Blood of the Innocent Read online

  The image that flashed in his head brought bile into his throat. He rushed into the bathroom, dropped to his knees, and waited for his body to stop convulsing. There really wasn’t anything to throw up. He hadn’t eaten since, how long was it? Twenty-four hours, maybe? After Justin had called, all he could think of was to get to his brother as fast as he could. Just not fast enough.

  Finally he was able to stand and flush the toilet. He had to remove the scattered contents of the medicine cabinet from the sink before he could wash out his mouth and splash water on his face. Before he was finished, sobs wracked him.

  A few long minutes later, he managed to clean himself up and stumbled into his brother’s kitchen. Like the rest of the place, this room was trashed. Food, dishes, pots, everything was strewn over the counters, stove, and sink. The fridge was open, leaving food to rot and milk to sour. Justin would be livid if he saw this.

  Joe slammed the fridge door closed, rattling the cabinets. This wasn’t possible. No way could his brilliant, dynamic, incredible twin be gone. It couldn’t be.

  He located the coffeemaker, only to find it hadn’t been cleaned since the last time it was used. That told him a lot. Justin was a clean freak, so he had to have left in a major hurry.

  Taking a deep breath, Joe calmed himself enough to dump out the grounds and clean the machine. Once the coffee was done and he located a mug, he took the drink into the living room and stood by the window.

  Who the hell would want to hurt a man as caring and even-tempered as his brother? Had Justin somehow gotten himself mixed up in something bad enough to put his life at risk? It seemed impossible, but his twin had been worried when he called, and something had happened that resulted in his brother’s death. Joe’s heart twisted. How could he deal with the loss of the person who was more than a brother? They were more like two parts of a whole.

  He thought back to their weekly conversations. For almost a month, his brother had sounded strange, worried. Joe had questioned him about specifics, but Justin would only tell him that he was on the trail of a big story and didn’t want to talk about it yet. Joe hadn’t been concerned. His journalist brother didn’t discuss anything until he was good and ready.

  When he’d called to say he was in trouble, that he’d happened on a conspiracy, it had shaken Joe. Whatever Justin had discovered, it had to be serious for him to admit concern.

  He’d spoken of some sort of creature that looked human but wasn’t. It was impossible to believe something so unrealistic could exist, but Justin had insisted they did. He’d also insisted some of the creatures were good, honest, caring folks; and something in his brother’s voice had Joe suspecting he’d gotten close to one of them.

  Justin said the whatevers had enormous psychic abilities and that most couldn’t be trusted. He’d been rushed, saying he had to go somewhere, that a source had something important to tell him. Before he hung up, though, he’d said the humans involved were more dangerous than the non-humans. He wasn’t sure who to trust, he’d said, except someone he called “C”. He said he’d call Joe when he got home. “Don’t bother,” Joe had told him, I’m coming to you.

  He hadn’t believed that these wannabe humans existed, but he knew if his brother was worried, he had a reason. Joe had grabbed the next flight from Tennessee to Maine, only to find he was much too late. His brother was gone.

  Joe groaned and rubbed his forehead. The whole thing was crazy, totally bat-shit insane. Then again, Justin was lying dead on a rocky shoreline more than a thousand miles from home. Nothing could be crazier than that.

  Was this conspiracy, this whatever-it-was involving “creatures,” was that what got his brother killed? Did one of the conspiracy nuts decide he knew too much? Was it possible there was something to this non-human thing?

  His head buzzing with unanswered questions, he swallowed the rest of the coffee and sat the cup on a small table near the window. He needed answers, so he went into his brother’s bedroom to begin checking hiding places only a twin would be able to find.

  ****

  The next night at the lab was long and hard. Veronica decided walking home would be a good idea, and the exercise and fresh air did help her clear her mind. As she neared her apartment, she looked forward to a quiet day at home.

