Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers) (7 page)

“Physical descriptions of the creature vary,” he read.
“Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1995 in Puerto Rico and
have since been reported as far north as
Maine
and as far south as
Chile
, and even being spotted outside the
Americas in countries like
Russia
and
the Philippines
.”

All the sites he looked at considered it to be a hybrid or
mutation of more than one species, with long fangs, a hideous head, muscular
hind legs and a scaly torso. The actual descriptions varied but they all had
one thing in common. They vanished from the site of their kills without leaving
a trace.

Danvers pushed back from his desk and lifted his mug, taking
a deep swallow of the dark liquid. After reading the material he had and
looking at the pictures and drawings, he wished he had something stronger than
plain coffee. Although he didn’t think anything would erase the images or words
from his mind.

He went to the file cabinet in his office where he kept
unsolved cases and pulled out everything on the Tanners, spreading the crime
scene photos out on his desk. The more he looked the more chilled his blood
became. Logan Tanner was right. This was no kill by any animal he was familiar
with. It was vicious but precise. Every body had two deep puncture wounds in
the neck, one long slice from sternum to groin with the organs extracted and
left at the side, and every bit of blood completely drained. Just as it was
with the park ranger.

Was it possible to have a creature that attacked like an
animal and thought like a human? This was the stuff of nightmares for sure. The
idea made his hands shake as he shuffled everything back into the folder and
stored it away.

He dropped into his desk chair, rubbing his face as if to scrub
away what he’d seen.

* * * * *

The devil beast had awakened with a fierce need for
exercise. Cold, crisp air always invigorated it. Maybe it was the eclectic
mixture of DNA in its body but the sharp cold always made it hungrier for
blood. For exercise. For everything.

Standing on its hind legs, it stretched, unkinking the
various parts of its body. From the moment it had woken from a deep, deep sleep
in this frozen wasteland the inner force driving it had grown with insistent
urgency. A thirst for blood, for prey to satisfy its lust, was with it every
moment, although its strength ebbed and flowed in cycles.

Small animals had sufficed, sated its need, although finding
them had proven difficult. As cold as it was this time of year vegetation was
scarce and so were the animals that relied upon it to eat and hide in.

Finding the very large prey had excited the beast and it had
drunk thirstily of its blood. Even now the beast could still savor traces of
the coppery taste in its mouth, relive the moment when its two sharp fangs had
pierced the prey’s hide. Savored the excitement of slicing it open to remove
its inner organs and lap up every stray drop of blood.

Soon the Chupacabra would need another large prey to slake
its thirst. Two more before it could finally rest. Before the frenzy that rose
within it would subside for a long period of time. There was so much space to
explore here, so many places to look. But somehow if it strayed beyond a
certain area some trigger in its brain sent enormous jolts of pain through its
system. The beast would have to be very careful to stay within the pain-free
boundaries while seeking its prey.

Now.

Time to start hunting again.

* * * * *

Logan’s cell chirped just as they turned into a parking
space at the funeral home and he pulled it from his pocket. The readout had the
number of the sheriff’s office displayed. There had been a voice mail from him
but Logan hadn’t had a chance to return the call yet.

“Tanner.” He answered brusquely, figuring despite everything
Danvers was calling to cancel the meeting. When he didn’t hear anyone he said,
“Hello? That you, Rance?”

“Yeah. It’s me.” The voice was slightly unsteady. Unusual
for a man whom hardly anything could ruffle. There was the rough sound of him
clearing his throat. “I just went over all the files again. And I, uh, that is,
I did some research on the internet.”

Now Logan knew why the man sounded so strained.

“Interesting reading, isn’t it?”

“Interesting? I’d say it’s enough to scare the shit out of
anyone. Have you looked at the body yet?”

“Yes.” The image was still vivid in his mind. “It’s
definitely the work of this devil beast. Anyway, we just arrived back at the
ranch. What can I do for you?”

