Redeeming the Night (22 page)

Behind them, she could hear the nanny groaning. As she healed the boy, it destroyed the apparition that so horrified him.

So she concentrated harder. “You are a good boy. A good man.”

“No, he’s mine. Nooo,” the figure wailed then screamed.

Ashley stroked the boy’s hair. “I’m so proud of you, William,” she said, keeping her tone gentle but speaking loud enough that he could hear over the nanny’s screams.

Finally, the screaming stopped. Ashley spared a glance over her shoulder and saw nothing. The hall behind them was empty.

When she turned back to the boy he smiled up at her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” She smiled back.

They both stood and walked down the hallway.

Ashley faded back to herself. How long she’d actually stood by the bed she couldn’t tell, but her legs ached a little when she stepped back.

William’s eyes opened. “Oh.” He shifted and, realizing he was hooked up to equipment, his expression changed to bewilderment. “What am I doing here? Was I in an accident?”

“Um.” She wasn’t prepared to answer questions. A couple of voices could be heard outside the door.

“Are you sure you want to remove him from life support, ma’am?”

“He wouldn’t want to live this way.”

“Marie?” William croaked when he tried to call out.

“Bill?” Marie ran around the divider curtain to the bed. “He’s awake.” She touched his face. He was smiling at her.

“I thought you’d left me.” Marie’s tears ran down her face.

He placed his hand over hers. “I love you, darling.”

The doctor looked at Ashley. “When did he awaken?”

“Just now, Doctor,” Ashley replied. When the doctor picked up the chart, Ashley edged around the curtain and slipped out of the door.

• • •

Ashley had once wondered how many chances someone gets to remake their life.

They pulled up in front of Eric’s grandmother’s house. The idea of meeting the most important woman in his life scared her slightly. “Are you going to tell her anything about being a werewolf? Or about what I’ve become?” Ashley asked as they ascended the front stairs.

“Never is soon enough,” he said as he opened the screen door at the same time Nana opened the heavy door.

They hugged in greeting. Once inside, Eric said, “Nana, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Ashley.”

Instead of anger, Nana laughed and hugged her.

Pleased, Eric said, “I’m going to go open this wine.”

Nana took Ashley’s hands. “Welcome to the family, dear.” She linked elbows with Ashley and led her inside.

Nichole’s voice whispered in Ashley’s ear, “To answer your question, you have endless chances. Every instant you live is an opportunity for another choice toward happiness.”

(From
Creatures of the Moon
by Kristine Overbrook)

After six months, she’d have that murdering bastard locked down. In less than two hours things would be in place. She just had to handle one thing first.

“Alan, this isn’t a good time.” She moved the cell phone to her other ear and pulled her holster and weapon out of her desk drawer. Why did men always get clingy after three dates?

“It’s never a good time for you, Lydia.” Even over the phone she could see his disapproving scowl.

Struggling not to simply hang up, she pushed the button to switch the phone to speaker and sat it on her desk. “In case you forgot, I’m a cop; on call for stakeouts and killer catching.”

The phone stayed silent as she strapped on her vest and settled her holster. Did he hang up? “Alan?”

“I had a night planned.” His voice trembled.
Oh God, was he going to cry?
“It’s our one-month anniversary.”

She shifted her vest and stared at the phone. It should be a romantic gesture. Most women would love a guy who plans a special night. But all she could focus on was how the whine in his voice so closely matched nails on a chalkboard.

“Detective Davis?” Sergeant Eric Adams leaned into her office. “Ready?”

“Who is that?” Alan yelled. The tremor in his voice had turned hard. The scowl was back and something more. Something she wanted no part of. “Are you blowing me off for someone else on our anniversary?”

Lydia pinched the bridge of her nose and retrieved her cell from her desk, switching off the speaker as she did. She was about to lead a team of officers on a sting to catch a serial killer. The culmination of months of work. She didn’t want to waste energy on this.

Adams cringed, but didn’t appear at all contrite. She flipped him off then faced away from the door.

