by Jenny Allen
“There has been an…” Luminita paused as if trying to remember unfamiliar words in a very exact way. “…unexpected development and we find we are in need of someone with your talents and knowledge, Lilith.”
“My talents?”
“Yes, as a…” Another pause as she formed the strange words in her tiny mouth. “…forensic examiner. There has been a rather… ill-timed theft at a Museum in New Haven, Connecticut. Bodies have been found which local police believe to be connected to the robbery. They were killed in rather… unusual manners.” Something in her expression gave Lilith the feeling that unusual was one hell of an understatement. “They must have been hired since the object was not found. We need what they stole.”
“New Haven? The Yale Museum?” Chance definitely had a mind for details. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but he always found ways to do exactly that.
This whole side of ‘Chance the Intellectual’ was completely new to her. All the years they had known each other, they’d never shared an intellectual debate. It had always been fun banter and witty jokes about their personal lives. Perhaps Chance’s role as the head of Gregor’s security team had always labeled him as the classic jock in her book. Seeing Chance as a more sophisticated and complete person was both pleasantly surprising and a little jarring.
“The book was stolen?” Cohen definitely wasn’t faking his surprise. Great. So now they not only had to track down the cipher and the missing pages, but now they had to find the damn book. Not to mention they still needed some leverage to keep them alive.
“Wait. That book has been fully photographed. There are books with every page published. Why do you need the book itself?” Chance’s point was valid but Luminita’s smile seemed slightly patronizing. It was the first time that Luminita rubbed her the wrong way. Of course Lilith had never really gotten along with authority figures, especially condescending ones.
“Despite public claims, not all pages have been photographed and… Alchemists have secret ways. They hide things that cannot be seen from photographs. And yes, Cohen, it was stolen.”
Luminita turned her attention back to Lilith. “I will be your contact for this. Thankfully, the council is too conflicted with what to do with the book to let anyone else take lead. If you find the book and the cipher that Cohen searched for, I may be able to speak on your behalf. I am only sorry that I could not do same for your father.”
Lilith’s eyes misted at her words and the seemingly genuine sorrow and anger in Luminita’s face. She took a deep gulp of the warm blood, taking a moment that she desperately needed to keep from crying. After a steadying breath, she smiled weakly at their guest. “Thank you for the sentiment.”
“It is no mere sentiment, Ms. Adams. I opposed verdict of execution. I alone knew Ashcroft’s crimes from speaking with Andrew. When your father’s crimes came to light, I shared what I knew with the council, but they… refuse to listen. Sir Orrick was a scârbă, an uh…abomination and his son was a…monster. Mr. Adams could have been a strong ally. I am only one and most council members are…blood thirsty.” The anger in her heavily accented words was palpable and thoroughly convincing.
Lilith nodded as she fought back her tears. At least there was one person that saw Ashcroft and his family for what they were. Luminita might be the only one on the council that considered Clyde’s feeding rituals of raping and killing young girls to be out of the ordinary. That thought alone sent chills down her spine. Then a thought occurred to her that snapped her mind into clear focus. “How did they come to light?”
“That I do not know. I am sorry. Farren brought charges, and Helton shared information as well as myself, but there were several on council that did not seem… surprised. Sources were not named.”
“Helton?” Cohen finally spoke up, his almost handsome face wrinkled in confusion and dread. “What information did he have?”
Luminita rubbed at her hands, hesitating, as her focus turned to Andrew. It was the first time Lilith truly felt suspicious of her behavior. “He shared information about Ashcroft, his…” She wore that same frustrated look that she’d had before when trying to think of an English word. “…biology? How he was different from us. He knew nothing of Mr. Adams. That came from Farren.”
“But how? How could he know? How could either of them?” Lilith stammered through the words, completely bewildered.
