Blood of Eden (21 page)

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Authors: Tami Dane

BOOK: Blood of Eden
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He pulled, and I stumbled inside. He shut the door behind my back, closing us in. The pedestal sink was on my left. I steadied myself by gripping the lip of the basin. The toilet was on my right, the edge of the seat grinding into the side of my leg. JT was in front of me, his body brushing against mine. The scent of JT's tangy cologne mixed with the odor of the soap's fruity fragrance. It wasn't an altogether bad combination.
I backed up as much as I could, smooshing my butt against the closed door. “What are you doing?”
He leaned close, closer. I was sure he was going to kiss me. Here we were, in this cozy spot, outside of the range of the cameras and microphones. Just like he wanted. I didn't want him to kiss me. No, I did. Didn't. Did. Oh, hell, I didn't know what I wanted. I pressed hard against the door, closed my eyes, and waited....
“I got the results,” he whispered in my ear.
He wanted to talk. And here I'd thought ... I felt so stupid. I snapped my eyelids up. “Results?”
“The DNA analysis. I just got a call from my friend. The analysis took longer than he thought.”
“Yeah? And?”
“They're strange. The unsub's DNA isn't human. Or rather, it's not
just
human. There are a few extra genes.”
“A few extra?” I echoed, recalling what Gabe had said about the initial results. “How is that possible?”
“I don't know. But there are quite a few extra. Either the sample was tainted with foreign DNA or our unsub is part insect.”
I tried to imagine what a human being with insect DNA might look like. The results weren't pretty. “It must be tainted, then. Because I'm sure we'd notice somebody walking around with big compound bug eyes, antennae protruding out of his head, wings, or an extra set of arms.”
“Unless she can change from one form to the other.”
“You said, ‘she'?”
“You were right. The unsub's a female. Good call. The overall results might be a little shaky, but the gender isn't in question.”
I couldn't help grinning. Maybe I was a better FBI agent than I thought. Maybe I could solve this case. “Okay, so we know we're looking for a female. What do you think about the insect thing?”
“I think we need to do some reading tonight. So, if you had any thoughts about ... you know”—he winked—“that'll have to wait. We have work to do.” Before I realized what he was doing, his mouth was hovering over mine. Our lips touched, briefly, too briefly. A surge of electricity buzzed through my whole body. And the next thing I knew, I was staggering out of the bathroom, my fingertips pressed to my tingling lips. That was the shortest, softest kiss I'd ever had. It probably didn't even qualify as a kiss. And yet my whole body was on fire.
God help me if JT ever
really
kissed me.
JT, who seemed totally unfazed, strode toward the kitchen. He said nothing about our research as he made each of us a sandwich. He carted our food into the family room, plopped onto the couch, and turned on the TV. “I had the cable turned on. Thought it might come in handy while we're here.”
I followed him after helping myself to another diet cola from the fridge. “The bureau's sure going to a lot of expense.”
“No,
I
paid for the cable, not the bureau.” He took a bite of his sandwich and channel surfed.
I wasn't a big TV watcher, but I sat beside him. My plate rested in my lap.
“If nothing else, the noise will let anyone out there know the house is occupied. Last night, you had most of the lights off—no radio, no TV. It looked abandoned.”
“That didn't stop whoever, or whatever, that was from paying me a visit.”
“Hmm.” He stuffed his mouth full of sandwich again.
“We haven't had any new victims since Saturday. That's the longest gap we've seen. Do you think the unsub has moved on to a new hunting ground?” I picked at my sandwich.
“No. I don't think she's left the area.”
“Do you think she's stopped? How will we catch her if she's not hunting?”
“First, I don't believe she's stopped. I don't think she can. And second, it's not our job to catch her. Only to profile her and help the police identify suspects.” He pointed at my plate. It was full. His was almost empty. “Aren't you going to eat?”
I lifted my sandwich. “Sure, I'm eating. At a normal pace. Didn't your mother ever tell you it isn't good to cram your mouth full of food?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
I took a normal-sized bite to illustrate. Chewed. Swallowed. “That is the proper way to eat.”
“If I ate like that, I'd have starved to death as a kid.”
“Really? Why?”
“My older brother ate everything in sight. My mother would bring home the groceries, and Steve would have half the food gone by that night. She only shopped once a week. I learned at an early age to eat when the eating was good. Because the dry spells were easier to weather if I had a little extra meat on my bones. It's nature's way. Survival of the fittest, right?”
