Darkness Calls (21 page)

T
hey were jostled around in the bed of the van as Sebastian hit a particularly big pothole.

Ryder moaned and Diana reached out to reposition his head on her folded jacket. She brushed her thumb over his lips and whispered softly, “Ryder, you cannot quit now.”

As if he heard her, he moaned again, and beneath her hand, the muscles of his cheek twitched.

“Ryder?”

His eyes popped open and his body began to shake with faint tremors. Diana laid her hands on his shoulders as the contractions increased. It was almost as if he were having a seizure. Diana glared at Melissa. “What's happening?”

“It may be the medicine,” she said, her voice filled with doubt, as if she was beginning to question the wisdom of her judgment. “It's never been this bad before.” She turned away and rooted around in her medical bag.

The spasms became so powerful that Ryder's body nearly jumped off the floor of the van. Diana straddled his chest, pinning him down to keep him from injuring himself. She held his head in her hands and his eyes focused on her. His next words, uttered in a pained whisper, tore at her heart. “Let me die.”

Diana shook her head and bent to lay her cheek alongside his. “I can't let you go.”

Beneath her legs, Ryder's body continued to convulse. As Melissa injected him again, the tremors worsened then gradually slowed. Beneath her cheek, the cold sweat disappeared as his body warmed. Diana sat back up. His eyes were closed. His breathing was a little deeper and more regular. She slipped off of his chest and joined Melissa in binding his wounds. “What now?”

Melissa put pressure bandages on the incisions on his chest and midsection, while Diana packed the deeper puncture wound on his side and taped the packing into place.

“I need to close up the more serious wounds. Then he needs to feed,” Melissa said calmly.

Sebastian shot a look back as he rounded a corner. “Feed? What kind of feed?”

“Sebastian, watch the road,” Diana said as he hit the curb and barely avoided a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Sebastian cursed under his breath, muttering about domineering women, and sped up a little. Diana caught a glimpse of a familiar landmark from the view out of the windshield of the van, and she realized they were only blocks from the apartment building. “Does he need to feed now?”

Melissa shook her head. “He's weak but seems to have stabilized a little. But I don't know how long this will last.”

“What do you mean?” Diana asked.

Sebastian brought the van to an abrupt halt in the small loading dock of the apartment building and turned to face the two women. “How are we going to get him inside without anyone noticing?”

Melissa reached into a small bag tacked to the side of the van and hauled out a raincoat. “Help me get this on him,” she said to Diana. Between the two of them, they slipped the garment on Ryder so that his wounds were hidden.

Melissa motioned to the back door of the van. The chrome of a wheelchair caught Diana's eye. “Go around the back and get that chair ready.”

Sebastian quickly popped open the large back doors of the van. He undid the bungee cords that held the chair in place, unfolded it and placed it on the ground. Then he helped Diana and Melissa in half dragging, half carrying Ryder to the chair. Ryder slipped into a heap in the seat, his body loose, but lacking control since he was still unconscious.

“We'll get him upstairs, Sebastian. Go park the van and come back. Apartment 2401,” Diana said.

Sebastian nodded, and they wheeled the chair up the loading ramp and to the freight elevator. Melissa pushed the button and within seconds, the elevator opened. They boarded and headed up to the duplex apartment. That was easy. The hard part was getting Ryder into Melissa's bed on the lower floor of the duplex. His body was heavy and cumbersome, even with the two of them working together. It took some time, but they finally managed to get him comfortably settled.

Melissa filled a basin with warm water and brought Diana a towel. “Get him cleaned up while I get some sutures and bandages ready.”

Diana nodded, then stripped off the raincoat and went to work wiping away the dried blood on his chest and abdomen. She winced as she realized how much blood had soaked into the bandages they had applied in the van. She was nearly done when Melissa returned, holding a tray with various sutures, instruments and bandages.

Melissa's gaze met hers. “You may want to leave for this.”

Diana had spent too much time running. She stepped away but couldn't leave.

Melissa took a spot on the edge of the bed and laid the tray on the nightstand. She inspected one incision on Ryder's chest and then began to stitch it up. With each pass of the needle, Ryder's body twitched, but he didn't wake.

Diana passed Melissa the items she requested while tending to Ryder's wounds. As Melissa applied disinfectant, Diana was actually relieved to hear Ryder moan. The sound reassured her he was still alive. They were just patching up the stake wound when the doorbell rang.

Diana ran to open the door for Sebastian. As soon as he saw her, he held his arms wide. She took comfort in the tight hug he gave her. “Have faith, Diana.”

She let out a harsh little laugh. “Faith? Even if he lives…” She lingered in his embrace for a moment. “I have to go see how he is.” As she started to go, he took her hand. “Is there anything I can do?”

