Nathan wondered how many victims the Heartless Killer had left in his wake since leaving Boston. Rubbing a hand across his face, giving his beard a scratch, Nathan told himself to not think about it too hard. It would only start his head throbbing, as always.
He scooped his cell phone from his pocket when it rang.
“Ya got me. What d’ya want?”
“Is that any way to speak to your mother, especially when she’s worried sick about her one and only son?”
Nathan cringed. He hated guilt. Guilt was like a leech slowly sucking the life out of you.
“Sorry, Mom. What’s up?”
“That’s what I want to know. What do you mean by leaving a message on our answering service saying you’re going out of town for a few weeks? You couldn’t remember either your father’s or my cell numbers?”
There was that leech, draining him. “I didn’t want to disturb you or dad at work.”
“Don’t you think I know my son better than to know a lie when it’s thrown at me? Try again.”
He kicked a rather large rock in his path, hating the damn guilt-sucking leech. “Fine. I thought maybe the doc was right and I needed to get away for a bit.” Nathan checked the sky to make sure there were no storm clouds nearby that might contain enough electricity to strike him down for lying. “I just didn’t want to worry both of you. I’m fine, really, but some time away might make me even better. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you directly. Am I forgiven?” That’s right, suck up.
“The jury’s still out on that. You were only released from the hospital a few days ago. Do you think it’s such a good idea to be off on your own?”
“I’m a grown man, Mom. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I am well aware of how old you are having given birth to you myself thirty four years ago. I want you to check in at least once a day. Make me a promise, Nathaniel, that you’ll call once a day.”
Even though he’d been on his own for more years than he could remember his mother still treated him like a boy. “I promise.” What was a man to do? ”Hugs and kisses.”
“Right back at you. Now take care of my baby.”
He disconnected and let out a long heavy sigh. He hated lying to his mother. Even over the phone he could see her big brown eyes glaring at him in that way she had that always made him cave.
But he hadn’t, not this time. Chalk one up for him. He had a backbone after all.
Heading back to the coffee shop, Nathan decided he needed to come up with a legitimate lie, one his mother would believe so that she didn’t worry so much about him.
Because the last thing he wanted her to find out was that he was after a killer with revenge on his mind.
Chapter Three
Home sweet home.
Standing in the doorway to her brand new home, Sienna breathed in the scent of freshly cleaned carpets and stale cardboard. If only she could move around the place.
Sienna maneuvered her way through her apartment to find her faithful companion, Daisy, had chewed several holes in the unpacked boxes. The instant the dog noticed her master was home, she sat up, tilted her head to the left, and gave her ever-popular I’m cute, pet me look.
Being such a sucker for that sappy puppy look, Sienna crouched down to scratch the dog’s head. “You may be cute, Daisy, but you’re a pain in my ass. Who’s going to clean this up?”
The dog’s response was to fall over onto her back and curl her legs up. Sienna shook her head. “Oh, and now you want me to rub your tummy. Nice. You’re a suck up.”
Standing, Sienna took one look at her messy apartment with boxes piled high and furniture placed haphazardly in the room, and had a fleeting thought to turn around and leave. Then Daisy began chewing on another box, and Sienna knew what she had to do.
“Do you think Detective Cutie Vega would mind helping me unpack? Probably not a good idea to call and ask him anyway, given my track record with cops. Guess it’s just you and me, Daisy.”
In response the dog scurried off to the bedroom. “Thanks for the help.”
What did she expect? That her belongings would have been unpacked and her furniture placed in the room with some order? She hadn’t paid the movers to do more than deliver her stuff and that they had. She’d given her landlord permission to allow them in while she was gone only because she knew she probably wouldn’t be able to be here herself. Now she regretted that. It might have been a better idea to move a few days before her first week of work. Though rightfully, she wasn’t due to check in at the precinct for another two days.
But murder didn’t have a time clock and neither did she.
Staring at the mess she was now calling home, Sienna released a heavy sigh. Where to start?
“Stop chewing up the boxes, Daisy,” Sienna hollered. Having keen hearing had its advantages. So when her landlord showed up at her door, she opened it a split second before he could knock.
“Oh…hey. I…uh, saw you pull up, so I thought I’d come up and make sure you have everything.”
Miles Hadley was a creepy-looking fellow with big, bulging eyes in a hollow face; a tall, thin body that looked like he hadn’t eaten in months; and the nerves of a junkie. But Sienna was polite to him despite her uneasiness.
“Everything’s fine. I was just about to start unpacking some of my stuff.”
“Oh, great. You need some help? I don’t mind.”
“I’m fine, but thank you.” It was a nice gesture…if she didn’t suspect the guy was hitting on her.
“Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“You bet.” Closing the door, she shuddered, then saw Daisy sitting in the bedroom doorway with one of Sienna’s socks in her mouth. “Where did you get that?” When Sienna entered the bedroom she saw the boxes she’d marked as clothing had been opened, the tape she’d sealed them with torn. If that wasn’t bad enough, she saw that her clothing had been rifled through, namely her undergarments. “Oh, ick. They went through my stuff.” Then it occurred to her that it might not have been the movers but creepy Mr. Hadley instead. “Oh double ick.” She closed the box and set it at the back of the room with a mental note to go shopping the first chance she got.
