9781936653027BorntobeWildArsuaga (16 page)

Now was the time for Johnson to bring on his
A-Game and solve this Vampire Virus Case.

“I think we’ve seen enough of this for now.” He
drew the white sheet back over her body in an effort to give Alina an element
of dignity in death, the least he could do for her. He motioned for the
coroner’s office technicians to remove the body.

“So now what?”
Palmer
asked. “You want to divide and conquer, you take half the employees, and I’ll
take the other half?”

“Sure. Let’s get this over with. My guess, no one
saw anything.”

The two agents walked out to the front of the
building. Several hundred feet of glowing neon yellow tape cordoned off the
crime scene. A uniformed officer from the local force patrolled the entrance, a
paunchy young Latino man, sweat beading on his brow and staining his
short-sleeve blue-gray shirt. The South Florida heat during the summer was
brutal.

“Officer Martinez, we’re ready to interview the
employees. You can let a couple in at a time.”

The rest of the afternoon would be long and
tedious.

Chapter 15

Next
Morning, Miami Beach

“So who did Dad say we’re meeting?” Alex asked
Jordan.

“A dude named Agent Martin.
Ted,
Tad, Todd something or the other.
I don’t remember the first name.”

“These security lines are horrendous. You wouldn’t
think this many people would be trying to get into the FBI,” she said,
half-jokingly.

“We’ll be fine, sis. Our appointment isn’t until
ten. We’re not late, yet.” He assured her by rubbing her shoulder. “You did
leave your stakes, holy water, and knives in the car didn’t you?”

Rolling her eyes, she cut him no slack, “Smart
ass.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were seated outside
the office of Division Chief Todd Martin.

“Hello, I’m Special Agent Todd Martin, the
Division Chief for the Vamp Unit.” The older, slightly overweight man extended
his hand when he opened the door. “You can shorten it to Chief Martin. Well
now, you must be Bobby and Katie Carlton’s kids. Come on in.”

“Jordan Carlton and this here’s my baby sister,
Alex Carlton.” Jordan grabbed Martin’s hand firmly and nodded toward Alex.

“Hey, Alex Carlton.
Nice to meet you, Chief Martin.”

“Alex. Your parents sure have a sense of humor,
naming their only daughter a boy’s name. Especially, a cute one like you,”
Martin said, chuckling.

“Actually, it’s Alexandra, but everyone calls me
Alex for short.”

“Well, have a seat and let’s see what I can do for
you.”

Alex sat in one of the two standard Government
Issue occasional chairs, navy blue upholstery with wood legs and trim along the
edges. Surveying Martin’s space, she noticed his desk had many files stacked on
the top, neatly placed in several piles on both sides, leaving a small space in
the center. They smothered the lone picture of a woman she assumed was his
wife, a handsome woman with gleaming eyes of blue. Chief Martin was in his
early to mid-fifties Alex assessed and well-respected in the FBI according to
her dad. Behind him, on the wall, several plaques expressed appreciation for
the work he’d done for the Bureau, admiration well-earned for vanquishing vamps
and other criminal elements. Alex’s parents had known Martin for over thirty
years. To hear her father’s stories about their friendship, he schooled Martin
in vamp hunting. Martin was a new recruit with the Bureau and met her dad on a
case in Louisiana, and well, the rest was history. They had been friends ever
since. Martin, now the Bureau’s Division Chief for Vamp Enforcement, a position
he took seriously and proudly held, judging from the commendations mixed in
with the plaques on the wall. There were a lot of crazy vamps to watch and keep
in-line.

“So your dad told me a few things about what you
need. You want to fill me in, Jordan?”

“Actually, this is Alex’s baby. I’m along for
support this time.”

Martin crinkled his brow.
“Really?
Okay then. Alex, you want to fill me in?”

“To be concise, I have tracked a vampire I believe
to be the one responsible for the virus.”

Martin squirmed in his chair. “Okay, why involve
us? You need help capturing him?”

“Because
she
,
the vampire, is linked to an international drug company here in Miami, I can’t
breach them. We don’t have jurisdiction, you do.”

That got his attention. Martin sat up in his chair
and leaned forward. “You mean a pharmaceuticals company? What is the name of
this company?”

Reaching into her tote, she pulled out her notepad
and pen. “I’m not sure how it’s pronounced, but I’m taking a stab, SanGeneMur
Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Ring a bell?”

“Holy shit!
Excuse me a
moment.” He picked up the handset to the telephone and pressed a few buttons.