Luminita sighed softly, her ocean blue eyes brimming with sympathy. “I do not know. Farren and Helton…neither like to share. Perhaps you will learn more through your…studies, no, your…investigation.” She let silence fill the room, giving them all time to absorb her answers, before she moved on. “I have plane tickets in your names. Your flight leaves at 10 am. Gives you an hour to eat and rest before escort to the airport…”
“What about the jet?”
“Andrew, law officials do not take private jet to a crime scene.” The look she gave him was a mixture of impatience for having to state the obvious and sympathy for his frustration. She wasn’t wrong. If the local police decided to check them out, flying in on a private jet would be a glaring red flag.
“A rental car will be waiting. A credit card for expenses and phone to contact me with progress. You receive no other resources. Your personal phones and computers are not in your things. It would be…unwise to try and get them. I’m sure that you can get equipment you need from the local police. They will be awaiting you at the morgue. As for weapons, a standard police issue revolver will be waiting for Cohen and Lilith in the rental when you arrive.”
“How did you explain a Detective from Tennessee, a Forensic Examiner from New York City and a civilian? You do realize they will be under no obligation to even let us examine the bodies, right? We have absolutely no jurisdiction.” This was at least a subject Lilith knew something about. It gave her something familiar and concrete to focus on.
Luminita smiled at the question like a proud teacher. “Yes. New Haven has no major crime division. As far as local police know, you three were handpicked by FBI. Since this case will most certainly cross state lines, and involves high level of violence they need specialist. Also the robbery of priceless artifact needs specialist as well. There will be much pressure from the community for a fast…recovery of the book, so locals were very happy to hand the…consequences of failing to others.”
“Make no mistake.” Her blue-green eyes held a firm warning as she spoke. “If you run, they find you, killing anyone in their path. Your best chance is to work with me. If you find what the council needs, I will do my best to get you home. I cannot make promises. This is best I can do.”
Lilith let the weight of her thick, Romanian-accented words really sink in. She knew they couldn’t run. It would only get more people killed. She’d known that after five seconds in the same room with Farren.
This seemed like a classic bad cop, good cop scheme. First Farren scares the crap out of them and then a friendly face puts them at ease. She shouldn’t trust it at all, but she desperately needed the modicum of hope that Luminita was providing. In the end, she hadn’t given Lilith any reason to believe she wasn’t completely sincere. All the micro expressions echoed her distaste for Gregor’s treatment and her disapproval of Farren in general.
This woman genuinely cared for Cohen as if he was her favorite nephew. Obviously Cohen felt the same way about her. From what Lilith had seen, Cohen never truly trusted anyone, ever, but he trusted Luminita. That said volumes about a long personal history that she knew neither of them would share.
“How do I figure into all this?” Chance had a very valid question. He might have a license to carry in all 50 states and most countries, but that didn’t make him a cop.
“You are here because you were involved in the…incident in Tennessee. You are allowed to travel because Cohen has been quite clear that you have the ability to keep Lilith safe. Also that her…cooperation would not happen if you were harmed. After meeting you both, I can see that his information was…true.”
An amused smile crossed her petite lips as she looked at Chance, Lilith and then their clasped hands. “Farren also decided you are a…pressure point we could use if Lilith becomes…uncooperative. You do not want that to happen. Cohen suggested that I name you as an…” Another of her pauses as she tried to pull the exact words out of the air. This time she turned back to Cohen with a questioning look. He leaned over, whispered and returned to his bored inspection of the front door. “Ah, yes… an ‘independent security expert’. He informed me you have much experience in this field, yes?”
Chance glanced over at Cohen with a surprised look. “Seriously?” The last thing Chance ever expected was to hear Cohen standing up for him. Lilith wasn’t exactly thrilled that Cohen’s glowing recommendation had inadvertently made Chance a target, but she seemed to be the only one focusing on that angle.
Cohen bristled a bit and leaned against the arm of the couch, away from Chance. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t wrong. You’re the muscle. This isn’t the start of a bro-mance or something. It’s business. We need Lilith’s expertise and like it or not, you’re apparently a package deal.” By the look on Cohen’s face, he definitely firmly fell in the category of not.
