Chapter 46

St. Louis

Matthew McCormick flashed his FBI badge to the local authorities at the crime scene before climbing the front steps of the old house and wandering in. He stared about the sparsely furnished old house and then made his way to the kitchen in the back. At first glance he saw where the crime-scene photos in the file had shown two men… necks snapped at a round kitchen table. He pulled the photo out of the file and studied it and the table. He sniffed at the remains of food and dirty dishes still on the table. They'd evidently been eating when they'd been surprised… Matt turned and stared at the open interior door. Evidently the surprise had come from the basement. He descended the wooden stairs slowly… attempting to get a clear feel for the clammy basement. Three steps down, a string brushed his face… he pulled it and a naked light bulb, swinging from the open support beams further down, swung back and forth, casting shadows.

The basement had been subdivided into a number of small rooms… each containing a gurney… a few also contained a chair or a small table and chair. In one of the rooms… one in which the photos indicated a body had been found… a table had been broken. Two table legs had been missing.

Matt flipped through the photos. This was where the man with the tattoo had been found… stripped to his underwear.

Kneeling next to the chalkline he stared at the photo thoughtfully. "They needed the clothes," he thought… also noticing the photo of the fourth man… likewise stripped and found in another of the small rooms. "They woke up on the gurneys and killed these men… took their clothes and crept up the stairs to kill the others. But they left the shoes… too big? Too small?"

The drugs found on the IV poles had been removed to the lab for identification… but early reports indicated they were extremely powerful sedatives. "Strong enough to keep even one of us out," he mused. After checking the room where the other man's body was found and finding nothing else of interest… Matt climbed the stairs and passed through the kitchen into a small parlor where he found the remains of a rummaged closet.

Looking through the sacks of clothes… Matt had the distinct impression… that a number of people… likely immortals… had been kept here off and on for some time. The local crime scene unit must not have considered the clothes interesting. They had collected the two swords found in the closet, however. Matt stared at the two evidence photos of the swords trying to recall if he knew them or not. He didn't.

Matt thought a moment. "Likely they found their own clothes… but didn't change… took them… and their swords… They didn't need these other two." He stood and exited to the rickety wooden back porch to stare out into the overgrown and wooded yard. Surveying the area, Matt smiled. "Where would I go if I'd just awakened down there… killed my captors… and still a bit woozy needed to move… and in a hurry." He saw the opening through the overgrown hedge bordering the graveled alleyway that passed between the backyards in this block, and headed in that direction.

He passed down the length of the alley and out onto the sleepy residential street. "Now what time of day or night?" Glancing again at the reports… he noted time of death as between one and four in the afternoon. "They needed to walk sedately… not call attention. They would not have stolen a car… at least not here." Mat pulled out a map of the area and glanced at it. "Did they know where they were? They wouldn't have returned to their own place… too much chance of being captured again… a motel or cheap hotel is most likely."

Finding an area that contained inexpensive lodgings… Matt began hiking in that direction. He wanted to be on foot… for a number of reasons… not the least of which was that he'd be more likely to sense another immortal on foot. Swiftly he passed through the sedate old neighborhood into the low-rent business area.

Once there he stared at buildings carefully and tried to think what he would have done. His decision made… he began searching for the immortals.

Three hours later… tired and getting discouraged, he felt a presence as he was flashing his badge to another hotel desk clerk and asking to see another manager. He turned and regarded the brunette on the far side of the lobby… a plastic bag in one of her hands… staring at him. Matt waved off the clerk and slowly approached the woman.

"I'm Mathew McCormick… FBI," he flashed his badge. "I need to speak with you."

The woman nodded and led the way to the elevator. Once inside she turned to him and said, "Is this a challenge."

He couldn't quite place the accent. "No… I'm just trying to make sense of a crime scene."

The woman nodded. When the doors opened on the fourth floor, she stepped out and headed down the corridor. He followed. She knocked on the door and whispered something… as she glanced up at him. The door opened… Matt could feel another immortal within the room.

He nodded and entered first… almost immediately finding a blade at his neck. "If I wanted to challenge either of you ladies… do you think I would have entered your room?"

"Just spread yar arms there… We've had a very bad couple of days," the new immortal said.

Matthew spread his arms and was relieved of his weapons. Motioned toward a chair… he sat.

"I think I figured out part of it. They were holding you two… but you woke up… killed them… and left. Now who were they?"

"Watchers," the second woman said. "Have ya not heard of Watchers, either?" she glanced at the other woman.

Matt shook his head but flipped the file open to show the close-up of the tattoo. "No. Is that a Watcher?"

The blonde nodded. She seemed relatively young… likely in her early twenties when she'd died. The other woman appeared to be in her mid-thirties.

"Now I gave you my name… what's yours?" he said to the first one.

"I am Katya… this is Amber. We did not know one another until we awoke in that house."

"Did they know what we are?"

"Aye," Amber said. "Watcher's know us. They been watchin' all o' us for centuries. Most just watch and never interfere in what we have to do… but they make records."