“Wow, JT. That sounds rough.”
“We all have our stories, don't we?” He smiled and winked. “I'm going to head up and do some reading.” He left me with the remote, the television tuned to a baseball game, and practically a whole sandwich yet to eat.
A little while later, I found him in an empty spare bedroom, sitting on the floor, his back resting against the wall, his laptop on his legs. “So far, I've found one possibility. The Philippine
mandurugo.
But I'm not done looking. It wouldn't be common to this area, or this climate. But it has insectlike qualities.”
I stepped into the room, but I didn't stray far from the entry. “What are you talking about?”
“A vampire.”
“So we're back to vampires?”
“Do you have another explanation for the DNA findings?”
“Sure. The sample was tainted. Maybe the victim had swatted a mosquito and some of its DNA was left on her neck? This is summertime. Mosquitoes are everywhere. And, when you think about it, living out here, by woods and parks, would mean the likelihood of being bitten would be pretty high.”
“Hmm. You make a good argument. Maybe my friend needs to do some more work on the sample. See if he can isolate the insect DNA and identify what species it is.”
“That would be a good idea.”
“I'll give him a call tomorrow.” He scrolled down on the screen. He was reading a Wikipedia page on vampire legend. “Listen to this, ‘The
mandurugo ...
takes the form of an attractive girl by day, and develops wings and a long, hollow, thread-like tongue by night. The tongue is used to suck up blood from a sleeping victim.'” He turned narrowed eyes toward me. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Maybe I won't sleep in the same room with you tonight.”
“Are you suggesting ... ?” I smacked him. He laughed. So I smacked him again. And again. And again. The fifth time, he caught my wrist as I was lifting it and did a tricky maneuver. I found myself flat on my back, with my hand pinned to the floor over my head. JT was on his knees, straddling my body. My other hand was free, so I made a show of fighting him off. It didn't work. In fact, my struggling seemed to make things worse. Eventually he had both my wrists caught in one fist and was resting much of his weight upon me. It was no easy feat getting a good lungful of air, and that wasn't entirely due to the pressure of his body on my rib cage.
“Uncle,” I mumbled.
He gently smoothed my hair out of my face. “If you really want to have a career in the bureau, you need to take some self-defense classes.”
“I'll be sure to sign up for one first thing tomorrow morning.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You promise?”
“Absolutely.”
He climbed off. I wasn't 100 percent happy about that. But it was, without a doubt, the best thing he could have done.
“Time for bed.” I beat a hasty retreat, waving over my shoulder as he hurried toward the door after me.
“Good night,” he called to my back.
“Good night,” I echoed, wondering what kind of dreams I would have tonight.
All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.
—William Faulkner
18
Something was in bed with me.
Something warm.
Something furry and soft.
Something with sharp claws.
I used the blanket to shield myself as I moved at a sloth's pace to the opposite side of the bed. I stretched out an arm, reaching into the shadows for the lamp on the nightstand. I bumped it. The furry thing made a noise that sent a shudder up my spine. I found the little twisty knob and the light flicked on just as the gray thing sailed at me, claws fully extended.
It was the psycho kitty.
I screeched and swatted the beast away. It flew to the floor. The door to the bedroom swung open. The cat darted past a worried-looking JT.
I pointed. “Cat.”
He looked back down the hall. “Where?”
“It's probably hiding somewhere.” I jumped up and dashed past him. “We need to get that animal out of here before it tears me up. It hates me.”
Still standing at the door, JT watched me as I peered into the empty bedroom down the hall. “I didn't see a cat.”
“It ran right past you. How could you not see it?” Where'd that evil cat go? I tiptoed down to the next open door and peered into another empty room. No cat. “Damn it. It must have gone downstairs.” I decided it would be better if I shut the cat out of my bedroom, rather than go on a wild-cat chase. I headed back to the master bedroom, shoved JT inside, and shut the door behind him.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” He glanced at the bed, then at me, then at the bed again. His eyebrows climbed to the top of his forehead.
“No.” I stomped to the bed, fluffed the sheet and blanket back in place, and climbed in. “I just didn't want that animal to sneak back in here.”
“Who's to say it hasn't already?”
Good point. I peered over the edge of the bed.
I heard a scratching sound. I gathered the blanket to my chest and curled my legs, wrapping my arms and the blanket around my knees. I pointed. “I think it's under there.”
