Heany snorted grim laughter. “You make it sound like they were Happy Meals.”
“For this monster, they probably were.”
While they talked, I drifted near a computer and pulled in some energy, careful not to overdo it. I just wanted a little boost after my run in with Erica and her goons. I was so not getting high again and losing my ability to concentrate.
Neuhaus continued. “This is my big sticking point, him following Brandilynn to lover boy’s house. It forced him to kill off Spaulding. He’s always taken his victims with no known witnesses before. It just doesn’t match up with the others.”
Heany looked over the scribbles. “There’s a lot of heat on the areas where the first victims worked. The killer is obviously local, so increased surveillance may have forced him to upgrade to the more refined ladies of the trade. Let’s look at the similarities.” He suddenly sounded like a college professor as he ticked off points. “Like our other girls, Brandilynn had sex for money. She was drained, mutilated, and dumped in a remote area like the rest. The kind of cutting he did on her body is the same as the previous vics, removing sexual organs and breasts as well as creating new orifices for use.”
I blanched to hear that tidbit. No wonder Dan and Tristan had kept me from looking at my body.
Neuhaus rubbed the back of his neck. “Damn. If he’s changing his MO we don’t have a clue as to what he’ll do next.”
A heavy tread coming into the room got our attention, and we all turned to see Sheriff Grayson walk in. He nodded to the agents, hitching up his pants. “I got some interesting information for you boys.”
I could see their focus narrow like laser points. Heany said, “We’re all ears, Sheriff.”
“Tristan Keith has put in a claim for Brandilynn’s body.”
The moment of silence that followed his announcement was thunderous. Even I was left with my mouth hanging open.
Heany recovered and spoke first. “That is interesting. What ties does the most important vampire in town have to an escort who wasn’t a donor?”
“None that I know of.” Grayson looked like a shark that smelled blood.
Neuhaus checked his watch. “Looks like we’ll have to speak with the commissioner come sundown. What about her family?”
“They don’t want her.”
No surprise there.
Grayson continued. “They’re richer than God and high on the social ladder here. The media attention from their estranged daughter being murdered has been a big embarrassment to them. They’ve done little to cooperate with the investigation, insisting Brandilynn was disowned long ago and has no bearing on their lives.”
Heany glanced up at my portrait and shook his head. “Social standing over family. Poor girl.”
I had a sudden rush of like for the agent. I drifted close to him, seeing real sympathy on his face as he looked at my pretty picture.
Grayson hitched his pants again. The man needed suspenders in the worst way. “The coroner’s got no reason to not release the body to Keith, otherwise she’s the county’s financial burden.”
Heany sighed. “For such a pretty girl, Brandilynn, you sure are making things complicated.”
I smiled at him. “Yeah, sorry about that.” I kissed him on the cheek.
Heany’s expression turned startled, and he lifted a hand to touch his face. Oops, I must have gathered so much energy that he’d felt me there.
Tristan had to be warned the FBI was going to have some questions for him. I wanted him to answer a few myself. Fixing the library in my mind, I left the police station.
Chapter Eleven
This time I got it right and popped right into the library. I didn’t see Dan anywhere, and I feared he had gone back to the union Street neighborhood to find me. Crap. I so didn’t want to return there myself, but I wasn’t about to let him put himself in danger for me. But just to be sure…
“Dan? Are you here?”
A heavy voice sounded from behind a bookcase. “Hi, pretty girl.” One of Erica’s thugs stepped out.
I screamed in surprise, and yes, a little fear. As the other goon rose up from behind the librarian’s checkout desk, I readied to pop back over to the police station. Not that Neuhaus and Heany could protect me, but it seemed like a good idea.
The goons were still far enough away that I postponed my escape to deliver some righteous anger. “What are you doing here? This isn’t your turf.”
Okay, so I didn’t know that for sure. But I wanted a safe territory for myself, so I drew a line in the sand.
Goon Number One stalked slow and easy away from the shelves, not in any hurry at all. “We came to find you. Give us a taste, pretty girl.”