Текст книги "Fair Game"
Автор книги: Patricia Briggs
Соавторы: Patricia Briggs
сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
You think theyve spent some time looking at dead bodies, Nick said. You think theyre killers.
She nodded.Him, yes. He has that
that look. You have it. A lot of the armed forces guys have it. I think he could have killed us all and not given it another thought. As for her
She frowned, trying to get a better handle on it. Have you ever worked with Lee Jennings? The guy the Behavior Analysis Unit sends to interview the nasty guys in prison?
Nick frowned.Yes.
Hes pretty unremarkable. I like him a lot, and so does everyone else whos worked with him. And the reason they send him into the prisons with the scum of the earth and the crazies is because they like him, too. They fall all over themselves to give him whatever information he asks for.
Nick raised his chin and his face went still.Right. Shes like that?
Leslie nodded.Her husband didnt say more than two or three words, but he dominated the room. The only one not intimidated was Craig and he just wasnt looking. Id bet Charles Smith is an Alpha of some pack we dont know about.
Intimidating.
She nodded again.He was playing muscle, I think. But she didnt treat him that way. Why did she think that? He came in late with coffee for all of us shed sent him out so she could explain to us how to make the matter easier for him.
To keep everyone safe?
Leslie shook her head.She said so, but I got the distinct impression she was a lot more worried about him than she was any of us. It was the standard stuff dont meet his eyes if you can help it. No aggressive moves. The only new thing was that we werent supposed to try to touch her at all. I expected a wild-eyed maniac, and the man who came in was tight, controlled, and at ease. He looked like he conducted meetings with the federal government every day of his life.
And that made you think he was running the show behind the scenes?
No. Thats not all of it. Body language said she respected him and deferred to his judgment. She was in front, but he was more than just backup.
So do we invite them in?
She pointed out that our killer took out werewolves. Taking out werewolves, I gather and surmise, is akin to taking out a SEAL team. This UNSUB has been hunting fae and coming out as far as we know unscathed. Do we have a choice?
The FBI has some fae on payroll. We have a choice. You met them and youre damn near the best agent I have for reading people. What do you think?
Leslie sighed loudly.I like her. I told you. And he is
competent hes got that air. The one that says, Ive seen a lot and made it out alive. They wont cost us anything, so the budget will be happy. But she held up a finger hes not going to take orders.
Nick nodded his head and did his finger-hand-talk thing for a good half minute before blowing out a breath of air.Theres a couple of people at the BAU who are familiar with the Big Game Hunter. Ill give them a call and see what the profilers say might happen to our killer if the media knows we have werewolves hunting him. You and Craig can pick up information on werewolves as you work with them. Let me think about implications for the rest of today, and if nothing strikes me as too stupid, Ill give you a go tomorrow.
5
After a hard day of being a tourist, Anna slept deeply in the bed on the other side of the bathroom wall. Charles put his forehead against his side of that wall for a long moment before he worked up his
Courage was not the right word. Fortitude.
After a deep breath, Charles stepped in front of the bathroom mirror. It was one of those full-length things that women used to use to make sure their ankles werent showing below their skirts and now used to make sure, he assumed, that their underwear showed only when they wanted it to.
And he was trying to distract himself by looking at the mirror rather than looking at the image it held.
Charles couldnt see them if he turned his head to look behind himself, but in the mirror the spirits who haunted him were as clear, as three-dimensional, as they were when they were still alive. They had stayed away all day while he and Anna did the tourist thing, this evening when Anna took him on the silly haunted tour that had been a surprising amount of fun, and tonight when he had held her as she fell asleep.
As soon as she slept, they returned.
We see her, they said.Does she see you? Does she know what you are? Murderer, killer, death bringer. We will show her and shell run from you. But she cant run far enough to be safe.
Hollow-eyed and cadaverously thin, they stared at him, meeting his eyes in a way that no one except Anna, his father, or his brother had dared to do in a very long time. The oldest ones morphed into something they had not been in life their eyes black, their faces distorted until they hardly looked human. The three newest ones looked as they had the moment before hed ended their lives. They stood so close to him that it was strange that he could not feel the heat of them or the chill at his back. Even so, it wasnt only his eyes that told him they were there.
