Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (21 page)

Just ove
r
a
minute later,
while they filmed the broken window
from the ground
,
gunfire
erupted from the same apartment, followed by
the
noise
of furniture
crashing
inside
.
Something, a shadow
maybe
, flashed in front of the window. Ella prayed for a clearer shot.
Across the street, a uniformed officer appeared on the roof, raised his shotgun and fired.
She could see
where most
of the pellets hit the side of the building, but some went through the open window.
The
n
the officer
fired again.
The
gray clad intruder
fell
out
the window
directly above them
. Ella
screamed
as he plummeted to
ward
the sidewalk.

She gasped as he s
uddenly
unfurled
large
wings and
lifted into the air, missing the ground
by less than a foot
. As he gained height
,
he flapped his wings
and
soar
ed
directly over
Ella’s
head
.
T
he
breeze
of his passing
muss
ed
her hair.
She wrinkled her nose at a sudden
fetid odor.
Then she saw his face and
froze
in shock
,
all thoughts of her story forgotten.
It was not the face of a man but of a creature, a real monster, straight from the pages of some medieval
book on architecture. She had seen such creatures decorating the roofs of cathedrals
and thought them grotesque. None compared to the horror of the face she had glimpsed.

The creature landed briefly on the balcony on which the dark haired woman stood; then he shot into the air and over the roof.
Ella held her breath, not believing what she was witnessing.
She could have sworn that a
brief
knowing look passed between the woman and the creature
and that a smile crossed
the woman’s
lips,
but
she
must have
been mistaken
.

Less than thirty seconds later, while
Ella
pondered the implications of what had just happened,
shots erupted from the roof and someone
on the roof screamed, the
police officer
with the shotgun.
S
he watched
in horror
as the officer
’
s body
flew
from the roof and smashed onto the
asphalt in the
middle of the street
only ten yards from her
with
the sound of a melon bursting
.
He lay there like a broken
, discarded
doll,
his
blood
slowly
pooling around hi
s body
and running into a nearby storm drain like runoff from a spring rain
.

She backed up slowly and brushed against
Capaldi
.

“Did … did you get all that?”
s
he asked
, her voice
quaking
. He
r
whole
body
quivered as adrenaline pumped through her heart,
excitement battling
disbelief and fear for dominance.

He did
n’t
answer for a moment; then,
quietly,
“Yes.”

She breathed a sigh of relief
and took a deep breath
.
“Let’s get out of here before the police
hold us as witnesses.
”

Back in the van, she sank into
the
passenger trying to slow
the pounding of
her runaway heart
.
Her palms were sweaty and her throat flushed.
“Did you see that thing? What the hell was it?”

Capaldi
looked over at her. She had never seen his face so
pale, so
drained of color. “It was the Midnight Monster.
”

“We have to get this
video
back to the studio.”

“Wipe your face,” Capaldi said.

She reached and
adjusted
the rearview mirror
where she could see herself. Blood spotted her forehead and one cheek, the dead
police officer’s
blood. She felt suddenly lightheaded
and her stomach queasy
.
S
he
frantically
rubbed her face with her hands
until her skin burned
but
t
he blood
remained;
only smudged.

“It
will
come off with soap and water,” Capaldi assured her
as he repositioned the mirror
.

Ella
fought
back
the
burning
tears that
welled in
her eyes
,
doubt
ing
the blood would ever wash away.

9

“What the hell were you thinking
, Detective
?”
Captain Bledsoe minced no words with me.
The veins on the side of his neck were sticking out
like ropes
. “You told me you had a plan I went along with it. Was this your plan?” He slapped a newspaper on the desk in front of me. The headline read, “
Déjà vu
” and showed the
dead
officer’s body in the middle of the street. “Luckily, they haven’t been able to interview the girl who almost died.”

I started to remind him that I had saved her life, but dropped it.
It wouldn’t help my case. I had blown it big time
and
I
knew it
. I
had been
overconfident.
I thought the heavy artillery was all I needed.
The damned creature was smart, a lot smarter than I gave it credit.