“Alan,” she said, using the tone she reserved for frightened children. “You’re right, this isn’t fair to you. Go. Have a great life. I wish you all the best in the world.”

“Wait — ” She closed the phone on whatever would come next. Meaningless drivel or manly tirade, it would only make her late. Sometimes simply hanging up was best.

She tossed the phone on her desk and crossed the bullpen with Adams at her heels.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I’ve been ready to catch this guy for months.”

• • •

“Is he in there?” Detective Lydia Davis asked as she approached the officers on scene.

She already had one officer down tonight. She couldn’t let the bastard get away again.

“Yeah, we have two guys watching the rear,” Sergeant Adams answered. “He hasn’t come out yet.”

The bastard was cornered now. She paused in front of a Cape Cod located in a quiet suburban neighborhood. It didn’t fit the profile. Of course, this nut didn’t fit any profile. Her men had pulled halfway into the driveway, blocking in an old brown station wagon. Maybe the killer’s car? The smell of freshly cut grass filled her nostrils as she stood behind the SUV. Ah, the suburbs.

“Good.” She didn’t take her eyes off the house. “Could he have hostages in there?” she asked, anxious at the prospect of adding more casualties to the operation.

“No one went in with him. It’s been for sale by owner for the last month and vacant.”

“We can’t wait for the rest of the team. Surprise is our best option.” She took a breath, saying a silent prayer that she made the right choice. “Adams and you three, with me. The rest of you circle around and enter through the back of the house. Everyone be careful. This man is a savage.”

She readied her weapon and moved past the station wagon to press against the yellow vinyl siding of the house. She and her team took positions in the flowerbeds lining either side of the door and waited several moments to allow the others to get into position.

After a silent count, she nodded to Adams and moved to open the door. Reaching for the knob, the loud report of a shotgun sounded from around back, echoing off surrounding houses, followed by measured shots from officers.

He was armed.
Not good
. But being under fire should distract him from the front and give her team the time they needed to enter. With adrenaline pumping, she fought to keep tight control of her emotions as she flung the door open and ran through, following closely behind Adams.

They entered into a front room left bare except for blinds and curtains over the front picture window. Motioning the other three to check the rest of the house, she and Adams moved through the room to the archway on their right.

This room was also completely empty. Not even dust gathered in the corners. In this room, however, the sweet smell of rotted meat filled her nostrils. She’d smelled worse, but it didn’t bode well. She discovered another door to her left. This one appeared able to swing both ways.

The shotgun blasts were coming from behind that door. Lydia and Adams set up to enter. She motioned to Adams that she was going to look first. Bracing in anticipation of the horrors she may witness, she pushed the door open a crack. The smell of urine and ammonia burned her nose as she peered inside for an instant.

A beaker with tubes attached over a burner sat on a table in the corner. Boxes of sinus medicine and rat poison were stacked on the floor against the wall. Bags of what could only be crystal meth lay piled on the counter next to a set of old-fashioned scales.

Scanning, she caught sight of the killer. A very large man, about six foot two, stood in profile and glanced out the window of the back door, shotgun at the ready. Two inches of spotty growth covered his chin. His matted and greasy hair hung limp around his ears. Sweat and blood stained his clothes.

Then the man froze, ceasing his ragged growling gasps. His long nose sniffed the air as he turned. Barring his teeth in a vicious sneer, he swung the shotgun around and fired, blasting a plate-sized hole in the door.

As the door swung back from the blast, Lydia dropped to a knee, kept the door wedged open a second, and fired two rounds before spinning away. Both shots took the killer in the chest.

A scream that sounded more like a howl came from the murderer as he fired twice more. One shot took out the bottom corner of the door. The other exploded through the doorjamb inches from her elbow.

Adams caught the door on its swing and held it open for Lydia to take aim. Ferocious gunfire came through the back door. Again, she peered into the kitchen to see if the killer was down.

Pushed against the kitchen table by the gunfire coming through the rear entrance, the killer growled. His abdomen appeared riddled with wounds and blood streamed onto the floor, yet he still stood with his gun up and returned fire.

