Authors: C S Winchester
“
I went back to the bedroom to see if Dan was still there, and I saw my reflection in the mirror.”
“
I don't understand.”
Zoe swallowed and pulled the neck of her shirt down to reveal bloodstains on her skin.
“
I think he bit me.” Fresh tears welled in her eyes. “I think he's a...”
“
A what?” Frankie played dumb.
“
A vampire.”
Frankie tried not to show her frustration. This was another headache she didn't need.
“
That blood could have come from anywhere, it could even be his blood,” she reasoned. “You said he wasn't well, maybe he had a bleeding ulcer or something.”
“
But there are holes!” Zoe cried, “Look!”
Thankfully the puncture wounds left by his Dante's teeth had completely healed over now.
“
Zoe, there are no holes. Come and look.” Frankie led a reluctant Zoe back to the mirror. “See.”
Zoe traced her fingers over the now dried blood smear.
“
But there were,” she said softly. “I saw them.”
“
Or you'd just been through a traumatic event, knocked down, maybe hit your head and when you woke up, your concussed mind tried to fill in the blanks.”
Zoe frowned, clearly doubting her own observations.
“
I guess.”
“
You came back here with Dan so you must have liked him and you two were having a good time. Does that sound like an evil vampire?”
“
No,” she sighed, letting go of her theory. “He was really sweet, actually. But where did he go?”
Will, who had been watching up until now, stepped forward.
“
I'm sorry if you were scared Ma'am. I'm D.C.I. Campbell.” He showed her his I.D. “One of my officers entered this apartment this evening to arrest your boyfriend.”
“
He's not my boyfriend.”
“
Excuse me, your friend. Security let my officer in. He said he ran into you and knocked you over by accident, but he checked on you and you seemed fine. He found the suspect seriously ill in the bedroom and had no choice but to rush him to hospital. He called me to come and check on you.”
“
What's he being arrested for?”
“
Possible fraud.”
Zoe nodded as if this made perfect sense.
“
Wow, what a crazy evening,” Zoe said.
“
Would you like us to give you a life home?” Will offered.
“
God, no. If my parents find out I was brought home by the police, I'll never live it down.”
“
You've had a bit of a shock, so why don't you go on home and try and get a good night's sleep,” Frankie suggested.
Zoe nodded. She collected her clutch bag and shoes and headed out. Once the door was closed Frankie turned to Will.
“
That was some quick thinking,” she said. “I'm impressed.”
“
I'm not. I just lied to that girl. And if she tries to make a complaint about getting knocked over, this is all going to unravel.”
“
She won't,” Frankie said with confidence. “She trusts the police and she won't want to be implicated in Dante's alleged fraudulent activities. She'll sleep it off and move on with her life.”
“
I hope you're right.” Will said. “What's our next move.”
“
There is no move,” Frankie answered. “This isn't your case and whatever the hell is going on here, I don't want you involved.”
“
Fine by me but you're my ride, remember?”
“
Oh, right. Do you want me to take you home?”
“
No, I was just wondering what you'll do next.”
“
Verify her story,” Frankie said, heading into the bedroom.
She hadn't had time to don her gloves before coming here, so she sat on the bed and put her hands on the sheets either side of her.
A lot of images assaulted her, various partners and positions. Just seeing him kiss another man had made her blush, but this was positively x-rated. Still, she tried to focus and sort the most recent psychic images from the others.
Finally she filtered out the impressions that Zoe had left and began to sort through them. Her story had been pretty accurate. Frankie saw Dante pull away from Zoe in pain. She saw him grab his phone to call Frankie. She saw Zoe scrambling off the bed to check on him. Next she saw Zoe sitting back down on the bed and start pulling her clothes on.
Frankie opened her eyes and stood up.
“
Ugh, I hate doing that.”
“
What did you see?” Will asked.
“
Nothing new.” She knelt down near where Dante had fallen. If his kidnapper was either a vampire or hadn't touched any surfaces, there wouldn't be any images for her to see, but she had to check.
She moved her hands across the floor, searching for impressions that were left last night. Finally she found one. Whoever had come into the apartment had dragged Dante out, touching the floor briefly as they grabbed Dante under his shoulders.
She opened her eyes suddenly, looking shaken.
“
What did you see?” Will knelt down beside her.
“
It's him, the guy from this morning. Or yesterday morning. The one who's been killing pets.”
“
He took Dante?” Will asked.
“
Definitely him.” Frankie nodded. “His thoughts are in a foreign language, like this morning and he left some of the same memories.”
“
Are you okay?” Will asked, noticing Frankie was looking very pale.
“
I'll be fine,” she said, pushing herself back to to her feet.
Next she did a sweep of the apartment, touching almost every object that Dante owned, looking for any indication of where Dante had been taken or why the pet-killer wanted him. When her hands began to tremble, Will insisted that she take a break and began looking through the cupboards for something sugary.
For someone who didn't eat, he noticed that Dante seemed to have a lot of food in his kitchen.