Charles could smell them. Not the odor of rotting meat precisely, but something close, the sweet, sickly smell that some flowers produce to attract flies and other carrion-feeding bugs. The smell penetrated his skin. Like the ghosts in the mirror, the scent was a reflection, not the real thing.
And he heard them.
Why? they asked.Why did you kill us? He knew they werent interested in the answers, not really.
The first time hed seen them, when hed first started this job for his father, hed tried answering them, though hed known better. Hed been certain that if he hit upon just the right thing to say, they would go away. But explaining things to the dead never works. They dont hear the way the living doand words have little effect. The questions were for him, but not for him to answer and talking to them just gave them more strength.
Guilt attracted them.His guilt it kept them from moving on to where they belonged. There should have been something else that could have been done for them. That there had not been didnt make him feel any differently about it.
They had been protecting a child and lost control of their anger. Charles knew, as any werewolf did, all about losing control. There had been a pedophile stalking children in the packs territory, and theyd been sent out to hunt him down. That was exactly what they had done. Then they botched the job beyond repair. In another time, theyd have been punished, but not killed.
And now they haunted him. That Charles could not release them was a second burden to bear, a second debt he owed to them.
His grandfather his mothers father had taught him it was so, and his very long life had given him no reason to doubt it.
Dave Mason, the dead man nearest Charles, the last of the Minnesota wolves Charles had killed, opened his mouth and darted forward. Dave had been a good man. Not the brightest or the kindest, but a good man, a man of his word. Hed understood that Charles was only doing what was necessary. Dave wouldnt have wanted his ghost to torment anyone.
In the mirror Daves cold, eager eyes met Charless as his lamprey mouth attached to Charless neck, cold and sharp, feeding on guilt. He disappeared from sight after a few minutes, but not from Charless senses as, one by one, the ghosts behind him did the same, until Charles stood apparently alone in frontof the mirror and felt his ghosts gain strength from him while they weakened him. They didnt touch him physically, not yet. But he knew that he wasnt thinking as clearly, wasnt able to trust his judgment anymore.
On the other side of the wall, Anna moved restlessly. Not awake, but aware.
He should close down his bond with her, again. He didnt think any of his ghosts could cross it and touch her, but he wasnt certain. He couldnt bear it if he caused her harm.
Equally, Charles couldnt bear to be separated from her again.
Annas cell phone rang and she grumbled as she fumbled around the unfamiliar nightstand for it.
Hello, this is Anna, she said, her voice husky with sleep.
He was too distracted to pay attention to the words of the person on the other end of the conversation. He listened to Anna, let her voice remind him that he hadnt driven her away, hadnt hurt her irreparably. Not yet.
Right now? A pause. Sure. Were glad to be of assistance. Can you give me the address? No. Not necessary. Theres Wi-Fi here so I have the Internet. Just wait for me to find a sheet of paper. She pulled something else off the table next to the bed her purse, he thought from the sound of it. Charles looked away from the mirror.
Okay. Have pen and paper. Shoot.
He couldnt go out and perform for the feds. Not like this. He would hurt someone, someone who didnt deserve it.
Use me, said Brother Wolf.If I stay with Anna, it will be safe for everyone. I will not harm any of the people. I will keep her safe.
Which them? Charles asked.
FBI, killers, the dead. All of them and any of them. She will be safe and so will the others. I will not hurt them unless I have to. Can you say the same?
Charles almost smiled at the thought that Brother Wolf would be less dangerous than he, but at the moment it seemed to be true enough. Without another look in the mirror, he let the change take him: he would trust the wolf to keep her safe.
How long will it take you to get here? Leslie Fishers voice was cool and professional in Annas ear, but her question had just a hint of urgency.
A young woman was missing from her condo, though she hadnt been gone long. Luckily, the policeman whod gone to check it out had been briefed on their serial killer and thought it was a close enough match to the way other people had been taken to call in the FBI.
There was something wrong with Charles. It had been nagging at Anna since she woke, but shed already answered the phone. It didnt feel urgent, just not good so she decided to take care of the truly urgent matter first to get it out of the way. If it was their serial killer, they had a chance of getting to the girl before anything happened.
