. Right up Edward’s alley, dontcha think? It has everything he wants...fame, devoted fans…throw in a little network control and you’ve got a real ace up your sleeve. A real dealmaker.”
Sean glanced up from knotting the drawstring on his pants. “Not funny.”
Lily slid in behind him, slipping her hands onto his shoulders and skimming her palms across their broad expanse. “It would be worth it just to see the look on his face at the proposition,” she said, resting her chin on the back of his shoulder blade.
He turned, glancing at her crosswise. “How about we stick to removing him from the equation, altogether?” Taking her hand, he planted a quick kiss on the flat of her palm and then moved to look at where the pants met his bare feet. “Not a bad fit,” he said, turning around to face her. “Looks like you can be pretty resourceful yourself.”
“A perfect fit, if I do say so myself,” she said, helping him slip the boxy shaped top over his head and wrapping her arms around his waist in the process.
“Hmmm,” he murmured, leaning in for a little more than a quick peck. “A perfect fit, indeed.”
With her hands on his chest she took a step back and scooted under his arm. “Bad timing, bad place,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Not that the idea of wild monkey sex in a utility room isn’t appealing, but we have work to do,” she murmured through their shared mind path.
Sean’s lips curved up, and his eyes darkened. Even without the telltale bulge in his pants, Lily knew exactly where his thoughts were headed. Psychic sense not required.
“Maybe later we could play the night nurse and the custodian,” he grinned, eyeing a utility belt on one of the shelves, he replied with a mental smirk.
Ignoring him, she looked at Jack sitting patiently in the corner. “Is there a reason why he’s still a canine?”
Considering the two of them and the size of the grey wolf, the closet seemed even smaller, with every type of cleaning supply known to man crammed into the six-by-six room. PCV shelving, brooms, mops and an industrial shop-vac took up most of the space.
Sean shrugged, tucking the top of his scrubs into his pants. “Just easier that way.”
Lily didn’t even pretend to know what that meant, nor at this point did she care. With a soft breath, she rubbed her hands together. “Okay Fido, your turn.” He whined in response, and Lily felt horrible. The poor guy had been through enough, even if it was his own doing.
The grey wolf chuffed, and with a snap of bone and muscle, and a quick whiff of ozone, Jack was in human form, utterly naked and standing adjacent to the bucket mop.
Woof! Down boy! Self-conscious, Lily did an about face, looking for somewhere else to direct her gaze. Bingo! She grabbed the second set of scrubs from the shelf next to the floor polish, and reached behind to hand them to Jack backwards.
The third bundle on the shelf was the lumpy plastic bag she had carried in with the clothes. “There are two pairs of sneakers inside, and a box of wet-naps. I swiped them from an open locker in the nurses’ station,” she said with an apologetic shrug, and handed the bag to Sean. “I can’t vouch for the sizes.”
Sean took it and tore open the plastic, reaching in for the first pair. “I’m sure they’re fine,” he offered, tossing the bag to Jack. “A little snug, but nothing a strategically placed rip can’t fix.”
“I grabbed some of these, too. Just in case,” she said, handing them each a pair of blue surgical booties.
“Good thinking,” Jack nodded, tying the drawstring on his pants. “…and you can turn around, now.”
He struggled into the shirt, which would have been roomy on anyone else, except a broad-shouldered wolf. Lily did an unconscious double take. Sean was her mate, without a doubt, but a woman would have to be blind not to notice the hunter’s muscular good looks. If the girl in pink scrubs could see Jack now, she’d faint.
McDreamy? Ha! Eat your heart out Grey’s Anatomy… you’ve got nothing on my wolves!
Lily’s appreciative smile disappeared almost as fast as it came. “What?” It was all she could say in response to Sean’s amused smirk, and the words, “You are so busted,” feathering across her mind.
The big alpha grinned, shaking his head, and bending to slip the booties over his too small sneakers.
“Okay, then...,” Lily breathed out. “Just so you know, I checked with the front desk, and the deputy medical examiner is still in a meeting. There’s only one person inside right now, and he shouldn’t give us any grief about Ryan being M.I.A. Plus we have a little time before our resident detective regroups enough to do something stupid.”
Sean looked up, raising an eyebrow.
“I tapped into his head just to check he’s okay,” she clarified, with another shrug, handing them each their passes. “He’s having a drink at some random bar by the river. I didn’t want to poke around too much or for too long. We don’t need him freaked out any more than he already is.”
“All things considered, he didn’t seem to be that freaked out. He actually seemed pretty calm,” Jack replied, clipping his pass to the top of his pants.
“He’s a good cop. He keeps his emotions in check and out of the equation,” she said, regretting her words immediately.
Jack’s lips compressed. “Maybe Sean should send his hunters down to the N.Y.P.D. for training. That way he can limit the collateral damage.”
“Jack, I didn’t mean anything by that. Ryan just handles things bet…” She hesitated, pulling her foot from her mouth before it was too late. Exhaling, she recovered tactfully. “I mean, differently,” she added with a quick smile.