Alex heard a phone ring outside the office and a
man’s voice answer.

“Johnson, my office, now.”

Alex and Jordan looked at each other, raising
eyebrows.

Moments later a tap came to the office door.

“Come in,” Martin said.

The door opened, a sandy brown-haired man in his
early thirties stepped in. Alex turned her head to catch a glimpse of the
well-dressed agent. He was tall, at least six feet, well-defined muscles, but
not overtly so—athletic and in-shape physically, because his job demanded it,
not because he liked working out. He seemed more a pretty boy, a take care of
me type.
This must be Johnson. Not my
type, but nice package. Is it Bob Johnson, Tom, maybe Chance, or
Billy.
Hmm.
She smiled up at
him.

“Yes, sir.
If this is
about the report, I should have it to you within the hour. I’m waiting for the
lab reports.” Johnson fidgeted walking across the room. He glanced over at the
two guests seated, taking particular note of the cute redhead. He returned her
smile.

“Forget the report. This here is Jordan and Alex
Carlton. They’re vamp bounty hunters.”

“Really?”

“Agent Johnson is the lead on a recent murder of
an employee of SanGeneMur and he’s working undercover inside the corporation.”
He had a scowl on his face, directed more at Johnson, as he spoke to Alex.
“Miss Carlton can you tell Agent Johnson what you just told me. I’m sure he’d
be interested in what you have to say.”

“Uh, okay. I’m tracking the rogue vampire with the
killer virus. I connected her to this drug company here in Miami. I’m sure
she’s using a human to transmit the contagion, but I haven’t figured out the
why yet. I thought at first it was for personal reasons, but now I think it’s a
conspiracy because of the link with this big corporation.”

Johnson’s eyes widened and his body tensed.
“What’s this boss, you trying to fire me?” He looked intently at Alex. “And how
did you find all this information out, Miss Carlton? Your great bounty hunter
skills, read it on the Internet under Vamp Conspiracy Theories?” His sarcasm
did not sit well with Alex. No one insulted her hunting abilities.

“I’ve been physically tracking this case about a
week, but I’ve been following it online since it hit the underground network
about six weeks ago. The trail led me to Virginia and back here, where it began
about eight or nine months ago by my estimations. How about you? Where did you
get your information?”

“You’re telling me you figured out the rogue after
a week of tracking? I’ve been undercover for six fucking months at the source
and haven’t gotten a single clue. No fucking way! This is a set-up. I don’t
believe it.” He crossed his arms defiantly and, gritted his teeth. “No I don’t
believe her story.”

Alex jumped up out of the chair, knocking it over.
“You don’t fucking believe me! You lousy, pretty boy, prick! You don’t know
what I’ve gone through to get the information on this psycho bitch vamp that
attacked and almost killed me. So don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m doing. I
came here for help because this virus thing is more than hunting a rogue. It’s
a goddamn conspiracy to harm humans, vamps, both or maybe something worse. And
I sure as hell wasn’t willing to stand by and let that crazy wacko vampire get
away with it. I want her brought to justice.” Hands fisted at her side, eyes
glazed over with anger and bored into him like a drill,
she
stood within inches of Johnson ready to do physical battle if necessary.

Johnson swallowed hard. “Well aren’t we a feisty
little one. No offense doll, but are we having a PMS episode this morning?”

Wrong statement to make.

Jordan leapt up quickly and restrained Alex from
behind, grabbing her arms. “Alex
don’t
. He’s a Fed.”

“You bastard!
You
wouldn’t know how to catch a bad guy if he walked up and kissed your ass, you
stupid insensitive asshole.”

“Okay, okay, let’s settle down here. Johnson you
need to apologize to Miss Carlton. She’s the daughter of an old friend
and
is obviously an asset to this case.”
Glaring at Johnson, Martin waited for him to respond. “I suggest you apologize
or I
will
fire you.”

He gritted his teeth and acquiesced. “I’m sorry,
Miss Carlton. I don’t know what came over me. My only excuse is the woman
murdered yesterday happened to be my contact. Hit close to home. I would be
interested in hearing what other information you have concerning this vamp.” He
made a head gesture to Martin.

“Now that’s more like it. See boys and girls, we
can all play nice in the sandbox. Let’s sit and talk, shall we.”

Jordan nudged Alex. “Fine, I apologize too.” She
mumbled, begrudgingly.

“What is the name of this rogue vampire?” Johnson
asked.

Jordan righted the chair for Alex and she sat.
“Ecaterina Tomescu. Except I think she goes by Cat Tomas now.”

