John, standing behind Fin, cleared his throat awkwardly. Maybe he didn’t like the idea of his boss talking to dead humans. Not even his temporary boss.
Fin ignored him.
“Thought it was the best night of your life, didn’t you, Trey? Right up until that last second when she bit you and drank your blood?” Fin thought for a moment, then stood, turning to John. He was thankful he was wearing dark glasses so his officer wouldn’t see the moisture that had gathered in the corners of his eyes.
“I want everyone who is not specifically involved in getting this boy off the boardwalk on the beach. I want you looking for drag marks from the ocean to these steps.” He indicated with his hand. “This kid died in the water and someone carried him or dragged him here.”
“I don’t know about that theory,” Jim said slowly. “Beach cleaning machine came through around four-thirty this morning. I already called and checked.”
“At four-thirty, Malachy was either still drunk or at the least hungover. We’re always getting complaints that he’s missed spots, left trash behind, or run over a garbage barrel. Check the beach, anyway. Start here and work your way north and south. It would make sense to bring him up these stairs, but that doesn’t mean that’s the way this played out.”
John nodded and walked away, leaving Fin to gaze out over the beach to the water’s edge. In his mind’s eye, he knew what had happened here. He had had his suspicions. Now there was no doubt in his mind, not with the discovery of Trey’s shoes and shirt. Fin didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before, but he knew now why he had never found a crime scene in the previous murders. It was because they were no longer present. They had been carried out by the tide.
Chapter 22
After a quick lunch at the diner, Fin crossed the street and headed for the station. He walked with his head down, trying hard not to feel defeated. Fia had called this morning to say that she needed to talk to him and that she was coming to Clare Point tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest. She had been cryptic and he had a bad feeling this was a professional visit, not personal. It had been only three days since Trey Cline’s death, but that was just enough time for the FBI to make the decision to put their noses in where the sept would prefer they didn’t. Hopefully, Fia had found a way to finagle into the case; she was, after all, considered an expert on serial killers. If Fia was running the case for the FBI, she would be able to protect the sept. Ultimately, what was best for the sept would be achieved; Fin just wished he would be the one to see it through.
There was no doubt in Fin’s mind now; the killer was a vampire woman. According to the evidence and what Fin had been able to piece together, Trey had had sex with a woman just before he was bitten; then, like the others, his throat was slit. Following his hunch, Fin had had his officers comb the beach and sure enough, despite the fact that the beach cleaner had been through, they’d found a short length of drag marks. Trey was killed in the ocean, and carried most of the way to the boardwalk, but at some point, she had put him down and dragged him. Maybe because he was taller than the others and more difficult to carry. Even with phenomenal strength, a taller man would have been harder to carry in the soft sand. The killer must have picked him up again and carried him up the steps and posed him under the shower.
“Uncle Fin?”
It took him a second to realize someone had spoken his name. He looked up.
“You better watch where you’re going or you’re going to get hit by a car or something.” It was Kaleigh. She must have walked right past him.
“Lost in my thoughts, I guess.” Getting a good look at her, he smirked. “Nice hat.”
She snatched the white paper hat off her head. “I have got to get a better job.”
“Speaking of good jobs, things have been quieter on First Street this past week. I want you to know it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
“First Street?”
She was cute. Especially when she was trying to lie; she had never done a good job of it. “The partying. Our teens have been lying low. Keeping a little more to themselves, staying clear of the humans.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“I’m a cop, Kaleigh. Acting chief of police, apparently. It’s my business to know what’s going on in Clare Point.”
“Who told you?”
“No one told me. Power of deduction.” He tapped his temple. Then he grew more serious. “Hey, I’m glad I ran into you. I need to ask you something. I hate to, but I’m trying to cover all the angles.”
“So ask.”
“This is probably going to sound crazy.” He scratched his head. “But do you think anyone attending those parties, one of our girls, could…would, kill?”
“One of the teens?” She looked shocked. “Sweet baby Jesus, no.”
“I think these boys are being seduced, Kaleigh.”
“Seduced?”
“The killer had sex with the young men,” he said frankly. “Then she killed them.”
“Wow,” she murmured. “Wow.” She thought for a moment. “But whoever did it had to carry Richie all the way to the arcade without leaving any evidence. The first one was left in the alley. She’d have to be incredibly strong. It couldn’t be a teenager. Our strength doesn’t come until the end of the maturation cycle.”
“I know. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being naïve.” He thought for a minute. “And you don’t think anyone could have developed their strength and you just didn’t know it?” He gestured. “I mean, powers come and go, at first. We didn’t know last year that you were having visions.”
“Anything’s possible, I guess,” she said slowly. Suddenly, she looked off into space.
He tried to listen to what she was thinking, but her mind was well guarded. He got nothing. “Kaleigh?”
“Yeah?”
“Something you’re not telling me?”
“No.” She fiddled with her hat. “No, I just remembered something I forgot to do. My mom’s gonna kill me.” She looked up at him. “What about the other Vs, the family from Italy? Couldn’t one of them have done it? Didn’t they arrive around the same time that first guy was killed?”
