2005
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
CHAPTER 18 -Plans-
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that
9 out of 10 doctors agree that 1 out of 10 doctors is an idiot.
Valgaav pulled Lina to the side, just outside the door, while Zelgadiss and Xel entered the house. "I don't care what all happened, but it wouldn't hurt you to say something nice to Xel. That's all."
He released her shoulder a tad too roughly, and then strode past, disappearing down the hall. Of all the men in Lina's life, Valgaav was not enamored of her. He thought she was immature, overbearing, and not feminine enough for his tastes. He couldn't imagine what the appeal was, and especially what it was about her that had Xel so bewitched. Of course, it was also possible that his older cousin was bound by her spell against his will, but not likely. Xel hadn't even acknowledged the dozens of young ladies, and men, who had flung themselves at him after the act beyond a smile and polite "thank you." "Skinny, arrogant little thing," he groused all the way to Jillas' room.
Jillas and Gravos were crammed into two beanbag chairs and taking turns blasting each other out of the sky. The brothers were so immersed in their Playstation game that they didn't notice Valgaav standing at the door. "Ah, we're all here now." Getting nothing more than a grunt in reply, Valgaav exited, closing the door behind him.
As he passed the study, he could hear low voices, Xel's and Lina's. "Great..." He found Zelgadiss in the front room shaking out a blanket. "Go ahead, take the couch."
"That's okay. I think something's living in it. The floor will be fine. I'm so beat I could sleep in the bath tub, and I might have if it had been cleaned in the past year." Zelgadiss flopped onto his nest. "Oh, and thanks for showing me around today. I had a great time."
"Glad you did; so did I. Now, before I pass out, good night, Zelgadiss."
While Valgaav had been doing his rounds, Xelloss had collected Lina and directed her to the study. "There's a futon here that opens out... Ah, here. For your sleeping comfort." He sank onto the sturdy futon corner, leaned back on a pillow, and draped his legs over the edge. His eyes opened as she rested beside him.
Lina liked how carefully he looked at her. It made her feel special and desirable. She had been feeling 'a little out of her league' most of the evening-- Noonsa's attack on her, which had required Xel's action to save her, his brilliant escape plan, his piloting skills, and then the whole nightclub affair. He owned the club and performed a mature act with dancing and singing and the list went on. There was the disciplined, capable Sherra, who was in love with him, most likely. Maybe. Lina was feeling inferior, something she hadn't felt in a very long time. It was an emotion she could fight, though, and would do so by lashing out at the one nearest her.
"I'm sorry about the club, Lina. I wasn't thinking clearly or I would have asked if you'd rather just come here instead."
"Eh, it was okay. I wouldn't mind going to another one, when I haven't been running through sewers, but I'd pick a different place. No offense, but it was kinda an old crowd there, ya know? Doesn't matter. I'd just like to pick my own kinda place."
Xel studied her closely. Valgaav's words came to mind, and he wondered if ten years was just too great an age difference. He was feeling terribly old at the moment. Part of the feeling was caused by the pills he had taken before leaving the club. He needed to rest. "Most of the places where the kids hang play hip hop stuff, which I'm not fond of."
"It's what's hot, though," Lina said.
"I can't dance to it or hum the melodies."
"It's the poetry of our times. It talks of the streets and what's real."
"I see enough of the reality of the streets in the morgue. I need escapism."
A gulf widened between them. It was nearly wide enough for a whole generation to get lost in, or would have been had Lina seriously been defending a position she believed in. She just wanted to stand for something he didn't already know everything about. She also loved the flash of danger in his eyes when he mentioned 'the morgue.' "Well, if it bothers you so much, you should change jobs," Lina said. "I'm cool with it all."
This comment riled him more. "Death by violent means should bother you, Lina. I'm there to speak for those who can't and tell their story and find their killers. You're just fascinated by the experience, like a kid with a new toy."