JT didn't look scared. He sauntered over, bent. Yelled “Holy shit!” and fell on his ass.
I hopped up on my feet and danced around the bed, shouting, “Where is it? Where is it?”
JT stood up, face a brilliant red. Tears streaming from his eyes. I realized, too late, that he was laughing his ass off.
At me.
“You bastard!” I grabbed the first thing I could find and threw it at him.
He ducked and the pillow hit the wall, rebounded, and sent a framed photograph crashing to the floor. Still laughing, JT turned to survey the damage before tsk-tsking me. “Didn't your mother teach you it's bad to throw things?”
I leapt to the floor and headed for the broken frame. “It was a pillow.” I carefully picked up the frame and inspected the photograph. It was a picture of a man, smiling, maybe in his midthirties, wearing a military uniform. “Besides, this is just a stock photograph, isn't it?”
“No, it was left here by the former homeowner.”
“Why wouldn't they take a picture like this with them?”
“I'm guessing it was accidentally left behind.”
I gently pulled the shattered glass away from the photograph, trying to keep the sharp edges from slicing into the print. “How sad. Maybe we should find out where the homeowner went and give it back? After we get a new frame.”
“Maybe we should.”
I put the picture back on the dresser and dumped the shards of glass into the plastic trash can next to the nightstand. JT helped me pick up the rest of the glass.
“We'll run a damp cloth over the wood floor tomorrow to get the smaller pieces. You should get some sleep.” He nudged me toward the bed. I climbed in, waiting for him to leave and shut the door before I cut off the light. I fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.
 
 
It was back. The cat. How? I felt its claws pricking my skin through the blanket.
“Little mouse.”
That isn't a cat. Cats don't talk.
My heart started drumming against my breastbone. An instant coating of sweat slicked my skin. I tried to scream; but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out. I couldn't inhale. My lungs wouldn't inflate. I couldn't move a muscle. It was as if I'd been drugged, given a paralytic.
Could this be the unsub? The timing was interesting.
There's no such thing as a coincidence.
The voice. Was it male or female? I still couldn't tell. Maybe it was female.
“Little mouse. I won't wait any longer. You lost our game.”
What game?
I had no clue what that meant.
JT,
I screamed inside my head,
help me!
I tried to move. A finger. A toe. I couldn't. Oh, God, I couldn't. JT was close by, but he had no clue what was happening.
“Little mouse. I'm losing patience.”
The microphones.
Why weren't the agents stampeding into the room? Couldn't they hear that awful voice? It made my skin burn. My hairs stand on end. It was like nails scratching on a chalkboard, only a hundred times worse.
“Little mouse. You promised. You agreed to the rules of our game.”
I didn't promise anything to anyone, but I couldn't say that. I couldn't say anything. I felt like I was suffocating. I wanted air. So badly. Desperately. I fought for a breath. Only one.
Someone help. Please.
I felt it come closer. Felt the chill grow colder, colder until it stung, burned. My neck. It hurt. The pain. Still, I couldn't move. Not an eyelash. Nothing. More pain. Blindingly sharp. I screamed in my head. Darkness crashed down upon me, and then I was thrashing, kicking, screaming so hard my throat felt like it was tearing up inside. The door smashed open, the overhead light snapped on, and JT raced into the room.
“What?” he shouted, his eyes wild.
“It was back. It was here.” I bound from the bed.
“What? The cat?”
“No. Something else. Bigger. My neck.” I fingered the place where it still burned slightly. “I think it bit me. Or injected me with something. I think I might be the next victim.”
My stomach lurched. I gagged. I heaved. But I didn't throw up.
JT ran around the bed and turned on the lamp. He sat on the edge and pulled me to him. “Let me see.”
I tipped my head to one side and pointed to the spot, which wasn't hurting so badly now. “Here, I think.”
JT studied my neck for several moments, swept my hair aside to look at it from every angle. “I don't see any marks, but we should take you to the hospital and have you checked out, just in case.” He scooped me into his arms. “Why didn't you call me sooner?”
“I couldn't. I tried.” I dragged my arm over my face, smearing tears across my cheeks. “I couldn't move at all. Not a finger. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak.”
JT carted me down the stairs as if I weighed nothing. “Maybe you were drugged.”
“That's what we thought the unsub was doing to her victims.”
“We figured she was giving them an amnesic. Not a paralytic.” His hold on me tightened slightly. He met a crowd of armed agents at the front door.
