Against the advice of her partner, Eames went to work the next morning.
"Goren!"
Bobby and Alex looked at each other from across their desks.
"Close the door behind you," Deakins told him when he entered. "What is she doing here today?"
Glancing back at Eames, Goren said, "I tried to talk her out of it but…"
"Take her home," he sighed.
Goren turned back to his boss.
"What is it?"
"I think you should let her stay."
"What aren't you telling me?"
Goren sat for a moment, contemplating. "What if it had been you or I in that situation? Would we stay home and do nothing or continue to work till we caught the guy?"
"We… I…" Deakins sighed and sat back in his chair. "You win. Do you think she can handle it, though?"
"I hope so."
He avoided her look when he returned to his desk.
"What did he want?"
"The usual. Yell at me for something or other."
She watched him fiddle with a file. "He told you to send me home, didn't he?" When he didn't look up she had her answer. "I'm staying."
Finally he looked at her. "That's what I told him."
Her defenses dropped and she smiled, a real smile, at him. "Thank you. Now, where is the file for… Heather McGarrity?"
He handed over the file he had been playing with. "Just waiting for the ME's report which should be in at any moment."
"The other victim…" She leafed through some papers. "Jennifer Olney… it says she had the same drug cocktail I did. My guess is Heather will also be the same. So that tells us he may be a pharmacist or dealer or…"
A woman handed a manila envelope to Goren who immediately opened it. "Or a sanguinarian."
"What?"
Goren handed the report across to her. "A… sanguinarian is someone who feels a physical need to drink blood." He paused. "It is a word currently used to describe HLV's." Off the look from his partner, he added, "Human Living Vampires."
"I don't get it. If he has a need to drink blood he can get it just about anywhere. A butcher or…"
"Human blood. He… appears to crave only human blood."
Her face paled at the thought.
"Maybe," Bobby continued, "Maybe he needs fresh, warm…"
"I get the details. Please. Unless you want me to lose my lunch before I even eat it," Alex jumped in.
Concern, not amusement, filled his eyes when he looked at her. The comment was Alex but… but the look in her eyes was something he could not decipher.
"He could easily get willing participants," she told him. "Vampire clubs are filled with people who are there to do that. So why drug them?"
"He gets off on it," Bobby stated. "Just drinking the blood isn't fulfilling for him. He needs the control. The ultimate control. He… He wants to be the fictional version of Dracula. He wants to be… be able to make them…" Goren paused. "His concubines. Those who will follow him just from one look."
"Then why kill them?"
He flipped through some more papers then looked up at her. "Because all of the victims he chose happened to be single, independent women. He probably did not… realize that when he chose them and as the drug started to wear off they began to… take control back from him."
"He should have done his homework a little better about modern-day women in New York," Alex mumbled.
A small smirk formed.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. Just missed you, that's all."
Crumpling a piece of paper into a ball, she threw it at him. "Now that we know why he does what he does, where do we find him?"
Goren sat thoughtfully for a moment. "He's on the net. If he was in a chat room before he is probably still lurking there now." Turning on his computer, he logged into the chat room they had found him in before.
Eames got up and walked over, sitting on the edge of his desk to look at the screen.
Neither one had made mention of the kiss or the nightmare yet both felt the change between them. Both sensed their relationship had progressed beyond casual friendship – to what, neither understood but they were comfortable and as Alex leaned in close to him they secretly reveled in the closeness. They needed the closeness.
"There he is." Goren pointed to the handle on the screen.
"You'd have thought he would have at least changed his screen name," Alex mentioned.
Remaining quiet, Bobby read the postings. "He's not posting."
"Maybe he's in a private IM."
Goren made up a new screen name and logged in again. It took only a few seconds for him to receive a private IM from their killer.
"Not the smartest guy," Eames snorted.
Sliding his chair over, he let Alex respond to the IM message.
"Alex."
"Yeah?" she asked, not looking up from her typing.
"Stop."
She did and looked at him.
"He knows it's you."
"What? How could…?"
'You're more beautiful without the costume,' popped up on the screen.
Alex could not control another cold shiver as it ran through her. Her fingers started shaking as they rested on the keyboard.
'You will always be mine, Alexandra,' came another message.
Physically removing her hands from his keyboard, Goren disconnected from the chat knowing there was no way to trace it. Still holding both of her trembling hands in one of his, he gently pulled her up from the chair and headed into Deakins office, closing the door.
Deakins' jumped up from his chair and helped Goren get Eames to a chair. "What happened?"