"Oh? So now I'm just a kid. I was wondering when you'd bring that up. I can't help my age, but at least I don't let life get me down. I take care of myself."
"You do, do you? What would have happened to you if I hadn't stopped Noonsa? Or if Sherra hadn't been responsible, or..."
"I didn't tell you to kill the guy! You could have knocked him over the head or something. I was about to kick him in the guts, which probably would have sent him and his knives sprawling. I'm pretty good at stuff like that. Hell, you can't even defend yourself against Gourry!"
Xel's temper was about to become unhinged. His reflexes were honed to lightning-quick death strikes through years of training on the island defending himself. Had he moved against Gourry any harder, he might have maimed the man. Noonsa's failing had been to forget that. "I'd better go. Whether you realize it or not, you need to sleep now."
Lina struck out with her fist. She had meant to hit him, but the punch turned gentle and tingled where it contacted his shoulder instead. His anger had given him an edgy quality, which Lina found most appealing. She could blot out the effeminate image she'd been carrying of him since the 'act' at the Cavern. She let her greater momentum carry her into his body, crushing his back into the futon. It was her turn to prove herself as she closed in to kiss him.
Xelloss was feeling light-headed. He knew the drugs were taking effect, relaxing him and enabling him to sleep. Soon the throbbing pain in his jaw would be dulled. Lina pressed a kiss firmly onto his lips. Oh how he wanted to give in to that kiss! Automatically, his free hand wrapped around her, then moved to position his hand over her hip. His thumb caressed over her lower rib, and he felt her shudder. Their legs were intertwined, pinning him in place. He hadn't the strength or motivation to fight her; that is, until the pressure on his jaw and fat lip caused a jabbing pain to cut through his fuzzy brain. He tried to persuade her to stop. "Lina..."
She was wearing the same dress that she had when they had dined with his mother earlier in the evening. At their brief layover at the Atlas City airport, she had changed out of her dry but casual attire and back into the dress. Her other clothes were wet or damp from the drainage pipe experience or by being bunched up in the bag together. Even the dress hadn't been completely dry, but passable. Her hair looked okay, but now that she was touching Xel, she was acutely aware of her overall state of uncleanliness. She didn't seem to notice his, but that may have been because he'd cleaned up briefly after the show to remove the makeup. Again, she felt like an unappealing kid next to this mature adult, and not thinking about the pain she had just caused his jaw, so when she felt him pull away slightly, she blushed and sat up. "I... need to go to the bathroom."
"I'll find you a shirt to wear," Xel said. "That dress is too nice to ruin." He hadn't intended to sound like an overbearing father, but to her, he had.
"I know! I can do that!" she snapped. To prove that she could, Lina hopped up and slid open the closet door. She spotted a huge jersey that Gravos must have once worn, and pulled it off its hanger. "I'll be right back."
Xelloss closed his eyes and flung an arm over them. "I must be crazy. I am too old for this girl, and she's falling in love with me. A part of me wants her too, but... Damn you, Valgaav, for awakening my conscience."
Lina washed her face in the sink, and then stared at her reflection. Compared to the well-built women in the club, not to mention Sherra, she did look like a girl. "I can do this," she told herself. "I'll show him that I'm grown up enough to take him on. I'm as good as any of them. So what if I don't wear all that make up?" Feeling a bit better after that pep talk, she scrambled out of the dress and into the voluminous shirt. "Not very sexy looking," she said in judgment of her reflection. "But he'll just want it off anyway, then it doesn't matter."
She swallowed hard. She just admitted to herself that she had decided to sleep with Xel, and was terribly unsure of what to do next. "Well, I'm sure he won't be."
Lina opened the bathroom door and crept down the hallway and back into the study, closing the door behind her. It was dark, but she could detect his mounded figure on the futon just where she'd left him. Now her heart was pounding to get out, her hands clammy and her mouth dry. "Should have brushed my teeth," she thought, but remembered that her bag was too hard to find at that point.
