Penumbra (23 page)

“Why do I get the sudden feeling I'm not going to like the direction of this conversation?”

“Probably because you won't.” His expression was suddenly grim. “Remember when I mentioned Kathryn Douglass being murdered, and a crow feather being found at the murder scene?” When she nodded, he said, “There was something else, too—a warning about not reviving Penumbra written in blood on the wall. I don't think it's a coincidence. I think that either your brother or the man you've been in psychic contact with is a murderer.”

“
B
UT WHY WOULD EITHER OF
them want to murder Douglass when she had nothing to do with the Penumbra project?” There was no surprise in her voice, no anger. No emotion at all, really, except perhaps a tiny hint of weary resignation. As if this was just another shock in a day that had already provided several.

Gabriel shrugged. In truth, he had no answer to that question, and certainly no proof yet that the feather they'd found in Douglass's apartment was linked to either the man from Sam's past or the man in her telepathic journeys. All he had was suspicion and a feeling that his guess was the correct one.

“She was in contact with both Blaine and Lloyd on an operational level. I suspect they had actually begun work on a project similar to Penumbra, and your brother or psi buddy discovered it. Hence the warning on the wall.”

She studied him for a moment, then said, “Why would Pegasus be employed to revive a project like Penumbra? Wouldn't the military want that sort of project under its own control?”

“Pegasus worked in conjunction with the military on a number of projects. Given the warning also said that Douglass was told not to proceed with the project, it suggests that maybe she was the reason behind its revival. We'll never know for sure now, given that she's dead.”

“And it's not like the military will tell us,” Sam said. “But the thing is, Penumbra was totally destroyed. It wasn't just the buildings, but most of the personnel and all the research materials, so neither Pegasus nor the military should have been able to revive it.”

“Unless Douglass somehow came across research material relating to shadow walkers. If Karl has documents on it, there'll be other stuff out there as well. Maybe she started research, and then went to the military.”

“But even then—”

“It might not have amounted to anything,” he finished for her. “Except for the fact that they'd discovered the possibility that one of their test subjects had survived the destruction.”

And that, he realized suddenly, was what the explosion at the Pegasus Foundation had been about. Those in control of Penumbra had been under the impression that fire was Sam's element to control. They'd intended to use her reaction to the firestorm at Pegasus to test whether or not she was who they thought—and then the med check afterward would have confirmed it. But then, why had they gone ahead with the test when he and Illie had shown up instead?

Had Douglass been confused as to the identity or sex of the test subject? Or was there, as Illie had suggested, a deeper reason for him and Illie being given the test anyway?

And what would they have done if the two of them had died that day?

It was probably something they would never know, since Douglass was now dead. And Blaine and Lloyd were not likely to be fonts of information.

He just wished he knew what they thought about that message on the wall. Neither man had given much away, and though he believed Lloyd's comment that he had no idea why that particular message had been left with Douglass's body, Blaine had made no such comment. And Gabriel had a feeling that Blaine not only knew the reason behind it, but supported it. Which was an odd thing to think when Blaine was supposedly the man who'd been in charge of the project.

But he could admit to none of this aloud. Not to Sam, anyway. She had enough to worry about already.

“What I think,” he said eventually, “is that someone is still trying to protect you. Whether that person is this unseen brother of yours, or whether it's the man you're psychically connected to, is something only you can answer.”

“Why would my brother—the man you've suggested could be Sethanon—want to stop Penumbra when that very project could give him the army he needs to win his war?”

“I don't know. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the feather was found in Douglass's apartment.” He hesitated, then added, “But I do think it's time you started asking some hard questions.”

Anger flashed in her eyes, reminding him briefly of a burst of lightning. “You think I haven't been?”

“I think you've been delaying certain issues because you're afraid to uncover the truth.”

That streak of lightning seemed brighter in her eyes, and this time it was accompanied by a stirring in the air that was vaguely reminiscent of the crackle of energy that raced just before a thunderstorm.

But before he could comment on it, his wristcom rang. He tapped it and said impatiently, “Assistant Director Stern.”

“Hey, partner, got some news you might not want to hear.”

“Spit it out, Illie. I don't have time for games right now.”

“We found another body in Kathryn Douglass's apartment. It was cut into pieces and shoved into an upright freezer.”

“How did the State boys manage to miss that?”

“Well, the body parts were covered by standard-issue meat trays and weren't immediately recognizable.”

“I would have thought a severed human head would be immediately recognizable.”

“A human head?” Sam asked, eyebrow raised in query. Gabriel noted with interest that the electricity in the air seemed to fade away once her attention was diverted.

“Well,
that
was at the bottom of the freezer, and it was only after undoing the black plastic around the body parts that we realized what we had.”

“So why did you think to look in the freezer in the first place?”

“Well, rules say we have to do a thorough search of the premises, but it was primarily curiosity that had me looking deeper into the freezer. Douglass was apparently a vegetarian, so what was she doing with a freezer full of meat?”

“Have you sent the remains to the labs for analysis?”