So far, her first day in Jacob’s Cove wasn’t proving to be a great one.
***
As Nathan pulled into Jacob’s Cove, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Most of the trees were barren and looked dead. Those that had life in them looked pathetically sparse. The grass was brown in more patches than green, and that was the highlight of the city as he came to learn. As he drove along the city streets, he saw house after house either destroyed or burned up. Shops were boarded up and some of them looked as if a strong wind could topple them over.
What the hell had happened here? It looked like a bomb had gone off. As he drove along the city streets looking for a hotel, Nathan wondered if he’d been hasty in traveling for miles to a place he’d never been to much less heard of on the assumption that the Heartless Killer was here. What had he been thinking? He’d thrown some clothes in a bag and flown out of his apartment in a matter of minutes after reading the note from the killer. Now he was in a town that looked as if it was deserted without a clue as to what to do next. How the hell was the killer going to know he was even here?
It came to mind that this was exactly what the doctor had said to him. He hadn’t been thinking straight since Leo’s murder, going off half cocked. He saw it now as what the doc and everyone else around him had seen. He’d released himself from the hospital and had instantly gone from bar to bar beating anyone up who looked as if they could give him information. He’d gone on stake-outs, searching the city for the killer without a care to what anyone had said to him.
Damn it, the doc and his captain had been right.
What he should do was t
urn his sorry ass around and go back home. Take the three months off he’d been instructed to take, see the shrink, let his head and heart heal. But damn it, he just couldn’t and he knew Leo would understand. He couldn’t let his death go unsolved.
Then his cell phone rang. Fully expecting it to be his mother, or perhaps his father this time, he was a little more jovial when he answered. “This is Nathan; how may I help you?”
“Well, you certainly sound enthusiastic. Guess those shrink sessions are paying off.”
Nathan slammed on the brakes and at this very moment he was damn glad there was no traffic on the roads. Which—okay—was a little odd. He recognized that whiney-toned voice instantly and pictured his hands around the guy’s throat choking the life out of him. “Hello, Killer.”
“Now, Nathan, what did we discuss about you calling me that name?”
“And what did we discuss about you calling me on my cell phone?” Damn it! He had no access to a tracker to figure out where the guy was calling from. Not that it mattered; they’d never been able to trace his calls before.
“Maybe that’s why we like each other so much. We’re so similar.”
“I am nothing like you, Killer. Furthermore, I despise you.”
“Oh, I think you and I are more alike than you’re willing to admit. Don’t you get a thrill every time you fire your weapon?”
Nathan’s fingers tightened on the phone and the steering wheel. “Where are you, Killer?”
“Didn’t you get my letter, Nathaniel?”
Only his mother was allowed to call him Nathaniel but he knew if he made a big deal out of it, Killer would have more to use against him.
“Yeah, I got your letter.” And if he’d been thinking in his right mind he would have taken it directly to his captain for analysis. He was such an idiot.
“Then you should know where I am, unless that rap on the head I gave you messed up your brains.”
“My head is just fine.” Liar. “And, yes, I know you’re in a place called Jacob’s Cove. Good for you. Hope it works out for you.” He kept his fingers crossed that Killer would give himself away.
“You and I both know you’re dying to catch me. So what are you waiting for? Come and get me.”
Growling when the phone disconnected, Nathan jammed it back in his pocket, then sent the car rolling.
At least he was on the right track.
***
Standing in her apartment, Sienna decided it was livable. She’d piled the boxes to the back wall, placing her worn-out, tweed sofa beside it. She really needed new furniture. Her twenty-five inch TV—and that was a sorry excuse for the thing—sat on the opposite wall on a small wooden stand. She’d unpack her Blu-Ray some time later on. She really had no idea why she’d bought the damn thing. It wasn’t like she was home often enough to watch anything.
In the dining room, her small and in bad need of repair table was placed near the back of the wall with the two chairs on either side. More boxes were piled up on the wall beside it. She’d get to unpacking everything eventually. Her bedroom was somewhat organized so that she didn’t stub any toes if she had to get out of bed in the dark. Though she had night vision, in her first moments of awakening at night her eyesight was a little foggy. The box of clothes that had been sifted through by either the movers or her sick landlord sat by the closet, sealed. She refused to use anything inside of it and figured it was best to not even think about it.
Now that her place was somewhat livable, Sienna wanted to fill her belly with something hot and then take a steamy shower before falling face first into bed. Her plan was put on hold when Daisy began scratching at the door and whining.
“Oh, seriously, Daisy. Now?” As if panicked, Daisy began yelping and clawing at the door even more. “Fine, fine, but make it fast. I’m starved.”
Grabbing the leash hanging by the door, Sienna clasped it to the dog’s bright red collar, then grabbing her keys and cell phone, headed out the door. It occurred to her that she had no idea where the nearest park was.
Taking the stairs down to the main level, Sienna hurried to the door with Daisy on her heels. “You’re going to be a little shocked at our surroundings, my girl. The city is in rough shape.”
