Page 5 of Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters
“Useful talents?”
“Sometimes.”
Back across the river, back to the strange silence Kyle was still trying to break. He wished Vikash would make a little effort. Silence was fine, but not this weird, prickly silence.
“So was one of your parents from India?”
“No. Why?”
Kyle actually had to tighten his grip on the wheel to keep from smacking his partner. “Um…your first name?”Your gorgeous, thick black hair. Your ridiculously beautiful skin. Your long, royal nose for looking down at people.
“Mom thought it was a cool name.”
“Uh-huh.” Kyle wasn’t buying it, but Vikash went back into statue mode and Kyle needed to recharge his social energies before trying to draw him out again.
There were forensics techs on the scene still, but Kyle got permission from them to nose around the edges. The body had been found at the river’s edge, still half in the water. Photos at the time of recovery showed that the young woman had died in a moment of abject terror, her expression frozen with her dying scream.
They made their careful, sometimes sliding, way down the bank, eyes to the ground as they scanned for anything unusual and in deference to the treacherous footing.
Kyle slithered in the mud, flinging his arms out though there were no branches to catch here. A strong hand seized his elbow, steadying him. For a single heartbeat, Vikash’s face showed anxious concern before his smug serenity returned.
“Maybe you and your stumpy legs should stay up top.”
“Shut up.”Good one, Kyle. Really biting and witty.
Any further witticisms were scuttled by Loveless’ and Zacchini’s arrival. In a broad-brimmed hat and gloves despite the mild weather, Loveless stood at the top of the embankment, mouth set in an unhappy line.
“Amanda, dear, you’re going to have to help me if you expect to me to make it down there to Kyle.”
Officer Zacchini rolled her eyes but took her partner around the waist, one hand clamped under his elbow to support his shaky steps down the bank. Vikash did the one eyebrow thing at Kyle.
“Vampire,” Kyle whispered. “Daylight is really bad for him. But I think he likes the attention.”
“You know I can hear you,” Loveless said peevishly. “Want to tell me what I’m looking for?”
“Not sure. Any impressions of things that don’t belong? Something that doesn’t smell human?”
“On a riverbank. You are joking.”
“Wish I could be specific. Don’t have a lot yet.”
Carrington Loveless III, silver spoon only child of a wealthy Main Line family, sighed as he gazed at his erstwhile clean shoes squishing on the marshy ground. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath in through his nose, crouched down, head turning, and breathed in again.
“There is…something.” Loveless held his hand out and waited until Zacchini had a good grip on him before he stood. Sniffing like a narcotics dog, he walked several yards downriver and stopped. “Something odd.”
“Kyle.” Vikash pointed and took Loveless’ other arm to prevent him taking another step. “There in the mud. Think we can get one of the crime scene guys to get some photos?”
With a hand clutching the back of Vikash’s uniform jacket so he didn’t tumble into the water, Kyle leaned over to see what had his colleagues in a frozen tableau. Right where water met land, with the river’s wavelets working on washing it away, was a print from…something. Maybe. Four long gashes closer to the water with an oval impression behind them. If it was a footprint, the foot was larger than a kitchen sink.
“Carrington? Is it a print?” Kyle asked softly, as if a loud voice might wash it away.
“Yes. Oh, very much yes.” Loveless shivered.
Kyle called over to the crime scene unit and soon had someone snapping photos. Not that it would help much if they couldn’t figure out what the thing was, much less find it.
“Any thoughts on what?” Kyle asked their vampire. “What’s it smell like?”
“Cold. Slimy. Hard.”