"Xel?" She eased onto the futon, suddenly afraid to come into contact him. "Xel?"
She moved closer and heard his breathing; it was slow, deep, and even. "Are you asleep?"
His silence told her everything she needed to know. "Oh." As she fell back onto the other side of the mattress, she wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved. "I'm not ready," she decided. "Tonight, anyway." Her eyes closed.
The house was silent as the inhabitants slept the sleep of the dead.
It was late the next day before they were all aroused and out of the house. Valgaav, Zelgadiss, Lina, and Xelloss were headed back to Seyruun. Zelgadiss was in a good mood and speaking in an animated style to Valgaav about his hopes and dreams, come fall term. He couldn't wait until college started now. Lina and Xel were quietly holding down each end of the back seat.
"I'm stopping here for food, that all right with everyone?" Valgaav asked.
They hadn't eaten in ten hours or more and, yes, it was just fine with everyone. They loaded up with burgers and fries, and then Zelgadiss took his turn at the wheel, proud to have been given a turn. "I'll just drop you off at your house, okay Lina? Then we'll go on to our play practice."
"Sure," she grunted. Xel was ignoring her, as if nothing had happened, which it hadn't, but he wasn't lusting after her like she expected. It made her feel undesirable and made her cranky. She felt his eyes on her, even though they were nearly closed. "What's your problem?"
"You." He did not elaborate.
She smiled smugly, satisfied that she had gotten under his skin. It emboldened her to move over, stretch, and whisper into his ear. "Too bad you fell asleep last night. You missed all the fun." On her way back to her side, she nipped the un-inflamed portion of his lower lip. "Heh, heh..."
Xel's eyes flew open in surprise, but he said nothing.
Valgaav had noticed Xel's reticence to treat Lina like a potential girlfriend in the car, and it pleased him to think his words of wisdom might have had something to do with that. When he saw what he considered Lina teasing Xel just then, it annoyed him. Maybe if Lina knew more about Xel, she would leave him alone, Valgaav hoped. He thought about what that might be.
On awakening, he had discovered that Zelgadiss had forgotten a large part of the prior evening's events, due to the alcohol he had consumed. He had reviewed with Zelgadiss the few details he knew of Xel and Lina's most foul adventure, but then Zel plied him with dozens of questions he couldn't or wouldn't answer. It was time, Valgaav decided, for Xel to reveal information for both Lina and Zelgadiss' sakes. "So, Xel, why don't you tell them a story about your childhood? I think Zelgadiss needs to understand why you're not more broken up about gutting that man. Lina, too."
"I don't that's a good idea, Valgaav."
But Lina, wanting to prove she could be mature about it, and Zelgadiss, who was dying to know, convinced him at last. "Oh, all right. I'll tell one involving Noonsa. He wasn't always on Wolfpack Island. In fact, he worked for Zanaffar for years before I met him. We met in the autopsy labs. He made nasty jokes up about the dead people we examined. I didn't know back then, but I suspect we were already sending test samples for technicians to examine and gather data points for Zelas' experiments. Anyway, Noonsa was disrespectful and sloppy, and I told him so on several occasions. There was one time, though, that I walked in on him dissecting a ... a living man. He was unconscious, but the heart was beating. I could see it. Then he gutted the patient, the contents pouring out onto the table. I started yelling and trying to stop him. It was unconscionable! He said it was for a test. He drove his knife through the man's heart, stopping it instantly. He told me to go play with the dead bodies, and prepare them for burial if I couldn't take the 'real' work. That day, I promised him that if I ever found him torturing a living creature, I would gut him just as I had seen him do."
"And you did," Zelgadiss said as he slowed done to exit the freeway. "That's why you did that. I thought sounded rather brutal at the time."
Lina's face took on a look of understanding. "That bastard! He would have done that to me, right? I mean, if you hadn't come along?"