Sean clipped his pass to the front pocket of the scrubs and cracked open the utility closet door. “All right, it’s been a rough day all the way around, and my hunch is it’s going to get worse once we see what’s waiting for us inside. Let’s go. I’ve had enough of this place.”
***
Lily rapped on the double doors, pushing one side open the same way Martinez had on done previously.
With Jack and Sean close behind, she stepped through the threshold. Except for the music playing in the background, the place seemed deserted. A single tech worked alone, occupied at one of the aluminum examination tables lining the side of the room. It had been raised, and was slanted toward one of the sinks where he busied himself with the business end of a long hose, rinsing instruments and any collected blood from a previous procedure.
Harsh smelling disinfectant bubbled along the curved edges of the examination table, and even from their vantage point, it wasn’t hard to guess what tinged the foam red as it funneled toward the drain. Jack coughed, wrinkling his nose at the noxious cloud of bleach and blood in the air, and even Sean’s eyes watered despite his stoic expression.
The room was the exactly as Lily remembered, except this time there was no lifeless body in plain view prepped for au
topsy. The fluorescent lights cast a sterile gleam across the industrial polished concrete floor, and despite its careworn feel and the barbaric subtext attached to the equipment, a sense of purpose encompassed the room.
“Don’t only doctors perform autopsies? I thought you said the deputy M.E. was in a meeting?” Sean whispered from the corner of his mouth. Based on the routine cleanup that was front and center, they must have just missed the main event.
Lily gave him a wide eyed shrug. “That’s what I was told. Maybe this guy is higher up on the food chain than I thought.”
The tech spotted them and released the trigger on the hose, turning the sprayer off. “Can I help you?”
Lily stepped forward. “Yes. I’m Lily Saburi. I believe I’m expected.”
The man put the nozzle down and wiped his gloved hands on a paper towel. “Yeah, I remember seeing your name on the list. What happened to the detective? He was here earlier.”
Without so much as a blink, Lily met the man’s gaze. “He was called away on another matter. I’ve just arrived with my associates to view the latest victim and any evidence you may have collected. If you need to check our credentials…” she trailed off, hoping her face didn’t give away their bluff.
He lifted his clear plastic face shield and looked her over, sparing a glance for Jack and Sean standing off to her side, his eyes resting for a moment on their hospital passes. “That won’t be necessary. You wouldn’t be allowed down here without the proper paperwork. I’m Jeff Holton, Bellevue Morgue Diener.”
Jack jerked his eyes away from the deli-style slicing machines and dissection equipment, his gaze speculating as he looked at the tech. “You work in the morgue, and you’re called the diner?
The man gave a snuffling sort of laugh. “Kind of creepy when you put it that way, but it’s actually pronounced, ‘deener’. It’s from the German word, leichendiener, which literally means morgue servant. Basically I get to do all the grunt work. You know, clean up after the big boys finish with their slicing and dicing. It ain’t pretty, but it’s a living.”
Jack swallowed hard, still considering him.
“You okay, buddy?” the tech asked, raising a gloved hand to wave in front of Jack’s distracted face.
The young hunter nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just trying to imagine what a regular work day must be like around here.”
The diener shrugged, picking up the nozzle and turning on the spray to continue his wash down. “It isn’t pretty, that’s for sure. And speaking of which, the guy you want is down at the back end of the freezer section. The doc already marked the drawer. He also asked me to let you know that most of the bodies in this case have been released back to their families. That is, except for that teenage girl. She’s a Jane Doe. Do you want her drawer number, too?”
Lily shook her head. “That won’t be necessary. I have all the information I need on that. It’s the newest addition to list of victims we need to see.”
“Help yourselves,” he said, gesturing toward the back of the room. “Mind if I turn up the music? Dr. Weaver won’t be back for about an hour or so, and Dr. Rush left a little while ago. Trust me, that one’s name says it all.”
Lily and Sean exchanged glances. “Thanks, we’ll take it from here.”
He nodded. “Hey, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s with the scrubs? They’re not exactly police issue, if you know what I mean.”
“Slush puddle and an uptown bus,” Sean answered before Lily could open her mouth.
The diener made a face. “I feel for you, buddy. Ouch.”
Sean rubbed his side where Jack’s claws had slashed him. “Ouch, indeed.”
***
Sean gripped the stainless steel lever, the metal in his hand as cold as the air that rushed out from the compact refrigerated compartment. Jack faced the three foot square box, his hands on the end of the cadaver tray. One pull and the gurney slid out with relative ease.
“Whew! The stench coming off of him is almost worse than the bleach,” Jack frowned, lifting his hand to his nose.
Unlike the last time, the body wasn’t covered with an evidence sheet. The victim was another young male, stiff but not yet completely rigor mortised. His skin was a bluish hue, with tiny ice crystals dotting his body hair.
