Mistake. More catcalls filled the air. One guy kept shouting, “He just disappeared, man. He just disappeared.”
Fabulous. She debated going back to the office. Did she really want to admit she’d blown the pop? It would remain just as blown the next morning. That would give her time to tend the headache beginning to bloom in her temples, and maybe even get some sleep. Maybe.
Damn it.
She’d tried hard not to spook him. Quickly, she ran over what she’d said. Nothing threatening, to the average innocent person. Yeah, that was the key, wasn’t it?
He hadn’t bolted until she’d become excited about snagging him. Had he really read her lifesigns? The thought made her shudder. Did he get off, listening to his victims’ heartbeats as they spiked, terrified of what he did to them? What a sicko.
Waiting for morning would give him a whole shift circle to disappear. If they had any chance of catching him, they’d better toss out the net tonight.
Sprechan’s bloody birthday. So not where she’d intended to be by this time today.
She got back in her car and drove to the Cendiary. Granted, she could have tapped into the local police net, but her ego directed her to her own people first. Best of all, it was night shift. No one would be there to view her ignominious failure. Her key card let her in the gate of the mostly-empty garage then the security guard passed her through to the elevator. All the way to the fifth floor, she mentally reviewed what she’d say in her report. At least she wouldn’t have to explain it to her team this time of night. A little of her humiliation could be saved until morning.
But the elevator door opened onto a scene blazing with bright lights and six men at work. Unsure, she approached slowly. “What’s going on?”
Sloan Vincent looked up from the documents laid on the table in front of him. “Jaco got a bug up his ass that we’d missed something in the statistical layout, so we’re on until we get it reviewed.” He scoffed, eyeing his empty cup. “Guess you missed the cut because you did the slice and dice.”
“Eh.” She plopped into the chair at her borrowed desk. The electronics they brought themselves, because no one short of the Governor’s office owned better equipment than they did. She waited for her computer to power up.
Come on, brain. Function.
When the computer accepted her password, her input screen opened and she began typing. With any luck, she’d spill enough words on the page she could edit them into something comprehensible.
BOLO: Possible suspect in Case ALBA-25 made contact with agent Sanderson after dayturn two at…
Crap. Did she really have to admit she’d run straight to the bar? As a grown-up, it was perfectly legal for her to drink off-duty. She’d deserved it.
She sighed.
…at Hawthorn’s, Updike Way. The suspect approached this agent and indicated he had information about the case. Upon questioning, the suspect shared detailed information revealing awareness of methodology and scientific particulars in the physical transformations we’d observed but hadn’t shared with the media or public.
Griff’s warning about preventing further damage to females—not women—could be sociopathic distancing, a dehumanization of his victims. Perhaps that made it easier to conduct his gruesome experiments.
An icicle slid down her spine. She shivered. The fact this bastard understood how long it took to convert a woman to a full reptile sickened her.
None have succeeded. Not yet.
And what in all the lower hells did that mean? Besides, he apparently intended to keep trying. Perhaps eight vics was only the beginning, and they simply hadn’t found the others yet.
Suspect gave his name only as “Griff.” No surname or other identifying data. Suspect claims to be homeless, and that his family has “cast him out.”
Suspect approximately two meters tall, muscular build, thick shoulders. Long forearms. Black hair, light skinned, no remarkable tattoos or other skin markings. Age indeterminate; estimated at thirty. Eye color of note, a striking yellow similar to that of some of the altered victims.
“Sanderson, front and center!” Jaco’s booming voice echoed inside her tender head.
She hit enter to save her work before she stood. “What do you want?”
Chest puffed out, he marched across the room. “Do I understand that you received new information in our case from some unknown guy at a bar, and you didn’t bring him in for interrogation?”
“I-I, um…”
He came close to scan the screen behind her. “So it’s true. You have a suspect. Or had. What happened? How’d he get away from you? Kramist said the guy practically had you in his lap.”
The rough edge in his voice might have emerged due to his aggravation over losing a suspect. It sounded more like a streak of sharp jealousy.
“Kramist couldn’t find his head if it disappeared up his own ass. But yes. He had an inordinate amount of information about what’s happening to our vics. I’m going to test his theories at the morgue in the morning. I came back to enter a BOLO. Just in case someone comes across him. He knew too much not to be involved.”
“And where is he?”
“He jumped out of my car before I could finish interrogating him.”
His face went to red. “In your car?”
“Right, sir. Because Kramist and the rest had eyes and ears on everything. As you apparently heard. I wanted a private place to talk. He refused to come here, so I took the chance to question him in private.” She stood straighter, glad her boots had heels. “Our discussion provided valuable insights, sir. We’ll get him again. I’m sure of it.”
Inside her head, his words echoed, I’ll find you. If he’d tracked her down once, he’d locate her again. These serial murderers liked to pad their egos. He’d relish an opportunity to brag.
Jaco looked like he wanted to burst, then scowled at the screen. “Well, get it out! He’s probably halfway to Haidar already.”
“Yes, sir.” She didn’t mind his tone so much. He always used it with everyone. The one that said, don’t ignore the short man in front of you, because he’s a real lion in his own mind. She sat down again and reviewed what she’d written, added her name, contact information, the Cendiary’s address and sent it out.
Jaco stared at her, then growled at the world in general and tossed a stapled batch of papers at the staring men with their jaws hanging open. “Get to work! I want out of this subdivision by the end of the week.” He stomped back to his cubby.
Pax Loring watched Kylie with wide eyes. “Really? You had the perp, with you, in your car? Man, he could have eaten your ears off.”
“Pax, I had my gun. I just didn’t want to let him get away without telling me what he knew.”
The other men scoffed at Pax and gave her a few jabs about losing him, but she wasn’t disheartened. Plenty of time to play the hero once they caught him.
And she would catch the bastard.
Chapter 4
The next morning, she let herself sleep an hour after sunrise. She deserved it. Besides, the later she started another long session on her feet, tracking the cause of the lizard mutation, the better.
At least she had some direction.
Grateful for a few hours of good sleep, she woke refreshed. The room filled with the aroma of brewing stimcoff, its added boosters something she definitely craved this morning. Her shower