"We found him in a chat room again," Goren told him.
Deakins looked at Eames. "You're off the case and I'm sending you to a safe-house with twenty-four hour protection."
"Captain, no. I'm fine. It just shook me for a minute," she said without real conviction. What had that animal done to her mind?
"Look, I trusted Goren's judgment in letting you stay on the case but not now. Not after this."
"But…" she started.
"No. You are going home right now and getting what you need then I am sending you away. Alex, he's killed at least four women that we know of and let's face it, we know there are many more than that. He almost had you and he's apparently not going to let go until he does get you… Which I am not going to let happen."
Goren had remained silent. He felt her eyes fall upon him for support but he couldn't. He agreed with Deakins. It wasn't worth her life.
"Fine!" she hissed. "Seeing as my own partner doesn't have faith in me either…" She slammed the door behind her.
Deakins had expected Goren to take off after her and was surprised to see the large man still sitting. "Bobby?"
Still without a word, Goren left the office.
"You could've stuck up for me back there," Alex growled while gathering her things.
He looked at her and all her anger subsided. "What is it?"
But Goren just continued to look at her without speaking.
"Bobby!"
"Do what Deakins wants," was all he said as he grabbed his coat and left.
The anger that had only moments before subsided returned twice as strong.
******************
Alexandra Eames was not used to feeling like a caged animal, but that was the exact feeling she had as she paced the floor of the apartment where she had been taken. Two officers were stationed outside her door while another two were given the duty of staking out the entrance to the building.
What irritated her even more was the fact that Goren had deserted her. He had not said a thing to Deakins in her defense and then had vanished. Tears welled up at the thought that he had not even gone with her to the safe house to make sure everything was alright. To make sure she was alright.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself as another icy shiver ran through her. Figuring them to be side effects of the drugs, she turned the heat up higher and sat on the edge of the bed. Maybe… She sighed heavily. Maybe she had scared Goren when she had kissed him. It was the most innocent of kisses but maybe he…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. With a smile she got up. Bobby was the only one she knew who would knock that softly. Opening the door, she jumped back when the two bodies of the guards fell in atop one another. She reached for her gun but long, pale fingers stopped her.
In an instant her eyes met his.
"I knew you'd be mine," he told her, pushing her back into the room and closing the door behind him.
"How did you…?"
He reached up and touched her face. "Do you not realize we are… connected?"
Eames struggled against her captor but soon she felt a familiar sensation course through her. He had touched her. The drugs! Her efforts to scream were muffled by his hand over her mouth.
"Relax. Let it take you over. Let me take you over." He led her over to the bed and sat her down on it, removing her gun from its holster on her side. "You won't be needing this."
She wanted to fight. Her mind was screaming at her to fight. Her muscles were warm and felt as if they were melting away. Her thoughts were becoming blurred once again. 'Bobby, I'm sorry,' was her last thought as the drugs consumed her consciousness.
**********************
Goren pinched the bridge of his nose before glancing at his watch. Pushing the books aside, he ran out of the library. Praying he was wrong, he sped all the way to the apartment where Alex had been sent. He had read about the theories before but had never met anyone who practiced.
Pulling up to the curb he looked around and saw no one there. Fear gripped his heart as he swung the car door open and ran inside.
He began to tremble when he saw no officers standing outside of her door.
He ran down the hall and banged on the door.
No answer.
Kicking the door down, he stumbled over the bodies of his fallen colleagues, losing his gun in the process.
"Ah, Detective Goren, nice of you to join us."
Standing, he froze. Alex, while still clothed, was passionately kissing the guys neck paying no attention to what was going on around her. "You… you know how to make them do this," Goren said as calmly as he could while fighting the urge to pull Alex away and shoot the guy.
The killer grinned. "I knew you would be a good match for me mentally just as I knew your partner would be a good match for me…" He kissed her on the lips then looked back at Bobby. "Physically."
Goren's muscles clenched yet he managed to keep control. "How did you do it? It's only been theory until…" He motioned to his partner with his hand. "Until now."
"Theory to simple-minded people. The brain is a fascinating thing, as you well know."
Alex purred and nuzzled the killer's neck as she began moving to plant kisses on the other side of his neck.
Goren looked to a nearby chair and sat down. "You still have not told me how you managed to do it."
"In my homeland I was able to experiment with… things… you would not be able to do here in this country." He gently pushed Alex aside so he could get up and close the door. "It was many years of trial and error," he continued, turning back to Bobby. "But I finally found the right combination that would allow me to control the mind from distances."