“I’m not calling off the meeting, if that’s what you think.
Just the opposite. I’m thinking after what I’ve read we don’t want to waste
even one minute.”

“Glad we’re finally on the same page. Okay, head on out.
We’ll be waiting for you.” He disconnected the call.

Rebecca looked at him, curiosity stamped on her face.
“Danvers?”

Logan nodded. “He surfed the web and got religion. Danvers
just pushed the meeting up.”

He slid a glance in her direction. “I’m going to call Jade
later,” Logan told her. “And before you get a wild hair up your ass, I just
want to make sure she knows to be careful.”

“It’s okay,” she told him, her voice soft and reassuring. “I
know you feel a certain responsibility for her and that’s okay.” She looked up
at him. “As long as that’s all you feel.”

Heat surged through Logan. He did his best to force it away,
keep his mind on business. Until he met Rebecca Black he’d never believed there
was such a thing as an instant connection. An emotional bonding. All the stuff
his sister-in-law and her friends used to talk about. But with Rebecca it was
all different. He’d known from the instant Sophia introduced them she was the
one. He thought he might have a hard time convincing her but she’d felt it too.
That special something.

Mate!

His wolf called to her as it never had to any other human.

He’d had a lot of reservations when that first coil of
attraction snapped between them. Until he joined Night Seekers he’d had little
experience with mating between humans and shifters. His parents had both been
shifters but for some undisclosed reason they weren’t affiliated with any pack.
In fact, when he thought about it, he remembered them going to great lengths to
avoid any contact. The closest he’d ever come was after they’d been killed in
an auto accident and he and his brother were going through their father’s
papers. A very brief letter, decades old, from someone who was obviously a
friend hinted at a battle between the elder Tanner and the pack alpha, with a
warning to stay far away.

Their parents had told them from the moment they could
understand exactly what their heritage was and how to control it. They ordered
the special herbs they needed to keep the wolf under control, herbs that
thankfully Dakota Grey now grew in a huge garden at Desolation Ranch.
Researching their heritage after the discovery of the letter, he and Wade had
read about many battles through history for clan supremacy, often when a better
leader challenged the alpha’s leadership and supremacy and did not win the
fight.

Being isolated from a pack brought special difficulties with
it. For one thing, the brothers had no support system. For another bonding with
a female had to be very selective. The woman had to be very special not to be
freaked out by the situation and have them committed to an institution. Dating
was one thing. Getting married, mating for life, was a whole different thing.

The interview with Night Seekers had made a huge difference
in his life in more ways than one. Three members of the team had found their
mates on the first three cases. Jonah Grey was now married to Dakota Furcal, a
human, while Mark Guitron had met Chloe Hanson, a shifter and petite red wolf.
And in the one he and Sophia had just worked in Maine, she had met Clint
Beltaire, who also turned out to be a shifter. In all three instances the
humans had been intrigued and fascinated by the extraordinary circumstances. Of
course, both Jonah and Sophia had received full indoctrinations when they
joined the team. And the matings seemed to be working out very well.

Sophia had been very forthcoming about Clint, his abilities
and the makeup of Night Seekers. After the initial shock wore off, Rebecca had
seemed eager to learn more…about him and about the team. On the flight from
Texas, with the two of them alone on the plane, she had exhibited a real
interest in his background and his situation. And when they’d made love the
night before she’d held nothing back. When this case was over…

Shaking off his thoughts, he reached over to cover Rebecca’s
hands with his free one. “You have nothing to worry about, believe me.” He paused.
“I mean that, Bek. Without reservation.”

Her mouth tipped up in a tiny smile. “Me too.” She blew out
a breath. “But right now we’d better get ready for the meeting. And yes, I
think you should call Jade. I’d hate for someone else you know to be a victim
of the devil beast.”