“We had the right area
,” I reminded him.
“
I don’t know why it didn’t choose Ms. Alvarez. She made herself
highly
visible.”

He shook his head. “Do you realize I may be fired over this, after
twenty
-five years on the force? If I am, do you for one moment believe I’m going to go down alone? If I go, you’ll go so fast behind me they’ll think we’re shackled at the wrist.”

I picked up my Styrofoam coffee cup to take a sip. It had sat untouched since he had
started unloading on me
half an hour earlier.
Now i
t was cold.
I s
e
t it back down
in disgust
.
I needed my caffeine but could
n’t
stand cold coffee.

“Damn it, Hardin, you’re a good detective but this
, this…creature
is making a
n ass
out of you, out of all of us
, a
highly visible ass at that.
I think you’re too close to the case.
Detective Atwood’s death is affecting your judgment.
I’m going to reassign you.”

I
jumped
up
, startled and angry
.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You can’t
,
”
I protested.

“The hell I can’t! This came down from the top. As of now, you’re off the case. I’ll find you something to do later.
Right now, t
ake some time off and rest.
Grieve for your partner.
Don’t make me take your badge
,
”
he warned.

I
chewed my tongue as I
fumed silently
at his
needless
reminder of my part in Lew’s death
, as if I had casually let it slip my mind
. What could I say? I glowered at him but he had mastered the art of ignoring
unruly
subordinates.
He
turned his back on me, his way of letting me know that
I was dismissed
, but as I walked away,
I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck.
I resisted the impulse to slam the door
behind me.
Outside
his office
, no one would look me in the eye.
The office had a very effective
rumor mill and everyone
pr
obably knew what was going to happen before I did.
I caught a couple of sideways glances
in my direction
loaded with sympathy, but mostly because of Lew.
Everyone had liked him. Me, they only tolerated.
All the uniforms knew was that I had killed two of their own.
I would have hated to see the bookmaking odds on my remaining a detective.

I
wasn’t going to take this lying down but I
knew better than to try to buck the captain openly.
He was an old pro.
He had survived
his
position
as long as he had by covering his ass and
by
sucking up to the right people. Yet I knew I could
n’t
just drop the case. I had too much invested in it. Joria and I had come so close.
I could
n’t
back out now.
I
would
not accept defeat at the hands of some South American myth. I was a cop.

I did
n’t
bother calling
Joria
. I went directly to
her
hotel
. Our friends in the black SUV were
n’t
there.
When
I
knocked on her door
, s
he opened it promptly and ushered me inside.
She wore a loose fitting Carlos Santana t-shirt and cut off denim jeans that fit so
snugly
they made me wish I were the denim.
She was barefooted.
Her toes nails painted a bright
crimson
that reminded me too much of blood.
I quickly shook off my morbid thoughts as m
y eyes followed her
wonderful
ass across the room
and
my body followed her to the sofa.

“I was hoping you would come,” she said with a
mischievous grin as she sat down and tucked her legs up under her.
“I’ve been thinking of you.”

I
plopped
down beside her
, catching a whiff of her perfume as I did so.
The woman changed scents as often as I changed socks it seemed, maybe more often. This time i
t was
an e
xotic
fragrance
,
some
jungle flower. Its heady aroma was enticing
and doing a number on my hormones
.
“Oh, yeah?” I
replied
, momentarily distracted by the scent.

“I’m afraid my actions have gotten you in
to
trouble with your superiors.”

“I’m used to it,” I replied as nonchalantly as I could.

“No, seriously
,” she insisted
.
“
They have asked me
rather
politely to refrain from further action
involving
the
Chupacabra
or face immediate deportment
. They informed me you were no longer working on the case.”

I rubbed my chin
where i
t still itched from the scar.
“Officially, no, but I don’t intend to let this thing kill any more girls.”