The Immortals (18 page)

“Oh!” Kim’s face lit up. “Please!” He stepped aside so they could enter the small office. Theo assumed the green metal door in the far wall was the entrance to the vault itself. “Have you found them?” Kim begged.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” Selene asked, holding out the blackened tooth to the researcher.

“Where did you—” he began, his gloved hands reaching for it.

“That isn’t important,” she said sternly. “You need to tell me exactly what this is.”

Kim took the tooth reverently and brought it close to his face as if to identify it through smell alone. “Oh yes, this is either the authentic specimen or a very convincing copy.” He scurried to his desk and placed the tusk under a large magnifying glass.

Selene crossed her arms as the researcher gently poked and prodded at the specimen. Theo wanted to tell her to be patient, but he already knew she wouldn’t listen.

“Obviously, the catalog label has been removed. Without carbon dating, I can’t be a hundred percent certain, but preliminarily, I believe this is one of the paleodontal specimens stolen yesterday.”

“
One?
You mean they took more than one tooth?” Selene snapped.

“I told the policemen this morning—there was a pair of teeth taken from the same animal.”

Selene cast a significant glance at Theo, who felt his heart drop. If the initiates still possessed one tooth, they’d probably have enough to complete their collection of sacred objects.

“If you recovered this one, surely you can—” Kim began.

“Just tell me what animal it came from,” Selene said, stepping closer to the researcher, who shrank like a small rodent at her approach.

“Selene—” Theo began.

She growled. Actually growled.

Theo looked to Gabriela, who clapped a hand over her mouth, her face red with suppressed hysteria. She moved her hand enough to silently mouth,
Who the hell is she? You’re not into her, are you?

Dating Selene would be like watching a glacier: waiting for the ice to crack so you could witness the beauty and roar, but knowing it might mean an avalanche that could pummel you to death in a heartbeat. Still…

Gabriela poked him hard in the ribs, her eyebrows rising to meet her hairline.
Are you?

If Helen had been intense, then Selene was a veritable extremist. Yet the two women embodied entirely different types of passion. While Helen clung to her lovers—both Theo and Everett—as if she couldn’t live without them, Selene clearly needed no one and nothing but a cause to fight for. Weakness just wasn’t part of her vocabulary. In fact, he suspected she might be the strongest woman he’d ever met—both in terms of her obvious physical prowess and her unshakable determination to see justice done. Yet beneath that adamantine exterior he sensed a secret emotional sensitivity. The combination was undeniably attractive. So—was he into her? He gave Gabi what he knew was an enigmatic smile, then turned back to the paleodontist.

Kim rose to grab a thick book off a nearby shelf. “Entelodont. Known colloquially as the Extinct Giant Pig, Hell Pig, or Terminator Pig, although it’s actually more closely related to whales and hippos. Endemic to the woodlands of the northern hemisphere in the Eocene and Miocene epochs for approximately twenty million years.” He flipped to a page without consulting the index and passed the book to Theo. “But extinct for the past sixteen million or so.”

A vicious, six-foot-tall saber-toothed hog stared from the
pages, a slavering primordial monster painted in full-color detail by someone with a very vivid imagination. Gabriela peered over his shoulder. “That’s why I don’t like animals, Theodear.”

Selene only glanced at the picture, her brow furrowed. As if she’d already known about the Hell Pig. As if she found the illustration laughably inaccurate.
Stranger and stranger,
Theo thought.
She shows up in places she shouldn’t. Knows things no one should know. As if she’s listening to the world on a frequency a few kilohertz off from everyone else.

“Dr. Jimenez said you have surveillance footage of the theft. Show me,” Selene said.

“Haven’t you already seen—” Kim began.

“Just do it.”

Gabriela bent to Kim’s computer and brought up her e-mail, no more immune to Selene’s demands than anyone else. “Security sent it out to everyone this morning so we could see if the perp looked familiar. You ready for this?” she asked over her shoulder. “It’s going to be all over the news tonight, I bet you. YouTube’s gonna have a field day.”