How far is the apartment from the hotel we were at it was two in the morning yesterday morning? Charles hadnt been in bed beside her, though she knew he was in the condo. She could feel him.
Ten-or fifteen-minute walk. Something like that. The victims apartment isnt too far from the Commons. Then Fisher clearly remembered that Anna and Charles werent from Boston. The Boston Common. The big park a couple of blocks from the hotel.
After a day of sightseeing, Anna could have told Fisher how big the Common was and approximately how many people were buried in it and all about the ducks that inspired a famous childrens book.
Their condo was less than a five-minute run from the hotel, and she and Charles could always take a taxi if the place they needed to get to was too far.
Less than fifteen minutes, then, Anna told her.
Good, said Fisher. Wed appreciate anything you can do. Assuming this is our UNSUB, based on previous cases, shes still alive and will be for a few more days.
Well do our best.
Anna hung up the phone and began dragging on her clothes.Charles? Did you hear? Theres a girl missing. Is Lizzie Beauclaire one of our werewolves? I dont remember her name from the Olde Towne Pack roster.
Not that I know of. It wasnt Charles who answered.
Anna paused, one foot off the ground as shed been shoving it into a pant leg. Brother Wolf padded out of the bathroom, all three hundred pounds of fox-red fur, fangs, and claws. There were bigger werewolves, but not many. Her own wolf was closer to the two-hundred-pound mark so was Brans, for that matter.
Well, she said slowly. The wrongness in their bond was fading, leaving behind the cool, thoughtful presence that was Brother Wolf. I suppose itll help save time if one of us is already wolf when we get there.
Charles is worried that he will do something bad, Brother Wolf told her.We decided that it would be best if I take point tonight. Brother Wolf had gotten better about speaking to her in words rather than images. She got the distinct impression that he looked upon it as baby talk, but it amused him anyway.
She resumed dressing while she considered his words. Of all the wolves shed known over the past few years, none but Charles could let the wolf rule without disaster. The wolf part of a werewolf was
a ravaging beast, born to hunt and kill, protect the pack at all costs, and not much else. Brother Wolf was different from other werewolves wolf spirits because Charles, born a werewolf, was different from other werewolves.
Different because of you, too, Brother Wolf told her.
I suppose if you both of you think its wise. You know better than I do. Let me know if theres some way I can help. But it does mean we arent getting a taxi.
It no longer felt odd to talk to Charles and his wolf as if they were two separate people who shared the same skin, both of them beloved. She and her wolf nature were much more entwined, though she had the impression that they were still not as integrated as most werewolves were.
Brother Wolf butted up against her, knocking her over, and licked her face thoroughly.Yes. No taxis for werewolves. Charles doesnt like driving in cars. The werewolf stepped away and tilted his head, gold eyes gleaming with humor whatever had Charles upset, it must not be too bad because his wolf wasnt worried.
I will take care of him. Brother Wolfs humor fled.As your sister wolf took care of you when you needed her to defeat the Chicago wolves.
All right, then. Anna didnt know what to think of that because her wolf had helped her endure rape and torture. But in the optimism of the change in Charles yesterday, she decided to believe that Brother Wolfs intervention was a positive thing. Anna dried her face on her shirt tail and got up to finish dressing.
Shoes on, face washed, she looked up the address on her laptop.Were in luck, she told him. Only two miles from here.
There were people out and about at two in the morning, but no one seemed to think it odd that she was running down the street with a three-hundred-pound werewolf. Might have been a touch of pack magic making people see a large dog or not see them at all. Pack magic, shed discovered, could be capricious, coming and going without any of the wolves calling for it specifically. Bran could direct it, as could Charles but she had the feeling that pack magic mostly did what it chose to do.
The lack of interest they were spawning might also simply have been city survival skills on the part of their observers. Anna had grown up in Chicago. In a city, you dont look at anyone whose attention you dont want to draw. Who wants to have a big scary wolf decide you might be interesting?
Brother Wolf was on a leash, because Bran thought that the leash and collar made a lot of difference to the humans they ran into and not much difference to the werewolf. The collar was store-bought from a big-box pet store and came with the cute plastic clasp designed to make sure someones dog didnt get caught and choke to death. It meant that the collar wouldnt even slow a werewolf down before the plastic broke.
