Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

S edona

Fear.

I was numb instead of what I’d felt the night before. Yet I hadn’t slept, just like I’d known I wouldn’t.

Sleep was tough when all you could see were fangs. No, wait. That was a vampire. Werewolves had canines. Or were they called fangs?

Huge ones.

And claws.

Long and sharp.

And fur. Lots of coarse fur. I had a sample. I should know. I had DNA. I could test. I had tested although I feared the samples had been contaminated.

For a woman who’d always been good at concentrating, my mind was all over the place. Maybe I’d had too much coffee.

I’d made the mistake of looking up the capabilities of wolves on the internet before jumping into bed. They were powerful creatures, but they didn’t return from the dead.

“So the police were here?” Todd asked. He was one of my two assistants in addition to Daphne, my computer and 3-D expert I’d hired. He was a smartass but brilliant.

I was still lost in thought. Was it possible I was witnessing a mutation of DNA, human and wolf?

“Doctor Willis. Hel-lo!”

“Todd. Sorry. Yes, they took a report and fingerprints.” Which wasn’t a lie. I wondered if they’d be able to track down a dead person. If they did, additional explaining would need to be done. Maybe through the FBI.

Even if the bitch hadn’t returned my call. Yet.

Damn her.

I was very cranky and three cups of coffee hadn’t done a thing for my demeanor, just my nerves.

“I wish I’d been here. I would have kicked his butt.” Todd thought he was a tough guy when in fact, he was a geek. But the kid was going places.

“I wish you had been too. I would love to see you in action.” I clapped him on the arm.

He threw a punch into the air and blushed. The kid was good to the core.

Daphne stood off to the side, leaning against the door jam of my actual shoebox-sized office. She had one of her own and four people certainly couldn’t fit in either one. Without her, I’d need to contact outside experts for all the various computer issues.

Carrie was the only one who seemed frightened. “I can’t believe you were here. How horrifying.”

“Only in the level of destruction done. I’m fine.” No, I wasn’t. But I had good reason not to be and I certainly wasn’t going to scare them any more than they might be. “Anyway. I tried to clean up as much as possible yesterday, but let’s all pitch in and see what we can do. Okay?”

My mind was drifting between testing the DNA and the fact I was still tingling all over as if I’d stuck my wet finger into a light socket.

The man had awakened my dark core and I was still flushed.

Growl.

DNA. Think DNA.

The problem was that I didn’t have all the testing equipment I needed or wanted. I couldn’t just order up specialty equipment from Amazon and the budget was limited. In truth, a specialist was needed and that would draw red flags. I’d need to improvise.

“Of course,” Carrie said. “I’ll get some trash bags.”

I nodded. Todd was eager, but the kid was happy to handle just about any task. When the two of them left, I noticed Daphne remained.

“What’s wrong other than the obvious?” I asked her.

She was perhaps the brightest of all of us. Her skills with computers and videos, including creating medical 3-D imaging was incredible. Why she wasn’t working for some big think tank instead of the medical examiner’s office I’d never know. But I was grateful to have her.

Maybe unfortunately she also shared the last name of Wolf. I wasn’t certain about the relation, but it was entirely possible she was pissed I’d had a drink with Jax. I couldn’t tell from her expression.

When she walked further in and closed the door, I sighed.

“What aren’t you telling us?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Yep. I was thankful she hadn’t started the conversation with something like ‘why the hell are you dating my…’ Brother. Uncle.

Dad.

Oh, God. What if that was true?

“It wasn’t just a break-in. Was it? I can sense you’re curious and a little afraid still of whatever happened.”

“What are you, a mind reader too?” I asked her.

She shrugged and plopped down in the chair across from mine. “Maybe. I know you too well.”

I also considered her a friend. We were close in age and had the same likes and dislikes. However, even sharing what I’d seen with her was a bit dicey. Her family might think me insane as well.

“He was just… Well, there some abnormalities.”

“How so? And what were you doing here on a Sunday anyway?”

“I was asked to handle an autopsy.”

“By whom? Did I miss a murder?” She laughed until she noticed my face. “This is serious.”

“This is unusual. The FBI contacted me. And you can’t say anything.”

“Why in the world did the FBI contact you to handle an autopsy? Aren’t they affiliated with several morgues in Chicago? I thought they had their own people.”