“Why does that name sound familiar Johnson? Didn’t
you mention her name in a report once?”

“Yeah, she’s Emil
Dragomir’s
girlfriend from most sources I’ve verified. She’s been with him for years, but
my sources say she disappeared several months ago. Rumors are she went back to
Europe.”

“Well guess what? A little road trip up the East
Coast was made, and my guess on orders from this Dragomir dude. She wasn’t
alone either. I can’t prove my theory, but I think she used a human to transmit
the virus. The human male is infected. A vamp bites him, sucking his blood, and
gets the bug. It’s like a damn mosquito. They live for what a couple weeks,
bite, suck blood, die
, and the cycle repeats. The first
human host died, I met the second man, and I bet there is a third by now.”

Johnson shook his head with disbelief from the
comments. “You said Ecaterina attacked you? You found her out and tried to
capture her?”

“Not exactly.”

“If you didn’t capture her, where is she? Here in
Miami? Is that why you are here?”

“One of the reasons.”
She
looked over at Jordan. “We think the vamp came back to Miami to put the final
parts of the plan into action. My guess, this Dragomir dude wants to corner the
market on vamp blood, take it off the free market and put it under his
control.”

“Hmm, an interesting theory, but I think Dragomir
wants more. There are some top secret projects going on at the factory. I’ve
heard rumors about new blood experiments at the factory in Europe are taking
place. Whatever Dragomir has planned, it’s not good,” Johnson said.

“If he’s half as crazy as that psycho bitch, then
we’re all in trouble,” Alex said.

“So, where do we go from here? We have a possible
suspect vampire, who is a psycho bitch as you describe her, a conspiracy theory
involving a madman mega-billionaire corporate giant, a fresh dead body,
possibly the fifth one murdered here in Miami by a killer virus, which also
could be the same virus threatening to decimate the human race by the same
madman and psycho bitch. Did I pretty much sum it up?” Johnson asked
sarcastically.

“Sounds like you nailed it. So, call in the CDC.
They can shut them down, right?” Jordan asked.

Martin and Johnson laughed.

“Not unless we want this to go public and cause a
panic, as well as a backlash against the vamps,” Martin said.

“
Oh
, I
just figured them being a drug company, coupled with a disease, you know.”
Jordan’s voice trailed off and he slumped in the chair.

“What new dead body were you referring to earlier?
A vamp or human?” she asked.

“A human.
My contact at SGM.
We should have the preliminary cause of
death soon. Most likely due to the virus,” Johnson said. “Let me call over to
the lab and check on the report. Excuse me for a second.” He stepped out of the
office and reached for his cell from his jacket pocket.

“Well Alex, I see you have your mother’s fiery
temper,” Martin said with a snicker.

“I’m so sorry about that outburst. I’ve been so
freaked out since I was attacked. I thought I was infected with the virus at
first, but I know that’s false. Problem is she can track me, unless I destroy
her.”

Martin cocked his head. “Alex you’re not using us
to exact revenge on this vamp are you?”

“No, it’s much bigger than any vendetta. I’m not
after her solely for personal reasons. What she has done is despicable.”

“I agree except we have to follow the rules of
law. We can’t go in guns blazing and arrest the owner of one of the largest
drug companies in the world claiming they are harboring killer vamps and
manufacturing viruses killing humans. We’d be in so much shit and tied up in
court for years, our grandchildren will be fighting the cases. No, we have to
plan this carefully.”

“In all due respect, this is bullshit Chief
Martin. Would my dad or grandfather have put up with this crap when they were
tracking a renegade vamp in their days?” Alex asked. Leaning forward and
propping her elbows on the desk, she sat on the edge of the chair.

“Hell no, but times are different now Alex. My
hands are tied.”

Johnson tapped on the door and stepped back in.
“Okay, the lab is faxing over the report. Alina died from a toxic substance and
the lab unofficially confirmed it as the vamp virus. The strain is unlike
anything they’ve seen before, so they are keeping it quiet under orders from
higher up.”

Alex scooted back in the chair.

“So, we’re back to square one. I’m not giving up.
Where do we go from here?” she asked.

“Boss?”

“Is your cover intact? No one suspected anything
yesterday when you got to the lab?”

“No. There was talk about Alina’s death.
Nothing other than the usual shock stories.
I put on a face
of grief. No one suspected anything. I’ll push harder to get information about
Dragomir and see if I can transfer into the other lab area where Alina worked.
The secret projects take place there.”