Шеррилин Кеньон: Dark Side of the Moon

The girl pointed to the left. “They’re over there.”

“Thanks.” Susan headed toward the light blue door that was marked ironically enough with the word Cats.

She pushed it open and had to fight the urge to run back to her car as her sinuses immediately clogged. And this after she’d taken Benadryl half an hour ago in expectation of such misery.

“Good grief,” she said, pulling a Kleenex from her purse while she pretended to peruse the evil allergy beasties. Her eyes were even starting to swell, she could feel it.

She sneezed loudly, then dabbed at her nose. “Where are you, Angie?” she asked in a low whisper from between her clenched teeth.

She was just about to abandon the thought of sticking this out when she caught sight of the strangest cat she’d ever seen. Long and lean, it looked as if someone had shrunk a leopard into the size of a house cat. But more than the beauty of its small body was the blackness of its eyes. She’d never seen a cat with black eyes before.

And it looked really angry.

She cocked her head to study it. There was something about the cat that seemed highly intelligent. “Hey, Puss in Boots, you unhappy here?” She sneezed again. Cursing and wiping her nose, she sniffed as her eyes started tearing. “I can’t blame you. I’d rather be hit in the head with a tack hammer than stay here.”

“Hi there. Can I interest you in a cat?”

She jerked around at Angie’s voice. Short with black hair and brown eyes, Angie looked about nervously and by that she could tell Angie didn’t want anyone to know they were friends. Catching the cue, Susan looked back at the cat and could have sworn it had one eyebrow raised as it waited for her response. Yeah, the Benadryl was working on something besides her sinuses. “Sure.”

“Let me show you to a room where you can play with him for a few minutes.” It was obvious Angie had been practicing that speech for a while.

Good thing Angie was a vet and not an undercover agent—she’d be shot in a heartbeat. But Susan didn’t say anything more as Angie gently took the miniature leopard out of the cage and put it in a cat cage before she led her toward another blue door that opened into a small petting room.

Pausing outside the door, Angie handed her the cage and gave her an artificial smile. “Take your time. You really want to make sure you know the cat before you take him home.”

“Will do,” Susan said in the same stilted tone. She took the box, holding it as far away from her body as she could, and entered the windowless room, which she thought was empty until the door closed and she saw Angie’s husband standing behind it. A detective, he’d been a friend of hers for years, too.

“Hi, Jimmy.”

He put his finger to his lips. “Keep your voice down. Someone could be outside. Listening. Why do you think I had Angie tell you to meet me here? I can’t afford anyone to see me meeting with a reporter after what happened last night.”

Ooo, he’d gone seriously paranoid.

“Someone like who?” she whispered. “What happened last night?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he took the cage from her outstretched hand and set it right beside the door before he pulled her to the farthest corner, where a small bench rested. “You don’t know what I’ve seen, Sue,” he whispered. “What they’re capable of. My life, your life… all of us. It means nothing to them. Nothing.”

Her heart picked up its pace at his fearful muttering and the panic she saw in his light blue eyes. “Who are they?”

“There’s a major cover-up going on and I have no idea just how high up the food chain it goes, but it does go up.”

Susan leaned forward eagerly. Exposing high-level cover-ups had once been her specialty. “Major cover-up for what?”

“Remember those missing kids I told you about? The college students and runaways that we’ve been getting reports on? I’ve found a couple of them. Dead. Now I’ve been pulled from the cases and told that they’re being handled by a special task force that doesn’t exist. That I shouldn’t worry about them.”

A chill went down her spine at those words. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” he said angrily. “I found evidence… and when I went to report it, I was told that it would be in my best interest not to do any more investigating. So I did a little more of it with my partner Greg and now he’s missing, too, and…” He swallowed hard. “They’re after me now.”

“Who?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I don’t even believe it and I know the truth.” His eyes were round in fear. “I’m taking Angie tonight and we’re leaving town.”

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here. Anywhere there’s no people in league with the devil.”

Susan went cold at his words as a wave of suspicion went through her. “And who’s the devil?”

“I told you, you wouldn’t believe it. I don’t and I saw it. Do you understand? They’re out there and they’re coming for all of us.”

“Jimmy—”

“Sh. Don’t lecture me on this. Get out of this town, Sue, while you can. There are things here that aren’t human. Things here that shouldn’t be alive, and we’re the food for them.”

She pulled back with a grimace at his bizarre turnabout. “What the hell is this? A bad joke?”

“No,” he snarled, his nostrils flaring. “You can be stupid if you want, but this isn’t a game. I thought it would be safe to talk to you here in this shelter of all places. And then I find out that one of them is working with Angie. Working here. Right here in this clinic. He could be listening in on us right now and reporting back to the others that I’m on to them. None of us are safe.”

“Who’s here?”

He swallowed hard. “The other vet. Dr. Tselios. He’s one of them.”

“Them who?”

“The vampires.”

Susan ground her teeth as she fought the urge to roll her eyes. It was a battle she was amazed she won.

Surely, Angie and Jimmy wouldn’t be so cruel as to play this game with her. Not when they knew how much she loathed her job at the Inquisitor. “Jim—”

“Don’t you think I know how crazy I sound?” he hissed, cutting her off. “I was just like you, Sue. I thought it was all bullshit, too. There’s no such thing as vampires, right? We’re the top of the food chain. But that isn’t true. They’re out there and they’re hungry. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out of here. Please write it up to let other people know before they kill them, too.”

Now that was just what her bloody reputation needed. More wounds. Thanks, Jim.

Jimmy’s eyes narrowed on her as if he knew what she was thinking. “It’s your ass now, Sue. I did my best to save it. You can do what you want, but I’m out of here.”

Before she could say anything more, he left her standing alone in the room… and returned the cat cage to the floor by her feet.

Susan sneezed.

As she dabbed at her nose, the door opened to show her Angie, who stared at her with a frown. She entered the room and shut the door behind her. “What did you say to Jimmy?”

“Nothing really. Why?”

“He wants me to leave with him right now.”

Susan sighed at the fear in her friend’s voice. “Did he tell you what was going on?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. He said too many people were missing and dying and that he’s terrified that the ones responsible will come after him next. He wants us to head out for his parents’ house in Oregon.”

“Did he also tell you about the vampires?”

“The what?” By Angie’s face, Susan could tell that Jimmy hadn’t shared that bit of information with his wife.