Ric Garza sat at his high-tech computer terminal downloading
the photos Rebecca and Logan had sent and uploading them to the big screen on
the wall. Swiping one of the surface computing keyboards, Ric put the photos in
place one at a time, tapping the interactive keyboard again to enlarge them.
What he saw made him want to vomit and he considered himself a pretty hardened
lawman. He thought by this time he’d be used to the gruesome shots of a corpse
after the devil beast had finished with it. But magnified more than a hundred
times and up on the wall in living color it was every nightmare come to life.

Sophia Black Beltaire, standing behind him, was talking on
her cell. When she disconnected the call she pulled a chair over and sat down
beside him.

“That was Craig. He got the final reports on the killings in
Maine from the state police. Bobby Lacroix sent him copies of everything.”

“I’m sure there wasn’t anything new,” Ric commented as his
fingers tapped keys.

He knew Bobby was the lead detective on the spate of
Chupacabra killings that Sophia and Logan had just worked on with the staties.
Two other killings had nearly muddied the waters and thrown the state police
off the track. But Sophia and Logan had managed to make them see the truth.
Other than that the only thing they’d accomplished was to put everyone on alert
for future forays by the beast and give closure to the families of the victims.

But as in every other geographical area where the Chupacabra
had killed, the beast they’d killed was apparently only one of many. And they
had no idea where it would strike next. Or how many there were.

“Any word from his scientists?” Ric asked.

“Nada. Or actually I should say too much and not enough.”
She shook her head. “It seems every time we give them remains to analyze they
come up with more strange results than before. I’m telling you, Ric. The brain
that concocted these creatures—if indeed that’s what happened—has to be
severely twisted and evil.”

“If that actually is the situation there has to be an
endgame,” Ric pointed out. “Maybe if we could figure that out we could discover
who might be doing this. It’s bad enough to think there might be dozens of
these creatures all over the world popping up now and then killing randomly and
at will. But for someone to be deliberately creating them?” He rubbed a hand
over his face. “It makes me sick to my stomach.”

“And Chloe is sick with worry that Melinda might be in the
clutches of some kind of mad scientist.” She sat back in her chair and looked
up at the screen. “God. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to looking at these
bodies.”

“That’s the damn truth.” He lifted a small cordless
microphone from the keyboard tray and pressed a button. “I’ve got the pictures
Rebecca and Logan sent up on the screen. You guys better come take a look.”

Although each of them had personally seen the destruction
the beast could wreak on a body when someone close to them had been killed, it
was important for them to compare photos as each fresh kill occurred. They
weren’t just looking to compare bodies. They were desperately looking for
something that would give them a clue as to how the beast escaped without a
trace except for that faint lingering aroma of turpentine.

By the time everyone had gathered—most of them with fresh
cups of coffee from the huge machine kept going at all times—Ric had also
pulled up shots from the other kills on the screens to either side of the main
one.

“Those the ones from Montana?” Dante Martello asked. The
former Chicago detective stood directly behind Ric.

“That they are.” Swiping his fingers, Ric mixed and matched
the photos until he had the ones he really wanted front and center. “No
question about it. These are all the work of the same demented creature. If I
placed these photos one on top of the other and lined up the bodies every
puncture wound, every slice down the midsection would align precisely.”

“If we could just figure out where these things came from.”
Sam Brody’s voice was laced with frustration.

Ric knew exactly how he felt. How they all felt.

“Craig called,” Sophia told them. “His lab guys are working
round the clock in shifts dissecting and analyzing every part of the bodies
we’ve given them.”

“Anything yet?” Sam asked hopefully.

“Not much. They’re trying to separate the different strands
of DNA they’ve found. But he said whoever’s creating and breeding these
creatures has a real twisted mind. It’s almost as if they threw a bunch of
animals in a mixer, hit the switch and this is what came out.”

Chelsea Roland moved up to stand beside Ric’s chair and
pointed at one of the pictures. Ric was interested in what she’d have to say,
which up until now had been very little. She was the quietest of the group, but
because she’d lost her sister to the Chupacabra she had been the most
sympathetic to Chloe and her worry about Melinda.