Diana gave her cell phone to her brother. “Call David and tell him…He doesn't know about Ryder, so just tell him we're still with Ryder at the doctor's. Ask him where we stand with the stakeout of the warehouse.”

“If he asks when you'll be there—”

“Tell him I'll be there as soon as I can.” When Diana entered the bedroom, Melissa rose from the bed.

“I'm going to get a bag so he can feed.”

Ryder was pale and very still. His chest barely moved as he breathed. Diana reached out and lightly touched him. His skin had grown ice cold again. The cold transferred itself to her and settled within her heart.

Melissa returned and held out the bag of blood to Diana. “I think he might be more willing to take this from you.”

She grabbed the blood. It was warm. “Did you just draw this?”

Melissa shook her head. “Just nuked it a little. It would be better if it were fresh. It's more potent when it's fresh.”

Diana sat on the edge of the bed and ran her hand along Ryder's shoulder. He roused slightly, glanced at her and the bag she held, and then shook his head.

“No,” he whispered. “Let me go.”

“Ryder, please.” But he answered with a stronger no that seemed to drain him of what little strength he had left. He lapsed into unconsciousness and nothing Diana did seemed to rouse him.

“What do we do now?” she asked Melissa.

“I don't know.”

It wasn't enough of an answer for Diana. She grabbed Melissa's arm. “What do you mean, you don't know? You and your family have been with him for—”

“One hundred and thirty-eight years,” Melissa finished for her.

“There must be some other way of helping him if he won't feed. You have to know how to help him after all that time.”

“My father had journals kept by each and every Danvers. Histories of their lives, Ryder's, and all that they knew.”

Diana sensed reluctance in the young doctor's voice. “There must be something there.”

“Ryder never wanted me to look at the journals. He felt they were too much for me to handle, at first….” Melissa stopped, clearly uncomfortable.

“So what do we do?”

“I don't know,” Melissa answered softly.

Tears came to Diana's eyes, and she fought them back. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she said, “We have to try something.”

Melissa laid a hand on Diana's shoulder and gave a squeeze. “I can try, but nothing will help if he's made up his mind—”

“To die? We'll just have to convince him otherwise.”

“Not we, Diana.
You.
You are the only one who has the power to convince him.”

Diana dropped her gaze to Ryder. He lay nearly motionless on the bed, his skin paler than before. She laid her hand on his chest. A fine sweat was breaking out all over his body once more. She raised her face to look at Melissa. “What do you want me to do?”

“Talk to him. Convince him to feed. And I need you to donate some blood.”

Diana nodded. “Take as much as you can.”

“Diana,” Sebastian interrupted, waving the cell phone in the air as he stood by the door. “David says he needs to talk to you.”

She took the phone from her brother. “What's up?”

“We've got the place surrounded. Can you get any more info from Ryder?” David asked.

“Ryder isn't conscious. He's…We don't know if he'll make it,” she confessed as she watched Melissa draw the comforter over Ryder.

“I'm sorry. I know that you and he—”

“What do you need, David? I'd like to get back to Ryder.”

“We need you here. Soon,” he replied in a whisper. “ADIC Hernandez thinks the special agent in charge should be in charge.”

“Tell Hernandez to go…” She stopped herself, knowing it would accomplish nothing. “Tell the ADIC I'm with one of the victims and trying to get a death-bed statement. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

“Diana—”

She shut off the phone, unwilling to waste another second with her partner, knowing every moment she delayed might be one she missed with Ryder.

T
he blood bags lay on the nightstand next to the bed, still warm. Diana sat by Ryder's side as Melissa drew her blood. Ryder's companion was now with Sebastian, getting his donation. After, Melissa planned on giving some herself.

Diana leaned close to Ryder, laid a hand on his chest and spoke softly. There was no response, which meant she had only one choice. She reached for the hypo Melissa had prepared and left behind after instructing her on how to use it. Diana's hand shook as she removed the bandage covering the middle of Ryder's chest and placed the hypo directly above his heart. Melissa had said it was extreme to do it this way, but they had reached the moment for extreme measures.

Feeling for the bottom of his sternum with one hand, Diana shifted the needle and slowly eased it in. She took a deep breath as she depressed the plunger, forcing the drugs into him. As soon as she was done, she quickly removed the needle, knowing he would respond to the medications.

It took only a second for the reaction to begin.

Ryder's eyes popped open and his body gave the first twitch.

She leaned over him and called his name. He focused on her face and whispered, “Don't do this again. Please, don't.”

“You need to feed.” She grabbed the bag and held it up for him to see.

Ryder shook his head and looked away from it. “No.” He grabbed the comforter as his body started to shake more violently.

Diana cupped his cheek and applied gentle pressure until he was facing her. “You need to feed otherwise—”

“I want to die. I want my freedom.”

She only shook her head and held the bag up to him again. “I need you to live. Now, drink.”

