Chapter 6
"Another one bites the dust," Maria announced, dropping a file on Vic's desk.
Vic cursed softly, leafing through the file. "Who was it?"
"Another city councilman," Maria told him, raising an eyebrow.
"You have got to be sh--" Vic shook his head. "That can not be a coincidence."
"Same parking garage, too," Maria observed. "I think the others on the Council are starting to get the message."
"The message being?"
"Be afraid. Be very foquin afraid." Maria shook her head in disgust, sitting down.
"Why didn't you call me?" he asked abruptly, frowning up at her.
"Johansen processed the scene," she informed him in a tight voice.
"And the moron didn't think to call us?" Vic demanded with a disgusted look of his own.
"Well, he seemed to think that it was a stabbing." Maria made a face. "Miguel called me when he got a look at the body. It's definitely the same dog."
"He sure?"
"Teeth marks match," Maria told him, nodding and pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I hope you don't mind that I ripped Johansen a new one without you..."
"Damn, I missed it?" Vic asked, chuckling. "How long is the poor man going to be in therapy?"
"For a very long time, I hope," Maria said, scowling. "Kelohe..."
Vic raised an eyebrow. "Don't think I've heard that one from you before. Not Spanish, is it?"
"Polynesian. New hobby."
"You're teaching yourself another language? Damn, woman, we need to find you a man..."
"What would I do with one of those?" she asked, grinning. "Besides, Vicky, you're all the man one woman can handle..."
He laughed and shook his head. "If I didn't know you better, Cruz, I'd think you were hitting on me."
"How do you know I'm not?" she purred. At his startled look, she winked. "Just trying to keep you on your toes..." she assured him gently.
Vic scratched his nose and ducked his head. "Always keep 'em guessing?" he asked, embarrassed to have fallen for it.
"Always." Maria nodded gravely. "Look, Vicky, can I ask you a huge favor?"
"Sure. Unless it involves that prick Johansen in any way shape or form."
"Madre de Dios, he knows me well..." she murmured into her coffee cup. Looking up, she batted her eyelashes and requested, "Pretty please?"
"Oh, come on, Mar!" he protested. "Anything but that!"
She sighed. "Look, one of us has to debrief him and I'm honestly not sure I'm up to it today. He's a racist, he's a misogynist, he's a moron, and after he dropped the ball on this last killing, I am very seriously tempted to rip off his... juevos if he gives me even one more provocation..."
Vic nodded slowly. She was right on all counts, as usual. And judging from the look on her face, she was serious about being ready to do Johansen some serious bodily harm. "Then I guess I'd better be the one to talk to him."
"Thank you," she said, reaching across the desk and covering his hands with hers.
"Hey, that's what partners are for, yeah?" Vic asked, grinning as he freed his hands. "I think I can handle ten minutes of his presence if it keeps you from getting thrown in jail for assaulting a cop."
She smiled faintly. "I appreciate it."
"So, while I'm putting up with that jerk--"
"Pendejo," she corrected him with a smile.
Vic grinned and winked. "While I'm putting up with the pendejo Johansen, you're going to check out the scene for all the evidence he no doubt missed, right?"
"That was the plan," she agreed.
"Why do you always get the easy jobs?" Vic chuckled.
"No clue. Can't possibly be my charm, 'cause I've got none." Winking, she rose and grabbed her jacket. "I'm going to stop by the morgue first. Meet you at the scene?"
"Sounds good," Vic agreed.
***
Lana hung up the phone with a disgusted snort, shaking her head. "Those two are worthy adversaries, Zin," she announced.
"They've connected the latest death back to Meterand?" he sighed.
She nodded faintly. "Sheer dumb luck this time, actually. Another Detective took the call and completely failed to make the connection."
"So what happened?"
"The medical examiner was actually in possession of half a brain." Lana closed her eyes and shook her head in irritation. "Mind if I take Meterand for another walk?"
"Killing the medical examiner is going to raise a lot of questions," Zin pointed out, shaking his head faintly. He leaned forward and picked up a potted plant from her desk, one of many in the office. All were dying. "Still no luck getting them to take to this planet's atmosphere?"
She shook her head faintly. "Not yet. And killing the ME is going to raise far fewer questions than will be raised if he starts putting his head together with those human Detectives. The female's already connected Meterand to the fugitives, even if she does think it's drugs. Eventually, these detailed autopsies she's been requesting are going to start showing things they should not." She regarded him significantly.
"Especially if Meterand gets taken," Zin sighed, nodding. That was beyond dispute. Neko had already informed them that, on the inside at least, he was no longer anything even remotely resembling a dog.
"Face the facts. Two Councilpeople in a week? Questions have already been raised, Zin."
"This is spinning out of control," he sighed, nodding. He glanced at the door which obediently shut itself. "Recommendations?"
Lana hesitated, staring at her hands in her lap. One was still heavily bandaged.
