by Sandra Ross
Chapter Four
WHEN THEY REACHED the office, Eve indicated that Skylar should have a seat in the chair across from her desk.
"Would you like anything? We have coffee, juice, tea, soda, and water, along with some pastries," Eve said.
"Do you have any apple juice?" Skylar asked.
"I believe we do," Eve replied. "I'm kind of a juice person, too. Hunter, will you please bring Skylar some apple juice?"
He looked a bit annoyed at being cast as errand boy, but he went into the kitchenette willingly enough and returned with a bottle of ice cold apple juice, which he handed to Skylar.
She removed the lid from the bottle and took a long slow drink. Then she looked back at Eve expectantly.
"It says here that you've got a lot of computer experience and that you're very organized," Eve said, as she read Skylar's application.
"Yes, I'm the best computer person you're gonna find anywhere on this side of the country."
"Is that right?" Eve asked.
"Yep. I can get into anything on the computer. I've created my own computer programs, too."
"I see. I've got a ton of files that need to be set up in the computer because I just never seem to have the time or patience to do it myself. Is that something you could do?"
"It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but yeah, I can do that."
"Hunter, why don't you go return those phone calls while I talk to Skylar?" Eve asked, looking at him.
"Sure, I'll do that," he said. "You ladies don't seem to actually need me at the moment."
Chuckling, he exited the office, closing the door behind him.
Skylar's eyebrows went up a bit as she watched him walk past her. Looking back at Eve, she winked.
"Nice," she grinned.
"Yes, I, too, love to watch him walk away," Eve laughed.
"So, you and him?"
"Yes, me and him," Eve replied. "Actually, we're getting married in the spring, which is another reason that we need someone to run the office. We're planning on a week or two away for our honeymoon."
"Ah, well congratulations," Skylar said.
"Thank you," Eve said, smiling. "Believe me, it's been a long time coming. Anyway, back to you and why you want this job."
"Well, it's pretty much all there in front of you," Skylar said with a shrug. "And when your fiance gets back from calling all of my references, you'll have even more information."
Eve sat back in her chair and studied the strange and beautiful young woman sitting across from her.
"You certainly don't miss much, do you?" she said.
"Not a lot, no," Skylar replied with a grin.
Eve nodded.
"Okay, you should know that we keep some odd hours sometimes and you'll be expected to adjust right along with us. Is that a problem for you?"
"Not at all," Skylar said. "I'm not a real 8 to 5 kind of person anyway. As long as I get a little sleep every day, I'm pretty much good to go."
"So, you don't have a child, relationship, school, anything like that to schedule around?"
"Nope, none of those. As you've probably figured out, I'm sort of a free agent."
"Somehow that doesn't exactly shock me," Eve said laughing.
The two women chatted for a bit longer and Eve was getting quite comfortable with Skylar Carson. In fact, by the time that Hunter reappeared in the office, giving Eve a quick thumbs up behind Skylar's back, she had all but made her final decision to hire her.
"Okay, Skylar, would you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to speak with Hunter. Just wait out in the reception area and help yourself to any of the food. It won't be long."
"Sure thing," Skylar said as she rose from her chair and sauntered out the door.
Hunter closed the door and turned to face Eve.
"I want to hire her," Eve said.
"Now wait a minute," Hunter said. "Are you sure she's the first impression that we want people to have of the agency?"
"Her references checked out, right?"
"Yes, they did. Apparently, Ms. Skylar Carson walks on water. But that doesn't mean she's right for us."
"Of course it does! Look, she's a veritable computer genius on paper and if she's at least half as good in action, she's exactly what we need! Yeah, I know she's not exactly a dress suit wearing chick, but neither am I. She's also a self-described free agent and can be here whenever we need her because she's got no other ties outside of working. And did you see her martial arts training on here? Come on, Hunter! She's PERFECT!"
Hunter looked at Eve and sighed. He knew when he wasn't going to win and this was one of those times.
"Okay, Evie, let's do this. We'll hire her on a probationary basis. If, at the end of that time, she works out, we'll keep her on permanently. Otherwise, she's out and we find someone else."
Leaping up from her chair, she launched herself at Hunter and hugged him. It wasn't the time to remind him that she was still the primary owner of The Agency and he was still working his way in. She was getting pretty smart about these relationship things.
"You go call her in," Eve said.
Hunter went out to the reception area and brought Skylar back in with him.
"So, Skylar," Eve said. "When can you start?"
"No time like the present," Skylar said with a big smile.
"Awesome! Welcome to The Agency!"
"Thanks! This seems like it will be a fun gig. I do have one question, though. Is the name of this place really The Agency?"
"Yep," Eve replied. "I'm not very creative sometimes, but it also seemed to be a little different than the other places I've seen. So when I couldn't think of a name, I just went with The Agency."
"Okay, that's cool," Skylar said. "I was just curious. So that chair and desk out there are all mine?"
"They sure are," Eve said. "Hunter, why don't you go get Skylar settled while I return some of these phone calls?"
"Okay," he said. "Welcome, Skylar. Let me show you around."