"I couldn't take the chance that he wouldn't try. In the time I might have talked him out of it, he could have lunged at you. He had it coming, although I wish someone other than me had done it." Xel looked Lina squarely in the eyes. "The work I did on that island was not something I'll ever be proud of. Too much of it was unethical and borderline illegal. I'm never going back."
"Knowing all you did about what was going on, I'm surprised she let you go," Lina said. "You know what I mean, go to work for Gaav, in that worker trade?"
"Was that for real?" Zelgadiss asked. "That whole thing about trading you to Gaav? Did he really just want you for your bowling?"
Xel had to decide what to say. He had to be cautious, because he had been concealing the truth from them. He was uncomfortable revealing information detrimental to his image, but they deserved to know. "She sent me to spy on you, Zelgadiss, in particular. But if that gets to Gaav or back to her, I'm dead."
"We won't tell," Zelgadiss promised, as did the others. "But why me?"
"I wasn't told. I had no idea at the onset, but now I imagine it has to do this Zanaffar link."
Lina considered what he said, but found it gave her indigestion. "What if Zelas notices that we left the island, I mean, if we aren't there to even stop by and say goodbye, won't she be suspicious?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of that," Xel said dismissively. He was worried, though, and she could read his face even as he hid his eyes again.
She leaned in very close and spoke low so that only he could hear. "Is that other little plane still at the Seyruun airport? The one supposed to make it look like it carried us, while Sherra chased it through the storm?"
"I don't know, probably." His eyes opened a slit. "I doubt the scam was needed. No one even noticed the planes, most likely... anyway."
"Lina, we're here," Zel shouted out as he pulled into Amelia's driveway.
"Zelly, don't leave without me."
"What?"
"WAIT. FOR. ME." Lina shouted back, and the said to Xel, "I need to change my clothes and dump the wet stuff. Gimme yours, too."
"Leave the dress, Lina and..." Xel began.
She didn't wait, but unzipped his bag and pulled out the wettest stuff she could find, and then stuffed them into her bag. She slammed shut the truck, and yelled to Zelgadiss over her shoulder as she ran off, "WAIT!"
"What's up?" Zelgadiss asked.
"I made her a stupid promise," Xel said. "She wants her first flying lesson."
"But you have play practice! Aaaand isn't it a little late to start that?"
"Tell them I'm not well, which I'm not. This won't take all that long." Xel pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number from memory. "Sei? You still in Seyruun? No? How about the plane? Good. No, I'll take care of it. No problem. Bye."
Valgaav turned to Xel and spoke for the first time. "Watch your back, and her, too."
'Her' was Lina, Xel knew. "I have no illusions. I'm okay now."
Valgaav nodded curtly. "Glad to hear it."
When Lina returned with her bag, Xel said, "I explained to our friends that we begin flying lessons today."
Lina had picked up on Xel's excuse for going to the airport. "Yeah, if I don't hold him to it and get started right away, summer will be over and I'll have missed my chance."
Zelgadiss drove out to the airport, and dropped Lina and Xel at the private plane hangers. "Have fun," Zelgadiss said as they took off for the play practice. To Valgaav, he said, "You believe all that bullshit?"
"No, but this isn't about romance. Xel's figured it's time to move on. He's got a few loose ends to tie up back at home. Forget them; we got other things to do."
Xel landed the two-man Piper, and taxied back to the Wolfpack Island hanger. As before, his sleek, black car was ready and waiting for them.
"There's this house, no... cabin. A very small shack, more like it, where we can rest up, if you'd like."
"Where is it?" Lina asked.
"Not far. On the coast."
"Hmmm, sure," she sighed and leaned back into the comfortable leather seat. The roof was open, exposing Lina to a snapping breeze and some late afternoon sky. The horizon was indistinct with the onset of evening and a dark line of fog forming over the ocean.