Goren nodded while trying to keep an eye on his partner. "But… you… lose control after a certain amount of time? Is that why you killed them?"
The killer sat beside Eames once again, who was all over him causing Goren to cringe. "The test subjects in my land were not as, shall we say strong-willed as the women here." Again he glanced at Alex and smiled. "But I do believe I have fixed that problem."
"Make him go away," Alex murmured as she ran her fingers through the killer's hair.
"My darling, he is for you."
She looked at him then over at her partner with a sneer. "What a pleasure it will be." Sliding off the bed, she strolled over to Goren.
He remained silent as she began running her tongue along his jawline. He made no movement as she placed soft kisses along his neck. He pushed her aside and shot the killer point-blank when she handed him her gun that was resting on the table behind him.
The room stood still.
Eames swallowed hard. "Is he…?" Her voice quivered.
Goren, still holding the gun, checked for a pulse then turned to Alex and nodded. In one step he was standing in front of her. "Are you okay?"
She slowly nodded without looking at him.
"If you weren't drugged why didn't you shoot him?"
Her eyes still trained on the body, she swallowed hard. "He… he did drug me but when my mind started clearing up my gun was out of reach then you showed up and… and it was the only thing I could think of to buy time." She broke down and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
Turning their bodies so he was facing the killer, he reached into his pocket and called 911.
************************
Alex had made no objections to being taken to the hospital, especially since she had been unable to stop vomiting once the police had arrived at the hotel room. The drugs were partly the reason but the other reason had to do with the close, physical contact she had forced herself to have with the killer to catch him.
Bobby rode in the ambulance with her.
Six hours had passed since then.
Goren held his partner's hand as she lay in a restless sleep in yet another hospital bed. He was humbled by the depth of her trust and faith in him She had risked her life, had forced herself to have physical contact with the killer all on the belief that he, Robert Goren, her partner, would somehow show up. His heart clutched in his chest when he thought about what could have happened. When he had left her at the office she had been angry with him. What if he had not arrived in time? What if she thinking he had abandoned her? What if…?.
He sat up straight when she started tossing in the bed.
"Alex," he whispered, gently squeezing her hand.
"NO!" she screamed.
"Alex, wake up."
Her scream had brought a nurse running in. She checked her vitals while Bobby continued to try to soothe her in her sleep.
She tossed more.
Bobby looked up to the nurse for permission to wake his friend.
She nodded.
Gently, he grasped Alex's shoulders. "Alex, it's over."
Opening her terror-filled eyes, she quickly settled upon seeing Goren and the nurse there.
Smiling, the nurse quietly left.
"Is it really over, Bobby?" she asked trying to catch her breath.
"Yes. He's still dead. I…I called the morgue to make sure."
Despite the situation, she chuckled softly. "Such a typical Goren thing to do."
He merely smiled and sat back down on the chair, still holding her hand.
"What were you talking about back there? What was he doing?" she finally asked.
"It can wait until you're out of here."
She shook her head. " I want to know now. Did he figure out how to control minds?"
With his other hand, Bobby reached over and lightly traced her hairline. "He thought he had," he told her with a voice so soft that it made her feel safe and secure for the first time in days. "There are a small number of people who… believe they are the… direct descendents of the fictional Dracula. There have been rumors that some of these people have… much in the fashion of true Voodoo, figured a way to control people."
"But from a distance?"
"He wasn't really controlling your mind, Alex." His hand rested on her shoulder. "He figured out who we were that night he first drugged you. He followed us."
"So I wasn't imagining it when I thought someone was watching me that night?"
"Probably not. You're still as sane as the rest of us." He smiled. "Well, more sane than me," he joked.
"And the drugs?"
He shrugged. "We may never know what he used. No one has been able to come up with an identity for him yet so we don't know where he came from."
She nodded. "Bobby?"
"Yeah?"
"I just want to go home." Her eyes pleaded with him.
"I'll find the doctor. I'll be right back."
An overwhelming emptiness hit her when the door closed, leaving her alone in the room. Her would-be killer was dead. She was safe. A cold breeze flowed over her, causing her to shiver.
Bobby returned with the doctor and ran right to her when he saw her shivering. "Alex?"
She was shaking.
The doctor realized what was happening and left the room, returning a few seconds later. "I'm sorry, Alex, someone must have turned the air conditioning on by accident."
Her eyes met with Bobby's and both shared the same thought. Was this how it was going to be every time she felt a shiver?
