Sweet Last Drop

by Melody Johnson

  I looked away from the pancakes and took a deep breath, letting her words settle in a heavy lump at the bottom of my gut. I remembered Walker and Ian lecturing the boys yesterday. They must have been the ones to smear blood across the entrance of her house. They thought they’d made her house into a fallout shelter. They probably thought they’d been safe.

  I felt sick. “What about Colin?”

  Ronnie sniffed. “What about him?”

  “You said William and Douglas were killed, but Colin was playing at your house with William and Douglas, wasn’t he?”

  Ronnie nodded.

  “So where was Colin?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. The police didn’t mention him. They’d only identified William and Douglas.”

  Identified, she said. I swallowed, remembering the other scenes. I didn’t want to imagine William and Douglas in the same state as the other victims, but I didn’t have to imagine. I was about to find out.

  “Where’s Keagan?” I asked.

  “At school. Logan wanted to identify the bodies, to know for sure that they—” Ronnie’s voice trembled. “To know for sure before he pulled Keagan out of school.”

  “We need to find Colin. He might be our only surviving witness.”

  “How are we going to find Colin? We don’t know where he is.”

  “We don’t, but Keagan might.” I strode passed Ronnie toward the front door. “Come on.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “We’re going to talk to Keagan, and then we’re going to your parents’ house.”

  “We?” Ronnie squeaked.

  “Yes, we. I can’t pull Keagan from school, but as his babysitter, you can.”

  “I most certainly cannot!”

  “Do you want to help find Colin?”

  “Well, yes, but Ian said I should stay here. He said—”

  “It’s daylight, and I’m going to need backup,” I interrupted, thinking, Screw Walker. “Do you want to help catch the monster who killed Douglas and William? Do you want to help stop the monster from killing again? It could be you or Keagan or Ian next on this psycho’s hit list.” I leaned forward. “Are you in or out?”

  Ronnie met my eyes. “I’m in. But only if you eat these pancakes. You really don’t eat enough.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s quite a statement considering I’ve only ever seen you cook in this kitchen. When was the last time you ate?”

  She blushed.

  “We’ll eat them together.”

  “And then we’ll pick up Keagan?”

  I nodded. “And find Colin.”

  “All right then.” Ronnie handed me a fork, slathered butter on the plate, and drizzled long pools of syrup over the pancakes, and I discovered what all the fuss was about in Ronnie’s kitchen every morning.

  Her banana nut pancakes were to die for.

  * * * *

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Walker whispered. He didn’t want to draw the attention of the cops at the scene, but by the throbbing vein in his forehead and the clenching tightness of his jaw, I knew that if he could, he would have shouted.

  Keagan and Ronnie were waiting in Walker’s pick-up around the bend in the road, so Walker could see them, but for the moment, the officers processing the scene hadn’t noticed their presence. If I were still in the city, I’d have skirted the perimeter until Greta, Harroway, or someone else from the department recognized me and let me through. But I wasn’t in the city. Walker was my only connection, so I had to play nice since Ronnie and I hadn’t exactly played by the rules.

  Ronnie had pulled Keagan from school, and I’d grilled him about Colin. We’d found the information we needed, but Keagan was too smart not to put the pieces together. We weren’t grilling him to find Colin because Colin was missing. We were grilling him to find Colin because he was the only one of his brothers we hadn’t found. Ronnie and I had known better than to bring Keagan along, but we couldn’t just send him back to school knowing two of his brothers were dead and one was missing.

  We were all here to find Colin and help solve this case, but by Walker’s expression, he didn’t want our help.

  “I would have come alone if I could, but I couldn’t talk to Keagan without Ronnie, and once I had both of them with me…” I shrugged. “I know the police won’t like the spectators, but they won’t leave the truck. I told them to sit tight.”

  Walker’s expression turned skeptical. “When was the last time you listened when someone told you to sit tight?”

  I waved away his concern. “That’s me. We’re talking about Ronnie. I practically needed the Jaws of Life to extract her from the house. She’ll sit tight.”

  He shook his head. “Besides, this isn’t about them. You can’t be here, either.”

  I crossed my arms. “You need me here. I have important information pertinent to this investigation. I’m here to help.”

  “You’re already too involved in this case. You’re not a police officer or detective or medical examiner. You’re a reporter, and you’re not welcome anymore.”

  “I’m never welcome, but that’s never stopped me before. It’s never stopped you, either, before now.” I narrowed my eyes on him. “You deliberately left the house without me. You deliberately left me out of this scene.”

  Walker nodded. “You’re damn right I did.”

  “I thought we were partners. Partners don’t leave each other in the dark.”

  “We’re partners against the vampires, but in the real world, I’m involved professionally in this case and you’re not. Let it go, and get out while you still can.” Walker glanced over his shoulder at the scene behind him.

  “I’m just as involved in this case as you are. You’re the one who got me involved in the first place.” I watched him carefully, trying to deduce why he was freezing me out from one scene to the next. “Is this about dinner last night?”