“Ambulance is on the way,” one of them said as he barked orders into a handheld radio. JT refused to set me down while we waited for the ambulance, saying he was worried I might be dizzy from the drugs. Armed men stood around us in a circle. There were armed men guarding me. It was crazy. I felt like I was a president or something, being protected from an assassin. The instant the ambulance stopped in front of the house, JT and our circle of armed guards took me to the vehicle. He set me on the bed, and one EMT started asking me questions while the other one talked to JT. Minutes later, I had an IV in my arm and was strapped to the gurney.
JT poked his head inside the back door. “I'll be at the hospital when you get there.”
“That's okay. You don't—”
“Yes, I do.” He slammed the door, and off we went to the hospital. No lights. No sirens.
The EMT sitting next to me asked if I was feeling okay, if I was in any pain, or if there was anything he could do for me. I wasn't in pain anymore. The burning on my neck was gone. And I wasn't feeling bad at all. In fact, I was feeling fairly perky. It was as if I'd dreamed the whole thing. I could see now why the victims might not have told anyone about their attacks, if this was how they felt.
Despite feeling okay, I knew there could potentially be something very wrong with me. So I lay back and relaxed during the ride. When I finally arrived at the hospital, I was immediately wheeled into a room and greeted by not one nurse but two, plus a doctor. I was given a little privacy while I traded my clothes for one of those lovely hospital gowns. I produced a urine sample upon request, gave up some blood and saliva for analysis, and pointed to the spot on my neck where I'd been poked or bitten or whatever. I must have explained our case a dozen times to a handful of different people. Finally silence. They all left me to await the results of the tests.
JT strolled in then. He smiled, but I could tell he was hiding a very genuine concern under the expression. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Better than fine, actually.”
“Does your neck still hurt?”
I checked, poking at it with my fingers. “Nope.”
“Do you hurt anywhere else?”
“ No.”
“Good.” He plopped his butt on the edge of my bed and patted my knee. “Now it's my turn to sit by your side, like you did for me.”
“You don't have to—”
“I want to.”
Once again, an awkward silence fell between us. Our gazes tangled. My breathing sped up. I had a feeling, if I looked up at the monitor I was hooked to, I'd see my heart rate was double its normal speed.
“We're going to get to the bottom of this,” JT said.
“JT, why didn't anyone come in and help me when I was being attacked?”
“I can't answer that yet. I'm looking into it.”
“Has anyone reviewed the tapes?”
JT shook his head. “I didn't have time. I'll look at them after you're settled in.”
“Settled in? Am I being admitted?”
“I'm guessing you will be.” Looking down at the bed, he set one of his hands on mine. “It's going to take a while to get back all the test results. If there's any chance you've been infected with a contagion, they won't want you running around, exposing other people.”
“You're not scared.” With a tip of my head, I motioned to his hand, still sitting on top of mine.
“No, I'm not.” He leaned closer and smoothed my hair. I liked the way he did that. Then he reached for the little remote clipped to the bedsheet and turned on the TV. My mother, looking like she'd just rolled out of bed—which I'm sure she had—came rushing into the room. Katie was on her heels. They both were sporting white faces and bugged eyes. Did they think I was near death?
“I'm okay. I'm okay,” I said before one of them collapsed.
Mom raced to my side, grabbed my hand, and cradled it to her chest. “Sloan, when I got the call, I was absolutely terrified. I was much too upset to drive. Thank goodness, Katie was awake. She drove me.”
I smiled at Katie. “Thanks.” Katie probably hadn't been awake before my mother had called.
“No problem.” Katie was standing closer to the exit, probably hanging back because the small space was already very crowded. She looked at the monitors. “What's going on?”
“I was attacked. I'm feeling better now. I think they just want to keep an eye on me for a little while, make sure I'm all right.”
Katie nodded. “Okay.” To my mother, she said, “I need to get going. I have to get up early tomorrow.”
Mom looked at me, at JT, and then at Katie. “Umm.” She looked at JT again.
JT nodded and smiled. “Of course, I'll give you a ride home, Beverly.”
Mom grinned. Katie waved and left.
Mom turned worry-filled eyes toward me again. “Now, what exactly happened? Tell me everything.”
“I don't know if I can tell you everything. It might be related to our case and we're not allowed to discuss our cases with anyone, outside of police and medical personnel.”

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