Wild

by Meghan O'Brien

  The ringing of Eve’s cell phone tore her out of sleep once again. “Leave me alone,” Eve mumbled. But she reached out and swiped her thumb across the screen to answer it anyway. “Hello?”

  “I’m sorry to wake you,” Jac said. “But I’m standing over a very fresh corpse that you need to know about.”

  Eve groaned. “Wayne isn’t available?”

  “No, Eve. You need to know about this one.”

  Jac’s sober tone wrenched Eve fully awake. “Why?” Selene’s hand landed on Eve’s back. “What is it?”

  “Female, approximately mid thirties, looks like multiple stab and slice wounds. Two bad ones on her neck, same pattern as the last victim. And I’m not exactly sure, but I think her eyelids show signs of…what is that called?”

  “Petechiae,” Eve murmured. “You’re saying she was strangled, too?”

  “Well, you’re the expert, but—”

  “So we’re looking at the Golden Gate Park killer?” Eve glanced over as Selene sat up in bed, giving her a worried look that sent fear rolling through Eve’s stomach.

  “I think it’s definitely a possibility.” Jac cleared her throat. “There’s something else.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “Well, I’m standing in an alley about a block from your apartment.”

  A cold sliver of dread pierced Eve’s throat, making it hard to breathe. Immediately Selene’s arm was around her, strong and warm and somehow able to sweep away her disquiet in a way that defied logic. Eve burrowed into Selene, greedy for the comfort. “I’ll be right there.”

  Jac exhaled. “You want me to come to your place and walk you?”

  “I’m not at my place.”

  Jac was silent for a moment, then said, “Then drive safe, okay?”

  “Okay.” Eve hung up and exhaled, dropping her face into her hands. Now she was not only exhausted, but also frightened, because it probably wasn’t a coincidence. Same MO as the victim in the park, found only a block away from her apartment. Eve was a big believer in Occam’s razor—the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. And the most likely scenario here was that they were looking at a new victim of the same killer from Golden Gate Park—who almost certainly knew where Eve lived.

  “He killed another one?” Voice choked with dread, Selene radiated unease.

  “Sounds like it.” Eve lit the display on her phone again to check the time. Four in the morning. The three hours of sleep she’d managed to get after the last phone call would have to be enough. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

  “Where?” Selene tightened her arm around Eve. “Let me take you.”

  Eve tried to keep her face calm even as her guts churned. “She was dumped about a block from my place. And you should go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.” Eve hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. “Jac’s there. The place will be swarming with cops, honestly. It’ll be the safest spot in the city.”

  Selene threw back the comforter and stood, switching on the lamp on her nightstand. “No way. I’ll drive you.”

  “I’ll probably end up going straight in to the office afterward—”

  “I can either wait for you there, then take you to work, or else you can call me to come back and pick you up when you’re done.” Selene grabbed Eve’s hand, pulling her to her feet and into a tight hug in one swift motion. “But I’m not letting you go alone.”

  “Sweetheart—”

  Selene drew back and met Eve’s eyes. “You’re scared. You can hide it all you want, but I know this has you freaked out. Please let me be with you. Let me protect you.”

  The thought amused Eve. Selene was many things, chief among them a source of comfort, but the idea of her gentle lover being able to offer physical protection was almost laughable. However, the determination in Selene’s eyes told Eve that she’d die trying.

  “Okay.” Eve touched Selene’s cheek, marveling at the way her fear dissipated as Selene accepted the caress. “Thank you.”

  Selene curled her hand around the back of Eve’s neck, drawing her into a slow kiss. “I will always be here for you. I love you.”

  Eve’s heart stuttered, then jolted into overdrive. Selene startled slightly, easing back to regard Eve with serious eyes. Now she looked terrified, as though she understood the enormous weight of her words and honestly had no idea how Eve would react.

  Eve opened her mouth but nothing came out. No matter how perfect things had been between them, no matter how intense her feelings were, she had never imagined hearing Selene say those words so soon. With anyone else, she would have found them ridiculous. After all, how could someone fall in love in less than three weeks?