  “Logan is going to kill you for talking to Keagan without him and for bringing him here,” Walker said, avoiding my question. “And I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again: you’re not welcome at this scene. The police will bring you in for questioning if they find you here.”

  I shook my head. “Why would they go after me?”

  “Get back in that pick-up and drive home before you make this scene more of a mess than it already is.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said, standing my ground. “I came here to help you find Colin, and that’s exactly what I’m staying here to do.”

  Walker frowned. “Douglas and William were found at the scene. Not Colin.”

  “Exactly. So where’s Colin?”

  He opened his mouth and closed it. He glanced up at where Keagan was sitting in the truck behind me, and when he locked eyes with me again, they were resolute. “Colin wasn’t at school.”

  “Nope.”

  “Shit.” Walker scrubbed his palm down his face. “If he was here with Douglas and William last night, he might have been abducted.”

  I nodded. “Or he might have escaped and hidden somewhere in the woods. He might still be out there.”

  Walker placed a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you.”

  “We need to band in groups and fan out. If we plan to find him before sunset, we need to comb every inch of—”

  “We as in the police. Not you. We’ll take care of it.” He turned me by the shoulder and nudged me away. “You need to get in that truck and drive back to my house. Now.”

  I dug my heels in the dirt and stared at him. “Excuse me? I just turned the tables on this case. This was my tip, and I’m helping you find him.”

  “I appreciate the tip, and yes, it significantly helps this case, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not welcome here.” He crossed his arms. “Go back to my house and stay there. I’m not telling you again.”

  I stared at Walker, at his unflinching, unmovable expression, and I felt something inside me
turn sour. “The fact that Colin didn’t go to school today wasn’t the only tip Keagan gave me.”

  Walker raised his eyebrows. “There’s more?”

  “Keagan confirmed that his brothers were making Ronnie’s old house into their own fallout shelter to play in. They were using human blood to ward off vampires and hiding there at night, like a club house.”

  I watched his expression, but Walker didn’t so much as blink.

  “But you already knew that the moment you recognized the blood smear around the perimeter of Ronnie’s house,” I whispered. “Didn’t you?”

  It took a moment, but eventually, he nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? When you saw the blood smear, why did you let me question its existence when you knew exactly why it was there?”

  His expression hardened, but otherwise, he didn’t say anything.

  “Jesus, Walker, you told me that you needed to take samples,” I said, laughing at how genuine he’d seemed and how stupid I’d been to trust him so completely. I thought of our moment together afterward, of how thoroughly and passionately he’d kissed me after he’d just as thoroughly lied to me, and I embraced my rage, so much sweeter than the bite of his betrayal.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about fallout shelters?” I shouted, and I didn’t care. “All this time there were steps I could’ve taken to fortify my apartment, and you kept them to yourself. I could have found a new apartment. I could have warded myself against Dominic’s intrusion.” I shook my head in wonder at his deception. “I could have felt safe.”

  “Stop shouting,” Walker hissed at me. He turned to see if we were attracting any attention from the surrounding officers, but they were preoccupied with the murder scene. “Feeling safe is an illusion. You’re never safe. Ever. But you’re safest here. There is no better fallout shelter than the one I built. Anything you’d have attempted in your city apartment would have paled in comparison.”

  “Ah ha!” I said, pointing my finger at him. “And there’s the boiled truth. Once again, you would rather give me the help you think I need rather than the help I want. You deliberately withheld information from me, so I’d need you to feel safe, and that’s bullshit.”

  “Dominic is to blame for you not feeling safe in your apartment, not me,” Walker said. “But you can feel safe here, far away from Dominic.”

  The finger I pointed at him trembled, I was so angry. “New York City is my home, and I’m not leaving. I wanted to feel safe in my home, but you deliberately withheld information I could have used to feel safe, so I’d think I needed you,” I said slowly and succinctly, so he’d understand.

  “You could never achieve the fallout shelter I’ve built by smearing blood around the perimeter of your apartment. My father built that house, and over the years, he modified it, and over my lifetime, I’ve fortified it. If I told you how to fortify your apartment, you would only achieve a false sense of security. I’m offering you a real one.”

  I breathed deep and even, and let the clean, fresh air of the woods and the heat of the sunshine soaking my skin bathe me. That was the only way I could stand in front of him and still see him, and not just see a wash of red.

  When I did speak, I made my voice quiet and calm, trying to keep the crazy contained. “You should have told me how to protect myself anyway, so when I came here, I could make my own decision whether to return to the city and my own shelter or to stay here, protected by yours. Instead, you tried to make that decision for me.”

  Walker snorted. “It wasn’t much of a decision, so much as common sense.”

  I did see red then. I shoved him back with every ounce of anger and frustration and strength inside me. “Partners help each other survive! They don’t put each other in danger to remind themselves that they’re needed.”

  Walker stumbled back a step. By the clench and unclench of his jaw, however, I could tell that Walker was losing his patience as well. He glanced at the officers behind him and a few were watching us now.

  I took a deep breath to pull myself together.