"I did not know of them either," Katya added. "I contacted some friends via internet from that place down the road. I haven't had a chance to check back to see if they know anything about what's going on. Are you really FBI?"

Matt nodded. "I'm here… unofficially. "I'd seen that same tattoo on a body years ago at the scene of one of our… meetin's. I came because of it. Wanted to know if one of us was involved somehow."

"From what I overheard," Katya said stepping closed, "I think they've been doing this for some time. They abduct us, drug us, and ship us somewhere."

"Somewhere else? Any idea where?" Matt noticed that Amber had lowered her blade and was visibly relaxed.

Katya shook her head. "I was more interested in getting out of there… than in gathering information.

"You killed them."

Katya nodded. "And I'd do it again."

Matt stared over at Amber who shrugged. "She didn't want one of them to wake up and report us missing before we could get away."

"They were evil men… do I need to spell out what they planned to do to us?" The bitterness in Katya's voice spoke volumes about her. "At least… the ones here." Katya shook her head, "I don't know about what the ultimate plan was."

Matt nodded, and sat back in the chair thoughtfully. "I need to get back to Washington… I may be able to make some additional inquiries that could help us find out what is going on."

"And what about us?" Amber asked.

Matt smiled. "I don't see anyone here to arrest. You two don't really know anything now, do you?" He chuckled… and the women laughed with him.

"Let's figure out how to stay in touch," he added.

Katya nodded. "And you be careful. I fear it wasn't just female immortals they were grabbing."

Matt nodded." Yes… I noted the clothes. So… we have… a partnership of sorts… for the time bein'." Matt smiled, arching one eyebrow.

"For now," Amber agreed, "for now." Matt had a feeling that Amber did not like being with other immortals… even those who were not currently a threat to her.

-----

Watcher Compound

Rawlins slammed his cell phone off and hissed. Glaring over at Wilderman he finally calmed himself enough to say, "You said you thought you were ready for the first tests tonight… are you?"

Wilderman fumbled with a bagel… brushing the crumbs from his chest. "Yes… yes sir. We have the scenario loaded and we're ready to test whenever you give the word. But… It might be better to wait. There are still some small problems with the system."

"Consider the word given. I want results!" Rawlins snarled at Wilderman and stomped out of the scientist's office, slamming the glass door behind him. The vertical blinds on the window wall looking out over the labratory below, shifted in the breeze of his passing.

"Shouldn't you have told him we still have some problems with controlling them. They are all very strong-willed." Wilderman's assistant, Claire Romney, suggested.

"Somehow I don't think he's in the mood to hear about our minor problems."

"Minor? Mortals with half the dosage follow the programs and accept the scenarios… but these," she gestured toward the outer room…" We've doubled the dose and they still break free. We need to wait until we have their extended memories mapped. We've barely scratched the surface of some of the older ones."

"That's why we start with the young ones. Some of them are younger than we are. Those are the ones whose minds are most like ours. It'll work… it has to." Wilderman rubbed a hand through his thin whte hair nervously.

"And… if we fail?" Claire began.

"We may wish we'd never started. Mr. Rawlins does not seem to take failure well."

Claire lay one hand on Wilderman's sleeve and smiled. "Then boss, we best not fail."

-----

Paris

After settling Melanie Pryor comfortably on the couch of his office… and dismissing the band. "We can practice later, guys." Joe locked up and headed to his car. He needed to find Ellie and let her know an immortal was looking for her… it had to have been her that Delano had tangled with. Melanie had said two immortals though. Had Derrick died somehow since coming to Paris? Was she training him?

Sitting in his car as he wove through traffic… Joe kept an eye on the rear view mirror for any sign of a tail. He didn't see one… but that didn't mean one wasn't there. Nervously he parked near St. Julian Le Pauvre and got out to walk in the church gardens and cemetery. Ellie had said she'd see him. For over an hour he moved through the gardens… resting on first one bench and then another. He wandered through the small old cemetery reading the names of the markers. Nervously he glanced around at the surrounding buildings… staring into blank windows and wondering where she was.

Had they bolted because of the run-in with Delano? Surely she'd have let him know somehow. At the end of the hour… Joe noticed he was being watched. "Sorry darlin'," he whispered to the empty air… "I guess you saw him… and stayed away. I'll have to wait for you now." Sadly the old Watcher returned to his car, stopping to give a nod to the man observing him. "See anything you liked?" Joe spat angrily.

The man shook his head. "It's not you Dawson… but we're watching to see if immortals contact you."

"Well you tell whoever's in charge these days that all my immortal friends have vanished over the years. None of them come to see me. Not anymore."

"Then why come here?" the man gestured to the church.

"Because we made a terrible mistake years ago. We killed one of them… Do you know the story?" When the man shook his head, Joe continued, "Some Watchers thought they needed to end the game so they started killing immortals. They killed one here… on holy ground… one of the best of them… and I come to beg forgiveness… for all of us." Joe turned away and stormed to his car, hoping the lies, tinged with truth, were enough to satisfy the Watcher.

As he started his car… he wondered if Ellie had seen the whole thing.