Thankfully, Chance seemed to realize that he hadn’t exactly answered Luminita’s question yet. “Yes. I do have plenty of experience…I was head of the security team for Gregor and his company. I am also familiar with various alarm systems and security measures.”
Lilith frowned over at Chance with a genuine look of surprise. “Gregor had state of the art security systems?”
Chance nervously licked his lips before meeting her eyes. “Not all of them were his, but yes. He took his business very serious. I was part of the team that put together the security upgrades for the labs.”
Lilith just blinked. “How did you not have security clearance if you were part of that team? You acted genuinely surprised when I gave my universal security code.” She was very careful not to use specific names. No need to advertise where their secret labs were.
Chance raised one eyebrow in a look that was part James Bond and part Cheshire cat. “Being on that team is a highly classified secret. Gregor knew that if we ever went public, they would be targeted by radical groups and industrial espionage. No one on the refit team has clearance because Gregor didn’t want someone with knowledge of the entire system to be manipulated or used to bring it down. It’s a safety measure. In fact, it was one that I recommended.”
There was a dark look in his eyes that shielded most of his grief. She knew his mind was looping over the fact that Gregor was dead, but he was trying to focus. “Keeping that secret is part of the job, so a little acting is required from time to time.”
“Who knew you were so handy and secretive.” Lilith cracked a smile at him, lightening the suddenly dark feeling in the room. Somewhere in the darkest corner of her mind, it unsettled her that his acting skills were so polished.
“Are you disappointed to learn that I’m not all brawn?” If he was offended at all by her implication, he was doing an excellent job of hiding it. Chance simply flashed an impish grin that told her a volume of things that neither Luminita nor Cohen needed to know.
“Good. It is all set, then.” Luminita ignored the banter and rose from her chair with the same fluidity Lilith had noticed in all of their kind. “It has been a pleasure to meet you both, but I must go. I wish you safe journeys and good luck on your task.” Her smiling eyes looked over them and rested on Cohen. “Do not forget to limit use of the device. Too much time and someone will notice. That would be …unfortunate.”
Cohen nodded absently, deep in thought. “Thank you, Luminita.”
Her lips curled into a smile that was openly friendly. She was not at all what Lilith had expected, a friendly demon. Stranger things had happened, but not many. Luminita Dragomir strolled out to the hall in her ultra-high fashion outfit leaving the room in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Apparently none of them were in a hurry to break it. Cohen snatched up his device, silently turning it off and stuffing it back in his jacket pocket just before the food arrived.
The room service cart held a variety of different foods from fresh fruits to miniature gourmet burgers. The three of them had been running on fumes and adrenaline, so the smell alone made them all ravenous. Once they devoured every scrap of food on the cart, Cohen grabbed his suitcase to paw through it, while Chance and Lilith repacked their luggage.
Then all they could do was wait. The room was still, silent with a million thoughts making the air heavy. No one dared to voice any of them since someone, somewhere would be listening. It would be too easy to say something damning that would cost their lives. They only had to hold out a little longer. Soon they’d be flying to Connecticut and more dead bodies. She could handle that as long as it got her away from this building and the one dead body she couldn’t forget.
Chapter 9
New Haven was not what Lilith would call a large city, even if it was the second largest one in Connecticut. Growing up in New York City may have skewed her opinion, but New Haven was only 125,000 people strong. The place was a mixture of colonial architecture, gleaming modern buildings, opulent homes and shady docks. It was the same contradictions one could find in about any city on the east coast, just concentrated and more drastic. Here the rich were definitely rich and the poor were desperate. According to Cohen, New Haven had one of the highest crime rates in the New England area. Comforting. The perfect place for an Ivy League University.
The morgue was actually located in the Yale Medical Center which meant getting directions while trying to pick their way through first year medical students. It wasn’t exactly Lilith’s idea of a good time, but anything was better than staying anywhere near Farren for even a minute longer.
