An hour before dawn, even police stations experienced a lull. While hospitals were in their most critical hours, the rest of the city, including the criminal element, was finally sinking into sleep.
Well, it was a relative lull, anyway. Asher accompanied Julie, who looked singularly unhappy, and Mackenzie, who looked as if she were enjoying this change of pace, into the station and up to the desk sergeant. As a PI, he wasn't entirely unknown in some of the precincts, though seldom was his arrival truly welcome.
Sgt. Cooper knew him, though, and greeted him pleasantly enough, though not exactly warmly.
"Ms. Matheson," Asher explained, "needs to file a report. She was attacked twice tonight down near Mason and Crick, and I witness the second attack."
Cooper's eyes leapt to Julie as Asher indicated her with a wave of his hand. "Twice? Crap." Then he looked at Asher. "And I suppose you're in your usual rush?"
Asher frowned at him. "All I can do is confirm part of her story. And I do have an urgent case."
"You always have an urgent case." Cooper sighed. "Well, you're in luck. I'll get you to Detective Burke. She always seems to have to time for you."
Not entirely the detective's own choice, thought Asher with grim satisfaction. He'd implanted a suggestion four years ago, and occasionally reinforced it. And he certainly found it useful to have an ally of sorts within the police.
In less than five minutes they were in the Robbery-Homicide squad room, although the case would probably be better handled by the sex crimes unit. Regardless, Burke never refused to see Asher.
She was a tall woman of about forty with a no-nonsense air and short gray-flecked hair. Attractive, but in a subdued way. She chose not to flaunt.
The squad room was even quieter than the rest of the station because those on shift were out on cases that had occurred tonight, and the rest were doing what mortals do at that hour: sleeping at home.
"Ok," Burke said. "What happened?"
Once again Julie seemed reluctant, so Asher plunged into describing what he knew, and giving a description of the four thugs who had surrounded her. And he was starting to get impatient because the prickling on the back of his neck had begun to grow uncomfortable. He glanced at the large wall clock across the room. Forty-five minutes and he had to be home. Period.
Burke took Julie's personal information, then asked her, "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a forensic pathologist. I just started working at the M.E.'s office last week. And, Detective, I can't be late for my shift."
A forensic pathologist? Hot damn, Asher thought. A contact that kind could be extremely useful.
Burke smiled at Julie. "I'll be as quick as I can, but I think the M.E. would be understanding if you're a little late because you're a material witness."
"Maybe. I'm so new, though."
Mavis Burke's eyes softened. "Honey, I know it's awful. All of it. But you're got to help us get these cruds off the street. You wouldn't want to be responsible for it happening to someone else, would you?"
Julie shook her head and straightened her shoulders. "No, of course not. Except, I don't have any evidence to offer. Other than that I stabbed Sam with a pen. I can't prove he attacked me. Or that those guys wanted to."
"I understand. We may not be able to do anything immediately, but having your statement on file could help us in the future."
Julie nodded. "All right then."
Asher stood and started pacing. Night was drawing to a close, and being this far away from his lair at this time always made him uncomfortable, even when he knew for a fact that he could make it back in time.
Finally, as the minutes ticked by, with Julie telling her story in detail and Mackenzie offering the information she had gathered on the Sam guy, he could take it no longer. It wasn't as if he absolutely had to be there, a situation which would help him overcome his growing discomfort. No, was basically a fifth wheel, and he'd already told Burke everything he knew.
"I've got to go. If you need me to sign anything or answer any more questions, I can come back tonight."
The detective hesitated only a moment. "All right. I'll let Mac know if I need more."
"Thanks, good night. Oh, Mackenzie? I'll leave you the car." He tossed her the keys and strode out.
Twenty minutes later, back at his office, he locked his own office door, three dead bolts and a key-code entry. But his bedroom was something else. Getting it built without arousing interest or suspicion or creating talk had been quite an achievement.
It was basically an oversize vault, with a time lock that would not open until after sunset unless he opened it from the inside. The room itself had been decorated to look like an ordinary bedroom, in case someone happened on it when it was unlocked. But since he was nearly defenseless in the sleep of death, the price of this kind of protective hadn't mattered. Not since the night forty years ago when he had been discovered in sleep by accident and had awakened in a morgue with a tag around his toe.