Now she studied the pictures, tilting her head to look from
different angles.

“Is anyone noticing the same thing I am?” she asked.

Rich shrugged. “I think we’re all looking at how every
puncture wound and slice matches so well.”

“That’s what I mean. I’ve seen wild animal kills before. I
even took some natural history courses in college. Many of them might kill in a
pattern but not with this kind of precision. It’s almost as if it’s been
programmed into them.”

“That’s what Craig said too,” Sophia said. “If indeed a
madman is creating them, his scientists have found a way to program their
brains. Which is a very frightening thought. How have they found a way to do
this and what else have they programmed into its brains?”

No one answered her, the silence lying heavy in the room as
the nightmare possibilities ran through their minds.

Finally Ric cleared his throat. “Okay. Logan and Rebecca are
meeting with the sheriff and one or two others this afternoon. Seems the
sheriff somehow had a come-to-Jesus moment. They requested everything we got in
so far on the DNA testing and any other pertinent reports from the lab. They’ll
call after they’re finished and catch us up.” He swiveled in his chair to look
at everyone. “Meanwhile, let’s pull up all the files on our terminals and go
over everything bit by bit again. Maybe we’re missing something.”

Muttering to themselves, the rest of the team sat down at
their computers and soon keys were clicking as fingers flew over them.

* * * * *

Logan greeted the men at the door and waved them into the
house. He led them into the kitchen where Rebecca was waiting. Mugs were set
out on the counter next to the oversized coffee pot along with spoons, sugar
and creamer. When everyone had a full mug and seated themselves at the table,
Rance Danvers took a thick folder from the briefcase he’d carried in with him,
opened it and spread its contents out on the table. Then he cleared his throat.

“Here’s everything from the ranger’s killing,” he said to
Logan and Rebecca, “along with those from Julie and Wade’s killings and their
neighbor. I included the lab reports this time too.” He rubbed his face. “I
don’t apologize easily, Logan, but that’s what I’m doing now. I just hope we
catch this…whatever it is before we lose anyone else.”

“Not any more than we do,” Logan told him.

Rebecca was already sifting through the photographs, sharing
them with Doug and Ford. Even thought Ford had filched copies to pass along to
Logan this was probably the first time he’d really studied them. Matt too.
Logan noticed a sick look on both faces.

“There’s no way to soft-pedal this stuff,” Rebecca told them
in a soft voice. “The first bodies I saw were my little nephews and I don’t
think I’ll ever get that image out of my mind.”

Matt lined up a selection of the crime scene photos, one
from each location, and frowned as he studied them.

“Problem?” Logan asked.

“Just trying to get a feel for the type of location where
the killings occur.” He pointed to one of the shots. “For example, this house
looks like it’s out in the middle of nowhere. And here.” He pointed again. “And
here and here.”

Logan nodded. “You’re absolutely right. The beast never
comes into a crowded area. It’s almost as if, like everything else, it’s
programmed to hunt only where it can’t be easily seen. Homes surrounded by
acreage. Houses at the far end of a street at the end of town, far away from
any of the others. An isolated spot by a river or a lake.”

Rebecca picked up the thread. “The cases we just worked in
Maine were like that. Aroostook County is much like this area here. Wide-open
spaces with farmhouses or fish camps and nothing around them. And in the winter
when snow covers the potato fields there’s practically no activity.”

“Also,” Logan added, “unlike some of its previous kills, it now
only attacks solo individuals. If there are two or more people, even if they’re
out on snowmobiles or horseback, it seems to know to stay away.”

“Because the other person might shoot it during the attack,”
Ford guessed.

“Yes. Which is some pretty advanced thinking for a creature
like this.”

“As Logan said, that wasn’t the case in earlier killings,”
Rebecca told them. “You know Logan’s brother and sister-in-law were killed
together and my twin nephews were killed at the same time. But we believe the
beast has reassessed since then and now looks for solo prey.”

