[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
things were finally starting to come into focus.
I could smell the various forensic team members, at least four of them in here.
Forensics because they didn t have gun oil and their scents were fainter, like they took
care not to mess up the scene. A man and three women had walked all around the body. I
could smell where Tammy had lain, where she d been killed and my throat closed up. I
had to focus on breathing for a minute, and then bring my head back into the game.
Here had been the police officers. There were maybe six I could smell; they d had
the distinction of wearing shoe polish with their guns. Had to look pretty in case someone
got you on camera, didn t you? There were a couple more scents all around the room.
Coroner, maybe? Photographer? Who knew at this point and I sure as hell wasn t a cop.
Over top of everything was the unmistakable scent of blood and offal. Tammy s
blood. For once my cat didn t seem to be tuned into that. It seemed that she was quietly
waiting. Both our territories had been invaded. She was poised, ready for a target; I just
had to give her one.
On one hand, I was relieved to find that I wasn t the Ghost Cat Killer. I didn t have
this under control by a long shot, but I knew that I could at least stop Ms. Kitty from
random acts of savagery now. That was good. What was bad was that Tammy had paid
my price for me. My throat threatened to close up again.
I pushed up from the squat I d been in to look around my room in the dim light some
more. There had to be something in here that would help. Something that the police
www.samhainpublishing.com 37
Taryn Blackthorne
hadn t taken along because they couldn t see it and I could. Something that I could find
with my jazzy new superhero powers. Even I growled a little at myself for that.
Some of my books were missing. I leaned over and counted the stack again. Not all.
The romances and the how-to-write-a-movie books that were my cover were still there.
But the reference books on cat physiology, every occult book I could find that had any
mention of shapeshifters, every single medical text I d gotten to see if there were
allusions to any condition that could possibly explain my blackouts and sore muscles and
sudden desires for catnip all were gone.
Probably to some specialist to form some sort of profile about me. I thought about
how I d marked up the texts with questions and notes. Oh yeah, I was in big trouble. I
should just book it out of here.
But Tammy had been the closest thing I had to a friend. And Tammy s Bar had been
my home. Damn it, this was my place, my town, mine! The cat in me rumbled, and I had
an image of a tail flicking in annoyance. My other half was trying to tell me that I had
better get a move on before she took this hunt away from me.
Funny, I couldn t have put it like that before. She was almost separate from me at
this point. Still inside my head, but it was like there was room for her now, a little forest
of her own she could run around instead of getting tied up in my thoughts. Or I was
developing schizophrenia. Oh joy.
I was digging around for a clue when a breeze through the open window swirled the
traces of aroma. I noticed a new scent that seemed different from the others. I tracked it,
nose to the floor like a dog. It was coming from the corner, behind my hallway door. I
sniffed the floor. All up along the wall, right to the corner, where one could look out the
window if bored, a scent stained the ground. That was almost as good as a pile of
cigarette butts from a chain smoker. Here was the clue they couldn t find. They might
have lifted shoe prints, might have even found fingerprints belonging to everyone in this
room, but they didn t have this. It was the killer s scent. It was a mug shot I could use to
compare if I got within a fifty-foot range. I walked around a bit more, just to be sure. I
tried to pick out something unusual and the only thing I could think of was toner from an
38 www.samhainpublishing.com
Even for Me
ink cartridge. Great. The Ghost Cat Killer worked in an office building. Stop the press!
Lightning flashed from the storm outside and I had a glimpse of the blood stains on the
wall.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]