Bloody Freak (A Bloody Series Book #1) (6 page)

     She drove to quickly to work, and got there fifteen minutes early to talk to 1st shift about the findings. Missy Dovenbarger, who ran the Lab 1st shift, told her that they had confirmed all seven of the victims.
No blood or hair from the killer. She thought as much. It turned out the guy that was supposed to go on last night; the one with the zombie father, was found dead. Also, his father wasn
’
t really a zombie. He had told his wife he was so he could run off wi
t
h the voodoo priestess. Missy consoled her on the loss of Ken. She made it sound like he was dead, so she just nodded and walked to the cafeteria.

    "Did you see the Porsche sitting out front?" Craig Harrison was asking Melody. He liked Melody. All the
guys did.

    "Hell yes. I almost rubbed up against it coming in. I had to restrain myself." Alex rolled her eyes. Maybe she couldn
’
t help it. Craig choked on his sprite before getting it together.

    "Yeah, it
’
s bad ass. I'm partial to Lambos' myself but
Porches
’
are..." Alex tuned him out while he tried to impress Melody with his knowledge of car anatomy. It wasn
’
t until he said, "I would paint it yellow myself, maybe add some flame decals. I mean black is cool and all but how awesome would yellow be?"

   "Okay, one, I would cut your head clean off if you painted a Porsche yellow. Two, did you say there is a
black
Porsche out front?" She asked.

    "Yeah, you didn
’
t see it? It's too gorgeous to miss," Melody answered.

    "No, I park out back and come in
that way. Easier to avoid Don." She was curious about the car though. There was no way it was his, but the coincidence was kind of funny.

Melody cocked her head. "That
’
s a good idea. I should start doing that." She walked away. Craig looked hurt.

Alex de
cided to forget the Porsche. She had work to do. Ken was depending on her. She remembered he was supposed to call her before her shift started. She checked her cell. Nothing. Oh well. He probably had other things to worry about. Like job hunting. That was
a depressing thought.

Alex was too distracted to notice Don was approaching her. She was usually on guard for moments like these, but today she had a lot on her plate.

    "Hey, Lambert," he drooled. He only called her Lambert when he was really mad. Shi
t.

    "What is it, Don? I have to get started on the findings."

    "I heard Ken say you were in charge last night. He can't do that. Only Iverson or Conner can promote employees." He puffed up in front of her.

    "He didn't promote me Don. He just wants
me to keep an eye out on everyone while he's out."

     "He should have put me in charge," he yelled ignoring her. "You know I deserve it. Especially after all the slack I have to pick up around here. I've been after that promotion for years!"

    "Hey!
Nobody said I was getting as promotion. All he said was to keep him involved in the case and to keep everybody in line. He picked me probably because I was standing closest to him at the time. If you have a problem with his choice, take it up with him. He
might not be the boss anymore but he damn well is still my friend. And if he asks me to watch out for everyone, I will. Considering whenever the asshole from New York decides to show up, neither of us will be in charge," she yelled back.

    "I will have t
hat promotion. It's mine by right. You're nothing but Ken's little mid-life crisis waiting to happen. Everybody can see it but him. Don't think I won't let Iverson know what's going on between you two when I get promoted." The smug look on his face pushed
her over the edge.

    "I could have that promotion any time I wanted it you sniveling little worm. You know why? Because at the end of the day I'm better at the job than you are. And if that wasn't enough to get me what I want I can always use the power I've got resting be
t
ween my legs. Normally I wouldn't, but who could resist. It's just another thing I'll always be better at than you Don," she whispered to him. Her fangs were flashing but she didn't care. Only when his face turned beet red did she back away. Chris, the Ch
e
mical Analysis guy was calling her, so she walked away from Don before he figured out what is was he wanted to scream at her about first. She headed back to the lab to see what Chris needed, still smiling as she walked through the door.

    "Yeah, Chris,
what
’
s up?"  She looked around the office and the lab tables. It was empty without Ken yelling at everybody to get to work.

    "Oh nothing, I just saw Don approaching critical mass and decided to save the lab one less firing. Maybe two if Don actually wo
rked up the nerve to choke you like he was thinking about doing."

    "Thanks little buddy. How could you tell he wanted to choke me? Maybe he's a machete kinda guy."

    "You must not have seen the clawing motion he was doing with his hands." He imitate
d Dons evil clawing motion, heightened for dramatic purposes. They laughed. 

    "So, how goes it over here? You find anything note worthy?" She asked.

    "Well, look at you stepping up to the plate. Ken would be proud," he grinned and ruffled her hair.
She smacked his hand away.

    "Why is everyone acting like he's dead? He's was fired, not decapitated. And I'm just curious. We're supposed to check up on each other
’
s projects you know? To solve cases? You
’
ve been back here by yourself too long."

    "Y
eah, I need a companion. Send Melody back here." Chris laughed.

    "You get about as much company out of Melody as a stack of paper plates." They both laughed.

    "Hey!" Melody yelled from the filing room across the hall.

    "Alright, if you have noth
ing to report, I'm headed back to my desk."

    "I'll page you if anything comes up. Oh and let me know if you run into the new guy. Word around is he's dishy." He rubbed his hands together.

