“No,” she said. “Why would they? It doesn’t make sense. And what about Kristina’s friend, Beth?”
Jonas dropped his head. “Yes…that was me.” He looked up again. “But I just smacked her around to get Derrick’s attention, so he’d know he had a rogue creatus on his hands, and so the media would report the story, leak news of an ancient being terrorizing Boston. She was okay, though. Not one broken bone, only bruises. I can’t help it fair-skinned redheads bruise with only a few slaps. I swear I wasn’t that rough.”
Vic shook her head. “You expect me to believe—wait…Derrick said that you murdered a zip lining guide at the resort too.”
Jonas sunk onto a teakwood bench she had against the wall. “He launched at me… I had a syringe in my hand…I was just going to knock him out, but he came at me. I sidestepped him, and he went over the platform. When I got to the bottom, he was dead.”
Vic bit down on her lip and let out another sigh. “Jonas…you’re lying. That rapist last night. Michael said he was beaten to a pulp and thrown over the side of a building.”
“What rapist?”
“There was another killing last night. Rebecca looked up the police record for Michael…there was a creatus seal finger-painted in blood on the man’s chest.”
Jonas leapt to his feet. “What? Where?”
“In Boston.”
“I wasn’t in Boston last night, Victoria.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “I swear to you…I’ve never murdered anyone. I just want to be free. To be allowed to live as I was meant to live. To not have to worry about running, climbing, eating…I know you understand. I’ve seen you.”
Vic squeezed the syringe in her hand, ready to attack, but she didn’t see any hatred in Jonas’ eyes, only pain.
“I just want to be able to live…without people like my father wanting to turn me in. Since we can’t appeal to humans civilly, I thought if we infiltrated their world, we could take over. We’ll outlive them eventually.”
“Let me go, Jonas.”
Jonas loosened his grip, but didn’t release her. “You have to believe me, Vic. I swear… All those humans were dead…they kill each other… For nothing…for ten bucks. I’ve watched them. Even when a person gives a mugger what he requests, sometimes he’ll kill them anyway. No remorse. But I swear to you. I’ve never killed an innocent human.”
Vic gulped loudly. “What are you saying, Jonas?”
“I’m just saying I wasn’t in Boston last night. If there was a murder that a creatus committed, you really do have a rogue on your hands.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Reece hadn’t moved an inch since Cooper left the small room. Instead, he ran the scenario through his head, wondering if it was time to talk, time to start his story.
It’d been years, but he pulled up her image in his head. Long blond hair. Soft, round angelic face. Dejected, but as beautiful as sapphires, tinted eyes. He’d tried to help her. They’d been friends since they were toddlers. Every time he came home, she’d fallen deeper into depression.
He thought that providing her every need would help her despair, but she’d used the money to buy drugs and alcohol, until he couldn’t help her anymore.
He hated that he was going to use her image to complete his story, but he knew her face well enough that he could sketch the drawing himself, and she had hurt him deeper than any person ever had, so at least she could do this for him.
The door opened, and Cooper strolled through calmly, as though Reece hadn’t accosted him only minutes earlier, as though he weren’t looking into the eyes of a killing machine.
One by one, Cooper flopped Reece’s wallet, ID, and badge onto the table. “You shouldn’t leave those in your hotel room.”
Confused, Reece narrowed his eyes. “I locked them in the safe.” He never carried his ID and badge, a habit he’d gotten into when he’d worked UC. He only carried his phone and the amount of cash he planned to use. Victoria had returned his dismantled phone and cash to him this morning. Since Cooper hadn’t actually arrested him, he’d never taken it from him, though.
He threw the room key on the table next. “A lot of good that does if someone has your room key.”
“I don’t understand,” Reece said.
Cooper shrugged. “Oh, so you are able to say more than one or two words at a time.”
Reece snorted out a breath, but said nothing.
“Obviously, you really don’t remember what happened. So, lay off the sauce, and get back to work.”