Daisy’s response was to yip in what Sienna assumed was excitement as they headed outside. The area she lived in housed one other apartment building and some broken-down houses. A few blocks down was a hotel which didn’t look half bad. Taking the alley behind her complex, Sienna and Daisy examined their terrain. It was as worn down as the rest of the city with half dead trees and lawn scattered about. When Daisy sniffed the fence surrounding the trash bin, then turned her nose up, Sienna laughed. “Yeah, well, it was a spur of the moment thought. I needed a place to live and this was the first one in the brochure guide that looked suitable. Not to mention its close proximity to the precinct so that’s a plus factor. You’ll get used to it,” she reassured the dog and continued down the alley. “Just do your duty so we can get back inside and I can order some food.”
It was a clear night with a full moon and yet Sienna couldn’t help but feel an uneasiness in the air. The vision hit her as if it were happening right before her eyes.
He jumped out of the shadows, his fangs ready, and death in his cold, yellow eyes. She could sense the blood lust in him moments before he attacked.
The vision cleared and she waited, knowing he would jump out at her at any moment. But just as one vision vanished, the second shot into her. He raised his gun to her head and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Four
Daisy began barking wildly at something behind her and Sienna shook her head to try to clear away the fog from the vision. She heard the sound of footsteps on gravel and, spinning around, saw a man step out of the shadow.
“Behind you! Get down.”
The gun came up in his hand, aimed at her head. She felt the presence of the vampire as he jumped out from behind the dumpster. As she spun around to take him down, the gun fired, hitting the vamp in the right shoulder. He jerked back, screeching like a banshee.
“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled at the man with the gun as she ran to the vamp. “Daisy, stay!” Daisy sat as she’d been instructed while Sienna knelt down beside the screaming vamp. She pressed her knee to the vamp’s bleeding shoulder to ensure that he wouldn’t move. “You are under arrest for breaking the laws of humans and vampires and will be detained in the local jail while awaiting trial.”
“You’re a cop?” the guy behind her responded.
“Yeah, I’m a cop. Oh, stop your screaming already,” she yelled at the vamp, then flipped him onto his belly and pulled his arms to his back, pinning them in one hand while she searched for her handcuffs. “Damn it, why don’t I have my cuffs on me. Wanna tell me why you were about to attack me?”
“I wasn’t…honest…I was only…out for a walk. Yeah, I was walking. I’m gonna sue the cops for harassment. I was minding my own— Fuck, my shoulder’s killing me. Police brutality!” he screamed good and loud.
“Shut the hell up. No one gives a damn.”
“Here.”
Sienna glanced up to see a set of shiny silver handcuffs dangling down before her. Glancing up, she took a moment to survey the gentleman and noticed he wasn’t bad on the eyes. His dark brown hair was messed up but somehow looked natural. And wow! The guy had a hell of a body. Broad shoulders, wide chest, and narrow waist. His face was pretty decent to look at, even with that thin line of hair over his upper lip that ran down the sides of his mouth to cover his chin. He had nice eyes, dark, round, with long lashes. And…he was human.
“I’d prefer a regulation set rather than your bondage toys.”
“These are regulation. I’m a detective. Nathan Powers,” he introduced in a deep, throaty voice that sounded as if he’d had one too many cigarettes.
The vamp squirming beneath her, she took the cuffs. Before slapping them on the vamp’s wrists she made sure they were regulation. Flipping him onto his back, Sienna pinned him with her knee as she had before. “Don’t try anything stupid.”
“Bitch!” the vamp spat.
“What the hell’s with the yellow contacts and fake fangs?”
Sienna glanced over her shoulder as she responded to the detective.
“What? You’ve never seen a vampire before?”
“A what?”
“A vampire.”
“I heard you. I thought I’d seen it all, but I guess not. Now we’ve got junkies playing vampire,” The detective chuckled with a shake of his head.
One look at the guy told her he was serious.
“Oh jeez, he’s a virgin,” The vampire on the ground said.
She rolled her eyes. “I told you to shut up.” She yanked the screaming vamp to his feet. “This is a vampire—not a fake, the real deal and if you plan on being in Jacob’s Cove for any amount of time you might want to be on the lookout for them. Some of them refuse to abide by the new laws. Isn’t that right, screamer?”
“Fuck you, cop bitch!”
“Seriously though, he’s a vampire like the blood-sucking kind?”
“Don’t know any other kind.” Sienna jerked the vamp back when he tried to bolt. “Do it and die,” she warmed.
“You can’t kill me and we both know it.”
The vamp had her there, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t rough him up a little.
“Shouldn’t you like…you know, jam a wooden stake through his heart? I can’t believe I just said that.” The detective laughed boldly.
Was this guy for real?
“Neither can I. We prefer to rehabilitate them rather than turning them to dust.” Holding the vamp in one hand, she pulled her cell phone out with the other and dialed the station. “Lieutenant Storm here. I have a rogue vamp I need brought in.”
“I wasn’t doing anything, you stupid bitch.”
Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 07] Page 3