I brought up my computer, still debating showing her the video. “That’s what I asked. Apparently, they were concerned about some recent murders. This one occurred in town.”

“Here? Ugh. We’re like safe zone, USA.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“What happened during the autopsy?”

Shit. She was the kind of girl to pick apart something until she had all the answers.

“Come on. You can share with little ole Daphne.” She gave me a puppy dog look.

“If I show you something, you need to understand that I have no understanding of what happened. I can’t scientifically explain it at this point. Yes, it’s freaking me out. I’ve always been able to answer questions based on scientific evidence but not regarding this particular case.”

“That sounds scary.”

“It is. The victim I autopsied did the damage in the lab before breaking free.”

She paled.

Just as I expected.

She snorted.

Just as I expected.

“Do you have this on tape?” Now she was excited.

Not what I’d expected, although she was a macabre girl herself.

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, I gotta see.” She jumped up, moving to my side of the desk and bending down. She even planted her elbows on my desk.

“It’s freaky.”

“I love freaky.”

The girl was a little bit too much like me. I played the video, slowing down certain portions. When it was done, she cocked her head, staring at the last frame I’d left on the screen. It was the most terrifying one of them all because it showed his face.

If you could call the deformed head sporting sharp teeth and foaming at the mouth human in any regard.

“Wow,” Daphne said a few seconds later.

“Yeah, wow. I don’t know what to make of this.”

“There might be drugs that can do this. Or a disease. Oh, I heard of some gas used in wars where the DNA was altered. Maybe we’re under alien attack.”

I gave her a look, wrinkling my nose.

“It could happen,” she insisted.

“Let’s stay on topic. We need to run tests on the limited tissue I have to see if we can determine what in God’s name could bring a man back to life when he was clearly dead and have him transform into some kind of wolf-like creature. O-kay. At least I assume that’s what he is turning into. I’m no expert.”

Although I did know big game better than most. That was something few people knew about.

“I’d say you’re right.” She didn’t seem the least bit terrified.

“You worry me, girl. You act like this is normal when it’s anything but.”

“Don’t you believe there are strange beings living amongst us? Aliens. Creatures we’d rather not face in a dark alley?”

The woman was serious. She had to be kidding me.

“Science rules all that crap out.”

She snorted. “Don’t be so na?ve.”

I sat back and continued to try to rationalize any of what I’d seen. “I only wish the pictures were clearer instead of the distorted mess.”

“Send me a copy and I’ll see what I can do. That might answer some of your questions.”

“Fine, but you can’t say a word.”

After making like she was zipping her lips shut, she grinned. “This is the most fun I’ve had since I’ve gotten here.”

“Your idea of fun and mine are vastly different.”

My phone rang. It seemed I was a very popular girl. When I looked at the screen, I grimaced and she noticed. As she did with everything else. “I need to take this. Close the door on your way out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I answered as soon as she left the room. “Agent Drummand. You need to tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Calm down, Doctor Willis. We have everything under control.”

“How can you have it under control when a body got up and walked out of here?”

“I’ve only been authorized to tell you that there have been some government procedures that have unexpectedly gone awry. I apologize if you went through something with the man you examined. That was not our intent.”

Government procedures, my ass.

“In other words, keep my mouth shut and let it go. It never happened. Right?” I resisted laughing out loud.

“That’s what I’m saying.”

I was furious that I’d been used, but she was lying. I was as certain of that as I was the man hadn’t been some scientific experiment gone wrong.

“I will also need to make arrangements to gather your report and any additional data you collected from the autopsy. We want everything and I do mean everything. I’ll send some people to obtain what you have. Make certain you do not share your findings with anyone. It’s a matter of national security. Do you understand? Doing so would be considered an act of treason.”

She was warning me. Or perhaps I could say threatening me. Great.

“Oh, I get it. I’ll stay away from reporters on purpose just because you’re being so nice. Not a problem. Do me a favor, Agent Drummand. Don’t contact me again.” I issued a little warning of my own.

Her hiss was slight, but I heard it and smiled.

“I understand.”

“I hope you do.” After the call ended, I dropped my head into my hands. Why did I have a feeling this nightmare was only going to continue? Before heading to the examination room to continue cleanup, I walked into Daphne’s office. “Daphne. I’m going to send you the report and the photographs I took as well. Make copies for me and take them off site or keep them with you.”

“The FBI breathing down your neck?”

“Something like that.”