  Walker turned to face me. “We’ll finish this conversation later. In private.”

  “You’ve kept everything a secret,” I whispered. “From the day I arrived, you’ve lied about Ronnie living with you, night bloods living with you, the fallout shelter, and about having seizures. How can I trust you? What else aren’t you telling me?”

  Walker winced and rubbed his forehead rhythmically.

  I stepped closer, concerned. “Are you all right?”

  He glared at me and his expression was so intense that I stopped mid-step. “I’ve been a night blood my entire life. I can’t possibly teach you everything I’ve learned in a lifetime in a few days, so I brought you here, not only for me but also for you to interact with other night bloods. To talk to them and learn from their experiences. You’re bound to learn things from them that I haven’t taught you, but it’s not because I’ve ‘deliberately withheld information’ from you.

  “I let you ask me any questions you wanted, any at all, and in all that time, did you ever ask me how to revoke Dominic’s invitation to your house? Did you ever ask me how to better fortify your apartment?”

  I opened my mouth and closed it, feeling uncertainty like a deer caught in the headlights, torn between flight and immobility. “No,” I said in a small voice, “Dominic said that the invitation couldn’t be revoked.”

  “And that’s your problem right there. Listening to a vampire,” Walker said coldly. He crossed his arms and stared at me. “Maybe instead of blindly believing Dominic, you should have just asked me.”

  “I asked you about the blood smears around the perimeter of Ronnie’s old house, and your response was that you needed to take blood samples,” I said sharply. “You didn’t tell me the truth when I asked you,” I pointed out.

  Walker groaned, sounding as exhausted as he looked. “What do you want from me, Cassidy? To tell you I’m sorry? Because I’m not. If I had the chance to do it over, I’d do it all the same. You’re safest here with me, not in some half-ass, fortified city apartment. A few blood smears and some silverware isn’t enough protection against Dominic and his coven. I’ve lost a lot of people because of that mistake, people who thought they could survive on their own. Now we’ve lost William and Douglas.” Walker leaned in close. “I’m not about to lose you, too. Not when I can protect you.”

  I swallowed. “I don’t want you to tell me you’re sorry. What’s done is done. I want you to make it right. Let me help you find Colin.”

  Walker shook his head, his expression carefully masked.

  “Keagan says that Colin left with his other brothers last night, like he does every night,” I pushed. “If he was with them when they were attacked, he might have seen the murderer.”

  His mask slipped for a moment, and I saw something light his face that I hadn’t seen in a while. “He might know what really happened.”

  “Exactly.” I smiled. “I’m more than just a pretty face.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You know I know that.”

  “Then why did you leave me behind? Why didn’t you bring me to this scene like you did the last two scenes?”

  “I meant it when I said that you can’t be here.” He whispered, “They specifically told me not to bring you.”

  I frowned. “I know Officer Montgomery isn’t my biggest fan, but I—”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with Riley.” Walker glanced at the scene behind him again.

  I stood on my toes to see over his shoulder. “Who else could possibly have a grudge against me?”

  Walker turned to face me again. “The FBI.”

  I blinked. “Come again?”

  “There’s a pattern forming. They left their case in the city to continue it here. It’s officially a serial murder investigation, Cassidy.”

  “What the hell does that have to do with me?”

  “Everything,” Walker swiped his ha
nd down his face again, stress like a grease he couldn’t seem to wipe off. “They know you were lead reporter for your paper on this investigation back in the city.”

  “Yeah, me and a dozen other lead reporters from a dozen other papers. What does that prove? It’s not as if this is the same case.”

  “It is the same case, and so far, you’re the only connection between the two.”

  “Me?” I asked, incredulous.

  Walker nodded, his expression grim.

  “I didn’t follow the murders here,” I said, exasperated. “I didn’t even know this was the same case! I came here for you and to write my crime fluctuation piece for Carter.”

  “Of course I know that, but I can see how it looks to the FBI. To them, it doesn’t look good, Cassidy.”

  “If the only thing they have on me is circumstantial, they don’t have anything.”

  “Your fingerprints and blood are at this scene.”

  I blinked. “I was in Ronnie’s house yesterday with you,” I reminded him, “And they can’t possibly know that yet. They haven’t finished processing the scene, let alone analyzing fingerprints and blood samples at the lab.”

  “But they’ll find it, and when they do, the further away you are from this case the better. You need to create some distance to protect yourself.”

  “Helping to solve this case can only work in my favor. I’m staying.”

  Walker shook his head. “They found your silver nitrate spray on Buck McFerson’s driveway.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “My silver nitrate spray?”

  He smirked a little sheepishly. “They found my spray, the one I gave you, and it has your prints all over it. They told me this morning when I got the call about William and Douglas.”

  I shook my head, feeling like a bobblehead. I was a suspect in a serial murder investigation. It was unbelievable. “I’m not running from this. I’m innocent.”

  “Leaving isn’t running. It’s smart. It’s called survival.” Walker’s face darkened with frustration. “Do you want us to find Colin?”