“Yeah, Finley's checking it out as we speak. I thought you might want to be there for his initial report.”

Gabriel frowned. “And why would I want to do that?”

“Because if the head was anything to go by, the dead woman is an exact replica of Douglass herself, only a little younger.”

Surprise rippled through him. “Did she have a sister?”

“No immediate living family. There are two cousins and an aunt now living in the United States, but that's about it.”

“I'll head over to headquarters now. Anything else?”

“Not offhand. I'm still digging into her past.”

“What about Blaine?”

“That's a big, fat zero. The military has not been forthcoming with information, either.”

No surprise there. “Well, then, continue both investigations and let me know if you find anything.” He hit the end button and met Sam's curious gaze. “They found another body at Douglass's apartment. One that looks identical to the murdered woman.”

“A twin? Or a clone?”

“According to the records, Douglass had no immediate family.”

“Well, if both Douglasses are dead, then it can't be a shapeshifter at work. Those revert to their natural forms when they die, so at least one of them has to be a clone. Right?”

“Perhaps. But nothing in this whole mess is what it seems, so maybe we've also found a shapeshifter who does not revert.” He rubbed his head, then pulled his car keys from his pocket and handed them to her. “Go back to the hotel and get some sleep. I'll make arrangements to get Mary transferred to a safe house and then go talk to Finley.”

She took the keys from him, her fingers touching his only briefly, yet they sent an electric charge through his entire body. A charge reflected briefly in her eyes.

“What about our discussion?” she said softly. “And my brunch?”

“I'll meet you at the hotel around four this afternoon and drive you to Wetherton's. We can talk on the way. We'll have to do that rain check on the apology lunch after all.”

Sam nodded and glanced into the room, as if to reassure herself Mary was okay, then walked away. He watched her for a few seconds, then started making arrangements to secure Mary.

“How's the examination coming along, Finley?” Gabriel asked as he strode into the lab.

Finley cleared his throat and slid his thick glasses up the bridge of his nose with a gloved finger. “Well, this is certainly an interesting situation. Two identical bodies, both chopped into pieces, one a younger version of the other.”

Gabriel stopped at the end of one of the tables and examined the two sets of remains. The two women would definitely have been physically identical if not for the deeper age lines around the face of their original victim. “The cuts on the younger version appear to be from a sharp instrument.”

“They are. It appears she was strangled before she was sliced apart.”

“You've done DNA testing?”

“Yes. The younger one is the clone. It would seem Kathryn Douglass was planning to skip the whole ‘age gracefully' idea.”

No real surprise, given Douglass's name
had
been on Kazdan's list. “She wouldn't be the first woman in the world to resort to surgery to do that.”

“This is a little more extreme than plastic surgery.”

“Yes, but it's not exactly the first time we've seen this. There's Wetherton, for a start.” Although Wetherton's reasons for transplanting into a clone seemed to be more about avoiding disease than gaining a younger body. “Any idea where the clone was murdered?”

“Not yet. Though there's no evidence at Douglass's that the clone was murdered there.”

“No.” And no reason for Douglass to want her clone dead, either. Not if she'd paid the sort of money Wetherton had to get a new body.

Gabriel studied the table containing the torn-apart remnants of humanity, then added, “There aren't many shifters who would have the strength to tear apart someone like that.”

Finley sniffed. “Most cats could, but what we're dealing with here is a bear shifter. And it's one big bear, I can tell you.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, amused by the comment. “Most bear shifters are big.”

“Think brown bear, and add half the size again.”

That
was
one big
mother
of a bear. “How can you be sure?”

“I measured the distance between the claw slashes left on the woman's back.” Finley hesitated, then added, “It looks like he shifted while they were…um…making love. Nasty stuff.”

Especially for Kathryn Douglass, Gabriel imagined. The differences between the anatomy of a human male and that of a bear would in itself have caused a lot of pain and damage. Probably even have torn her up fairly badly. “Anything else?”

Finley shook his head. “We've collected semen samples, of course. I'll do a search of both our database and the government's to see if there's a match.”

Gabriel nodded. Most criminals these days had DNA samples taken as a matter of course, but it had taken a lot of years to implement the procedure thanks to the civil rights activists. Which meant, of course, that the database was not only constantly being updated, but also only reliable when it came to criminals caught in the last ten years.

And he very much doubted that the person behind these murders could be tracked down so easily.

“Let me know if you find anything.”

Finley nodded absently and Gabriel left the lab, heading up to his office. He grabbed a cup of coffee from the autocook and sat down at his desk.

“Computer, update.”

“Please state name and rank for voice verification.”

He did so. The screen flicked to life and began listing all the reports and activities going on in the SIU. With Byrne having taken official leave to cover Stephan's need to be at their parents' compound with Lyssa and his new son, control of the SIU was nominally in the hands of Harry Krane, Byrne's second in command. However, neither Stephan nor he was about to let an outsider take full control of the SIU, so all reports and decisions were covertly siphoned through to him. He then channeled all the appropriate information on, and held back the more clandestine reports for when Stephan resumed his position.