    "I will. Wait, he's here? Why hasn't he been back here yet?"
She was unusually irritated by the man she hadn't even met yet. He had inadvertently booted Ken out of the office. That was why.

    "I don't know. He's probably meeting with Iverson and Conner." He sat in his swivel chair and spun around.
Goofy kid.
She
nodded to him in agreement and walked to her desk. She started trying to tidy up, got distracted by her pile of old newsletters she hadn
’
t read yet and didn
’
t finish. Missy had said they were waiting on someone on the force to send word if they had tracke
d
down the suspect. That wouldn
’
t happen. He could be in his wolf form for days if he was strong enough. And despite the fact that everyone saw him transform, nobody would be looking for a wolf. It was half past when she heard Iverson and Conner call every
o
ne out to meet the new guy. She found herself very irritated again. Of course rationally, a half hour late wasn
’
t that bad. But considering her grudge born of her missing boss/crush and the emotional roller coaster she'd been on for two days, she was more
than willing to take it out on this guy. She walked out to the main office. Everyone was crowded around Ken
’
s desk. The new guy
’
s desk now. She huffed.

    "Everyone I'd like you to meet Dr. Ethan Hollowman, just in from New York. He's here to help with t
he Wolf Killer case. Please help to make him feel welcome." Conner looked positively smug.

    "The Wolf Killer case? That
’
s what we
’
re calling it? Who decided that?" She said petulantly.

    "Shh, I wanna here what he's gonna say." Chris hushed her.

   
"Traitor," she spit back.

    "Can you not see that man? He's more than dishy, he's a god." Chris went to the dark side. She mourned him.

    "Actually, I can't see him. Iverson and Elkins are standing in the way." She strained her neck to see. Maybe if he
was hot she could deal with this situation better. No, no matter how good looking, he was no substitute for Ken.

Then he spoke.

    "Hello everyone. As Lieutenant Conner stated, I'm Dr. Ethan Hollowman, from the 82
nd
Precinct in Manhattan. I'm proud to
be able to help in any way I can with this case. It's quickly become national news, and I know nobody here wants the F.B.I brought in." That garnered some laughs. Alex was frozen. The voice was fully American now, instead of the British it had been the ni
g
ht before.

    "I've been briefed by Captain Iverson and Lieutenant Conner, and though we don't have much to go on at this point, I believe we can solve this case and bring a mad man to justice." Everyone clapped softly to acknowledge his wonderful speech.
Alex was still frozen.

   "I understand a good man was asked to step down to make way for my coming here today. I can't expect everyone to be happy with this decision, but I do ask that everyone give me a chance. I think we can make this work. Thank you
for your patience and understanding." Everyone nodded and clapped. They loved him already. Alex was thawing out little by little. Then she got hot. Not hot like last night. Not like when
Dr.
Ethan Hollowman was inside her. Hot like she felt when she wanted
to kill something. Iverson chose that moment to step aside to let Ethan have access to Ken
’
s desk. It was then that he spotted her. They made eye contact. He didn't even look shocked. In fact, he looked pleased to see her. She realized that he had known
a
ll along. Not only had she slept with the enemy, she had slept with the man who knew he was the enemy. She picked up the first thing she laid her hands on and threw it at him. It just happened to be a color printer.

Chapter Seven

    Well,
that hurt. She was as upset as he knew she would be. Also, the color printer hitting him square in the chest, that hurt too. He fell and didn't immediately get back up. Not because he couldn
’
t but because he was playing human and getting hit by a printer
s
hould have knocked him on his ass. He also didn
’
t want to see the look on her face again. That was pain. From her screams it sounded like people were wrangling her into the hallway. He couldn
’
t see from under the desk, there were so many people crowded ar
o
und trying to access his condition. One woman was grouping his biceps. Strange. He could hear her friends trying to calm her down. She was hysterical. Beyond normal he would think. He should have pretended he was surprised. He had been practicing all day.
One guy caught him in the bathroom earlier. It was embarrassing. He told himself he could do it when the time came, but as soon as he felt her enter the room he got excited. His speech was all for her. All he wanted was a chance to prove himself to her. B
u
t when he locked eyes with her, it was over. From confident leader to love sick fool in zero seconds. He was pathetic. He didn
’
t deserve such a spit fire. No one had ever thrown a printer at him before. He wondered if she were wearing panties today. He re
a
lized someone had called an ambulance because they thought he was knocked out. He opened his eyes and tried sitting. The homicide detective Elkins tried to push him back down but he refused.

    "I'm fine people. Really. Nothing broken."

    "I'm truly so
rry about this Dr. Hollowman. I don't know what came over her. She's always been spirited but never vicious. I swear, this has never happened." Lieutenant Conner was wringing his hands like a worried matron. It was quite comical. He could be glad, he gues
s
ed, that she didn
’
t normally act this way. He brought out some form of passion in her still.

    "I believe you Conner. I should see how she fares." He went to stand, but Conner and Elkins "pushed" him back down again.

    "Dr. Hollowman, you were hit wit
h a printer. You should rest at least.  I'll send someone to see how Alex
fares
." He said the last with a bit of humor. Ethan realized he was slipping. No one said that anymore.

    "You want to press charges, Sir?" Elkins asked.

    "Good Heavens, no. Sh
e didn
’
t mean to kill me. If so she would have aimed at my head I think." He smiled. Or lower.