Old Mrs. Cahall, the clerk at the Lighthouse Hotel, went by in her VW bug and tooted her horn. Fin and Kaleigh both smiled and waved.
Fin looked back at Kaleigh. “Regan has a big mouth. The family preferred no one know.”
“He was happy for you, that’s the only reason he said anything. You know, happy that you’d found someone.”
“Elena did not do this.”
“I didn’t say she did. But you know people are going to have questions. About her, and about her sister. I mean, you have to admit, they fit the profile and it would be a lot easier to think an outsider is killing, instead of one of us.”
“Except that they don’t fit the profile. They’re not like us. They have no gifts.”
“So she says. I don’t know how you prove something like that, but…” She opened her hands. “Look, I’m not trying to be a jerk about this, Uncle Fin. It’s just that people in this town are starting to get scared. Can’t you feel it? They’re afraid that if humans find out about us, we’ll be without a country again, without a home.”
“Humans are not going to find out about us. We’re going to take care of this ourselves.”
“I hope you’re right, because Katy thinks we ought to flee to Bolivia.” She looked away again, then pulled her cell phone out of her bag and checked the screen. “Shoot. I gotta go or I’ll be late.” She headed in the opposite direction he was going. “Catch you later.”
Fin turned to continue on his way, then, remembering something, he turned back. “Hey, Kaleigh.”
“Yeah?” She turned and walked backward, still moving away.
“On a completely different subject, have you seen Victor in the last couple of days?”
“We haven’t been anywhere near his house,” she defended, lifting her hands, palms out. “Or his stupid boat. I swear it. Why, what�
��s he say we did now?”
“He hasn’t said anything. I was just wondering if you’d seen him.”
She shook her head.
“How about Mary McCathal?”
“Nope.”
“Neither has anyone else,” he mused.
“Maybe they’re holed up in his house, or hers. Love shack, baby, love shack,” she sang, doing a little shimmy.
Fin grimaced.
She stopped dancing. “I know.” She chuckled. “Gross to even think about. Gotta go.”
Kaleigh hurried down the next block, tucking her hat under her arm. What Fin had said about the killer possibly being one of the teens had her scared.
What if it was Katy?
Katy was sexually active. She liked human males. She also was hell-bent on the idea of the sept moving to another place in the world. And what about that day she had opened the jar of cherries? The night she had moved the cooler? Had her strength improved and Kaleigh didn’t know it?
Kaleigh wasn’t sure what to do. Did she just confront her best friend and ask her if she was a serial killer? Ask her if she was the one risking the safety of every member of the sept? Of course, if it was Katy, she wouldn’t be dumb enough to admit it, would she?
Maybe the thing to do was just keep an eye on her. A close eye. See if she was acting strangely, doing anything strange. At least if Kaleigh kept her close, she couldn’t kill again, right?
Kaleigh pulled her cell out of her bag and hit the speed dial.
“Hey,” Katy answered. “I thought you were at work.”
Kaleigh looked both ways and crossed the street. There was a long line at the DQ and only one window was open. “Just walking in. Hey, you want to come over and spend the night?”
“Um, sure. I guess so.”
Kaleigh hurried around the side of the building. “Okay, see you tonight, right after I get off work.”
“You okay?” Katy asked, sounding concerned.
“Sure. Can’t a person invite her best friend over to spend the night?”
“Yeah,” Katy said. “But she can’t act weird.”
“I’m not acting weird.” She hurried through the back door. “Gotta go.” She dropped her phone into her bag and put her stupid paper hat on her head. “Sorry I’m late, guys.”
“That wisewoman gig taking up too much of your time?” Tom, one of the assistant managers, asked.
Kaleigh tossed her bag under a counter and hurried toward the front to open another service window. “Yeah, something like that.”
That night, Fin met Elena on his front stoop.
“Were you waiting for me?” she said, coming up the steps.
“I missed you today.” He kissed her hard on the mouth.
She gazed into his eyes as she kissed him back. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
“Regan’s still at my parents’ house.” He took her hand and pulled her inside, locking the door behind her. He pushed her up against the door and crushed her mouth with his.
“Mio tesoro,” she murmured, stroking his cheek and then wrapping her arms around his neck.
Fin thrust his tongue into her mouth, caressing a breast through the fabric of her dress. She wore no bra and he felt her nipple harden under his fingertips.
“You are eager,” she breathed, kissing him again.
He pushed down the shoulder of her wrap dress, freeing her bare breast, and leaned down. Elena pressed the palms of her hands against the door and tilted her head back, closing her eyes. Fin caught her nipple between his teeth and tugged gently, then sucked.
Elena whispered words of encouragement in her native language. It wouldn’t have mattered whether Fin knew Italian or not, he knew what she wanted. Still teasing her breast with the tip of his tongue, he drew his hand up her thigh. She moaned.
Fin kissed his way to the pulse of her neck, moving his hand upward. He cupped her soft mound, then slid his fingers beneath the elastic of her lacy thong.