  Foliage blocked the view from the front of her two-story apartment building, but the sense of another of her kind was strong. It wasn’t long before it became obvious who was waiting for her. Unfortunately, the sense went both ways, making it impossible to escape what she knew was coming. The day was not going the way she’d planned.

  “Hello, Mom.”

  Emelda Teal gave Veronica a put-upon look. “I’ve been waiting for two hours. It’s almost dawn, for God’s sake! I could have been seriously burned waiting for you. You’d think, since you work for other vampires, they would realize you have to be home by sunrise.”

  Veronica pulled out her keys to open the main door into the building. “I had a sample to finish. there was enough time to get home before daylight.”

  Her mother didn’t even slow down. “This place is nuts! First town in the United States to get sunrise. What kind of a place is that for vampires?”

  Veronica’s jaw clenched. This conversation might just be her one proverbial straw too many, and it was all she could do to hang on to her self-control. “You didn’t have to move here, Mom.”

  “I wouldn’t be much of a mother if I let both my daughters seek their fortunes in this infernal place and not be close by in case either of you need anything.”

  “Charlene didn’t have to come here either.” She regretted saying the words as soon as they came out of her mouth, and tried to cover by opening the front door and heading up the stairs toward her apartment.

  “Why did you pick an apartment with all these stairs? Climbing is hard on a woman my age. Although, this is probably why you have such a great figure. Charlene could do with some stair climbing.”

  Veronica opened the door and ushered her mother into her sanctuary. “I chose this place because I fell in love with it. The owners managed to upgrade to modern conveniences without losing the charm of the building.”

  “Why you aren’t happy your sister and I moved here is beyond me. I’d think you’d be thrilled to have family nearby. And you know your sister and I believed that if opportunities existed for you here, The same should be true for Charlene. So far that hasn’t held true, unfortunately.”

  Veronica opened her mouth to remind her mother that she’d come for a specific job, not because Maine or Lobster Cove had more opportunities, and Charlene had come for her own reasons. She let it go though, it was a lost cause and she knew it. “Have a seat, Mom. Would you like some tea?”

  A knock interrupted her attempt at being cordial. As she turned to answer the door, her mother perked up with obvious curiosity. Veronica smiled when she opened the door. “Hi, Tim, come in and join us.” She put a bit of emphasis on the last word.

  His eyes widened and he straightened his spine and raised his chin before he stepped into the apartment.

  “Mom, this is my friend Tim Hunnicutt from across the hall.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Teal.” He took one of the woman’s hands and touched his lips to it.

  Emelda smiled. “How nice! I thought all the real gentlemen had disappeared.”

  Tim smiled. “There are a few of us left who subscribe to the more gentle ways.” His deep voice exuded a sensuality that could send tingles down a woman’s body. Veronica bit back a grin.

  Her mother laughed, actually laughed, with a human no less! Veronica’s vision blurred and she was bit lightheaded, as if she might be going into shock or something.

  “What is it you do for a living, Tim?” Emelda asked.

  “I’m a lawyer.”

  “Really? How interesting.”

  “Oh, it is very interesting. I work with a nice group of lawyers down in Bar Harbor.”

  “Your friend is a real gem,” Emelda said.
/>   “He’s something else, for sure.” She tossed a glance at Tim, who only smiled innocently.

  “Well,” Emelda stood. “I should be going.”

  Veronica’s breath caught, and she moved toward the couch. “Mom, you’re welcome to stay here.” She met the other woman’s gaze and sent a mental message. The sun’s up. What are you thinking?

  I have a hat, gloves, and a wrap, her mother silently replied, then said, “Fernando is picking me up in the limo. I’ll be fine.”

  Veronica knew she had a holy-crap expression on her face, but she decided her mom could think what she wanted as she walked Emelda to the door. Limo? Fernando, the little human with the weak chin?

  “No need to walk me out, dear.” Emelda took a raincoat, hat, and umbrella from a bag she’d left by Veronica’s door. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Be careful, Mom.”