“How is that even possible?” Doug asked.

“Here’s another question for you.” Rance Danvers leaned
forward on his elbows. “From what I read on the internet, this thing, whatever
it is, never used to attack humans. Lonely animals. How do you account for the
change?”

“I’ll answer that. I’m a late addition to the team so I had
a lot of the same questions.” Rebecca blew out a slow breath. “This is going to
sound like something from an alien world, and we’re basically going by what our
boss’s researchers have found from dissecting the bodies we’ve been able to
deliver to them. But there’s been a lot of advanced work in artificial intelligence
in the past several decades. Especially in this century. Scientists and
neurologists have worked with computer experts to develop chips to implant in
the human brain to repair damage to neurons and receptors.”

“And,” Logan added, “it includes something called reflex
programming. Doctors use it in people with nerve damage to learn to use certain
muscles again. But these nuts are programming the chips to send certain signals
to the devil beasts to behave in a certain way.”

Ford picked up on it at once. “So you think someone’s
creating chips with signals and information and implanting them in the brains
of these creatures.”

“Yes. Improving on whatever kind of brain they start with to
program the Chupacabra to behave in a certain manner. To act specifically in
specific instances.”

“Jesus.” Doug blew out a breath. “This sounds like something
out of a science fiction movie.”

“I only wish.” Logan swallowed against the sudden bad taste
in his mouth. “It would make life a lot easier. If you look at the reports I
put out for you, it will give you an idea of what our lab scientists have come
up with so far. It will tell you what strains of DNA they’ve identified so far,
the kind of chips they’ve found implanted in brain tissue, things like that.
Ford, I’ll print out a copy for you before you leave.”

Ford looked at the copy Doug handed him and his eyes
widened. “Holy shit!”

“Uh huh. They’re still trying to identify how the chips are programmed
and what kind of signals they give. We’ve got a long way to go on these,
folks.”

“Someone’s taken what was meant to be a scientific boon for
health and perverted it,” Rebecca told them. “I’m not new to this and it still
scares the hell out of me. Which is why it’s so critical to identify possible
targets.”

“We’ve got a hell of a lot of miles to search out here,”
Rance pointed out. “Even if I put everyone on my staff on it with the two of
you it would take us forever.”

Rebecca shook her head. “We thought that at first in Maine.
Aroostook County is two thousand square miles, at least three fourths of it
sparsely populated.”

“So what did you do?” Ford asked.

“We actually got lucky. We kept tightening the size of the
area where we searched and identifying possible targets. We discovered it never
widened its hunting ground beyond a certain area. The beast struck at one of the
targets and we killed it. At least that particular beast. But we can’t keep
relying on luck. Too many more people can get killed.”

“Damn straight,” Logan told them. “We have to figure out how
to be more definitive in our search.”

“But how is that possible?” Doug wanted to know.

“When we got back to our home base,” Logan said, “we pulled
out everything from the other killings we’d been investigating since Night
Seekers was formed and studied them. It took us awhile but we finally figured
out that not only does the beast kill in threes, it also kills within a
specified radius. There have of course been some minor deviations from this pattern
but at least it gives us a place to start.”

“So.” Rebecca leaned forward and unfolded a map of the
county the sheriff had brought. “Show me here where the ranger’s body was
found.”

Danvers took a pen from his pocket and made a mark on the
spot.

“Okay.” Rebecca held out her hand for his pen then drew a
wide circle around the mark. “I’d need something a lot more accurate than
eyeballing it to be correct but this is approximately the area we need to
concentrate on.”

“Isolated ranches,” Logan added. “Homes on the edge of town
with no neighbors around and trees that give it some privacy.”

Rebecca nodded. “In Maine we actually had one that was an
anomaly but it turned out to be a killing faked to look like the Chupacabra had
done it.”