“Watch the beakers!” She yelled the precaution as she aimed for the man’s head. One wrong move and they’d go up in flames.

The murderer turned at the sound of her voice. His ice-blue eyes locked with hers, and he grinned as she fired twice into his head.

The look in his eyes made her blood run cold. Even as his head rocked back, he let out a blood-curdling howl, but he just wouldn’t go down.
God, how is he still moving?
He let the shotgun fall from his hands as he stepped toward her. His stare burned with a pleasure too focused to be drug-induced.

Again she fired, putting two more rounds into his skull. He fell on the table, hitting the lab. Flames exploded over the wall, spreading quickly.
Damn.

“Get out of here!” Lydia ordered. Her officers moved out of the house, away from the flames and rolling black smoke. She glanced over her shoulder at the man she had tracked for months. Flames licked at his clothes as he lay in the wreckage. She’d wanted to bring him to justice, but that wasn’t an option now.

You will be judged by a higher power today,
she thought, as she exited amid a cloud of smoke.

The fire trucks had arrived. Lydia ran to the fire chief and reached out her hand. “You should know there was a meth lab inside and the body of our perp is in the kitchen.”

The chief nodded and turned to do his job. She turned to her men, now gathered around their cars, waiting for her orders. The massive fire raging behind her illuminated their soot–covered faces.

It had been a long night. A quick head count told her she hadn’t lost anyone else. Her men were proud, and the pleasure at taking this criminal off the streets was infectious.

She smiled. “Good work, guys.”

“You got him, Davis,” said Sergeant Adams.

“
We
got him,” she corrected.

The other officers mirrored their grins, white teeth and eyes bright in the dimness of the evening, despite their fatigue. Their zeal improved her already good mood.

“Yup, no matter how hopped up he was, no way he walked out of there with a bullet in his head and covered in flames.” She turned to look at the fire. It still raged, but the fire crews had it under control.

People crowded the nearby yards to view the spectacle. “Everyone loves to watch a fire,” she muttered. She shook her head and ordered everyone to the precinct. With the exciting stuff over, they had paperwork to start. They grumbled as they headed for their vehicles. She chuckled and moved to her SUV.

“Lieutenant, can you make a statement?”

Lydia’s shoulders slumped. Ryan Williams, a reporter for the
Daily Times
. Covering the murders, he’d dogged her every move for the last six months. She suspected he listened to his police scanner like most people listened to the normal radio.

She turned and looked up into a pair of magnificent green eyes. He stood several inches taller than her. He had long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail and a closely trimmed beard, which made him look more like a biker than a prominent reporter.

A roguish smile played across his lips. “Were you able to apprehend the Bestial Butcher?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why do you insist on giving these whackos names? All it serves to do is raise them to the status of rock stars. It gives poor, twisted kids an avenue to stardom.
Oh, I’m gonna be bigger than Jack the Ripper
.” She gave Williams an icy glare and turned away.

“Did you get him?” His voice sounded strained.

She glanced over her shoulder. “I shot him between the eyes. He collapsed and set fire to himself and the house.” She waved at the inferno. “No one could live through that. We’ll be holding a press conference later if you want more information.” She shook her head and escaped to her car.

• • •

Shaking off the effect of Detective Davis’ eyes, brown streaked with gold, Ryan caught his breath. Her straight, light brown hair pulled into a no-nonsense ponytail at the nape of her neck swung slightly as she walked away. He enjoyed watching her walk. The view was a perk of following her around. She had an athletic body that confirmed the Pilates classes he’d learned she took three times a week.

He sought the same thing she did. He wanted the Butcher as much, if not more.

When he’d read several months ago that Lydia Davis was the detective assigned to the case, he knew she could track down the killer. He had to pull several strings, almost to the snapping point, to get the assignment.

The result pleased his boss. Because of the trouble the police had tracking the Bestial Butcher, several of his stories caused the paper to sell out hours after hitting the newsstand. People wrote in to give him hints and tips about who they thought the Butcher was and where they thought he hid.