  Emelda leaned in close. “Too bad he’s human.”

  Veronica nodded, then leaned her head against the closed door. Guess she’d have been fine even if she’d been in the sun for a while after all.

  “Your mother’s quite a character.” The pitch of Tim’s voice had risen a good octave.

  Veronica turned; smiling at the man now sprawled on her couch. “That she is.”

  “You haven’t told your mother about your best girl friend?” Tim’s voice raised another half-octave and his manner had reverted to the outrageously gay one she was used to seeing from her friend.

  “I think she wanted to fix me up with you,” she said, as she headed toward the kitchen.

  “Oh honey, I love you, but you’re really not my type.”

  “Ha-ha.” She came back into the room with two bottles of water and handed one to Tim. “You aren’t my type either.”

  “And what type would that be?” The top of the bottle only partly hid his teasing smile.

  “B positive,” she said, and they both laughed.

  “You are positively nuts.”

  “Thank you.”

  “So your mom has a boyfriend?”

  “Fernando is human.”

  “God forbid.”

  Veronica laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know what he is to her. I do know he does pretty much what she wants him to do.” She shrugged. “She’s probably paying him an unholy amount of money to be her…whatever he is

  Tim leaned his head to one side. “Or maybe she’s into kink and he’s her slave.”

  Her heart went into overdrive and she couldn’t catch her breath. Everything seemed to go out of focus, and it took a couple of minutes to get her equilibrium back. “Impossible.”

  He patted her hand. “Good grief, Veronica. Your mother is a consenting adult. You said yourself that since the divorce she’s been acting strange.”

  “If she’s doing kinky stuff with that odd little human, I don’t want to know about it.”

  “Fair enough.” He took a strand of her long hair in his hand. “Are you sure you won’t let me give you a makeover.” He waved a hand up and down her. “I could do wonders with your wardrobe and makeup.”

  She put a hand on Tim’s arm. “I’m not a girly-girl. I don’t care much about clothes and makeup.”

  Hand on chest, he looked at her with sadness in his expression. “Such a waste of perfect features, gorgeous hair, and a wonderful figure. You slay me, darling.”

  “Funny, Tim. Buffy I’m not.”

  “That’s for sure.” He stood. “I gotta go. I have a rehearsal this afternoon.”

  “Are you still working on that Aretha Franklin song? I thought you had that one down.”

  His smug expression made her wonder what he was up to. “No, I have a new number I’m working on.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  “Soon. I promise.”

  She walked him to her door. “Break a leg.”

  “I’ll give it my best try.” He kissed her cheek and headed across the hall.

  Veronica went back into her apartment and headed toward a long, warm, much needed, relaxing bath.

  ****

  Making the call home was the hardest thing Joe had ever done. The shock and anguish in his mother’s voice hit him so hard it was all he could do to hold on to his last shred of self-control. He had to be strong for his mother, so he was. Barely.

  “No!” she moaned. “Please, God, don’t let my baby be gone.”

  He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. “I can’t believe it either.”

  “Are you sure, Joe? They make mistakes sometimes. They think they know it’s one person, but it turns out to really be someone else.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom, I saw him myself.” His chest tightened at the memory.

  “What happened?”

  “He was…he was stabbed.”

  She made a noise that reminded him of a needy kitten. “Did he, was it bad for him?”

  At least he could be truthful about that part. “He died almost instantly.”

  “Do they have any idea who did this to him?”

  “Not yet, but they’re being very thorough.”

  “I hope they find the bastard.”

  “Me too, Mom.” He closed his eyes and leaned harder against the wall.

  “When are you coming home?”

  “Not for a few days. There are some things I need to take care of here.” He swallowed. “And I want to bring Justin back with me.”

  “Be careful, sweetheart.” Her voice broke.

  “I will, Mom. I promise.”

  They said their goodbyes and he clicked off his cell phone. He paced for a time, then dropped onto his brother’s couch and glared down at the papers strewn across the coffee table. He reached for his coffee cup, grimaced at the lukewarm liquid, and sat it back down.