"Lana, child," Zin sighed, rising and circling the desk. He sat down on the desk before her, extending one hand. She obediently placed the bandaged hand in his, not looking up at him. "I want you to tell me what you think should be done about Meterand," he told her gently.
She closed her eyes. "He... his host is no longer the dominant genetic force. He can grow to the size of a German Shepard at will, take an almost Vardian form. If he is... seen--"
"Then they will know." Zin sighed and began carefully unwrapping the bandage.
She nodded faintly. "Any vet, even most human physicians... if he were taken, dead or alive, they would know." She looked down as Zin finished stripping away the bandage on her hand. "The swelling's down," she told him. "The infection was minor. Neko's given me some antibiotics."
Zin nodded and examined the neat row of stitches thoughtfully. "He does good work."
"He's a good man, one of your most loyal subordinates."
"Has he made any progress on transferring Meterand to a human host?"
"Not yet. He... believes that his genetics are simply too unstable to risk it."
"Yet you say that it is no longer tenable for Meterand to remain in that body."
"It is not," she averred. "Even if his mind remains intact, his host will soon die. That is beyond dispute."
"What does that leave?" Zin sighed, picking up the bandage and rewrapping her hand.
"Collecting his life-force and placing it in a containment unit is the only option I see."
"He is among the inner circle!" Zin protested.
"Even members of the inner circle are of no use to you dead, sir," Lana murmured, bowing her head again. "In stasis, he will be safe until we can find a way to transfer him into an appropriate human host." She kept her head bowed, not looking at Zin, not daring to tell him that Neko was worried that it might already be too late for Meterand. She held her silence more for Neko's sake than for her own.
"You want the ME dead first, I suppose?" Zin asked.
"Call it a last hurrah for him," Lana suggested, shrugging. "The current medical examiner is simply too intelligent and too close to that Cruz woman."
"Very well. You bring him to the morgue and I'll have a containment unit prepped."
"As you command, sir." Lana inclined her head.
"Make sure you aren't seen with him," Zin reminded her.
"As you would have it." Lana nodded and rose. "I will remain a good distance off. Should I tell him that he's to be placed in containment?"
"Better if you don't, I think. It might be best if he were not aware of our plans. He would resist, especially you."
"I would suggest a tranquilizer. Otherwise he's likely to lash out at Neko," she murmured, inclining her head and then turning on her heel and leaving the office.
***
Doctor Miguel Ramirez looked up at the Detective curiously. "You working this with Maria and Vic, Detective... Wong?" he asked, taking another look at the badge hung on his belt. Interesting name for such an obviously Caucasian man...
"No." Cole shook his head faintly. "I am simply interested in the dog..."
"Yeah? You don't strike me as the Pomeranian type," he noted, opening the locker with the latest victim in it and pulling out the slab.
"I am not."
"Ah." Ramirez shrugged and pulled back the sheet. "Worst dog attack I've ever seen. If it weren't for the bite radius, I'd think it was a pit-bull or a wild dog." He shook his head. "But the teeth are tiny." He pulled on a pair of gloves, tossing another pair to Cole before lightly touching a small bite-wound on the throat. "This is your actual cause of death in both cases."
"It was the last wound inflicted?" Cole asked, placing his own gloved fingers against the wound. When Ramirez looked away for a moment to retrieve the chart, he took a quick energy-scan. Definitely Meterand. Oddly sloppy coming from him.
"First, actually," Ramirez answered, proffering the chart. "Strange, that. The kills were incredibly clean. Victims were dead in seconds. All this damage is post-mortem, like the thing went into some kind of frenzy."
Cole frowned. Bloodlust? From Meterand? That was definitely new.
Ramirez continued, "But it can't have been that frenzied because the kill is so clean. I don't know... I've seen humans operate similarly, but it doesn't make sense from an animal. Their minds don't work like ours."
Cole nodded faintly. "Yes, I've seen serial killers behave in this way as well. A quick kill and then the frenzy... I have seen it many times."
But never from Meterand. Meterand had been everything Zin looked for in a confederate: clean, calculating, methodical, unemotional and detached in his application of force...
"You folks have any new theories on why the thing's behaving like this?" Ramirez asked.
"It might be a new form of rabies," Cole said with a noncommittal shrug. He looked up as he became aware of not one but two approaching life-forces, both Vardian, one young and remarkably powerful, one oddly tainted: Meterand. "I must go now," he told the doctor. "Thank you for your time."
"No problem. Just let me know if I can do anything else for you."
"I will. Thank you."
Cole nodded and quickly left the office. If he was to confront a fugitive, especially Meterand, it should not be in front of a human witness. His eyes darting around the hallway for the appearance of the fugitives, he saw Vic's partner before she saw him. Not that she was looking. Her nose was buried in a report and she was muttering to herself in a language that Cole did not recognize. He ducked into a broom-closet, reluctant to be seen by her again in connection with this case.