“Another kid,” Lily murmured, her jaw set and her stomach dropping at the slashes crisscrossing the young man’s throat and chest. The marks were almost identical to the ones on the young vampire in the park, and there was no question as to the creature responsible for his death.
“Jack, do you see the similarities to the wounds? Any patterning?” Lily asked, turning the man’s head to offer him a better look at the gash marks. “The smell coming off this guy is also comparable to that on the other victims I inspected, but why is it so strong? The vamp in the park had the same putrid scent, but it was subtle.”
“It’s because this one’s a Were,” Sean announced, his face as somber as his tone.
Both Lily and Jack turned. “Are you sure? How can you tell with that rancid odor masking every other clue?” she asked.
Sean took a deep breath, despite the smell. “The symbol on his chest.”
There above the victim’s right pectoral muscle was a tiny fleur-di-lis. The symbol was ornate, despite its small size, only this was no tattoo. The mark had been burned directly into the skin, a brand, and as it was the only mark on his body that wasn’t raw, it was easy to assume it had been there for a while, despite the owner’s youth.
“It’s a mark from one of the badland wolf packs,” Sean surmised. “They’re the only ones I know of that still use branding. They live out on the edges of the great plains near the mountains of South Dakota.”
“What’s he doing this far east?” Jack reached out to run his fingers over the blackened mark, but Lily caught his wrist. The admonishment subtle, but clear: Don’t touch till I’m done.
“People come to New York from all over the world. Maybe he was here on business, or just curious to see how we east-coasters roll.”
“Well, whatever the reason, it’s now up to me to let his pack leader know what happened. It’s protocol, alpha to alpha.” Sean looked down at the dead wolf, and then formed a symbol in the air over his chest, almost like a benediction.
Sean’s fingers curled into his palm as he pulled it back to his side as if he held something of value from the dead boy, the simple gesture reminding her of how much she still needed to learn.
With what sounded like a sad, tired breath, Sean looked at her. “Lily, I need for you to find out what happened to this boy. I’ll need all the particulars when I call his pack…” he hesitated, then added, “…and for when I demand a meeting with the vampire council and their adjudicators.”
Jack opened his mouth to object, but the alpha raised his hand, stopping him.
“Don’t. Neither you nor I need Lily to validate what we already know. A vampire murdered this kid. As to why...” Sean trailed off, letting his hand fall mutely. His gaze moved to Lily again. “That’s where you come in. Whatever images you gather will tell us what we need to know, or at the very least, point us in the right direction. It may be this kid brought it upon himself through his own stupidity, but in light of the stench coming off his body, I doubt that was the case.”
He pressed his lips together, tracking his fingers through his hair. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. A vampire killed a Were and that’s enough for an Alpha of the Brethren to demand parley. Vampires are at the root of what is happening in this city, you know it, and I know it. What I don’t know is why their death squads have done nothing about it, but I’m damn well going to find out, and this kid’s death certificate is my engraved invitation to do just that.”
***
The East River was just ahead, across from the promenade, where evening joggers moved swiftly along the concrete path following the water’s edge. Seagulls keened sharply, flying in frenetic circles as the sun set on the horizon, their obnoxious cries muted som
ewhat by the dull roar of the wind coming off the water.
Ryan sat alone on a park bench about fifty feet ahead as Lily approached. Decorative flags flapped overhead in the gusty breeze, their snap keeping time with the noise from the gulls. From her vantage point, Lily watched the detective’s absorbed gaze as he stared unblinkingly at the rough brown water and its wind-churned peaks, oblivious to the cacophony surrounding him. She flinched inwardly, ignoring the urge to stack the odds in her favor by taking a quick look at his thoughts.
“Ryan…” Lily said, as she came up to the bench.
“What do you want?” His voice was flat and his tone hostile, but Lily slid her bag from her shoulder and dropped it next to him. This wasn’t going to be easy, but then, nothing ever was when it came to the supernatural.
She sat down, careful to leave enough space between them. “I know I’m the last person you want to speak with right now, but like it or not, we need to talk.”
He turned his head to look at her. His eyes weren’t angry anymore, they were just tired. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” she shot back, but watched as his jaw tightened at her tone. She raked a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face only to have the wind blow it right back. They would get nowhere fast if she didn’t force herself to relax and dull the edge in her voice. “But that’s okay, because all you have to do is listen,” she added evenly.
His answering grunt was almost lost to the wind, but at least he didn’t get up and walk away. Either he wanted answers, or he was waiting to dump her in the river as soon as it was dark.
Lily turned her back to the wind, twisting her hair into a knot and tucking it inside her collar. “Hey, it’s really cold, and the wind is annoying the crap out of me. Can’t we go somewhere warmer and talk? I’ll even spring for coffee and donuts.”
He blinked, giving her a look that said don’t push it. “I’m fine right where I am. If you have something you want to say, then say it. I’m not going anywhere with you, nor am I guaranteeing that I’ll stay to listen once you start talking.”
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