  The papers included a journal with times, dates, reconstructed conversations, and personal details that shook Joe to his toes. Justin had done his job, and done it well. It had taken some serious digging to gather this much information. Enough digging to make somebody suspicious.

  The clippings and printouts surprised and worried him the most. Justin had been convinced a conspiracy existed against some group he called “V,” whatever that meant. The clippings from newspapers as far-flung as Florida, California, New York, The Chronicle Herald across the border in Nova Scotia—even Japan and Russia—were articles or personal ads that meant nothing to him, but he sensed a pattern. The printouts were from several different emails. How his brother got access to them was a mystery, but the messages were to and from members of an organization called the “Alliance of True Humanity,” and spouted hatred and fear toward a group they called “vampires” claiming this group’s goal was destruction of the human race. Was Justin’s “V” group the same as this “vampire” group?

  Joe contemplated the word. It reminded him of every Saturday late movie. “So maybe these ‘vampires’ are just plain old human. Maybe they just really suck.” He laughed as he picked Justin’s journal back up. He’d skimmed it, but hadn’t read it. It seemed an invasion of privacy to read the more personal details, but he wondered if he should.

  It seemed to him that calling a group of people “not quite human,” was simple racism. But in his journal, his brother had used those same words. Then, a few pages later, Justin admitted he was involved with one of them, this mysterious “C”.

  “They call themselves vampire,” Justin had written. “I don’t care what they call themselves, or what other people think they are. They seem very human to me, and I love C. with all my heart.”

  Joe pulled out his laptop. His brother’s, he was sure, had been taken by the police when they searched Justin’s home. A quick search told him what he’d suspected. The word “vampire” was loaded, for sure.

  Chapter 3

  Veronica was preparing to extract a second piece of DNA from a previously tested sample. She suspected contamination with foreign DNA, so a second test was necessary. A presence appeared behind her. She twisted, her body on high alert and ready for an attack.r />
  “Doctor Teal?”

  The tall, lanky, middle-aged man was dressed entirely in black, his expression blank except for the intelligent, questioning eyes. She had the feeling he knew everything that went on around him—even inside her head. There was no perceptible brush against her mind, but she was positive he had been in her thoughts.

  “May I help you?”

  “Could we speak in private?”

  She stored the sample, pulled off her latex gloves, and motioned toward her office. Once inside the glass-enclosed room, she closed the door and propped one hip on her desk. The Guardian made her nervous, and she hated that feeling. She had done her job and turned in the reports from the murder site. “Is there a problem?”

  “I just wanted to go over your findings with you.”

  A wave of heat blew through Veronica. “I assure you, my findings are accurate. A vampire, whose DNA profile I included in my report, killed the human approximately six hours before the body was discovered.”

  “Actually, we were curious about why you included the time of death and the DNA profile. We would understand if you needed the profile to distinguish between human and vampire, but there seemed to be no question about that. There rarely is.”

  Suspicion that the conversation had turned in an unwelcome direction had her clenching her hands. “I thought the timing and DNA profile might help you identify the killer.”

  A miniscule smile pulled at the Guardian’s lips. “I suspected as much. Dr. Teal, you need to understand your role as consultant. While I appreciate your desire to be thorough, in a case such as this one, your job is to let us know—as quickly as possible—if one of our kind is involved. If we require anything else, we will let you know. DNA, even as rapid as our processes are, wastes time.”

  Icy cold realization skittered through her body. “You won’t even try to find the killer, will you?”

  “Why should we?”

  She could barely speak her jaw was so tight. “Because killing humans is illegal among our kind. Besides, it’s the right thing to do?”

  Never had she heard a laugh so cold and harsh. “The ‘right thing’ is a very subjective term. The death of a human is rarely important to the vampire, and this one appears to be insignificant and unlikely to cause repercussions.”