She bared her neck, encouraging him.
Fin caressed the soft, damp folds with one hand. With the other, he stroked her neck, feeling the puncture wounds he had left on her two nights before. It was less painful to have blood taken from an old wound, but not as pleasurable for the one drinking. He licked the punctures and she parted her legs farther, grinding against his hand.
Bloodletting was not usually part of foreplay; most vampires liked to save it for the main event. Fin didn’t know what had gotten into him tonight. He was angry. He was sad. He was frustrated. He needed release. He needed to taste her blood.
“Yes?” he whispered huskily, stroking her faster, pressing kisses to her neck. Nibbling. It was always polite to ask, even if you were certain that a woman was offering her blood.
She elongated her neck even farther. “Yes,” she moaned.
Fin looked into her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted as she breathed heavily. A thin sheen of perspiration shimmered above her upper lip. He was overcome by his fierce, throbbing need for her. He thrust his fingers into her, and at the same time, sank his teeth into her flesh.
Elena jerked in his arms, crying out with pleasure and pain, writhing against him.
Her hot blood gushed into his mouth.
She whimpered, trembling all over.
Fin supported her against the door as her knees buckled. He took one last sip and then swept her up into his arms. He carried her, half conscious, down the hall to his bedroom and laid her gently on his bed. Throwing his clothes off hurriedly, he slipped off her sandals, tossed them on the floor, and lay down beside her. He pushed up the hem of her dress and caressed her thighs.
Elena nuzzled his neck and he kissed her. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, tasting her own blood. Fin slipped her panties off and tossed them to the floor. He stroked her until she came again and only then did he climb on top of her. He thrust again and again and she lifted her hips to meet him. It went too quickly then, though he would have liked to have prolonged her pleasure. They cried out in ecstasy as one and at last he was satiated. He rolled off her and held her against him, kissing her damp temple.
For a long time they lay in the dark in his single bed. Slowly their breath came more evenly. His heart began to beat in a normal rhythm and he felt his body temperature drift downward. He kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry if I—”
She pressed her fingertips to his lips. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “I understand. We all lose control sometimes. It’s good for us.”
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Certainly not.” She lifted her head to look down on him and her hair fell across his cheek. She searched his gaze, in the darkness. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“Victor?” Mary called from the bed. She was already in her nightgown, under the sheets with the light out. They’d found a nice hotel off the interstate that offered a senior discount and a buffet breakfast. “Are you coming?”
The bathroom door opened and light spilled into the room. “I’m coming. Hold your horses.”
She heard the water run in the sink, then turn off. He shuffled out of the bathroom in a pair of boxers, shutting off the light behind him. “Wouldn’t go in there just yet, if I was you.”
She chuckled and lifted the sheet for him. “I lived with a man for fifteen hundred years. I know better.”
He slid into bed beside her. “Not sure how far we’ll go tomorrow. I was thinking we might stop at one of them peach farms, get some fresh Georgia peaches.” He looked at her in the dark. “Want some peaches, Peaches?”
Her eyes glistened. “Are you sure we’re not making a mistake?”
“You think you’re makin’ a mistake, comin’ with me?” he asked stiffly. He stared up at the ceiling.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She rolled onto her side and rested her head on his shoulder.
He slid his arm around her.
“I mean, just running away from our problems like this. Like two kids. People will be
worried about us.”
“People will be worried about themselves,” he grunted. “Afraid we might do something crazy and put them at risk.”
She ran her hand over his bony chest. “We did do something crazy.”
He chuckled and she knew he was smiling.
“That we did,” he agreed. “I still can’t believe you came with me. Can’t believe my luck.”
She kissed his cheek. “You’re my luck.”
He squeezed her in a hug. “Don’t worry your pretty head. We get settled, we’ll go to one of those fancy Internet cafés and you can e-mail Regan about the arcade. E-mail that bunch of biddies in your book club and tell them yer pickin’ the next book. Hell, if fishin’ is good, I might buy you a laptop for Christmas and you can e-mail right from the boat.”
She felt her cheeks grow warm with a mixture of embarrassment and pride. “I’m too old for a laptop, Victor.”
“Never too old for nothin’.” He kissed her temple. “Now shut your trap, woman. Can’t you see I’m trying to get some sleep?”
“I love you, Victor Simpson, you cantankerous old fart.”
“I love you,” he whispered softly.
Chapter 23
Elena sat up and pushed her dress down over her thighs. She had no idea where her panties were; she didn’t care. She was barely listening to what Fin said as his first words sank in.
The detail that has not been published in the papers or been on the TV news is that the killer is a vampire.
The moment he said it, she knew who it was and she was overcome with a horrible sense of guilt. How could she have been so stupid, so naïve?
“So I guess what I’m saying,” Fin went on, “is that you need to be prepared for questions. Just tell them the truth, if anyone asks. You and your family are not suspects. You don’t have the powers we do. It would have taken phenomenal strength to carry the bodies of those men into the arcade and the alley.”
Immortal Page 22