Once he was locked in his vault, however, the building could burn down around him, a bomb could fall, and nobody would get in. at least not before he woke up and was ready to emerge, in charge of himself and the situation.
Quite an improvement over a few hundred years ago.
He had even managed to make it a little homey, while revealing nothing about himself. Not that he spent much waking time in here.
It was, really, a crypt and he knew it. Occasionally, he fantasized about being able to share it with someone, but he knew that would never happen. He'd never turn anyone into what he was, and no human could ever endure this life for long.
Not even Mackenzie, who had, for a while, had a crush on him. He'd saved her, too, one dark night, and like a puppy she had followed him alone. And she had noticed during that awful scene to figure out what he was.
Amazing. Most humans wouldn't believe it even when they saw it, not these days. They always thought it must be some gag. Or that they were imagining things, because everyone knew vampires were myth.
Except Mackenzie, and a few others he trusted enough. And most of those others...well, he could bet most thought he was just a member of a vampire cult, the way they were. He doubted many of them though he was the real thing.
He felt the sun's rising, though he could not see it. It prickled along the back of his neck, and told him it was time. He stripped quickly and slipped between silk sheets. Not because he would be aware of anything between now and sunset, but because when he awoke he wanted to be comfortable.
His head hit the pillow. The prickling strengthened. And then with a sigh, he died.
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"God, he's weird," Burke said after Asher departed. "He always tears out of here like he has a rocket on his tail, especially in the early morning."
"He can't help it," Mackenzie said. "He's got a disease."
Burke arched her brows. "What disease?"
"I can't remember what it's called. He can't get into bright light, especially sunlight. Blisters, burns...why can't I ever remember what it's called?"
"Oh, come on," Burke said.
"No," Julie offered. "It's called xeroderma pigmentosum. Rare but real." She looked at Mackenzie. "That's awful. I can't imagine living with that."
Mackenzie gave a little shrug. "He seems to have adapted pretty well."
Burke still looked doubtful. "That's a real disease? How fast can he burn?"
"Probably with just a few seconds of exposure he'd have the kind of sunburn that would put most people in the hospital," Julie said. "Most people with it don't survive long, because even fluorescent lightning can cause burns in some cases. Given how little people know about the disease, it's a miracle he's still alive."
"Well, that would explain why he's so pale," Burke commented. "Imagine never seeing the sun. So you learned about it in medical school?"
"Actually," Julie said, "I learned about it during an investigation when I was a pathology resident. We had a case the police though for sure was murder, the kid was severely burned. The first assumption was that one of his parents must have literally boiled him alive. But there was no evidence of assault, nor were the burns anywhere near as severe where his clothes were thick, like his diaper."
"Oh, ugh," said Mackenzie.
"But the pathologist I was training with did some genetic testing, when the parents insisted all they had done was take the baby to a lakeside picnic. Anyway, he found the markers."
"And it killed the kid?" Burke sounded amazed.
"Every bit of exposed skin was blistered. The most exposed areas even exhibited third-degree burns. Most people have milder cases than that baby, but yes, when you've got an extreme case, even a tiny bit of sun can kill you."
"Live and learn." Burke shook her head. "Ok, to get back to your case. I doubt we can arrest Sam Benedict for anything, unless you have some kind of injury yourself?"
Julie shook her head. "It all happened so fast. Honestly. If I did have bruises, I'll find out during the day. He did grab my arm awfully tight, but I don't bruise easily."
Burke nodded sympathetically. "I'll do a background on him and see if anyone else had trouble with him. But without some physical evidence, it'll be hard."
"I know. Asher just thought I should report it."
"He's right. You should, and you did. I'll type your statement and you can sign it later, ok? In the meantime, you probably need to go home, shower, sleep a little and get ready for your shift."
Julie managed a smile. "Thank you, Detective."
Detective Burke shrugged. "Look at it this way—if this creep comes in to file a complaint against you for stabbing him with that pen, you're covered. We won't listen very hard."
"I don't even think of that."
"And as for those other creeps Asher scared off, well, if they try it on someone else, your statement will back the victim up. Can you come back after your shift to look at some mug shots?"
"Sure. It was dark, though."
"You never know. You might recognize someone. It's worth a shot." She looked at Mackenzie. "And tell that boss of yours I want him to look at the mug shots, too."