The name on the collar he wore was Brother Wolf. Bran had disapproved. He liked the names to be less truthful, more friendly and cute. Unusually, Charless brother had told her, Charles had held out until his father gave in.
The address Leslie Fisher had provided led them to one of the skyscrapers, a tall but narrow edifice squeezed in between two even taller buildings. Anna would have picked it out even without the giant black numbers tastefully etched into the glass over the main door because it was the one with police cars parked in front of it.
No one looked at them when they entered the building, though there was a small group of officers huddled up in the foyer. A young man in a security uniform manned the desk; he looked upset.
On impulse, Anna walked over to him.Excuse me. Were you on duty when the young woman went missing? She waited for him to ask her for her credentials, but either he was too shocky or hed just gotten used to answering any and all questions put to him.
Lizzie, he said, his eyes drifting over her face, down to Brother Wolf and back up, as if not looking at the giant wolf in front of his desk might make the scary thing go away. Her name is Lizzie. She came in about eight and I never saw her leave. Neither did the security tapes. He swallowed. Glanced down at Brother Wolf again.
Who used the elevator after she came in?
Tim Hodge on the fifth floor. Sally Roe and her partner, Jenny, on the eighth. That is the biggest dog Ive ever seen. He sounded a little apprehensive.
And Lizzie is on the twelfth.
Thats right.
How many people use the stairs?
Businesses on the first three floors, he answered, frowning at Brother Wolf. She could hear his heartbeat pick up as something instinctual kicked in to tell him that there was a big predator on the end of her leash. Though he continued talking, he took a step back. A couple of the people on the fourth and fifth floor take the stairway down sometimes, but mostly everyone who lives here takes the elevator.
Brother Wolf took a step forward.
And where is the stairway? Anna asked, then hissed, Stop that, to her mate. If it had been Charles, she would have been certain he was only teasing the wolf was a different matter.
Brother Wolf turned his head toward her, his eyes half-veiled, and let his ears slack a little in a wolf smile. All of which didnt mean that he hadnt been interested in hunting the young man down just that healso had enjoyed teasing her.
Over there. The security guard pointed just beyond the police officers. Ill have to buzz you in. For that, Ill need some ID.
Do you have to buzz people out?
He shook his head.Against the fire code, I think.
The stairs would have been a better way to exit. The door was out of the way and didnt chime, as the elevators doors did, to announce when someone was leaving. Shed take Brother Wolf up that way if she could talk her way around the ID thing. She hadnt brought any with her, and wouldnt have used it if she had. She wouldnt lie with a false ID, and she had no intention of giving them any more personal information than she could help, not unless Bran told her differently.
Do you have a card from Agent Fisher or Agent Goldstein of the FBI? Anna asked.
He looked at the small collection of cards on the desk in front of him.Agent Fisher. Yes.
Why dont you buzz us in and call her. She called me in and I left in a hurry and forgot my purse and ID. Shes expecting me.
He frowned at her.
Really, Anna said dryly. Woman with werewolf. Its hard to mistake us for anyone else.
The security guards eyes widened and he took another good look at Brother Wolf who slowly wagged his tail and kept his mouth closed. Apparently hed decided not to torment the young man.
I thought theyd be bigger, the security guard said, unexpectedly. And
you know. Grayer.
Less civilized, more slathering? asked Anna with a smile. Half-human, half-wolf, all monster?
Uhm. He gave a quick smile and kept a wary eye on Brother Wolf. Can I plead the fifth on that? Youll still have to wait until I call for confirmation. If I dont know you, you dont get in without ID or an invitation.
Did the police already ask you about the people who came in today? Anna asked.
The guard nodded.Everybody. Police, FBI, and possibly a dozen other agencies and people as far as I could tell. Starting with Lizzies father.
I dont need to repeat their work, then, Anna said.
He gave her a polite smile, picked up the phone, and called the number from a card resting on top of the desk.This is Chris at the security desk downstairs. I have a woman and a werewolf down here.
Send them up, said Leslie Fishers voice. She sounded a good deal less calm than she had when shed called Anna. She hung up without ceremony.
