Blood Moon: A Rowan Gant Investigation (13 page)

“Don’t have to. About an hour and a half ago
I got a call that County has one, and she’s wearin’ a swan tatt
just like the first victim. Looks like your math is pretty
solid.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the least bit
shocked by the announcement. I had told him there was another
victim out there waiting to be found. Of course, whenever I did
something like this, I always harbored a sliver of hope that I
would be wrong. Unfortunately, it seemed like I never was.

“Another Jane Doe?” I asked, reaching up to
massage my forehead and temples.

“Actually no. This one’s a college student by
the name of Emily Foster. That ain’t been officially confirmed yet,
but that’s just a formality at this point. They’re ninety-nine
percent sure on the ID. By the way, keep that under your hat for
the time bein’. We aren’t releasin’ ‘er name to the circus until
the family is notified.”

Circus was the nicest euphemism Ben had for
the media. Some of the others he used were much more derogatory,
and still others were downright profane.

“Who am I going to tell?” I replied.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, okay. Look, you’re going to have to
give me a break. My head is still trying to reconcile the fact that
it’s in here talking to you instead of making a dent in my pillow.”
I replied.

“Yeah, no shit. So are you awake enough for
that name ta’ ring a bell or no?”

“Foster… Foster… Emily Foster…” I muttered.
“Sounds familiar. Was she the student who went missing awhile
back?”

“Ding ding, give the man a cigar. She
disappeared around the end of August last year, no trace, no
nothin’. We know exactly where she is now though.”

“Damn. I really hate being right about this
sort of thing, you know,” I grumbled. “So, where was she
found?”

“Dumpster, just like the JD. Only difference
is it was in a light industrial park off Page, here in the county
instead of in the city limits. She was half ass wrapped in a clear
plastic sheet and just tossed in. An employee of the company that
rents the dumpster was takin’ out the trash around eleven
forty-five this mornin’ and just happened ta’ see ‘er arm stickin’
out from underneath some other crap.”

“Great way to screw up a lunch break I
guess.”

“Uh-huh. So anyway, it’s been all over the
news. Since she was found in a dumpster like the first vic, I kinda
figured you’d be puttin’ two and two together and gettin’ in touch.
I mean, what with that call earlier and everything…”

I started to shake my head then stopped and
grimaced as my temples throbbed harder. My only consolation, as far
as I could see, was the fact that my neck felt fine for a
change.

“For the past few hours, if it wasn’t the
inside of my eyelids, I haven’t seen it,” I said. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t really matter I don’t
guess. Right now the vultures only know what county’s tellin’ ‘em,
and that ain’t much.”

I was still struggling to wrap my aching grey
matter around everything he’d said thus far. It wasn’t that it was
particularly complicated by any means, but clarity wasn’t one of my
strong suits just yet, so mentally I was probably a good half step
behind. Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, the more I felt
like I had missed something.

“So, wait a minute…” I said, gesturing with
one hand as I scrunched up my forehead. “Let’s back up a second. If
she disappeared over six months ago, how did they manage to
identify her remains so quickly? There couldn’t have been much left
to work with for a visual ID, could there?”

“That’s just it, Row. She may have vanished
last year, but accordin’ to the estimate from the county coroner,
she’s probably only been dead between something like twenty-four
and thirty-six hours.”

“And she died the same way as your Jane
Doe?”

“Some strings got pulled, and they took ‘er
to the city morgue, so there hasn’t been time for an autopsy. But
she’s got a hole in ‘er neck. So I can’t say for sure, but yeah, it
looks real possible.”

“You know that could mean the killer is
keeping the victims alive for a while.”

“That’s one of the possiblities.”

“Gods…” I mumbled. This was a turn I hadn’t
seen coming. “I take it Major Case will be stepping in?”

“Yeah, already have. And the Feebs too, of
course.”

“So… I guess that means you’re here to
recruit me?”

“I dunno. The way you look right now I’m not
sure I want ya’.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, just returnin’ the favor.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“So now that you’re not retired anymore, you
wanna fill me in? Whether you think it’s important or not, I’d like
ta’ know what happened that you’re not sayin’.”