Sitting back in her chair, Eve smiled broadly as she watched Hunter take charge of getting their new staff member acclimated. Picking up the phone, she called into her voice mail. There were several messages that she needed to return and she made notes of names with phone numbers. Hanging up the phone, she was just going to return the first call when it rang. Grabbing it before giving anyone else a chance, Eve spoke into it.
"Thanks for calling The Agency. How may I help you?"
"Evie, is that you? This is Chad."
"Oh, hey, Chad! I was hoping to hear back from you! Anything new about Sara yet?"
"Actually, yeah. Would it be possible for you to meet me at the morgue in about an hour? I want to show you something and I think it may help you to get a feel for this case."
"Sure, okay, Chad. Hunter and I will meet you there in an hour."
"Great! Let me tell you, Evie, this one is really weird."
"You're starting to make me very curious, Chad. We'll see you soon."
"Thanks, Evie. Bye."
Chapter Five
EXACTLY ONE HOUR later, Eve and Hunter were inside the morgue area waiting for Chad to arrive. Having familiarized Skylar with where everything that she might need was located, they told her they would check back in shortly. She was so involved in the computer that she barely acknowledged their farewell with just a nod of her head. They had left her with their cell phone numbers along with strict instructions to call them in the case of emergencies or if she just had a rather important question. After all, they were leaving her on her own immediately after hiring her.
Finally, Chad burst through the front double doors and headed straight for them. Shaking Hunter's hand and giving Eve a quick hug in greeting, he motioned for them to follow him through another set of doors. These doors led to the back part of the morgue where bodies were stored and autopsies were conducted. It also held the viewing area where family members or close friends could identify bodies with some modicum of privacy and dignity.
&nb
sp; Eve was kind of hoping that body viewing wasn't something that they were going to be doing today. She had done it in the past on more than one occasion, but it was never at the top of her list of favorite things to do. Therefore, she was more than a little relieved when Chad led them into the area that housed the offices of the ME and her assistants.
Stopping at a closed door that had the words "Dr. Irina Novak" on it, he rapped quickly. A voice from within called to them to enter.
Sitting in a rather small room on the other side of a desk was an attractive woman with a small stature and wild, dark red hair. A pair of glasses perched on her nose and she looked up at them with moss green eyes. Her mouth was almost heart-shaped and looked as if she were pouting even when she wasn't. There was also a no-nonsense attitude about her that people rarely missed in their dealings with Irina. She was damn good at her job as the Medical Examiner and she knew it.
Eve and Irina had met on a few occasions in the past. They had a mutual respect for each other even if that didn't exactly extend to a genuine friendship. It was almost as if they were still sizing each other up in a more personal way.
"Hello, Detective, Eve," Irina said as she stared at Hunter.
"Thanks for seeing us, Doc," Chad said. "This is Hunter Vale, Eve's partner."
"Ah, hello, Mr. Vale," Irina said.
"Please call me Hunter," he said.
"Of course, Hunter," she smiled slightly.
"Can you go into more detail about what you found with Sara Cranston?" Chad asked Irina.
"Yes, of course," she replied, as she picked up a file from her desk. "Why don't you have a seat and I'll try to explain this to you."
Eve and Hunter settled on a leather couch and Chad sat in a chair that was on the other side of Irina's desk. They all looked at her expectantly.
"Okay," she began. "How much do you know about poisonous spiders?"
"Well, not a lot," Eve piped up first. "I know that the brown recluse, black widow, and tarantula are supposed to be pretty dangerous."
"Yes, well those are all spiders to stay away from, but the ones I'm talking about are the truly deadly ones. These are the spiders that we don't hear that much about because they're either very rare or they aren't found in the U.S."
"Yes, I've heard that there are some pretty nasty tropical spiders," Hunter offered.
"Have any of you ever heard of the Australian Funnel Web Spider?" Irina asked her captive audience.
Everyone agreed that they had never heard of the spider.
"I thought as much," Irina said. "To be honest, I wasn't all that familiar with it, either. There's a reason for that, too. The Australian Funnel Web Spider isn't normally found in the United States, hence the name Australian Funnel Web Spider. It is considered to be one of the, if not THE, most deadly spider in existence."
"That's all very interesting and pretty damn frightening, Irina," Eve commented. "But what does that have to do with Sara's death?"
"It has everything to do with Ms. Cranston's death," Irina replied. "It is the bite of the Australian Funnel Web Spider that killed her."
"How in the hell could that have happened?" Hunter asked.
"Well, that would be the interesting part," Irina said as she pushed her glasses back up onto her nose.
Looking at the file more closely, she gave them a short rundown on what happens when someone is bitten by this spider. By the time she had finished, Chad, Eve, and Hunter all looked a bit ill. They were imagining what poor Sara had endured up to the point when the poison had claimed her life.
"How would one of these spiders that is native to Australia get into Sara's house?" Chad asked.
"I would hazard a guess that someone acquired this creature in some way and then went about raising it. If the spider was startled or hungry or both, it's a good assumption that it would attack. This bite appears to be larger and more vicious than most of the ones showing up in the research that I've done on this."
"What else do you know so far, Doc?" Chad asked.