“What?”
“I said, get back to work. We have a job to do.”
Reece picked up his few items and then glanced up at Cooper. He hadn’t told him that he’d gone on a binge. “You don’t care that I have no memory of the last few weeks?”
“You’ve had a stellar record for sixteen years, but the last time you got into trouble was for drinking too much, so I assume that was the case again. I’m probably supposed to get you help, but I don’t have time for that nonsense. It doesn’t work anyway. You have a drinking problem or you don’t; you’ll seek help or you won’t. My forcing you to get help won’t accomplish anything. Hell, over half of our agents drink, and yes, I’ve seen a select few show up at a scene after having a few. But not you, so I’m sure this was just a one-time thing. Just don’t let it happen again.”
Reece was dumbfounded. Now what was he supposed to do? How could he go back to work investigating Victoria’s people—his people. He shook his head. “You’re gonna let me off? Just like that?”
Cooper shrugged and slapped him on the back. “I understand, Buck. Don’t think I don’t throw back a drink every once and a while. And I understand you’re just a good ol’ boy from down south.”
Reece seethed. He didn’t like the name Buck, and he didn’t like Cooper treating him as though he were some ‘good ol’ boy’ redneck from down south. But, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t very well tell Cooper that he didn’t want him to let him off easily, that he wanted him to fire him.
Nope. Now, he’d have to try to clear his case, get reassigned somewhere else. But then how would he see Victoria? He promised her that he’d be back.
Reece picked up the folder and stood.
Cooper followed his lead, waving his hand for him to go on ahead of him. “You want a ride back to your hotel.”
“Nah. I’ll take the ‘T’.”
“I sent you all the updated information. I need you back to work immediately. And I want daily updates. If you miss one day, I’ll be on your doorstep.”
Reece nodded and walked toward freedom.
“Don’t get lost on the way,” Cooper bellowed as Reece cautiously opened the door and stepped out into the busy corridor of the police department.
A few heads turned, but no one commented. The door behind him shut, and Reece looked over his shoulder to see Cooper following him down the hallway. Reece inhaled a deep breath, held his head high, and strolled toward the exit. He’d been a prisoner for almost a month, and now he was free. Not that he’d really felt like a prisoner under Victoria’s watch, Derrick’s either really. He was pretty sure he could have escaped if he really wanted to, but he’d wanted to learn their secrets, hoped that he could discover what he was. From the moment he saw Derrick’s dive off the Tobin Bridge, he knew he was the key to discovering his heritage.
Even though he knew his own strength, he’d never known how far he could push it. Wasn’t sure if he could have jumped from the hospital’s top floor. Now he found himself wanting to try things he never had, but more than anything, he wanted to get back to Victoria.
Would Cooper believe him if he cleared them, or would he send in another team? No way that Special Agent Frank Cooper was just going to forget about the last few weeks and let him go on about his business.
Reece clutched the folder to his side. No, Frank Cooper had made a threat. The picture was proof of that. Cooper had let him go so he could follow him.
Instead of heading straigh
t to his hotel, Reece decided to make a few stops. The first thing he did was find a place to buy a burner phone, a habit he’d also gotten into when he worked UC. Anything linking back to family was dangerous, especially in South America.
Used to be that the safest way to interact and search online was at a local library, but since the PATRIOT Act went into effect, even that wasn’t safe anymore. A burner phone wasn’t completely safe; some phone companies actually sold their info to the government. But the phones worked for his use, and he dumped them quickly and always bought his next one from a different store. Most small-time drug dealers who used them, worked in the same area and bought from the same store every time. As he always thought as a cop, thank God for stupid criminals. The smart ones actually got away with crimes.
It didn’t take long to find what he wanted. Less than half a mile from the police department, he saw a mini-mart that fit the bill. Although the surrounding neighborhood looked clean and well kept, the tiny privately owned store had bars on the lower half of the windows. Advertisement posters for everything from money grams to pre-paid wireless cards lined the front window. A lopsided handmade sign boasted that they had an ATM inside. Ooh, Reece thought, classy place.