His body went into spasm again and she was forced to straddle him until the seizures passed. Sweat glistened on his face and she wiped it away with her hand and brought the bag to his lips. “Drink.”

He pulled away once more.

Frustrated with his resistance, she reached over to the tray holding the remaining bag of blood and the empty hypodermic needle. She grabbed the hypo and dragged the edge of the needle along her wrist until she drew blood. Bright red drops welled along the deep scratch and she brought her wrist to Ryder's lips. His body jumped beneath her.

He tried to pull his head back, but since he was so weak she held him there with little effort. A moment later, his fangs erupted and, as he turned his face, she saw the glow of his animal eyes.

“No,” he said. “This is why you don't want me.”

She moved her wrist and, with her thumb, traced the edges of his lips and then his fangs. Bending, she brought her lips to his and kept him there when he would have pulled away. She kissed him, her eyes open and locked with his.

When she was done, she whispered against his mouth, “Feed or I'll kick your ass…again.” She brought the bag of blood to his mouth once more.

He gave her a weak fangy grin, hesitated for a second, and then sank his teeth through the plastic of the bag.

He closed his eyes as he drained the bag. Once it was done, she quickly replaced it with the second bag, which he sucked down a little more slowly. As he did so, a faint trace of color returned to his face. When he finished with the second bag, he was breathing more deeply, and his gaze filled with both love and anger.

“Why?” he asked, but got no answer to his question as Sebastian came in, holding up her cell phone once more.

“It's David. He says it's urgent.”

She grabbed the phone and listened as her partner advised that they had the suspect trapped in the warehouse and needed her. “I'll be there in fifteen minutes.” She shut off the phone and met Ryder's gaze. “Promise me you'll feed on whatever Melissa brings you.”

“Why?” he asked again.

When she eased away and sat on the edge of the bed, he laid his hand on her shoulder. “Tell me why, darlin'.”

“I…I need you. I know I shouldn't but…” She shrugged and rose from the bed. “Promise me you'll feed.”

“Promise me you'll come back.”

Diana knew she'd return, only it might be to say goodbye. Nodding, she whispered, “I'll be back.”

That seemed to satisfy him, and she walked into the hall where Melissa and Sebastian waited. She was deeply troubled by Ryder's condition, about her case and her career, and about what she would do once she returned. But all she said to her brother and Melissa was “He fed.”

Melissa was clearly wondering about Ryder's reversal. As her gaze locked with Diana's, Melissa seemed to realize that it had cost Diana dearly to achieve Ryder's change of heart.

Melissa hugged her hard. Diana hesitated, but then relented and returned the embrace.

She pulled away from Melissa and stroked her hand over Melissa's blond hair. “I have to go. They've cornered the serial killer in the warehouse.” She walked to Sebastian and stopped. “Are
you
going?”

He inclined his head in Melissa's direction. “Do you need my help?”

Melissa glanced through the open door to where Ryder lay in the bed. “Possibly.”

Diana detected a hint of challenge in the young doctor's voice. Glancing at Sebastian, she realized something was up between these two. It concerned her that Sebastian had been dragged into this, and now it seemed like he was getting even more involved. She stood there, hoping he would decide to go or that Melissa would send him away. Instead Melissa said, “I could use some support. Just in case. Do you think you can handle it?”

Sebastian's shoulders pulled back. Diana knew that stance well. She was therefore prepared when he said, “You'd be surprised at just how much I can handle.”

Diana didn't wait any longer. She brushed a quick kiss on her brother's cheek and headed out.

 

She arrived at the warehouse just as David and the others were preparing to go in. She grabbed a vest from one of her colleagues and then eased into an FBI windbreaker. “What do we have?”

“He was in there when we got here about an hour ago. The imaging shows he's sitting in the middle of the space. There's some kind of light, powered by either gas or kerosene, judging from the heat it's throwing off.”

She nodded and made sure her holster was securely tucked into the small of her back. “Have you been able to make contact?”

“We've tried on several occasions, but his first response came only about five minutes ago. He said he wanted to talk to ‘the slut on the dance floor,'” David explained.

Diana nodded and grabbed the walkie-talkie he held out to her. “You and I go in together.” She glanced around at the other agents who were waiting for her instructions and picked out positions for them to take on the roof and along the perimeter of the building.

“Do we know if there are other exits?”

“We've got them all covered and Daly's on the roof with some members of his SWAT team.” David pointed out Daly's silhouette on the building across the way.

ADIC Hernandez walked over and inclined his head in greeting. “Glad you could make it, Special Agent in Charge Reyes. How's Latimer?”

“Badly hurt and under a doctor's care. It looks like he may make it,” she replied, and reached for the bullhorn sitting on the hood of David's car. “He can confirm who took and tortured him.”

“Good. We'll need his testimony.”

