“Can you tell us where you met him, Leela?” Cassandra asked gently. They were sitting in the girl’s domicile—an apartment in a building on the outskirts of Ybor City.
At least they had been invited in, Stone mused, but that was probably because Cassandra was so good at showing compassion with victims who had been brutalized as this female had been. If he had been there by himself, she probably wouldn’t even have opened the door.
“I…I met him at the Velvet Noose. He hangs out there a lot, I think.” Leela’s voice was low and she was looking down at her hands. “His manager, a guy called Mr. Yarrow, came over and asked if I wanted to earn some extra money.”
“And you said yes?” Cassandra made it a gentle question, with no judgment in it.
“Well, I mean…look at this place.” Leela nodded at the tiny, cramped apartment. The couch they were sitting on was sagging—Stone had been worried that it might not support his weight. The table in front of the couch was made up of stacked milk crates with an old wooden door balanced on them to form the tabletop and the coffee they had been offered was served in chipped, mismatched cups.
Clearly the girl, Leela, was living on the edge of poverty. It was obvious why the offer to make some extra money would have been enticing to her.
“Did Frank Yarrow tell you he was hiring you to do porn?” Cassandra asked her.
“Yes, but he made it sound like it would be classy—almost like an art film,” Leela said. “I’m a scholarship student but my scholarship only covers tuition,” she went on, speaking mainly to Cassandra while she kept a wary eye on Stone. “I can’t afford to live on campus and my car is always breaking down. I’m living on instant Ramen half the time and starving the other half. And The Beast seemed so friendly and personable. I even thought…” She swallowed hard. “I even found him attractive. I’ve always liked Beast Kindred the best. Or I did before…before I worked with him.”
“We saw what he did to you, Leela,” Cassandra said softly. “I take it that wasn’t the kind of scene Yarrow promised you’d be doing?”
“No.” Leela looked down at her hands again. “No, it wasn’t. He…he hurt me.” When she looked up again, there were tears in her big hazel eyes. “What he did to me, he…he tore me…down there.” She nodded to the place between her legs, which were crossed tightly, as though to defend herself.
“I’m so, so sorry.” Cassandra reached out and stroked the girl’s arm gently. “Have you been able to see a doctor?”
Leela shook her head.
“Can’t afford to—I don’t have any insurance. I guess I could go to the clinic on campus but they’d think that…that somebody raped me.” She swallowed hard, as though forcing the words out. “And then they’d want to know who did it. And then I’d have to admit to doing porn and I’d probably lose my scholarship.”
“What about your parents?” Cassandra asked. “Could they loan you the money?”
“They’re…we’re not speaking right now.” Leela swiped at her cheeks. “Not since I moved out of the house to go to college when they didn’t want me to.”
“A free clinic then,” Cassandra offered. “I’m sure we could get you an appointment.”
“Again, I don’t want anybody thinking I was…was raped.” Leela swallowed hard. “They’d want to do a rape kit on me and talk to the police.”
“You’re already talking to the police,” Cassandra pointed out gently.
“I know, but not about this.” She nodded at her lap again. “I just…I don’t want to talk about it.” Silent tears slipped down her cheeks. “I prefer to just…just heal on my own.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Stone tried to keep his voice gentle, though what he wanted was to give way to the fury that tried to consume him at what The Beast had done to the little female.
“What?” Leela looked at him uncertainly, fear in her hazel eyes.
“I said, you can get medical attention without any authority figures on Earth having anything to do with it. You can go to the Mother Ship and get treated there.”
“The Kindred Mother Ship?” Her eyes grew wide with fear. “Oh, I couldn’t go there! What if he’s up there? The Beast?”
“He isn’t,” Stone said firmly. “Because he isn’t a true Kindred.”
“I don’t understand.” Leela shook her head. “He looked exactly like a Beast Kindred and that’s what he said he was.”
“He’s not, though,” Cassandra told her earnestly. “We have evidence that he’s definitely not a real Beast Kindred. He’s lacking certain…physical attributes that all true Beast Kindred have.”
“Is he human, then, and just pretending to be Kindred?” Leela asked uncertainly. “Because he has that weird tattoo, you know? That Live Ink? I’ve never seen anything like that before—I thought he must be some kind of alien.”
“He is an alien but he is not Kindred,” Stone said vehemently. “My people revere females—we would never brutalize or force a female against her will.”
“I used to believe that was true,” Leela said softly. “That…that’s the main reason I agreed to do the porn vid in the first place. I thought, ‘he’s Kindred—he won’t hurt me.’” She shook her head. “But I was wrong.”
“Please…” Stone leaned forward, his heart tightening when Leela leaned back, away from him, in response. He sat back, giving her space. “Let us take you to the Mother Ship for medical treatment,” he begged her. “Our doctors there know very advanced techniques. They can heal the damage that was done and they won’t ask questions.”
“Can they heal my mind? Can they take the memory of what he did away?” Leela’s eyes were filled with tears again. “Because that’s what I want—just to forget what happened. What he did to me.”
“I don’t know if they can do that, honey, but I know they can help you physically.” Cassandra stroked the girl’s arm again.
