Page 33 of Death Bringer

Nothing happened for a while. Staff walked by, some of them stopping to chat with Delia but most of them intent on their own tasks. Ella stifled a yawn. Behind her, Vadim shifted his stance and made it remarkably easy for her to lean back against him.

“Look.” Liz pointed at the screen. “There’s someone in a white coat. It’s a shame we can only see the back of his head. Why didn’t he have the decency to approach from the other side and make our lives easier?”

The man paused in front of Delia for a moment and then turned right, into Brad’s room. Just before he opened the door, he lifted his head and smiled.

“Holy shit!” Sam said. “It’sVad!”

6

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous,it can’t be Morosov!” Ella snapped.

“It sure looks like him,” Rich said. Sam nodded eagerly.

“But why the fuck would Morosov do that?”

“Just hold on a minute! Everyone shut up, and less of the profanity, please, Ella!” Feehan stood and they stopped talking. “There’s an obvious place to start with this. Vadim, is that you?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“He could be lying,” Sam suggested.

Ella scowled at him. “It isn’t him, you dumbass. Look at the time on the screen. We’d left the hospital by then!”

“And you say you were with Vadim until you returned to the hospital?”

“Yes, we were catching an early dinner.” She could feel her cheeks going red. “At Morosov’s hotel.”

“Well, that’s easy enough to confirm.” Feehan said. “The hotel will have a record of your check in the dining room.”

“We got room service. It was quicker.” She glanced over at Vadim to help her out, but he was still staring at the screen, a frown between his eyes. Why the hell was she the one who had to defend him? “We didn’t have a lot of time.”

“Yeah, right,” Liz murmured.

“Anyway, can you all please try and remember that we are dealing with a killer who can switch faces? Isn’t it obvious that he did this to cause us to panic?”

“But Vadim still has his face.” Sam objected.

“Well, maybe our perp can replicate someone’s features as well as steal the whole thing! I don’t know. I only know that Morosov was with me the whole time.” She glared at Feehan. “I’ll take a lie-detector test, if you don’t believe me.”

Feehan made soothing gestures with his hand. “That’s hardly necessary. We are dealing with a creature that can manipulate faces, and what you suggest is highly likely.”

“Did anyone else get the sense that he did it deliberately?” Liz asked.

“Did what?”

“Looked right at the security camera.” She gestured at Rich. “Can you show that bit again? It’s as if he wanted us to see him.”

“Well, if he’s wearing Vad’s face, he probably did.” Sam agreed. “That’s, like, weird, dude.”

Rich backed up the tape and slowed it down. Ella frowned as the doctor touched Delia’s cheek.

“That’s when he puts her under.”

“Agreed.” Feehan said. “She doesn’t protest in any way when he goes into Brad’s room, does she?”

In the next frame the doctor turned to look at the camera and Rich paused the image.

“He does look like Vadim, but there are some subtle differences,” Liz conceded. “He’s younger. It’s as if someone took a picture of him ten years ago and used that.” She turned away from the screen. “Do you have any relatives who bear a striking resemblance to you?”

---