The beginning of the video looked promising. A portion of the museum’s pink granite and brown sandstone exterior. Nighttime. A man in a hooded black jacket, wearing a small backpack, appeared in the lower corner of the screen with his back to the camera, illuminated by one of the many high-powered spotlights shining on the museum’s neo-Romanesque façade. “That’s the Central Park West side of the museum,” Gabriela explained. “He already jumped the fence in order to get that close.” The shadowy figure was about six feet tall and broad in the shoulders. The man was careful not to turn his head as he knelt down beside the nearest spotlight and, as far as Theo could tell, punched it with his bare fist. The light went dark.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Theo groaned. Now they could see very little. Only a grainy silhouette slightly darker than its surroundings. The figure sprinted to the base of a large
tree, jumped up, and grabbed the lowest limb. “How high is the branch of that oak?” he asked.

“Linden tree, not oak,” Selene said immediately, with more than a hint of irritation. “I’d say at least eleven feet up.”

Theo whistled. Gabriela shook her head smugly. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, keep watching.”

The man began to climb the tree. Theo lost sight of him for a few moments as he moved in and out of focus among the branches. “Wait, is that… no way…” The figure had emerged on one of the topmost limbs, walking along it more swiftly and surely than a circus performer. The branch narrowed as it reached out toward the museum’s fifth floor. It sagged beneath his weight, forcing him to stop at least ten feet from the façade. “How’s he going to…”

Gabriela shushed him angrily. The thief began to bounce up and down as if the branch were a trampoline. Just when Theo was sure it would break, the thief launched himself into the air, then landed gracefully on the wall, his hands secure in a crevice between the stones, his feet resting on a decorative ledge that couldn’t have been more than a foot wide.

“No one noticed? No amateur video already going viral?” Theo asked.

“First of all, it was about four in the morning. And it happened in the span of about twenty seconds. You’re watching the tape on slow mo.” Gabriela grinned at Theo’s obvious astonishment. “And you’re missing the good part,” she said with a wink.

The thief craned his head backward, as if judging where to head next, then began to climb up the wall as easily as if it were a ladder. Except it wasn’t a ladder. It was tightly packed granite blocks with no handhold in sight. Seconds later—
or milliseconds
, Theo realized—he’d grabbed hold of a gutter pipe and pulled himself onto the steep tiled roof. Then it was only a quick run across the rooftop to a skylight. He disappeared for a few moments.

“Let me guess,” Selene spoke up. “That’s the Snake Room.” Gabriela nodded. Then the thief emerged once more and sprinted across the roof and out of the frame. Theo cursed.

“No worries. It switches to another camera here.” Gabriela gave Theo’s arm a reassuring pat. “Seems we’ve got the whole building under surveillance. What we
don’t
have is an alarm system on the attic skylights.”

The thief crossed the roof to a large stone dormer with a small window in one end. Gabriela jabbed the screen. “This is where we are right now. The Tusk Vault.” He walked swiftly across the dormer’s roofline, grabbed a large, egg-shaped finial with both hands, and swung, feetfirst, onto the deep windowsill. Theo swore, sure he would plummet to his death, but Gabriela merely smiled. “We’ve got our own resident Spider-Man.” The man opened the window and disappeared inside the gable. A moment later, he reappeared.

Theo whistled in admiration. “It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for.”

“I keep the collection perfectly catalogued,” Kim said with a catch in his voice.

“Shh, you’re missing the best part.” Gabriela waved her hands for silence.

The hooded figure jumped off the sill, landing lightly on the sloped roof of a turret at least twenty feet away. He sidled along a ledge until he reached the corner of the main building, braced himself between the two walls, then proceeded to shimmy down until he was only two stories above the ground. Then he let go. Theo gasped, Gabriela clapped, and Selene muttered an angry “Show-off” as the man fell to the ground, did a quick somersault, backpack be damned, and leaped lightly to his feet. He dashed offscreen and the video snapped to black.

Selene strode to the vault entrance. “Let me in.”

Kim shook his head vigorously, inserting himself between
her and the door. “The collection is in a state of extreme vulnerability at the moment. I cannot allow it to be disturbed.”

“I’m not going to steal any of your precious teeth, okay?”

“Let me see that badge again,” he demanded, clearly beginning to doubt Selene’s credentials.

Theo wondered what gave her away. Her complete lack of professionalism? The way her fist curled like she was about to punch the scientist in the face?

Kim pursed his lips suspiciously. “Why was the entelodont tusk in your possession?”

“I’m trying to help you,” Selene said, her glare belying her words. “I
am
in law enforcement, I just do the enforcing a little differently. I’m going to catch whoever’s been stealing your stuff. Unless you get in my way. Then I may come back here and mix up all the specimens just for kicks. Put the dinosaur horns in with the walrus tusks.”

“You can’t threaten me,” he said, his small chin thrust forward.