After making their way through squeaky clean, gleaming hallways with monstrous modern art windows, they finally hit the basement. The place was brightly lit by fluorescent lights but the lack of windows gave it a darker, more comfortable feel, at least to Lilith. Bodies made sense to her. They were a clear, logical puzzle with right answers and wrong answers. She definitely preferred cold, hard science to the political Russian roulette she had to play with Cohen’s family. Besides, a dead body couldn’t kill anyone, threaten her life or hurl insults.
Inside the Medical Examiner’s office waited a plain clothes detective and a couple uniformed officers. None of them looked too thrilled to be there and with Luminita’s ominous yet vague description of the bodies, Lilith could hardly blame them. Most cops were not used to extremely violent crimes. Most of them dealt with bullet wounds, rapes, and stabbings not whatever happened to the men waiting for her in the next room.
The plain clothes detective was in his mid-forties, not handsome, but not hideous. He was just somewhat ordinary. Short clipped brown hair, a rounded face, muddy brown eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, and deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His voice was nasally when he introduced himself as Detective Blaire. The uniformed officers didn’t feel the need to follow his lead. They just watched Lilith, Chance and Cohen with that distant, assessing glare that all cops seem to perfect by the time they graduate the academy.
“The examiner is waiting on you. He has a fairly tight schedule so you might want to get in there.” If it hadn’t been for his facial expressions and his flat tone, Lilith would have thought he was less than thrilled that they were here. In actuality, he was relieved. The Detective simply didn’t have the social skills to prolong polite conversation. He was just stating emotionless fact, which was refreshing and horrifying at the same time. On one hand, it made things infinitely easier that the cops actually wanted their help. However, she definitely couldn’t picture this awkward man interrogating witnesses or suspects. It’s all a political game of skill and confidence, both of which this man seemed to lack.
“I’m sure Detective Cohen and Mr. Deveraux have some questions about the case while I’m busy. Thank you again for your cooperation.” Lilith’s lips pulled i
nto a well-practiced smile that obviously made Detective Blaire quite nervous. Huh. Maybe he was just socially awkward around tall, curvy redheads, even ones without a stitch of makeup. Apparently, whoever packed their suitcases had decided that real investigators don’t wear foundation, eye shadow and eyeliner. They probably hated CSI for all the model-esque cops, too.
“We’ll be right here.” Chance’s smooth voice actually pulled a genuine smile to her lips. He didn’t need to say anything at all, she knew where he’d be, but it was habit for him. His bodyguard code for “if you start screaming, I’ll be right there.” It was a small gesture and shouldn’t have meant much but it did make her feel safer for some reason.
Lilith nodded softly and pushed her way through the double doors into the exam room. There were two covered bodies out on the main tables with laboratory lights hovering bright above them.
“Ms. Adams I presume? I’m Dr. Winslow.” The man in the white lab coat shuffled awkwardly toward her, offering his hand. Lilith flashed a smile and quickly stepped forward to shake it. He was in his early fifties possibly sixties, vastly receding hair line with the remaining greying hair cut to stubble.
The skin of his snubbed nose was red and the color was echoed in his cheeks, rosacea. By the look of his finely broken capillaries he wasn’t too far from full blown rhinophyma, the famous bulbous purplish red nose. The good doctor definitely had more than a slight affection for the bottle. It wasn’t uncommon in his line of work. If you spent too many years seeing rape victims that didn’t survive or children that were lethally abused, you eventually need a crutch and alcohol was more socially acceptable than a lot of the alternatives.
“That’s correct. Pleasure to meet you.”
Dr. Winslow nodded gruffly and turned toward one of the work stations behind him. “You might not be so quick to thank me after seeing our two John Does here.” He grabbed a couple pairs of gloves and tossed a pair to Lilith. “There’s a lab coat and an autopsy apron in the corner there. Wouldn’t want you getting your clothes dirty or contaminating our bodies.” There were definitely tugs at his lips which indicated contempt. Apparently, he wasn’t as thrilled at her arrival as the cops were.