"Well, I do know for sure that it is the bite of this spider. It may sadden you to hear this, Eve and Hunter, as you knew the victim, but Ms. Cranston died a very painful death. The only positive here is that, while not instantaneous, her suffering most likely didn't last very long. Detective, am I to assume that the spider was not found on the premises of the death?" Irina asked.
"Yeah, that's right, Doc," Chad replied. "Forensics was all over the house and didn't come up with a spider, weird or otherwise."
"In that case, you may want to send a team back in now that we know what we're looking for," Irina said. "It's possible that it's hiding. I hate to think of this thing on the loose."
"Agreed," Chad said. "Yeah, I'll get right on that and have another team comb the house for this spider. Most likely, specialists in deadly insects will be sent in because I doubt that many people on our Forensics team will know much about how to handle a spider this deadly."
"If you need anything from me, Detective, just let me know," Irina offered. "I'm happy to expand on what I've already printed up about this spider. Please reiterate just how important it is to exercise care. This spider is deadly. Ms. Cranston's body leaves no room for dispute on that point."
"Yeah, I get it," Chad said. "Thanks so much for your time, Doc. We'll get out of your way for now. Let me know if you get anything else important."
"Will do, Detective," Irina said. "It was nice seeing you again, Eve, and meeting you, Hunter."
"It was, Irina," Eve said. "Hopefully, one day we can see each other outside of this place."
"That would be wonderful," Irina replied with a smile.
"Nice meeting you, Doctor," Hunter said as he got up to take his leave.
"Oh, please, call me Irina," she said.
"Irina, then," Hunter said, as he shook her hand.
As the three of them headed back out of the building to the parking lot, the shock was still very palpable among them. Lost in their own individual thoughts, there was also an air of horror. Eve was the first to speak.
"Chad, can you get me inside of Sara's house?" she asked.
"Sure, I can do that," he said. "But probably not until Forensics has gone over it again. That spider is certainly nothing to take lightly."
"Oh, I couldn't agree more," Eve said. "The problem is that the energy won't be as strong after they go through. I need to go there as soon as possible if I'm going to pick up anything useful."
"I hate to hear that, Eve, and I wish I could help you but, after what the Doc said, I can't put you at risk that way."
"But, Chad, I thought you wanted my help."
"And I do, Evie," he replied. "But not at the risk of you getting hurt or worse."
"I see," she said in a defeated tone.
Hunter cut his eyes over to her sharply. This was Eve giving in? He highly doubted it but he waited to see what would come.
"Look, I'll get you inside the house just as soon as Forensics clears out and deems it safe for humans, okay? It's really the best I can do."
"Sure, Chad, I get it," Evie said. "Just don't say I didn't warn you about the low energy threshold."
"I know you'll do your best, Evie," Chad said as he patted her on the back. "Now, I've got to get back to the station. But I'll call you as soon as the house is cleared."
"Okay, thanks, Chad," Eve said as she waved goodbye.
Once they were out of earshot, Eve turned to Hunter.
"We've got to hurry because we've probably only got about an hour or so before the Forensics team shows up at Sara's house," she said.
"What do you mean we've got to hurry?"
"Oh, don't pretend that you didn't know this was coming," she said. "I truly don't feel that the spider is still anywhere near Sara's house. All I want to do is get in there while there's some of her energy left so that I can get a better chance of seeing what happened to her. Get in the car. I'll drive."
Hunter sighed as he opened the passenger side door and entered the car.
"Evie, it's amazing that you've lived this long," he said.
"Come on, Hunter," she said. "You trust me, don't you?"
"In theory," he said, smiling to take the edge off of his comment.
"You've got to know that I wouldn't put you in danger."
"Yeah, like you haven't put me in danger ever before."
"Shut up and kiss me," she said, leaning over to him before starting the car.
He complied without a complaint. Their mouths molded together for longer than either of them planned simply because of the passion that always instantly ignited between them. Heat and desire rose quickly as their kiss took hold.
"Whoa," Eve said as she forced herself to pull away. "Let's put this on simmer for now."
Hunter groaned as he felt her mouth leave his. It was a rather bereft feeling that he didn't particularly like.
"I'm going to hold you to that," he growled.
Giving him a smile that promised everything, she started the car, put it into gear and drove in the direction of Sara's house.
Chapter Six
THE HOUSE WASN'T that far away and they arrived within a very few minutes. Pulling over a couple of houses down from Sara's, Eve cut the engine. She and Hunter watched the house for a few minutes to assure themselves that no one else had arrived ahead of them. Then they exited the car and casually strolled to the back of house.
Climbing up the few steps to the deck, they approached some sliding glass doors that looked directly into the eat-in area of the kitchen. They had just stopped to look into the doors when a sudden energy of such malevolence slammed into Eve that she staggered and would have fallen if Hunter hadn't caught her.
Black! No, black with blood red streaks twisting through it like small little rivulets of blood. She couldn't remember ever having felt such rage and madness. Her head instantly felt as if it was on the edge of exploding.
Oh, yeah, she thought. This is a bad one.
She knew instinctively that she was seeing through the killer's eyes. Sara would never be capable of producing such rage as she had been a rather sweet and gentle soul. No, this was something much more intense and horrible.