Xel was quiet, aloof, speaking only when spoken to. He regretted his coming here. It was not a good idea, and then again, it was an unexpected, and so, devious one. If everything worked out as he hoped, then he would have Lina to thank for saving his ass. They would be even. If not, then he would have to think of something on his own. "This is as far as the road goes. We'll walk the rest the way."
Lina hopped out. "I hope it's far. I love the beach!"
"Just start on the path. I'll be along with the bags."
He waited until she disappeared around a grass-covered sand dune, then he took up a bag in each hand and followed. The more distance he kept between them the better, for his sake. He was immensely attracted to her, still, more now that he had decided to give her up. He watched her up ahead, dancing in the fog wisps and jumping the tiny wavelets at the water's edge, oblivious to his stormy thoughts. He tried contacting his mother using the new number she had given him, and got her answering service. "This is Xel. We thought we'd stop by for dinner on the way out. If that's not okay then call me." He left her his number, put away the phone, and then loped up the path.
"You weren't kidding about this being a shack." Lina was looking in at the door of the unlocked, two-room building. "This where you bring your girlfriends?"
"It's been all kinds of things in the past, but a romantic beach cabin is not one of them. Dad stayed out here by himself sometimes, which is how I learned about it." Xel tossed their bags onto the floor and looked around. Nothing had changed in all the time since he'd been there.
"I don't wanna swim, but could we just beach comb a little before it gets too cold?"
Better outside than locked together within the confines of the single-bed room, Xel thought. "Okay."
Lina did the talking, while Xel added the necessary, friendly "uh, huh's". He remained at a distance, both in their spatial arrangement and in an emotional way. It was a torment to be near her and not touch, but he was determined to do the right thing for once in his life. He had even accepted that Gourry might be an acceptable guy for her, for the rest of summer, if he didn't have to observe them.
She was not blind to the change in his demeanor. She even appreciated the personal space he was giving her; it was a sign of respect. It was about time he considered her an equal and not some stupid kid, but she also wouldn't have minded so much if he'd held her hand. When he had been too forward in the past, she had been the one pushing him away. Now, it seemed, he was letting her be the aggressor. Lina ran back to where Xel was throwing rocks into the surf. "Hey, do you think if we went to the castle now we could get dinner? I'm short a meal."
"If that's what you'd like," he said with a smile. The split lip had healed sufficiently for him to smile freely again. The swelling was mostly gone, too, leaving behind a dark bruise.
Lina startled him by grasping his hand and hopping up to kiss him lightly on the other cheek. "You bet! I don't have to put on that dress again, do I?"
"Not if you don't want to."
"Good. I stuffed a skirt in the bag. I'll just change into that, and then we can go. You stay outside."
He stood transfixed by the cabin door, his heart pounding double time against the waves. It had been the lightest of touches, which stirred his guarded passions, lighting his desire. Against his wishes, he was on fire. "This is stupid," he thought. "I'm letting some girl get to me." He reset his resolve to break from Lina's spell just in time for her to reappear.
"Ready!" Lina swept past him and into the car. His arm tingled where a lock of her hair had caressed him.
He gathered their bags and stored them in the back seat of the convertible. "Damn it all," he grumbled to himself and kicked an errant shell out of his path. "This is no time to become irrational."
"What was that?" Lina watched him fall into his seat and start the car. "Nervous about what she might do to us? 'Cause I gotta tell ya, I'm not worried a bit. After that escape plan you pulled off last night, I'm sorta impressed with you. I mean, you had that all worked out ahead of time. You must have been down there in those pipe lines scouting the paths, right? That heart-marker thing was put there by you, wasn't it?"
"Yes, a few days before, I marked several escape routes depending on which way we, or I, as I was thinking at that time it would be just me down there, would take."
"So, I wasn't meant to see the heart?"
"No, Lina. It doesn't mean what you think."
"What was it supposed to mean then? 'X' and 'L' heart transplant patients? Come on, where's your sense of humor?"
"Lain. The 'L' was for Lain."
"Lain? Who's Lain?"