“I don’t know.” Leela looked down again. “I have class tonight—I shouldn’t skip it. I…I’ll have to think about it.”
“Do that.” Cassandra gave her a card with her number on it. “My partner has connections. He can take you up to the Mother Ship and get you looked at.”
“Just him?” Leela’s voice shook. “Would…would you be there too?” She shot a frightened look at Stone. “Sorry, I just…I don’t want to be alone with another man for a while.”
“Of course you don’t. I promise I’d be there too,” Cassandra murmured and Stone nodded.
Though the girl’s fear was like a dagger in his heart, he understood it completely. She had trusted once and been betrayed in the worst possible way. He didn’t’ blame her for not being willing to trust again.
“Then, I…I’ll think about it.” Leela nodded and tucked Cassandra’s card neatly into her pocket. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help. I only saw him twice—once at the Velvet Noose and once at Mr. Yarrow’s house to…to shoot the scene.”
She shivered and swiped at her eyes.
“It’s all right. Just call us if you think of anything else or if you decide you want to go to the Mother Ship to see a doctor,” Cassandra told her. “Thanks for the coffee.” She finished hers in a single gulp and handed the chipped cup back to the shivering girl.
Stone finished his as well, but left the cup on the makeshift coffee table. He could tell that Leela didn’t want him anywhere in her vicinity—not even to hand back his cup—and he didn’t blame her. He was too male—too Kindred—and her trust had been broken.
“Thank you,” he simply said and then he and Cassandra left—still no closer to catching The Beast than when they had started that morning.
Sixteen
“Somebody must know where he lives!” Cassie blew out a breath in disgust as they got back into Stone’s shuttle-car after interviewing the last witness.
“Apparently not. He appears to have vanished.” Stone frowned.
“We should go shake down Yarrow again,” Cassie suggested.
“We should arrest hi
m,” Stone growled. “Leela made it clear her scene with The Beast was not consensual—he’s an accessory to rape.”
“Yes, but arresting Yarrow would mean we expect her to press charges and witness in court.” Cassie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s up for that right now.”
“You’re probably right. She seemed very concerned that anyone might find out she was doing pornography,” Stone said. “I doubt she would testify in the state she is in.”
“Maybe we stake out the Velvet Noose,” Cassie said. “That seems to be where everybody he ‘worked’ with met The Beast in the first place.”
“If you can call what he did to them ‘working’ with them.” Stone’s voice went hoarse with fury. “That poor little female…” He looked back up at Leela’s apartment and shook his head. “I want to catch this bastard more than ever now. I want to make him pay.”
“It was good of you to offer to take her to the Mother Ship,” Cassie remarked.
“I hope she will take my offer and agree to go,” Stone said seriously. “She needs medical attention and it’s clear she’s not willing to seek it here on Earth.”
Just then, Cassie’s phone rang.
“Oh—maybe that’s her now,” she exclaimed. But when she pulled out her phone, she saw that it was Captain Perkins.
“We got the results of the lab work,” she said, the minute Cassie answered and put her on speaker. “Whoever it was that killed Brittany Harkins, he wasn’t Kindred.”
“I knew it!” The light of vindication was shining in Stone’s pale eyes. “No Kindred could commit the vile acts The Beast has performed!”
“Was it a big human pretending to be Kindred, then?” Cassie asked, frowning. “Because with his alien tech and that Live Ink tattoo, I don’t see how—”
“No—not human either. We don’t know what the hell he is,” Captain Perkins said shortly. “And more bad news—we got the toxicology report back. We can tell the victim was drugged, but we have no idea with what. The chemicals in her bloodstream are completely unfamiliar to us—most of them aren’t even found on Earth.”
“Do you have any good news, Captain, because I’m afraid we’re drawing a blank, too,” Cassie said. “We’ve visited every single girl on our list and none of them has any idea where The Beast lays his head at night.”
“Shit.” Captain Perkins sounded disgusted.
“We were thinking of going back to Yarrow,” Stone growled. “Maybe he knows more than he told us the first time.”
“Or the Velvet Noose,” Cassie put in.
“Before you do that, go to the HKR building,” the Captain directed. “I got a call from them right before I called you, asking to speak to the detectives on the case. Maybe the Kindred have got something on The Beast that we don’t.”
“We’ll go right away—we’re not that far from downtown,” Cassie said.
“Fill me in when you get done.” Captain Perkins hung up without saying goodbye, which wasn’t unusual for her.
“Well?” Stone looked at her.
“Let’s get to the Human/Kindred Relations building,” Cassie told him. “Maybe your people found out something mine couldn’t.”
“Given our superior technology, I would not be surprised,” Stone remarked, without a trace of humor.
Cassie punched him lightly on the arm.
“Same old Stone. Come on, let’s go.”
Seventeen
As it turned out, the HKR building was only their first stop. Commander Sylvan himself, the head of the Kindred High Council, had sent word that he wanted to talk to them. So Stone was obliged to seal the shuttle for spaceflight and take off for the Mother Ship itself.
“I’m kind of excited,” Cassandra admitted, as they left the Earth behind them. “I’ve never been to the Mother Ship before and I’ve always wanted to go.”
Stone shot her a startled glance.