  Improbable as it was, Eve had, too.

  “It’s too soon.” Obviously embarrassed, Selene seemed to suddenly find her feet very interesting. “I’m sorry, it’s too soon to talk like that. I just—”

  Eve stopped Selene’s mouth with her fingertips. “I love you, too.”

  Selene lifted her face, giving Eve an expression of pure joy that almost knocked her off her feet with its luminance. “Yeah?”

  Five minutes ago Eve had been weak with fear. Now she returned Selene’s smile easily. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Good.” Selene gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then patted her bare bottom shyly. “Now get dressed.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  By the time they reached the row of police vehicles parked near an alley not even a block from Eve’s apartment, the euphoria of Selene’s declaration of love had all but faded, leaving Eve unsettled about what this crime scene would bring. Though she’d seen some terrible things over the course of her career—especially while hunting the serial murderer Charles Dunning—Eve had never experienced trepidation like this when faced with the prospect of examining a body. Quite the opposite, in fact. Usually she felt a sense of purpose, even excitement that she might be able to help bring a killer to justice. Tonight all that gripped her was disquiet.

  Why dump a body so close to her apartment, on a well-traveled residential street? Was it merely chance? Or had the killer done it on purpose? If he was the man who attacked her in the park, he had her wallet. That meant he knew where she lived. Was he sending a message? Threatening her? But if he wanted to hurt her, why not just come after her instead? Was it because she hadn’t been home? If she hadn’t been at Selene’s place tonight, would Jac be standing over Eve’s dead body now?

  “Everything will be okay.” Parking near the curb, Selene put a hand on Eve’s knee. “You and Jac will catch this guy. I know it.”

  Eve nodded resolutely. “Hopefully before he kills another one.” What she didn’t say out loud was Like me.

  “You don’t know that this was the same guy.” Selene was obviously reaching, desperate to assuage Eve’s anxiety. “You don’t know that he chose this location on purpose.”

  “You’re right.” Taking a deep breath, Eve exhaled, centering herself. “Time to go find out.”

  Selene stopped her with a hand on Eve’s wrist. “Should I wait for you?”

  Technically, Jac could drive her to work. But Eve liked the idea of having Selene close, especially when she suspected that this would be a difficult crime scene. “How about you give me a few minutes until I know what we’re dealing with here. If it looks like it’ll take a long time, I’ll let you know.”

  “I can wait as long as it takes.” Selene gave her a brave nod. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Eve kissed Selene soundly, then she pulled back with a small, forced laugh. “Wish me luck.”

  “I’m pretty sure you don’t need it, but good luck.” Selene waved her away. “Go be a super-smart crime solver, will you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Eve opened the passenger door and stepped out, meeting Jac’s gaze instantly. Jac stood on the sidewalk with her arms folded over her chest, a very unsubtle glare on her face. She shifted her focus to Selene and scowled harder. Irritated, Eve closed the car door and strode over to Jac with her shoulders thrown ba
ck, pretending to project confidence, at least. “Get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

  Jac’s sober expression didn’t waver. “Selene. What a surprise.”

  “Get over it.”

  “You two spending every night together now?” Jac glanced over Eve’s shoulder, shooting an icy-cold stare in the direction of Selene’s car.

  Stepping close to Jac, Eve lowered her voice so none of the cops around them would hear. “This is the last time I’m going to say this, so listen well. Back the hell off. You want to be my friend? I’ll give you a tip. Treating Selene like some kind of animal who’s pissing on your turf is not the way to do it.”

  “That’s not my problem with her.”

  “Oh, really?” Eve folded her arms over her chest. “Enlighten me, then. What has Selene done to offend you, besides fucking me?”

  Jac blinked rapidly, clearly taken aback by her crude language. “Christ, Eve.”

  Tired of Jac’s jealous act, Eve pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing she still wore glasses so she could push them up. “Listen, it’s early, I’m exhausted, and quite frankly I’m pretty damn freaked out about this murder. Can we just go see the body now?”

