CHAPTER SIX
After talking for a little while longer, we headed back to the station. About half way there I remembered the letter in my pocket. I pulled into the parking lot of a local department store and pulled it out. I wanted to know what it was. It didn’t come from the mail so that meant someone had to have dropped it off. I opened the letter and was shocked to see what it said.
I know what you are. Reveal yourself and the murders will stop, or I will reveal everything and pin the murders on you.
I passed the note over to Davis. I couldn’t get a grip on what had just happened.
“Shawn, who could know about you and how did they find out?” I knew he was worried too. The only time he calls me Shawn is when he is being my friend, not my partner.
“Whoever is doing this is going to put this all on me. What am I going to do? There are only five people who know the truth about me. Mark and Courtney would never say anything. They are my biggest supporters. You just found out not long ago and I can trust you with my life. Julie and Casey found out about me after all of this started.” I was beyond worried now. I was scared.
“We need to find out if anyone saw who left the note on your desk. That will tell us where to start.” That’s Davis for you, staying cool when I’m not.
“Good thinking. Let’s ask Beth. Maybe she saw who has gone into my office today. That will narrow it down a lot.” Beth is my secretary. Nothing happens around my office that she doesn’t see, unless I don’t want her to. “Davis, one more thing, I wasn’t going to say anything but after reading this I have to. This person was at my home last night.”
“WHAT?! Are you sure?” Davis just about jumped out of his seat.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I folded the note back up and began to drive back to the station to locate Beth.
We arrive at the station and went to find her. We found her where she normally is, at her desk right in front of my office. Beth is in her late thirties with short blonde hair. She’s about 5’5 and weighs about 120 pounds. As always, she was wearing her uniform (well, following the dress code for non-officers here) of black slacks, white blouse and black low-heeled dress shoes.
“Beth, have you seen who has been in my office today?” I ask this a little harsher then I meant to. But I couldn’t help it. I needed to know.
“The only ones I have seen go in today is you and that strange goon, Adams. Other than that, no one else has been in there.” She didn’t seem to notice the concern in my voice.
“Did Adams go in before or after I did?”
“He went in before, just after I got here this morning. Why, is something wrong?” Now she picks up on the concern.
“No, I’m just trying to figure out who left me this note.”
“He did drop something onto your desk. I didn’t see what it was though.”
“Thanks Beth. Do me a favor; don’t let anyone but the Sheriff, Davis or myself in my office.”
“No problem.”
As Davis and I walk into my office, Adams came around the corner. “Adams, come here a minute, we need to talk to you.”
“Yes sir.”
I led Adams into my office and Davis closed the door.
“What were you doing in my office this morning?” Wow. That sounded like I was biting his head off.
“I returned the pen I borrowed from you yesterday. Was it the wrong one? There it is right there.”
Damn, I didn’t even see it there this morning. “Okay, was anyone else in here this morning?”
“No sir. Not that I saw. Is something wrong?”
“I’m just trying to figure something out. You can go now. Sorry to take you from your work.”
“No problem boss. If I can help just let me know.” He walks out the door and I look at Davis, “Did he seem real to you about that?”
“Define real. He has seemed like a strange little man from the moment I met him.”
I had to laugh at that. Davis was right. If Adams wasn’t kissing my ass he was trying to kiss Davis’s.
“I’m going to keep an eye on him. Beth doesn’t let a lot slip past her.”
This is where Davis decided to change the subject. “Anderson, is it true vampires can heal quickly?” Wow, didn’t see that one coming.
“Well, small cuts can heal fast. A wound that would be fatal to a human wouldn’t kill me if I had access to blood. And I mean like being shot in the stomach or neck; something like that. A head or heart shot would do me in. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, just trying to find out all I can.”
“Okay. I guess the more you know, the easier it will be to work on a case that looks like what humans believe. Not to mention it will be easier working alongside a vampire.”
“I was hoping you would understand. Let’s go get some lunch. I’m hungry.”
After lunch, Davis and I spent the rest of the day trying to make the evidence work. This is of course working around your everyday dumbass drivers and emergency calls. I decided to go back to the first crime scene. I had to find something to make sense of.
As I stood next to where the body was found I noticed the scent was still in the air.
“Davis, you know how they say vamps have a great sense of smell?”
“Yeah, is that true?” Davis was looking at me like he was hoping I had found a clue. I was hoping the same thing.
“Yeah, it’s true. I noticed this smell at the other crime scenes but couldn’t figure it out. I still can’t, but I know the smell. It was in my yard last night too. That’s how I know this person was there.” After I told Davis what happened last night, I was starting to go over the list of people I had contact with today to see if any of them rang a bell. I started to track the scent, hoping it would lead me somewhere. It took us to the back of the cemetery and over the fence into the woods. It took us everywhere but, to no end. I guess this was done intentionally because if this freak knows I’m a vampire then they must know I can track them this way. After wondering around for about an hour and a half, Davis and I turned back to head for the car.
“Anderson, what does it smell like? I mean, like, shampoo, perfume, or a scent someone such as me wouldn’t smell?”
“This would be a smell you wouldn’t pick up on. Every human has their own smell. It’s very subtle. Some have a hint of others. Like you would smell close to what your daughter smells like. But because of Mary, Ashley will smell like her too. She would also have a hit of a scent that would be different from a brother or sister on the off chance you and Mary have another child. Does that make sense?”
As we got into the car, Davis was lost in thought. “Yeah, I guess it does. So, Ashley would smell like a combination of both Mary and I?”
“Yeah, just like Carolyn would smell like a combination of both Mom and Dad. But, she would have a scent to identify herself from Bryan and me as well.”
“That’s cool.” I had to laugh.
Having come up with another dead end, Davis and I filled the rest of the day with everyday calls and careless drivers at the same time as keeping a focus on the case. We ran through ideas of what this freak may do next. Nothing was making sense and it was really bugging both of us.