Diana wasn't about to contradict him in front of everyone. There was no way Ryder could testify. She was afraid of what the killer might reveal once captured, but she would have to cross that bridge when she got to it.

“Let's go.” She waited until the other agents were in place before approaching the windows along the street level. She brought the bullhorn to her mouth and said, “Rudy. You wanted me and now I'm here.”

She listened carefully. There was a scrape, like that of a metal chair on cement and a shuffling sound. “I've been waiting for you. I wanted to tell you about what I did to your friend,” he called out.

Diana tightened her grip on the bullhorn. Anger swept over her at the glee she heard in Rudy's voice. He'd enjoyed hurting Ryder, just as he'd savored what he did to his earlier victims. She wanted him to pay. She reached for her gun and pulled it from the holster even as she responded to him via the bullhorn. “Well, I'm coming in now so you can tell me, Rudy.”

She glanced over her shoulder at David and motioned for him to head toward the door. He grabbed the handle, pulled and it opened freely. He held it open with his body, his gun ready.

Diana laid the bullhorn on the ground and entered the space, quickly moving out of the fatal funnel created in the doorway opening. She paused once she was inside and against the wall. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Rudy stood within a small circle of light thrown off by a gas-powered lantern, right by the beam on which Ryder had been suspended. The wood of the beam was dark in spots, stained with the blood of Rudy's victims. “I'm here, Rudy.” She inched closer, her gun trained on him.

“Do you really think you need that—Diana, is it? Your friend Latimer called your name more than once,” he said, his hands tucked into the pockets of the nylon jacket he wore.

“It is Diana. Is Rudy your real name?” She pressed forward, with David behind her as backup.

“Yes. Rudolph Alexander Williams Jr. to be precise. But you can call me Rudy,” he said nonchalantly, as if either totally unaware or uncaring of the situation.

“Take your hands out of your pockets,” David requested.

Rudy laughed and ignored him. “Your friend Latimer was very interesting, but you must know that.” He smiled.

She couldn't let him say any more about Ryder. She had no doubt from the tone of his voice that Rudy knew. “Why did you kill the girls?” she asked, trying to redirect his attention.

“Why do you think, Diana? Because it felt good,” Rudy replied with relish. “Because they deserved it.”

“Like your mother or girlfriend deserved it?” Diana challenged, hoping to elicit a rise and additional information.

Rudy fidgeted his hands in his pockets and Diana tightened her finger on the trigger, ready to pull. Rudy made no other move with his hands. He just smiled at Diana and grew slightly more agitated.

“My mother used to whore with her lovers in front of me. She'd stick me in a closet, but I could see what she was doing through the keyhole.”

“It must have been difficult for you. It must have made you feel bad.”

“It made me feel dirty to watch her. Hear her sounds.” He closed his eyes tightly as if seeing it all over again.

“Did you kill her, too, Rudy?”

His eyes snapped open. “No. I didn't, but I wish I had. Then maybe my dad…” His voice trailed off. He took a step away from them and finally pulled his hands out of his pockets as he approached a table a few feet away. Diana walked toward him, and the glint of the knives and other instruments on the table became clear. He picked up one of the knives.

“Drop it, Rudy. You'll never get to use it.”

“Oh, but I did, Diana.” He picked it up, anyway, but remained feet away from them. “I used this on all of them, except your friend Latimer. I didn't get to take his heart.”

“Why the hearts, Rudy?” David asked from behind Diana.

Rudy laughed harshly. “Their cheating hearts, just like in that old country-western tune, only it isn't something to sing about really, is it?”

“Did your father know about—”

“Oh, he found out and when he did…” Rudy held the knife in his left hand, turning to face them as he reached for something with his right.

Diana fought to keep an eye on what he was doing, but it was difficult to see in the dim light. As long as he stayed where he was…“What did he do? Was he the one who killed your mother?”

“My father was a gifted surgeon. A respected man with a good family name and wealth. None of that was enough, except maybe to protect him.” Rudy continued to hold the knife in the air while slipping his right hand behind his back, hiding whatever he had taken. “Or should I say, protect his reputation,” Rudy added, almost as an afterthought.

“He killed her with that knife?”

Rudy glanced at the knife and nodded. “My grandparents were able to cover it up.” A sad look came to his face. For a moment, Diana almost felt pity for the young boy who had suffered as he watched his parents' tragedy unfold before his eyes.

“Your father didn't go to jail?”

Again Rudy laughed harshly. “No, he didn't. He exacted his own kind of punishment.” Rudy whipped his hand from behind his back and she saw the gun. Only, she didn't shoot to kill and neither did David, for Rudy's intentions were clear. She pulled her trigger, aiming to disarm, but it was too late.

Her shot caught him in the shoulder, but Rudy had finished putting the gun to his temple, and even as his body reeled from the impact of Diana's shot, he pulled the trigger.