“Why do I feel like we’ve had this
conversation before?” I asked.

“Prob’ly because we have. Every time you
decide you’re gonna quit. Jeezus, you really are out of it, ain’t
ya’?”

“Actually, I was being facetious.”

“Yeah, well don’t,” he grunted. “It’s kinda
hard ta’ tell with you right now. So what gives? What is it you
didn’t wanna tell me?”

I looked down and noticed that my shirt was
buttoned off kilter. In my stupor I hadn’t really paid much
attention to what I was doing, so I started about the process of
straightening out the mess.

“Okay,” I said as I redid a button while
watching my fingers this go around. “Remember the problem I had
with my neck?”

“Yeah.”

“To make a long story short, when I got home
I started bleeding from the general area of the pain even though I
had no visible wound.”

“Bleedin’ from your neck? Jeezus, Row… That’s
fucked up.”

“I’ll agree with you there, but you’ve seen
how aggressive the dead can be when they want my attention. It’s
not the first time there’s been a physical manifestation.”

“Yeah, but still… Bleedin’? That can’t be
good.”

“I know. But, fortunately, it didn’t last
long, and like I said, there was no wound. All in all it really
just looked worse than it was. It had Felicity a little on edge
though.”

“Ya’think?” he spat.

I ignored the sarcasm and continued. “Either
way, the only residual effect was one of my signature headaches and
the nightmare about the swan, so I thought I’d be fine.”

“Why do I hear a
but
coming?”

“Because there is one,” I returned. “Cutting
to the chase, the same thing happened again today. Right before I
had the vision of the second swan.”

“Today? How bad? How much blood did you
lose?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. But it was messy
enough that I needed to take a shower to get cleaned up before I
hit the sack.”

“Great. So are ya’ sure you’re okay? ”

“People keep asking me that.”

“Yeah, well I wonder why?” he said, the
sarcasm creeping into his voice again. “You shoulda seen a doctor
after the first time, Row.”

I shook my head and answered, “Now you sound
like my wife.”

“Great…that just tells me that if you didn’t
listen to Firehair, you sure as hell ain’t gonna listen to me.”

“It would be a waste of time. At the moment,
other than the headache, I think I’m fine.”

“You think?”

“Yeah.”

“Seems to me that was what ya’ just said
about when it happened the first time?”

“Yeah, I guess I did.” I shrugged. “Well, if
I start bleeding again I guess we’ll know I’m wrong.”

“Fuck me… You ain’t gonna up and die on me or
somethin’ are ya’?”

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

“Yeah, well we both know all about how your
plans work out, white man.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Ben shook his head then reached up to massage
his neck. “Jeezus… Have you told Felicity about this yet?”

“You mean the incident today? No, not yet.” I
glanced at the clock and squinted. I hadn’t realized until now that
I’d forgotten to put on my glasses, which probably explained why
the world was still so blurry to me even though the fog around my
brain was lifting. I turned back to my friend and said, “Unless she
ran long she should be home any minute. I figure I’ll tell her
then.”

“Damn…” he muttered. “You know she ain’t
gonna be happy.”

“Yeah, especially when she finds you
here.”

“Hey, you’re the one who broke the playground
ban when you called me.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “But I’m still
going to blame it on you.”

“Why the hell would ya’ do that?”

“Because you woke me up, that’s why.”

“Okay, so where to from here?” I asked. “Are
you wanting me to go look at a crime scene or something? If so I
need to make myself presentable.”

“So I take it that means you actually wanna
help?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I grumbled. “I don’t
think I’m being left with much choice, am I?”

He gave his head a vigorous shake. “Hey, I’m
not pressurin’ ya’… It’s your decision.”

“Yeah, right. Do you really expect me to
believe that part of why you’re here isn’t to try talking me into
helping with these cases?”

“Well, no… Not exactly… But yeah… Jeezus H.
Christ…” he stammered.

“Okay, Ben, I’ve had enough,” I said,
throwing my hands up. “You’ve been acting strange ever since
yesterday. You ask questions like you want my help, but then you
keep dancing around the subject like you aren’t sure what to do.
One minute it seems like you’re pushing me, the next it seems like
you’re backpedaling or trying to protect me from something. Why
don’t you make this easy on both of us and tell me what the hell is
really going on?”