Inside, drug paraphernalia decorated the area behind the register. Of course, storeowners always claimed that the bongs and papers they sold weren’t used for smoking dope, insisted that they were only for legal tobacco consumption, and that they only sold the products as functional art. Yep, he was in the right store.
Reece picked up a knockoff version of a Patriot’s ball cap and jacket and headed to the counter of the small convenience store. The foreigner behind the counter didn’t even glance up, just scanned the items.
“That be all?” the man asked with a brusque accent.
“No,” Reece said. “I’d like to buy a phone.”
The man handed him a short form to fill out and showed him the phones he had to choose from. Reece selected the cheapest one with Internet capability.
After paying cash for a pre-paid credit card and the phone, he searched for a coffee shop, a place where employees didn’t wait on or push customers out the door. Waitresses tended to remember customers who stayed at their tables too long.
Reece ordered bottled water and the largest salad the café offered and found a seat out of the cashier’s line of sight.
Normally he’d only contact Meghan via a private email address, but since they knew about her, it was safer just to call and not take a chance that Cooper would find his choice of email carriers. Only a select few allowed you to create an email without having a back-up email to confirm the account.
He dialed the number, ignoring his sweaty palms, hating that he felt nervous whenever they spoke.
“Hello,” a gravelly voice answered, her grandmother’s.
“Hi, Betty. It’s Reece. Is Meghan home?”
“Bucky!” she crooned, her low voice raising an octave in her apparent excitement. He could almost see her toothless grin. At least she still liked him. “Oh, my boy, it’s been so long. When ya comin’ home, baby?”
He smiled. “It may be a while, Gran, but I’ll come as soon as I can.”
“K. Lemme go fin’ Meg for ya.”
Reece chuckled as he heard Betty call out for Meghan, “Pick up ‘da phone, Meg. I’s for you.” There wasn’t any such thing as ‘go finding’ with Gran; she simply yelled toward the other side of her singlewide trailer. He certainly sent her enough money to afford a nicer place, but Gran had lived in that same trailer as long as he could remember.
“Yeah?” Meghan said as an answer.
“Hey, Meg.”
Silence. Yeah, she was ticked. What else was new?
“What do you want?” she finally spit out.
“I just wanted to check and see how you’re doing.”
“Fine. See ya!”
“Wait!” he appealed. “Just give me a couple of seconds, will ya?”
“For what?” she snapped. “We have nothin’ to talk about.”
“Has anyone been by to see you?”
“No. That it?”
He sighed. “Just be careful, okay?”
“Yeah. F.U.”
The line went dead and Reece sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Nice language,” he said to the dead air. Well, at least she’d abbreviated it. Maybe she was calming down since their last fight. She was better off without him. He’d tried to explain that to her repeatedly. He took care of them. He didn’t know what else he could do for her.
His fingers ached to search for another number. Victoria’s. If Cooper was able to track him, which he doubted he would—no. He had to be smart. He’d see her somehow. He was supposed to be investigating Derrick, so he’d find a way to get to her.
Reece finished his food and headed back to his cut-rate efficiency. He needed to check his work email for the information that Cooper said he’d sent. More information on Victoria’s friends and family, more information on the rogue creatus, he was certain.
He opened the folder and stared at the image inside. This morning, he’d been ready to kill for her, and yet, they couldn’t even have a normal conversation without her telling him to F-off.
Love was a strange thing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Instead of parking in the garage, Vic chose a spot along the street outside the hospital, hoping that maybe Reece would see her car and find a way to slip into the hospital.
She scanned the streets for any sign of a threat. She didn’t know why, but she believed Jonas. So, if he wasn’t the rogue, who was? Did that mean she, or anyone else she was close to, was in danger? Was it a copycat killer? Someone who had hacked into the police’s database and discovered about the seal. From what she understood, wannabe serial killers were always trying to gain notoriety.