  “Fine.” With one last glance at Selene’s car, Jac gestured for Eve to step into the alley where police personnel gathered around the still form of a woman who lay near a large metal Dumpster. “After you.”

  Taking a deep breath, Eve pushed away her lingering fear. She had a job to do. Above all else, she was a professional. Eve gave Jac a curt nod and led the way.

  *

  Even through the car window, Selene could feel Jac’s bile rolling over her, anger mixed with jealousy and sharp, stabbing regret. She couldn’t sense Jac’s feelings on a soul level like she could with Eve, but she didn’t have to. The death glare said it all.

  Selene understood all those emotions. She even expected them. Jac had thrown away an incredible woman, and now that Eve was moving on, she was realizing what an idiot she’d been to break Eve’s heart. It didn’t take an empath to figure that out. If Selene screwed things up with Eve, then saw her with someone new, she’d feel the same way.

  What worried Selene about Jac was that her dislike didn’t stop at simple jealousy. She was obviously suspicious, about what, Selene wasn’t sure. The nature of Jac’s suspicion hardly mattered—as long as she was motivated to study Selene for flaws, she might expose her. Being discovered was bad enough, but having a jealous cop find her out would mean the end of her life as she knew it.

  Selene watched Eve and Jac walk into the alley, joining a throng of men and women who moved back and forth with purpose. Almost immediately she felt a surge of clenching horror from Eve, so powerful that Selene had to double over and hold her stomach to stop from vomiting. Whatever Eve had just seen, it was bad.

  Nauseated, Selene rolled down the car window and took a deep breath. Instead of the fresh air she craved, she choked on the strong smell of fresh blood. The scent hung thick and pungent in the night, leaving no doubt that the victim had bled out. But unlike the last time Selene had smelled death, now she also discerned another scent in the air, one that froze her insides in fear.

  It was him. The man who’d attacked Eve in Golden Gate Park.

  Selene stuck her head out the window and drew in another whiff. Not because she doubted her sense of smell, but because she wanted to determine just how strongly the man’s presence still lingered. On a damp morning like this, she would be able to detect his scent long after he left the scene. But if he was hanging around, she should also be able to pick him up.

  These were the moments when Selene wished that she didn’t have to hide her ability. If she could shift into a dog, she would be better able to track the killer. As a bird, she could survey the scene from above and possibly find him watching from afar. In human form, all she could do was sniff ineffectually to confirm something she’d never be able to tell anyone: that the man who attacked Eve had also killed this woman.

  Unfortunately, Selene couldn’t use her ability to sense his agenda—to know whether Eve was in danger or if his dumping site was simply a sick joke, or even an accidental coincidence. She knew only that although he had definitely been here, he wasn’t anymore. He was probably far away, but Selene burned to try to track him.

  “Damn it,” Selene murmured, and glanced at the alleyway. It was far too risky to even consider abandoning the car and shifting. Not with this many people around, especially when one of them was Jac.

  Another jolt of sharp agitation hit Selene in the gut and she closed her eyes again, certain she was about to start retching onto the street. Whatever Eve was going through, it wasn’t good. Selene wished she could go to Eve and comfort her, using the steel will she’d summoned so many times in the past few weeks to soothe Eve’s fears, but she knew she wasn’t welcome at the crime scene.

  She could only wait for Eve to come to her.

  *

  Usually Eve was impervious to the smell of death. It was disgusting and repulsive, but after years in its presence, she’d developed immunity to its sickening presence. However, standing over a woman who looked not unlike her—a thirty-something brunette whose smashed eyeglasses lay on the ground in a pool of crimson—the oppressive odor of blood and gore had Eve swallowing convulsively in an effort not to contaminate the crime scene by throwing up on the ground.

  “Are you okay?” Jac kept her voice low, ensuring that nobody overheard. Her hand found the small of Eve’s back, and despite their confrontation just moments ago, Eve moved into the caress.