"I will," Mackenzie answered as she stood. Then she turned to Julie. "Come by the office tomorrow when you get off work, and I'll bring you back to look at those mug shots. Now let me drive you home. You're not the only one who needs a shower and bed. It's been a long night."
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Not even a cup of herbal tea helped Julie relax into sleep. Too much had happened in the hour's just past, and her mind and emotions struggled to cope with them. Attempted rape, not once but twice. She'd stabbed a man. Every time she remembered that, the way it had felt, the realization of what she had done, she shuddered again.
Nor did it help that she had to get to work around ten. The idea of only a couple of hours of sleep seemed to make it harder yet to close her eyes.
And then there was Asher Peres, private investigator. Eyes as dark as the night he had emerged from, turning an odd shade of dark gold when he stepped into the light. A man only slightly taller than average, but somehow seeming much, much larger. That voice of his when he'd told those men to go. If she hadn't been paralyzed with fright, she probably would have obeyed that order herself.
The incredible speed with which he had approached her, so fast it had almost seemed he was there picking her up before she had seen him move. But of course that was impossible. Absolutely impossible. Her recollections must be marred by the fear that had been raging in her. The adrenaline.
The man had rescued her, yet he had left her feeling supremely uneasy, anyway. And she couldn't really understand why. His office was normal enough. His assistant Mackenzie was perfectly normal. Even Jay, that handsome young man, had seemed typical, even though she got the impression Asher considered him to be some kind of plague.
So what was it about Asher Peres?
She lay on her side, keeping the locked door in sight, making sure that even if she shut her eyes, they would open trained on the only place from which a threat could come.
Somehow she couldn't feel safe. Was she really worried that Sam might carry out his threat to kill her? Or was it just a holdover from the earlier hours? She didn't even want to turn off the small lamp by the bed, although sunlight had long since begun peeking around the edges of the curtained window above the bed.
And the feeling she had right now reminded her all too much of her childhood, when fear had kept her awake countless nights, fear of something she could not see, could only sense, and finally, to her horror, hear. The haunting. But this was differently. Surely?
Yet, in some way she felt as if she had brushed up against that evil again during the past night.
A shudder passed through her, and she forced herself to breathe deeply and slowly, calming herself. That evil had been gone from her life for sixteen years now. There was absolutely no reason to think she'd ever encounter it again.
But her thoughts refused to be entirely corralled and kept retuning to Asher. He, too, made her uneasy. He might be a little...different, but he had saved her from those beasts, and had brought her to a safe place where Mackenzie had become an instant friend. Then he had even gone so far as to accompany her to the police.
So what was it about him? She had to admit that along with the uneasiness he made her feel, she also found him undeniably attractive. Maybe thirty, she thought. Maybe a bit older. Something in his eyes, when they turned golden, made her think he was older.
He was definitely handsome. No, not exactly that. Good-looking, yes, but he was even more attractive in another way. Something visceral in her responded to him. Maybe that was what made her so uneasy.
It had been long time, a decade or more, since simply seeing a man had been enough to make her aware of fluttery, eager femininity. Of desire. And she'd been aware of it every single in his presence, despite everything that had been happening.
Pretty amazing, actually, but pretty unnerving, too. Even his gruffness and impatience hadn't put an end to it.
She closed her eyes and gave up, hugging the unexpected, nearly forgotten feeling somewhere deep inside. No one would ever know, and it was nice to realize she could still feel that way. At twenty-nine, she had thought she would no longer feel those things. Too many other things, adult things, kept getting in the way.
But somehow the mere sight of Asher had swept away the layers and made her young enough in some way to just respond to man's appearance and voice, and get a thrill from it.
Kind of neat, actually, now that she had figured it out.
Satisfied she had identified the source of at least part of her uneasiness, she curled more comfortably on the bed and finally let sleep crawl closer.
Surely her uneasiness had nothing to do with that haunting when she was child, no matter how it felt. How could it? It had been so long ago.
No, of course, that had nothing to do with it. She was just feeling uneasy because it had been so long since she'd felt such a powerful attraction. She didn't want that now, didn't have time for it.
All in all, though, it had been one heck of a night. And at last her eyes fluttered closed.