“
It's a cover,” Frankie explained when he asked. “Empty cupboards would draw suspicion.”
Will handed her a glass of orange juice which she drank gratefully, then when her shaking eased off, she continued her search.
Will still thought that she looked a little pale and clammy, so he kept his eyes on her, just in case she pushed herself too far. When she had finally examined almost every surface in the apartment for psychic impressions, he sat her down once again and got another glass of fruit juice for her.
He gave her a while to get her equilibrium back then asked what she'd been able to put together.
“
Not much, he didn't touch many places.”
“
Anything might help, so just tell me everything you can remember.”
“
Okay. He poisoned Dante by spiking Zoe's drink.”
“
You can poison vampires?” he asked.
“
I remember now that Dante once gave me a potion. If a vampire drinks it they'll die but if a human drinks it, it will incapacitate any vampire that feeds off their blood.”
“
So how did he know Dante would hook up with Zoe?”
“
I didn't see that, but I would guess he's been following Dante and saw them together tonight. I think he's been looking for Dante for a few months.”
“
Why?”
“
Something about his blood,” she shook her head as though trying to clear it. “But I couldn't see any specifics. And I really don't understand this part, but he has memories of Dante that look at least 80 years old.”
“
Are you saying our killer is an octogenarian?”
“
No, Zoe glimpsed him before he knocked her down, he's middle-aged. Or at least he looks middle-aged.”
“
But he's not a vampire?”
“
No.”
“
Could be be using vampire blood to prolong his life?”
“
That would make sense.” Frankie frowned; that idea really should have occurred to her.
“
Do you know where Dante is?”
“
I could see a room with a bed and silver shackles, but I couldn't see where it was.”
“
You're wrung out,” Will said. “Come on, let's get you home, you'll feel better after some more sleep.”
Frankie nodded, knowing that she had done all she could here. Because she still looked pale, Will insisted on driving and once back at the apartment he settled Frankie into bed.
“
I need to show my face at work,” he told her. “I'm up so I'll go in early and get it over with.”
Frankie nodded.
“
I'll bring breakfast back with me.”
“
Thank you.”
Frankie had never used her gift for so long at any one time before tonight so even though she was worried about Dante, she was completely exhausted and the slumber that she fell into almost instantly was more like unconsciousness than sleep.
When she awoke a few hours later, Will was still out. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth with her finger, since she'd forgotten to pack her toothbrush. She wanted a shower but without her own shower mat, there was nothing to protect her from the psychic impressions Will had left in there over the years. Then she'd have to dry herself using his towels and after the exertions of last night, just the thought of it made her shudder.
She was also craving carbohydrates, so she put her gloves on and headed down to the kitchen to raid his cupboards.
She was just taking the first sip of her coffee when Will returned.
“
I didn't expect you to be up,” he said, brandishing a McDonald's bag. “I brought breakfast. I remembered what you said about needing food after you use your gift, so I got everything on the breakfast menu,” he grinned, taking his egg muffin out of the bag and handing the rest to her.
“
Oh, you are my hero,” she smiled sweetly as she snatched the bag and began rummaging through it.
“
What's happening at work?” she asked. “Any leads?”
“
Not yet,” Will shook his head. “I left two officers going through the tip line calls. They'll call if then get anything promising. What about you, any thoughts on how to proceed?”
Frankie took a deep breath as she mentally prepared her next statement.
“
It's not that I don't want your help, Will, but you can't be involved in this.”
“
But you're looking for the same man that I am,” he reminded her.
“
I know but this isn't just supernatural any more. The fact that a vampire is involved adds a whole new level of danger to things and I don't want you dragged into this mess.”
Will put down his muffin and leaned across the breakfast bar until his face was just inches from hers. When he spoke his voice was soft yet firm.
“
Whether you like it or not, Frankie, this is my case and with or without your help, I am going to do everything in my power to solve it.”
“
Why do you have to be such a stubborn bastard?” she glared at him.
“
I could ask you the same thing,” he said, sounding slightly amused. “Your choice is simple; let me help you and you can try and keep me safe, or I do this on my own and who knows what dangers I might inadvertently stumble into?”
After a long pause, Frankie finally replied. “Fine.”
Will sat back down, smiling now that he had got his way.
“
On one condition,” Frankie added.
“
Hm?”
“
You do everything I say, without question or hesitation. If I tell you to leave me, you go. If I tell you to stay behind, you do. If I tell you to jump-”
“
I'll ask how high,” he cut her off. “Deal.”
Frankie looked him over for a few moments, until she was satisfied that he meant it. Finally she nodded her agreement and began to look through the bag of food again, as her stomach reminded her how hungry she was.
“
We need to go back to Dante's and get his phone,” she said. “Whoever this guy is, he's from Dante's past and I'm hoping Dante still has some of his American contacts on his SIM card and that they might know something about his history.”
“
Good idea.”
Chapter Ten
They returned to Dante's apartment as soon as they had finished eating, but this time Will stayed in the car as Frankie went up to the flat, so that they didn't waste time parking.