  “I don’t know,” Eve said. “This is him. I feel it.”

  “It may very well be.” Stroking her back lightly, Jac spoke in a trembling voice, betraying her nerves. “But we don’t know what it means. This location.”

  “It means we have our work cut out for us.” Eve tore her attention away from the woman’s empty eyes, meeting Jac’s concerned stare. “We’ve got to catch this guy. Now.”

  Nodding, Jac said, “I think the evidence collection team is just about done here. We should be able to move the body to your lab within the hour.”

  “Good.” Eve tried not to think about having to stare at this woman’s injuries under a bright light. It would be a messy, terrifying display, even in a clinical setting. She’d never been squeamish before. But the thought of coming face-to-face with this killer’s work nauseated her. “Do we know who she is?”

  “She had a cell phone on her. That’s all.” Jac’s hand lingered on her back, telling Eve that she wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding her emotions. “I’ll come back to the lab with you and see what I can find on it.”

  No matter how frustrated she might be with Jac, Eve was glad for the company at the lab. An ID badge was required to get inside the building, but even that didn’t make Eve feel entirely safe. Just as she was starting to really get past what had happened to her in Golden Gate Park, her old fears came back tenfold. What had been nervous speculation now appeared to be cold, hard fact. The man who’d attacked her was more than a simple thief or rapist. He was a psychopath.

  Eve was truly lucky to be alive, and whatever had passed between them might not be over yet. Not if his choice of a kill site was any indication.

  “Come on,” Jac said quietly. “They’re ready to load up the body.”

  “Who found her?” Eve walked out of the alley on rubbery legs, grateful for the opportunity to escape momentarily. “Or did you get another anonymous tip?”

  Jac’s eyes flicked over Eve’s shoulder to Selene’s car. “Couple of drunk guys walking home from the bar. One of them stopped to piss in the alley and practically tripped over the body.”

  “You questioned them?”

  “As best as I could. They were stupid intoxicated.” Jac shifted her focus back to Eve’s face. “Look, Eve. You asked me what my problem was with Selene. I admit, at first I just wasn’t thrilled about the idea of this mystery woman seducing you right when you’re at your most vulnerable.”
>
  “I’m a big girl, Jac.” But Eve could hear genuine concern in Jac’s voice and kept the rebuke as gentle as possible. “I hope you realize that.”

  “After I met her at your place, though, something else bothered me.”

  Remembering Jac’s words in the hallway of her apartment, Eve frowned. “Something ‘off’ about her, I think you said.”

  At least Jac had the good grace to look uncomfortable as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Yeah. Well, anyway, so I thought a lot about it. I really asked myself—am I just being a selfish asshole? Jealous when I have absolutely no right to be?”

  “Keep going.” Eve wasn’t sure whether this was leading to an apology, but there was a first time for everything.

  “So then it came to me, and I listened again to the recording of the anonymous tipster who called in that first body in Golden Gate Park. The morning you were attacked.” Jac swallowed. She looked like she knew this might set Eve off, but was determined to plunge ahead anyway. “It was her, Eve. I’m sorry. Selene’s the anonymous tipster.”

  At first Eve didn’t know how to react. It was a ridiculous accusation, certainly. Completely out of left field. And Eve didn’t believe it for a minute. She couldn’t believe it. Selene would have told her if she’d been the one to report the body. Wouldn’t she?

  “That’s ridiculous,” Eve said finally. “I wish you’d stop grasping at straws.”

  “Evie, she has a really distinctive accent. ‘European,’ I believe she said.” Wearing an expression of honest-to-goodness regret, Jac seemed almost apologetic about having to deliver the news. “I’m not just saying this because I don’t care much for her. I promise. It really was her.”

  “She would have told me,” Eve said, but even as the words left her mouth, she wondered if that was true. If Selene had called in her discovery of the body, that had been before she and Eve knew one another. She’d done it anonymously for a reason and surely wouldn’t have told a new acquaintance—especially one associated with law enforcement—about her activities that morning.