"Oh, hi, Maria," Ramirez greeted her as she entered the exam room, her nose still buried in the report. He grinned as he heard the tail-end of her tirade. Detective Johansen was going to be getting hell for weeks if she meant half of what she had been muttering.
"Miguel, mi amigo," she greeted him, putting down the report long enough to give her old friend a hug. "What you got for me?"
"Another impossible dog-attack, of course. I can't believe that Johansen didn't think to call you..."
"Johansen is a pendejo."
"I'd noticed," he smirked. "Hey, that Wong guy new?"
"Wong?" she repeated, frowning and shaking her head. "Don't think I know a Wong... My precinct?"
"He didn't say."
"Ah." Maria frowned faintly. "Don't think we have any new rookies. Might be out of the ninth... they just got a new batch in."
"Don't think he was a rookie. Carried himself like a vet, said he's seen a lot of action."
"Huh." She shrugged dismissively. "Must be a transfer, then. Not giving my compadre a hard time, is he?"
"Nah. Just curious about the dog."
"Yeah?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow. "Funny..."
"Not really. He's not the first," he noted. "I mean this is just weird. Lots of people are interested in this thing."
"True," she agreed. "Newsstand by my house sold out of the Tribune before I could get there this morning. People are eating this up."
"Can't say I blame them," Ramirez said, shrugging. "Normally you only see this kind of thing on the front page of tabloids... like that woman a few years ago who got attacked by her fur coat," he chuckled.
Maria laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I remember that. That was the issue with Bat Boy's escape from the secret government lab, wasn't it?"
"It scares me that you know this, Maria."
"Hey, a woman has to keep current on the news." Maria winked at him. "Body?"
He nodded and pulled open the locker again. "Same thing as last time. Carotid artery severed, then a frenzied attack on the corpse. Thing must have been covered in blood. Must have been hell to get its fur clean..."
"Yeah. But so far none of the groomers we've talked to have had any blood-covered Poms brought in."
"Would've made your job too easy if they had."
"Yeah. God forbid it be easy for a change." Maria shook her head and pulled on a pair of gloves. "Hey, this is the guy who replaced Elders, isn't he?" she asked, frowning down at the body.
"Yeah. Why?"
"About two days after she died, he pushed through this really
controversial zoning ordinance. Same day he died." She frowned thoughtfully.
"Elders was very strongly against the ordinance, I
understand."
"Guess that rules out a hit."
"You'd think so." Maria nodded faintly. "Be different if they were on the same side politically, pissing off the same people..."
"Could as easily have been some past issue that they agreed on. People have long memories for grudges, Maria. You know that."
"Yes, I do," she agreed quietly. "The other members of the Council are scared, Miguel."
"I'd be. Three days, two bodies. They all have to be wondering which of them'll be next."
"I'll bet they are, but it won't be long now. We have orders to shoot to kill. So does animal control."
"That's a first from them."
"Well, this thing is a known killer. They're not about to risk one of their own taking it alive just to have to put it down later. I think they'll rest a lot easier when this is over."
"A lot of people will rest easier when this is over. Nadia's scared to let the kids play outside any more."
"I'll bet she is. Corey's only six and Paul's even younger than her."
He nodded. "Scares her. She doesn't even like going out herself any more."
"It won't be long now," she promised, praying that she was right.
Maria looked up as the door swung open, frowning when no one appeared in the doorway. A yelp from Ramirez made her look twice and she let out a startled curse, pushing Ramirez towards the far door as a small Pomeranian half-pranced into the room.
It paused, tilting its head at her as she reached for her gun. The damned thing almost seemed to be assessing the situation.
"Out," she breathed to Ramirez, jerking her head in the direction of the door. "I've got your six."
"Maria," he began anxiously, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"I'm right behind you," she assured him, frowning when the dog took another step forward. It almost seemed to understand her. Remembering her earlier suggestion to Vic that someone had been playing with its intelligence, she changed track. "Vas. Muy lento. Miras el perro atentamente. Caminas muy lento. Comprendas?"
"Loud and clear," he murmured, nodding and slowly stepping backwards. He stopped dead when the dog gave a low growl. "I don't think it likes that idea."
"I don't give a damn what it likes. Go!" she ordered, shoving him towards the door with one hand and pulling her gun with the other. She leveled it at the dog as Ramirez scuttled from the room. "You understand ever word I say, don't you, you damned mutt?" she growled, backing towards the door.
The dog tilted its head at her and nodded. Startled by that, Maria nearly dropped her gun. As she fumbled with it, the dog lunged.
What happened next occurred too quickly for her to follow. The dog actually seemed to get bigger as it got closer, and when its paws hit her chest, she was knocked the ground hard enough to steal her breath away. She squeezed the trigger as she fell, heard a series of shots. Her head struck the edge of the slab as she fell and the everything went black.