The seal was confidential information. According to Michael, local detectives and federal agents were scrambling for information, researching ancient seals and relics to find out if these were ritual killings. After all, humans had to have a reason to murder, right? Humans wouldn’t kill just for fun. They had to be sick or brainwashed. Yeah, right.
Vic agreed with Jonas on that issue, anyway. She’d seen what humans did to their own species, to their spouses, and even their children. It sickened her when a mother brought her child to their small clinic instead of Boston Medical Center, assuming that maybe they wouldn’t notify officials of bruise marks across a child’s body, when they supposedly came in for a broken arm after falling off their bike.
She hated to think that Jonas was right to want to take the world out of humans’ control. Was it even possible? Creatus were in every city and across every nation around the world. Although still a small race, because they lived so long, they were slowly outnumbering other nationalities, especially in the US.
Pushing that thought from her mind, Vic strolled into the lobby.
“Hi, Vic!” Kristina chirped. “Derrick’s waiting for you. And thanks for lunch.”
Vic forced a smile, suppressing a growl. She hadn’t bought Kristina lunch; she bought Derrick two orders, since he always ordered two. “You’re welcome,” she said and walked off quickly, ignoring Kristina’s open mouth as though she had something else to say.
Kristina jumped out of her chair and bounded after her. “Vic, wait up. I need a favor.”
A favor. Surely, she was joking. It really wasn’t right for her to hate Kristina, and maybe deep down, she didn’t actually hate her, but she didn’t want to be BFFs either.
Vic stopped and crossed her arms, attempting her best ‘leave me alone’ stance, but Kristina approached her anyway.
The barely adult, almost a foot shorter than her human stood her ground in front of her. “I know you don’t like me, Vic.” She smiled. “That’s okay, though, I’d hate me too if I were you. But no matter how much you try, you’re not going to convince me to hate you.”
Vic stared down at her. “What’s your favor, Kristina?”
>
Kris tugged at her hand, leading her outside the thick leaded glass doors before speaking. Once the slow mechanism above the entry finally pulled the door closed, Kris turned and stared her directly in the eyes. “I want you to teach me to fight.”
Vic quickly covered her mouth, attempting to stop the burst of laughter. She hadn’t realized that Kristina had a sense of humor. “Funny.”
“I’m serious. Just because,” she lowered her voice even more, “I’m not a creatus, doesn’t mean that I can’t learn to fight or use a weapon.”
“Have you asked Derrick to teach you?”
Kristina put her hands on her hips, and Vic couldn’t help but smile at her determined look. “No…you know how Derrick is. He thinks I’m a doll or something…that I’d break like a toothpick.”
“If one of my kind hit you, Kristina, you would snap like a toothpick.”
“Not if I have a weapon…but I’m not worried about your kind; I want to protect myself from my kind. And just so you know, I consider you my family too, whether you like it or not.” A new patient approached, so Kristina opened the door for the man and followed him inside, but looked over her shoulder and whispered, “Just think about it, okay? Maybe we’d get along better if I wasn’t such a wimp.”
Vic laughed, then said under her breath, “Maybe, but I doubt it.” Still chuckling to herself, she darted up the steps to find Derrick and Michael, and as always, didn’t bother to check in with Derrick’s secretary. She also never knocked, as there weren’t any secrets among them, practically impossible.
However, Reece had kept secrets somehow…he’d obviously known she could hear everything he said, so he must have held back all his queries about her until she was out of the hospital.
Thinking about how dejected he’d looked when Michael had dropped him, she felt a stitch in her chest, as though she’d been poked. She’d been so hateful to him, always yelling at him, and yet, he still professed his feelings. What could he possibly see in her? She wasn’t nice. She growled at people, stared down at them. Even Kristina. It wasn’t her fault that Derrick had chosen her.
Creatus Series Boxed Set Page 40