In a blur of movement, Selene seized the keys from Kim’s pocket. “I don’t have to.” She smiled as she pushed him aside and unlocked the vault.

Selene didn’t pause to admire the floor-to-ceiling shelves of carefully labeled tusks. She yanked open the window, then levered herself onto the narrow sill, her torso dangling precariously into the ether. She could hear Kim on the telephone, calling museum security despite Gabriela’s pleas for him to be patient.

“Selene, is this really necessary?” Theo asked from behind her. “I can see the headline now:
PALEODONTIST PETRIFIED BY PERVY PROFESSOR
.”

She didn’t respond. She had to see the crime scene for herself, even if she didn’t want to explain to Theo exactly why. She inched out a little farther and peered down. Six stories of large, rough stone blocks with deep seams. Enough for her to get a handhold, especially with her heightened strength, but not a mortal—unless he was some sort of champion mountain climber. She craned her head upward toward the egg-shaped sculpture that had provided the thief’s handhold when he swung onto the ledge. She looked for signs of grappling hooks, rope marks—anything that might have been invisible on the poor-quality video and could explain how he could enter so easily.
Somehow, she knew she wouldn’t find anything. Her hunt for the killer had just gotten infinitely more complicated.

Someone grabbed hold of her foot.

“Careful!” Theo warned.

She slid back inside, too surprised to protest, and turned toward him. She wasn’t used to the look of concern on his face; no man had ever worried about her before.

“I’m okay,” she managed, trying not to sound defensive.

“Look, I appreciate your dedication to figuring out what happened, but I’d rather not have to deal with
another
dead friend quite yet, okay? There’s no need to risk your life hanging out sixth-floor windows.”

She was already his “friend”? When had that happened? She felt a shiver of something halfway between discomfort and pleasure. “We need to get out of here before the security guards show,” she said. “It’s going to look awfully suspicious if they find us up here.”

“That’s what I just said. But now that Kim told them we’re here, won’t it look suspicious if we leave?”

“Oh? Your girlfriend will rat us out?”

“My girlfr—Gabriela? She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Uh-huh.” Selene had recognized her from the photo in Theo’s apartment. She remembered the way they’d stood together, half-naked, on the beach.

“First off, she’s gay.”

“Oh.”

“Secondly, that’s just her way. If you knew her for a few hours and she liked you, she’d be all over you, too.”

“She wouldn’t like me.”

“You don’t know that. You’re really very—”

“Schultz.”

“Yeah?”

“We have to leave.”

Kim was still fuming in the other room, despite Gabriela’s
efforts to soothe him. Selene stood behind him and dropped the keys on his desk. She placed her hands on his shoulders in what she hoped would seem a calming gesture. “We didn’t touch anything. It’s going to be just fine.” She tried to look penitent as she slowly moved her hands up his neck and used her preternatural strength to pinch his carotid artery. While Theo and Gabriela argued over what to do about the security guards’ imminent arrival, Kim collapsed with a
thud
onto the open book of ancient mammals, his cheek pressed against the drawing of the Caledonian Boar. Hopefully, he wouldn’t remember the details of the last few minutes when he awoke.

“Fainted,” she deadpanned. “Probably in shock. Poor guy.” She turned to Gabriela, who stared openmouthed at her unconscious co-worker. “You want to show us a quick way out of here?”

“The guards—” Theo explained quickly. “I’m a person of interest with the police, remember? This doesn’t help.”

“You’re going to run from the cops?” Gabriela asked, jaw falling farther agape. “What happened to my sweet Theodorable?”

“Come on, Gabi.”

“I’d help if I could, but all the exits have security guards.”

“Air shaft?” Theo suggested to Selene, looking surprisingly sanguine.

“And spend all night trapped in the museum’s ductwork while our killer strikes again?” Selene turned back to the Tusk Vault. “I’ve got a better idea.”

As he followed her inside, she told him to shut the door behind them. From her pack, she withdrew a steel-tipped arrow, a length of rope, and her disassembled bow. She knew she was taking a risk showing it to Theo, but she couldn’t afford to be caught by the cops. Not now, when she finally knew something about the killer.

Surprisingly, Theo had yet to comment on her stash of weaponry.

“Are you going to shoot the guards?” he finally asked as she finished screwing her bow together.

“Of course not,” she snapped, tying the rope to the arrow. “I don’t kill innocent people.”