"The tox report came back," the doctor began. "You actually had less in your system than before so if you have someone to look after you," he glanced across the bed at Bobby, "Then I can get you released within half an hour."
"She has someone," Goren confirmed.
"Good. Then I'll get started on the paperwork now."
"Thank you, Bobby," she whispered.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to him. "I just want to know one thing." He pulled back just enough to see her eyes. "How did you know I would show up when I did?"
Gathering her thoughts, she said, "I was really ticked off at you, but rationally I knew you wouldn't desert me. I knew you had to be onto something for you to just leave me like you did. When he got there I… I really only had hope to hold onto. You've never let me down before and you thankfully didn't start tonight."
"You took a horrific chance. What if I hadn't shown up? What if…" He couldn't finish the thought.
"I would have let him kill me before I let him rape me."
"Well I have to tell you, you were quite convincing."
She smiled. "Six years in vice finally paid off."
***********************
"I'm looking for Detective Goren," boomed a male voice.
Eames looked up from her paperwork. "Wow, Bobby, you realm of friends never ceases to amaze me," she teased.
He looked over and groaned. Standing across the room was a tall man with long hair and a beard wearing leather pants and carrying a helmet. "Hide me."
Laughing, Eames said, "I think that would be a bit difficult. See, sometimes being so short isn't a bad thing."
The man walked over to Goren's desk. "You owe me."
"Not now, Frank. I'm working." He pretended to be absorbed in the file on his desk.
The man did not move.
"May I help you with something?" Eames asked nicely.
He turned to her. "No, Ma'am. I need Goren for this."
She bit back a smile. Her partner was blushing. This had to be good.
"Frank, please, I'll talk to you about it after work."
The visitor thought for a moment. "Okay. Central Park, West side. Seven," was all he said before he left.
All amusement gone, Alex was worried. "Bobby?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
She sighed. In her third week back at work since the incident with the vampire wanna-be, she had finally managed to get everyone to treat her like normal and not like some china doll that needed protecting. Her partner had been the toughest of all to get to change but now it seemed as if he were back in full-protection mode once again.
"Fine, get yourself killed," she murmured, breaking a pencil in her hand in the process.
As quitting time approached, Bobby glanced over at Eames. "Hey, Alex?"
"What?"
"That thing with Frank, it's really nothing. Do you want to go with me? We could get something to eat afterwards. It'll only take a few minutes."
She looked at him. "What's it all about?"
"He did me a favor. I… I promised I'd meet his sister in return."
Eames nearly choked.
"It wasn't my choice. But it was a huge favor."
"Hey, I don't want to intrude on any date."
He laughed. "That's not tonight. I just have to get the information from him. So?"
"Sounds good. Sounds better than going home and trying to find a movie to watch," she admitted. She hadn't told him about the nightmares that still plagued her.
*****************
There was a gentle, brisk breeze as they strolled through Central Park. It was cool yet it was comforting. Autumn had always been Eames' favorite season and Bobby couldn't help but smile at the way she subtly tried to step on every crunchy leaf as they walked.
When they reached the designated area, they saw Frank standing off in the distance. "I'll be right back," Bobby told her.
She watched him for a little while then started kicking around leaves and looking up at the brightly colored trees whose color was fading quickly with the sunset.
"Alex? Can you come here for a minute?"
She followed the sound of his voice then stopped atop a small incline. Her eyes blurred with tears.
Bobby walked over to her. "This was actually the big favor I asked him for."
She opened her mouth but no sound came. Looking up into his eyes, she leaned up on her toes and pulled his face down so she could touch his lips with her own.
Frank cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have to go."
Alex just kept smiling while Bobby thanked him.
Returning his attention to his partner, he asked, "Do you like it?"
"I love it, Bobby."
Set up inside a white pagoda was a candle-lit table complete with red roses and strings of lights hanging from the outside.
He took her hand and led her over to the building. "I, uh, don't know why I… I uh,"
Alex laughed. "I've never seen Robert Goren stammer before."
He blushed for the second time that day. "I know you're not really a flowers and candy kind of girl but…"
"But coming from the right guy, it's the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me," she quietly admitted as she sat down.
He smiled and sat beside her.
She leaned over and once again kissed him, this time they allowed the kiss to deepen, forgetting about the food before them.
Breaking only in need of air, she wiped away a tear from his eye. "What do you say we eat and then finish things somewhere else later?"
"Anything you want, Alex," he grinned. "Anything you want."
The End