"The other pilot. Lain Sherra." Xelloss frowned as he considered the name. If he rearranged the letters, "Lain" became "Lina."
"Oh." Lina swallowed hard and gathered her emotions. "That makes sense, I guess."
He hated himself for saying that, and admired how she hadn't started to cry. He swung the car around and parked, engine still running, at the castle front entrance. "You don't have to do this for me."
"For you? Hell, I'm gonna clear myself! Come on, let's go!"
This time, when Xelloss threw open the doors to the dining room, Zelas was prepared. "You're early, although, I have to admit I wasn't expecting to see you again at all."
"You got my message, I take it?" he asked flatly. He heart was not in this event at all. He hated lying to Lina. He hated everything.
"Yes, didn't you get mine?"
"No, I didn't," Xel looked over the empty table. "When is dinner being served?"
"In a minute. I left a message at your home number."
"Why didn't you leave with the number I gave you? I'm not at home; I'm here with my cell phone, which is why I gave you that number. You think I'd leave without saying goodbye?" He smiled politely, but Lina wasn't fooled. Something was bugging him. He wasn't the same Xel with whom she entered the Cavern club.
"We gotta get back tonight, so if dinner's going to be much longer..."
"What's the hurry?" Zelas turned her x-ray eyes on Lina.
"Well, we have a bowling game tomorrow, don't you?"
"Yes. Yes, of course." The woman looked away as a manservant entered bearing a tray of food. "Thank you, Thurm." Zelas waited until the man had portioned out some of the food to each of them and left, before continuing. "I'm afraid we had a little disturbance in one of our labs last night. One of our researchers has died. He was an acquaintance of yours, Xelloss."
"Oh? That's too bad. Who was it?"
"Noonsa. You remember him, don't you?"
Xel frowned. "He was a cruel man. I couldn't forget him. These potatoes are delicious."
"I was curious," Zelas continued, "if you slept well last night, my dear?"
Lina looked up from her plate. "Ah, no, actually. The storm kept me awake." Lina wondered if the woman had checked their rooms and noticed their belongings were missing. That would have to be excused. "Then there was this horrible howling noise! It scared me to death so I ran out into the hall and found Xelly. He took me away to some cabin, where it was quieter." Lina hoped it was true that the beach would be quieter in a storm.
"Quieter? Really?" Zelas asked.
Xel played along, thankful that Lina was so adept at lying. "That's right, Mother, I drove out to Dad's old place. You know the wolves never go near the coastline. The wind was whipping up the water, but it seemed quieter."
Zelas continued testing her son throughout the meal, but he remained calm. He never took the bait she dangled in front of him. Lina consumed her meal in earnest, pretending to be empty-headed and innocent, of murder anyway. "Do we bowl against your team next?" she asked, returning to that comfortable topic.
"That's Gaav's team you're on? No, I think that's next week." Zelas turned toward Xel, and asked, "Can you stay for dessert? It is a frozen coconut and mango cream."
Xel nodded, and then asked Lina, "If you think we have time, that is?"
"Yeah, sure. Is the weather still good? I wouldn't want to have to go back flying through anything like that storm we heard last night. I'd swim first."
Zelas looked at her son as if to say, "Can't you find a woman of intellect, like her older sister?" She actually said to Lina, "You shouldn't attempt to swim, dear. The water is far too cold. But you have nothing to worry about, tonight. If you leave in the next hour, you'll still have light and fair weather once you get above the fog layer. Xelloss, I regret not having time to spare with you this visit. Promise to come again soon?"
"I haven't much free time, but I'll return to the island, I'm sure."
"Let me know in advance," she said in a tone of command. "I can prepare a special treat for you. In the meantime, it seems Noonsa killed himself, and I'm responsible for his interment, since his wife is no longer on the island. I knew he was having marital problems, but I though he was under control. So sad. It will set back our schedule weeks."