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The Medical Examiner, Cecil Garrett, sent Julie home a little early when he heard the reason for her obvious fatigue. Her usual shift ran from ten to eight four days a week, with a brief lunch break. "You should have just called in and explained," he told her.
"I'm the newbie. Besides, honestly, I didn't want to spend all day thinking about last night."
He nodded understandingly over his half-rimmed eyeglasses. A little plump and balding, he had a kindly face which belied the strict way he ran the M.E.'s office. He did have the somewhat disconcerting habit of treating the cadavers as if they might still be alive and referring to them by name rather than a number. It was almost as if he saw himself running a surgical suite rather than a morgue.
In one way Julie liked that about him. In another, she found it discomforting because his idiosyncrasy had already begun to chip away that carefully trained distance she had been taught to place between herself and the dead. She found herself on guard for fear she might have lost objectivity.
Although there were inevitably cases where objectivity went out the window, terrible cases, mostly those involving small children. Then anger and horror often overrode all self-protective mechanism.
"I understand," he told her now. "But remember, if you're over-tired, you can make mistakes. We can't have that."
"No, sir."
He smiled. "So go home and rest up. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
She showered and changed back into street clothes before leaving, washing the smell of death out of her very pores. That odor clung and some things she wasn't sure that even three shampooing got it all out of her hair.
Outside the sun hadn't quite yet set, and that for some reason made her think of Asher. A man confined to the hours of darkness, who had nevertheless managed to cobble together a useful life, and even, apparently, some very loyal friends, to judge by Mackenzie.
Remembering Mackenzie's promise to accompany her to look at mug shots, and feeling an oddly strong compulsion to follow through even though she was exhausted, she got off the bus near Asher's office and rang the bell.
Mackenzie's voice greeted her. "Peres Investigations."
"Hi, Mac, it's Julie."
"Hey, Julie. Come on in."
She walked down the now-familiar dark hallway as Mackenzie opened the door and leaned out.
"How are you doing?" Mackenzie asked.
"I'm tired but fine. I guess we should go to the precinct and look at mug shots, but I can barely see straight."
Mackenzie laughed, inviting her in, then closing the door behind them. "I slept most of the day," she volunteered. "Asher's not going with us. Says he'll get to it later. Did you want to see him, too?"
Julie hesitated. "I guess. I never really thanked him."
"He's not real big on the gratitude thing. Sort of like the Lone Ranger, you know? 'Who was that masked man?'"
Julie laughed. "You make him sound like a superhero."
Mackenzie started to giggle again, but at that moment her eyes widened a shade. "Hi, Asher. Sleep well?"
Julie turned to find Asher standing in the doorway of his office, a study in chiaroscuro, all black and white from his hair to his boots. His eyes were dark again, and she realized the last of the daylight had vanished, leaving only the low light of a couple of small lamps. Her heart thumped, and she felt that magnetic pull once more. How could she have forgotten how good a man could look? Especially in black slacks and very nicely tailored black shirt.
"Like the dead," he answered, sounding almost sarcastic. "Didn't I tell you to stop trying to turn me into Superman?"
Mackenzie sniffed. "I'm just saying I like the kids of things you do. They make me feel good about our business."
He gave a little shake of his head, as if he knew he wasn't going to win this argument with Mackenzie. "Did Jay show up?"
"Not yet. Was he supposed to?"
"Around sunset."
"Well, he's not that late then."
Asher crossed the room, pulled a wooden chair away from the wall and straddled it, facing the two women from a few feet away. He folded his arms across its back. "I need to take care of that guy so Dr. Matheson here doesn't have to worry about him. And I have the other case. I was hoping Jay would show up first."
"He'll probably be here any minute. Why? Is he working for us now? You usually groan when you hear his name."
"I may groan again before too long."
Those dark eyes settled on Julie, and she felt her skin prickle. Awareness? Or something else? She couldn't tell.
"How are you feeling, Dr. Matheson?"
"Just call me Julie, I'm fine, thank you. And I doubt you need to do anything about Sam." Although she had to admit she wasn't one hundred percent sure of that, given that she had stabbed him. He might well be the kind to want to get even. How would she know? She'd certainly looked at enough women on the autopsy table who had misjudged a man's thirst for vengeance.