“Why did you not tell me? I would have taken you at any time.”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know. I guess it seemed kind of geeky and lame to ask you to give me a tour.”
“It is not ‘geeky’ or ‘lame’ at all,” Stone protested. “I am delighted to find out you have an interest in my culture.”
“Of course I’m interested—you’re my partner!” She sounded almost indignant, Stone thought. “Of course I want to know where you come from and all about you. The same way you wanted to meet my family and see the house I grew up in.”
“It was fascinating to see all the photographic evidence your mother had of you when you were younger,” Stone said thoughtfully.
“Photographic evidence? You make my childhood sound like a crime scene!” Cassandra laughed.
“According to your mother, it was,” Stone pointed out. “I believe she told me that you were always in trouble. Is that not correct?”
“Oh, whatever!” Cassandra laughed again. “I’m still waiting to meet your parents and find out what kinds of mischief you got up to as a kid.”
“Very little, actually. I was always a serious child,” Stone told her. “And I’m afraid you’ll be waiting for a while. My parents don’t live on the Mother Ship, as you know—they still reside on Tranq Prime, the Blood Kindred home world.”
“Too bad. I bet you weren’t nearly as good a kid as you try to make out.” Cassandra sighed and looked out the viewscreen. They had passed the Earth’s atmosphere and were almost halfway to the moon by then. “God, it’s beautiful out here!” she murmured. “You know, I’ve never even been off of Earth before? It looks so small when you get away from it.”
“Seeing your home world from space for the first time puts your life into perspective,” Stone remarked. “You realize how unimportant many of your troubles are.”
“You’re right,” Cassandra breathed. Her big brown eyes were starry and bright as she looked down at the blue-green ball getting smaller and smaller in their viewscreen.
Stone reached over to take her hand and entwined their fingers. He couldn’t help it—it was the wonder in her face. He wanted to share this moment with her, to touch her as she left her planet for the first time.
“Stone?” She looked over at him, clearly a bit surprised. He didn’t usually reach out to her unless he was comforting her for some reason. He didn’t trust himself to touch her too much because he wanted her so badly and he feared his desire would show on his face.
“I wish I could take you to the stars,” he said hoarsely, unable to help himself. “I wish I could show you the whole galaxy—the whole universe—Cassandra.”
“I wish you could, too.” In the soft glow of the instrument panel, her eyes were large and luminous and Stone thought she had never looked more lovely.
They had been growing closer lately, he thought—talking about things they never had before. The murder they were trying to solve was the worst one he had ever seen, but at least it seemed to be bringing them together.
You shouldn’t hope too much, he reminded himself. Remember that she only sees you as a friend. Remember she told her ex-mate she could never see you as anything but that.
But he couldn’t help the tiny spark of hope that had ignited in his heart. He slowed the shuttle a bit to make their journey last and held his partner’s hand all the way to the Mother Ship.
Eighteen
Cassie really wasn’t sure what had gotten into her partner lately. The trip up to the Mother Ship was almost…well, romantic. The chilly black void of space was all around them but the inside of Stone’s shuttle felt like a safe, warm cocoon for just the two of them. The way his big hand enclosed her much smaller one and the way he looked at her when he said he wished he could show her the universe made her heart pound like crazy.
His scent was working on her, too—she could feel it happening. Her breath was coming faster and she was tingling all over—especially between her thighs. Maybe it was because the shuttle was airtight and Stone’s warm, spicy aroma kept recirculating, she speculated. For whatever reason, tho
ugh, his scent had never been stronger and her body had never reacted quite so urgently.
By the time they finally reached the Mother Ship, she was nearly dizzy with desire. She had to remind herself, over and over, that Stone was just her partner—just her best friend and he didn’t think of her that way.
Don’t make a fool of yourself! Don’t make a fool of yourself, she thought, over and over when all she wanted was to lean over and kiss him. Stay in control—don’t do anything you’ll regret! Don’t ruin the best friendship you’ve ever had in your life by making a clumsy pass he’ll only have to reject.
And then what? How could she ever look Stone in the eyes again if she tried to kiss him and he had to put her off? His actions might seem romantic, Cassie told herself. But he was only being friendly—holding her hand the first time she left Earth—probably to reassure her.
She was relieved when they finally touched down in the huge, echoing Docking Bay of the Mother Ship, which was filled with ships similar to Stone’s own, and he opened the doors. Fresh air rushed in, diluting the warm, spicy scent which had been driving her crazy, and Cassie literally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well, here we are!” she said brightly and quickly climbed out of the shuttle. She turned around in a circle, taking in the massive size of the Docking Bay. There had to be thousands of ships here and room for even more. “Wow, it’s really big.”
“The Mother Ship is about a fourth the size of your moon, I believe,” Stone said, climbing out to stand beside her. “Look—Commander Sylvan is coming to greet us.”
A tall Blood Kindred with short blond hair and blue eyes was coming towards them. He had an air of authority about him, Cassie thought. But it was tempered with an expression that made the Kindred commander seem kind and approachable.
“Commander Stonev! And this must be your human partner, Detective Steel.”
Playing Their Parts: A Kindred Tales Novel Page 9