Chris the Security Guard nodded at Anna.Ill buzz you through. How come youre taking the stairs? Twelve stories is a lot.
He doesnt like elevators, Anna said. And it sounds like, if she was kidnapped, maybe her assailant would have taken her down the stairway because youd have noticed him in the elevator. She indicated the wolf with a tip of her head. Hes got a good nose. Well check it out.
Chris looked at Brother Wolf with less fear and more interest.It would be good, he said, if he could find her fast.
Anna nodded.Well try.
Brother Wolf trotted up the stairs scenting the people whod come this way. There were old scents several people had dogs and someone had theworst cologne
and six or eight fresher scents. As he and Anna moved up at an even and steady pace, the other scents fell away, leaving just a few. He could smell the woman who cleaned here she came up often but there was another that overlaid it, fresher by days.
Brother Wolf pinned his ears and stopped, because Charles told him what he was smelling was unlikely.
What? asked Anna, then, more properly,What?
She came here on her own, without touching the floor. Brother Wolf knew his tone was grumpy, but he could not change what was just because it didnt make Charles happy.Sliding against the wall about three feet from the floor. Charles says,No.
Fair enough, said Anna, her voice soothing his ruffled fur. Momentarily inexplicable evidence in an abduction that possibly involves fae or werewolves isnt surprising when you think about it. She put her hand on his head, between his ears. Arguing with your senses at this point isuseless which is something Charles taught me. There will be an explanation. Lets see what her condo tells us.
More cheerfully because she had taken his side over Charles s Brother Wolf resumed the hunt.
They came, by and by, to the twelfth floor, where Anna held the door open for him. It wasnt difficult to locate the missing girls condo, because, like the building itself, there were police and other people standing around just outside the door.
The woman from the FBI was there, her arms folded and her face set. In front of her was a delicately built man, taller than the FBI woman, but he appeared shorter because of his build. His hair was chestnut and grayed at the sides. Fae Brother Wolfs nose could smell it. Some sort of water fae, maybe; he smelled like a freshwater lake at dawn.
He looked so very helpless, this fae, though there was no sense of timidity about him. Brother Wolf couldnt get a fix on how powerful he was, either. Brother Wolf was no expert on fae, though hed met his share. But it seemed to him that the ability to hide from all of Brother Wolfs senses might mean the same thing among the fae as it did among the werewolves. Only Bran could hide what he was so well that Brother Wolf could not immediately discern his power.
We are doing what we can, the FBI woman said. We dont know if this case is related to the others only that our serial killer has been killing fae for a number of years and abducts his prey in a manner similar to this. No one sees or hears anything though the abduction site is well guarded or well populated.
My daughter is only half-fae, said the man. And until Officer Mooney, here, asked me, no one knew it. No one. There is no reason to suppose that your serial killer has my daughter before your forensic people go in to see what they can find. I was in there, and there is no sign of a struggle. We were meeting to celebrate her successful audition she won a place in a top-flight ballet troupe and she would not have stood me up. Not without calling to cancel. If there is no sign of a struggle, then she knew her kidnapper and let him get too close. She was a trained athlete and I saw to it she knew how to defend herself. I need to find her address book and you need to start down the line and send people to visit each and every person there while we wait for the kidnappers to call and demand a ransom. We are wasting time.
This one, thought Brother Wolf, was used to giving orders rather than following them. He might have been tempted to teach him better except for the smell of frantic worry and heartsick terror that the fae was covering with quiet orders.
If it is our serial killer, said the FBI woman, sounding much more patient than she smelled, then there will be nothing our forensic units can find, and it wont be anyone she knows. I have a Something caused her to look around just then. Probably the startled swearword one of the young cops said when she noticed Anna and Brother Wolf standing just outside of the stairwell.
The FBI woman
Leslie Fisher, admonished Anna, because she had a thing about proper word-names.
To demonstrate that he knew perfectly well who he was talking about, Brother Wolf sent her a complicated impression of muted dominance, human, and a scent that was a combination of skin, hygiene products, and a family smell indicating that the FBI woman had a long-term relationship with a male and several not-adult children and two cats. He was showing off a little, because it took a lot of experience to separate a persons scent into so much detail.