“Just checking.” Another thoughtful pause. “Are you going to shoot
me?
”

“Only if you don’t shut up and help me,” she said, tossing him one end of the rope. “Tie that to something high. And sturdy.” She squatted on the edge of the open window and nocked the arrow. Over her shoulder, she watched Theo tie the rope to the top of a steam pipe. “You know you just made an overhand knot, don’t you?”

“A what?”

“You’re going to hold our weight with the same knot you use to tie your shoes.”

“We’re not really going to—”

She cut him off by marching over and retying the rope in a perfect boom hitch. “Tell your friend to release the knot as soon as we’re safe.” Theo nodded and shouted instructions through the door to Gabriela, who retorted with a muffled, bewildered assent.

Selene returned to the window, took aim, and let fly. With a satisfying
thunk
, the arrow pierced deep into the trunk of an ash tree just beyond the museum’s fence. The rope hung taught above their heads, stretching between the vault and the tree—a perfect escape route. She withdrew a small curved handle from her pack and hooked it over the rope. “Let’s go.”

Theo paused for a moment. She saw his chest heave in a deep breath. Then he smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She sat on the sill, her legs dangling out the window. “Grab on to me.” She couldn’t quite believe her own suggestion, but she wasn’t sure what other option she had.

“Are you sure you can hold my weight?”

She glanced disdainfully at his lanky frame. “I’m sure I’ll manage.”

He started toward her, then hesitated.

“Won’t someone see us? I thought we were trying not to attract attention.”

She rolled her eyes. “First of all, we’re mostly screened by trees. Second, you’d be amazed how few people ever look up above the fourth floor or so of a building. And if they do, we’ll be moving so fast they won’t believe what they’ve seen. If I keep sitting here on the windowsill, on the other hand, someone’s bound to notice.”

He clambered into the window and sat behind her, his legs straddling her and his arms wrapped lightly around her hips. “Like this?” he asked.

Selene grabbed his clenched hands and slid them higher, just below her breasts. His heart pounded against her spine. “Tighter,” she said, wondering why, this time, his touch didn’t disturb her the way it had in Helen’s office. He obeyed, the muscles of his forearms taut across her ribs. Without preamble, she jumped.

As they flew down the impromptu zip line, Theo nearly squeezed the air from her chest. She felt his mouth open against her neck in a silent shout. In less than a second, they’d slammed into the tree. Well,
Theo
slammed into the tree. Selene braced her landing with her legs, but they twisted on impact and Theo’s right hip smacked into the trunk.

She swung a leg over a thick branch and hoisted herself securely into the crook of the limb, hauling the groaning professor up beside her. She looked back toward the museum’s attic window, where Gabriela stood watching with both hands covering her mouth as if to repress a scream. Selene tugged at the rope, and the other woman gave her a weak wave before disappearing into the vault. A moment later, the rope tumbled out the window. Selene reeled it in, then reached up to yank the arrow from the trunk. Throughout, Theo watched, speechless, his knuckles white on the tree limb.

“Nothing to say?” she couldn’t help asking.

“I’ve got a million questions, but they all sound so crazy I’m afraid to ask.” Of course, as they climbed down the tree, he asked anyway. “Are you special ops? A Navy SEAL? Or just a superhero?”

“None of the above.” She arrived at the lowest branch, ten feet above the ground, and vaulted off without hesitation.

“Too bad. I was hoping you were Catwoman or something. Between you and our acrobatic tusk robber, it’s like I’ve entered my own private comic book.” From his perch on the low branch, his feet dangled above the sidewalk. He grabbed hold of the branch and dropped heavily to the ground, only tripping twice before he came to a halt.

“Wow!” came a high-pitched squeal from nearby.

Selene spun toward the young boy who stood clutching his nanny’s hand, staring up at Selene and Theo in wonder. “How’d you do that?”

Selene froze. She’d been hoping no one saw them.

“Science experiment. For the museum,” Theo said easily. “Velocity versus acceleration and their effects on the heart rates of normally sedentary men. Cool, right? Don’t tell anyone though, because we’re still working out the kinks.” The kid nodded eagerly. His nanny gave them a suspicious frown and pulled her charge away.

The sound of a siren wiped the grin from Theo’s face. “Shit. Security must have called the cops.”

They retrieved Hippo and hurried west along the sidewalk, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the museum. But for once, Selene had more pressing worries than the police.

She was far more concerned about the immortal who had broken into the American Museum of Natural History.