"Yes, I do." His tone brooked no argument. "What's his full name again?"
"Samuel Benedict," Mackenzie answered promptly. She pulled out a drawer in her desk and retrieved a file. "Everything I could find on him from what Julie told me."
Julie was amazed. She hadn't expected Mackenzie to go to all that trouble. After all, even the police had only wanted the basics.
But Asher opened the file and began reading, and apparently it was more than just name and address. "Hmm," he said finally.
"Hmm?" Julie asked.
Those dark eyes lifted to her again. Hunter's eyes, she thought, wondering why she almost felt like a mouse staring down a hawk.
"Hmm," he repeated.
"That means 'not good,'" Mackenzie interpreted.
"Not good how?"
Asher tossed the file and it landed on Mackenzie's desk. "I'm going to have a very interesting talk with Samuel Benedict."
"Why?" Her heart fluttered a little because she didn't like the dark tone in his voice.
"Because he needs one."
Juliet looked at Mackenzie, begging with her eyes for an explanation.
Mackenzie glanced at Asher. Asher shrugged as if he didn't care. Mackenzie turned back to her. "Because your friend Sam has been investigated for date rape before. He's on the street only because the woman withdrew her complaint."
"Oh, my God!" Julie's hand clapped to her mouth, and for an instant, she wondered if the remains of her lunch were going to come up. "Oh, my God."
"God has nothing to do with it," Asher said grimly. His eyes seemed to have grown even darker. He pushed himself out of the chair and looked down at Julie. "You were lucky. Last time the woman claimed he used Rohypnol."
The date rape drug. Juliet sat frozen, her stomach churning, remembering last night. He'd brought her a drink. A drink she hadn't wanted. One he kept insisting she enjoy until finally, when he was distracted, she'd dumped most of it on the floor behind her chair. "Oh, God," she whispered. "I didn't drink it. I dumped it."
Mackenzie jumped up from her hair and came around her desk to put a hand on Julie's shoulder. "Asher will take care of him. He'll never dare come near you again."
"But...the cops will find out the same thing you did. Won't they take of it?"
Mackenzie answered, "Not the way Asher will."
The words hardly registered, because another feeling washed over her, one of sheer fury. "I wish I'd stabbed that pen into his heart!"
Surprisingly, a laugh issued from Asher. She looked at him, unable to understand what was do funny. "I mean it!"
"I know." The brief laugh disappeared from his face. "Hell." He sighed.
"Asher," Mackenzie said warningly.
He glared at her, an expression that Julie was sure would have made her sink to the floor in a quivering puddle. The man looked capable of murder.
"I'll deal with him."
"But how?" Julie demanded. "How can you?"
His dark gaze returned to her, nearly pinning her. "First," he said slowly, very quietly, "I am going to ensure he never so much as thinks about coming near you again. Unlike the police, I can use threats. Ok?"
Julie managed a jerky nod.
Asher's attention returned to Mackenzie. "She doesn't leave here until I get back or call and say its ok. Got it?"
Mackenzie nodded. "You can count on me."
"And if Jay ever drags his behind in here, nail his feet to the floor until I say otherwise. I mean it, Mackenzie. Don't let him go running out. I swear that kid has a death wish."
On that grumpy statement, Asher disappeared into his office only to return a moment later wearing his long leather coat.
He paused just long enough to pick up Sam's photo, then look at Julie and say, "Stay. I mean it. This guy is bigger trouble than I originally suspected."
She didn't think she could have moved to save her life.
And only when he left the room did she feel she could breathe again.
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Once he was in his battered car, Asher took a moment to clear his head, nose and lungs of Julie's scent. God in heaven, that woman's scent was like a drug. Being in the same room with her was enough to drive him nuts. In no time flat, she pushed him to the edges of self-control in a way he hadn't experience in at least fifty or so years.
The Hunger raged in him, but that alone wouldn't have put him so much on edge. No, it was the desire he felt for her, pounding and strong, stronger than nay he had ever felt as a man, stronger than any he had ever felt as an immortal. The feeling was so powerful that it would have turned him into the kind of creep he was about to go see.
Breathing deeply, he battered the insanity back into the buried, darkest places of his being. The places he had vowed never to visit again.
Madness was no longer welcome in his world.
But certain forms of vengeance were.