Anna thunked him lightly on the head with her knuckles.Behave, she told him sternly. But he felt her laughter.
Here they are, said the FBI woman,Leslie Fisher. Her eyes slid over him twice. She blinked, then focused on the leash.
Anna smiled.We use the collar and leash because it makes people feel safer, she explained. That way no one does anything stupid.
The fae looked at Brother Wolf and reached for a sword on his hip that wasnt there which seemed to discomfort him quite a bit. Brother Wolf relayed that to Anna so that she would know that the fae saw them as a possible threat.
Anna Smith and Charles Smith, Id like to introduce you to Alistair Beauclaire, a partner at the legal firm of Beauclaire, Hutten, and Solis. He was to meet his daughter, Lizzie Beauclaire, age twenty-two, here at eleven p. m. for a late celebration. But sometime between when he talked to her at six p. m. and when he came at ten minutes before eleven, she went missing.
Though her tone was mild, her body language, the way her own hand moved so she could reach a weapon, and the spike in her pulse told Brother Wolf that the FBI woman had seen what he saw. She talked more than shed had to in order to give everyone time to calm down. All of which made her altogether more of a person to him, because she was not anyones victim and she was smart, Leslie Fisher of the FBI.
Sir, said Anna, were here to help. In addition to his other victims, this killer has taken out three werewolves in Boston this summer.
The slender man let his eyes drift from Anna to Brother Wolf, and Brother Wolf resisted displaying his fangs because hed promised Charles that he would take care of Anna. Provoking a fight with a fae might be entertaining, but it wasnot protecting Anna.
Youre both werewolves, said the fae.
Anna nodded.Does she have a lot of people over?
He shook his head.She spends six to eight hours a day taking classes and rehearsing. Usually shell meet her friends at a club or restaurant if they want to go out. Most of her friends are dancers, too, which means poor. I think it embarrasses her to live this upscale. Her mother lives in Florida with her stepfather, as do Lizzies two younger half siblings.
Good. That will help a lot. So who has been in the apartment tonight?
Leslie raised her hand.Me. Pointed to the fae. He has. She looked around. Hey, Moon. Mooney, are you still around?
One of the police officers farther down the corridor stepped out from behind several others and raised his hand.Right here, he said.
If thats true, thatll really help when we go in to check whos been in there. But Charles needs to scent you all so he can discount your presence. He wont hurt you; just stand still.
Anna dropped the leash. Brother Wolf approached the policeman with his ears up and his tail wagging gently, and the man still stiffened and lost color. That was fine. Enjoyable, even. Not as much fun as if hed run away, but Brother Wolf took his pleasure where he found it. Still, a quick sniff from several feet out was enough.
When he had the policemans scent, he stopped by the fae who kept a wary eye on him, but otherwise did not object. Interestingly, Leslie Fisher didnt flinch, either; only her rising pulse gave her fear away. He liked her better all the time.
He looked at his mate.
Anyone else that we know has been in there tonight? Anna asked.
No, said Leslie. As soon as I got here I sealed the room.
If youll let us in? Anna nodded at the apartments door.
Brother Wolf waited until they were closed in the apartment together before setting to work. Cross-scenting a room was old hat, but required no less concentration than the first time hed done it he just did a better job now. It was a matter of dismissing old or stale scents, then sorting through the ones hed picked up in the hallway and seeing what was left.
The womans scent hed picked up in the hallway was the one hed found in the stairwell. Outside of her father, once he left the main living space, there were no scents of anyone who had been there in the last six months. Only the womans scent was in her bedroom.
She was a dancer, her father said, Charles told Brother Wolf.Look at the closets. One for everyday clothing and for parties. The other filled with workout clothes and a few competition dresses. Ballroom competitions. I thought her father said she danced ballet.
Brother Wolf considered it.The first set of clothing is camouflage, he offered. It was good that Charles had decided to participate instead of just observe.The clothes in this one are a disguise to help her blend in and look like everyone else. They smell like perfume she even hid her scent when she wore them. The second is who she really is. They smell like long hours working: like triumph and pain, blood and sweat.