My friend reached up, smoothed back his hair,
and then let his hand fall to his neck. After a moment he sighed
and said, “Look, Row, I was tryin’ not ta’ say this, but I’m tired
of it too, so here it is… Whether the brass likes to acknowledge it
or not, they know damn well you’ve got a major track record when it
comes to this sorta shit.”

“Are you trying to say it’s not just you
doing the asking? It’s the higher ups?”

“Well…” He nodded. “Yeah. It is.”

“When?”

“When what?”

“When did they first ask?”

“Remember that call I got when we were havin’
breakfast yesterday. Well, it wasn’t just a prelim report from the
coroner. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one ta’ get a hinky feelin’
about that Jane Doe. I don’t know for sure who made the decision,
but my lieutenant strongly suggested that I try ta’ get ya’
involved if I could. I didn’t bother ta’ tell ‘im you were sittin’
right across from me.”

“Now it makes sense,” I replied. “No wonder
you’ve been so squirrelly.”

“I’m pretty sure Helen calls it conflicted,”
he said.

“Yeah, that sounds about like her. So, why
didn’t you just tell me you were getting pressure from the
top?”

“What would ya’ have done if I had?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but…”

“But what? That’s bullshit and you know it,
white man. I got your number, even if ya’ don’t think I do. You
woulda said yes because you feel like you owe me.”

“Well, yeah… You’re probably right. And yes,
I do owe you.”

“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell ya’.
You’ve been tellin’ me ya wanted out. Shit, you’d just finished
sayin’ it again when they called, and I wanted ta’ respect that. I
figured I’d just toss out a few feelers and see if you’d bite. I
thought if I kept it all between us and if ya’ came up with
somethin’ I could use, maybe I could keep everything from goin’
overboard.”

I shook my head slightly, even though it hurt
to do so. “Hell, Ben, even I can’t do that. It does that of its own
accord and nobody can stop it.”

“Yeah, so I’ve noticed,” he grunted then fell
silent for a moment. When he spoke up again he asked, “So how bad
did I fuck up, Row? You pissed at me now?”

“I never said you did.”

“Yeah, but I feel like I did.”

“What is it you told me? Get over it?
Besides, I think it’s pretty obvious I was going to get dragged
into this no matter what I wanted. Your victims are seeing to
that.”

“I’m sorry ‘bout that. I didn’t want this ta’
happen.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s done and we can’t
change it.”

“So what now?”

“We go back to my first question. Do you need
me to go look at a crime scene or something?”

“Actually, as far as goin’ anywhere, ta’ be
honest all we really have is a couple of dump sites,” he explained.
“So unless you got some kinda major
Twilight Zone
inspiration at the moment or you think lookin’ at a dumpster is
gonna help, you can prob’ly just relax.”

“Did you hear that, ladies?” I announced,
looking up toward the ceiling. “The man said I should relax. You
should too. I’m going to need your help with that.”

“Who are ya’…” he started then caught
himself. “Oh, yeah, never mind.”

“Doesn’t matter. I really doubt they’re going
to listen,” I replied then motioned with my hand. “Come on…”

Ben followed along as I trudged through the
dining room and into the kitchen. If I was going to keep from
turning into a blithering idiot, I needed more aspirin and a giant
cup of coffee to wash them down. I knew I could find both of them
there.

A quick glance at the time on the microwave
reminded me I had yet to give any thought to what I was going to
fix for the evening meal. I was already late with getting it
started, considering that Felicity would probably be home at any
moment, so I didn’t have many options unless we wanted to eat later
than usual.

“I need to do something about dinner,” I told
Ben absently. “Are you staying?”

“Depends. What’re ya’ havin’?”

“I don’t know yet. But the way my head feels,
I’m suddenly seeing carry-out high on the list of possibilities.” I
pointed to the stack of menus held to the side of the refrigerator
with a large magnet. “Want to see if anything there strikes you?
I’m buying.”