Xel wore a look of mild concern when he asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I'll let you know." Zelas left the room, frosting her path with her icy stare.
Xelloss listened for his mother's retreating footsteps, and then said, "Thank you, Lina."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Let's get out of here." She couldn't stand his tender looks.
Xel and Lina left shortly after that. Lina was dispirited. She had been right about the Sherra woman and Xel, but why had he been leading her on all this time when he had this other girl? Lina, in fact, became annoyed at him for all the things he had ever said and done to her. Before they reached the plane, she was about to blow up. "You're a real creep, you know that? Leading me on, making me think you were, how was it you put it? 'Crazy about me?' What a load of crap!" She didn't say any of that, but she thought it very loudly to herself. Her pride wouldn't allow her hurt to show, not that way.
Thankfully, Sherra wasn't there to pilot them out; some other guy she didn't even look at accompanied them. Xel flew them to Seyruun and the other man returned the plane, she figured.
After the pleasant, thin, dry air of Atlas City and the damp chill of the island, the humid heat of Seyruun in August was oppressive. Not that Lina noticed much; even with the air conditioning blowing in her face, the air was thick with unsaid words inside their car. She hated feeling hurt, jealous, and betrayed. She wanted her feelings known, but didn't want to be the one to start talking. Once she got started, she knew there would be no controlling what she might say or do. Also, there was something about the set of Xel's jaw which said, "Leave me alone," mirroring her own sentiments and giving her a reason to clamp her mouth shut. The only sound in the car was that of the music playing background to their roiling emotions.
The sun had long set by the time Xel let Lina off at her house. She told him to just go on home, and carried her own bag to her private entrance off Amelia's main house. But as she approached her door, she spotted a dark form hunched over on the stoop. She was about to cry out for Xel, when the figure moved and took recognizable form.
"Gourry? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Lina sounded perturbed, but she was also relieved. Lina dropped her bag and ran into his outstretched arms. "How did you know when I'd be here?"
"Well, Xel called me from the plane. Said you were landing at the airport, and that you'd be home in a few minutes. I hid my car. I wanted to surprise you. Guess I did, huh?"
"Yeah, you did. You say Xel called you? I didn't know he did that."
"Sure was nice of him to call me like he did. He explained everything, and I said I was sorry for punching him like I did. He's okay with it and all, but I still feel bad 'bout not trusting him. Anyway, I know it's too late to go out, but I had to see you."
"Too late? Bah! It's never too late."
"Oh yeah? Okay, sure, Lina. So, where'd you like to go? Doughnut place should be selling a batch of hot ones in ten minutes."
Lina took time only to toss her belongings in her room, and then dragged Gourry outside. She was baffled by Xel's behavior, but had decided not to waste the present worrying about him. There was always tomorrow, when she'd be bowling alongside him. With difficulty, Lina balled up her feelings and crammed them into her brain's 'recycle bin' to deal with later. Besides, she owed Gourry some attention. "Fresh doughnuts! Let's go!"
Xel believed that all the murders he had looked into tied Zanaffar Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory to Wolfpack Asylum and Penitentiary. He also suspected that Zelgadiss' grandfather, Rezo Greywords, was in cahoots, whether willfully or not, at some time with his mother, Zelas Metallium. He also felt that the accidental explosion, as police called it, which had nearly taken Zelgadiss' life and caused Rezo's blindness, was purposeful. To what purpose, Xel could only guess. Had the intention been to scare Rezo into stopping or continuing his testing? The explosion might even been planned kill him, but Xel felt that was the least likely possibility. He wanted answers, which was why he was about to break into the Greywords' home Sunday night, while he knew Lina was safe with Gourry.
He had jimmied the back sliding door off its glider-frame, and had just placed the heavy door to the side, when a voice from the shadows behind him asked, "What are you doing here, Xel?"
"Damn!" Had the door been lighter, Xel might have jumped a foot, as it was, the weight grounded him. He recognized the voice, but it took him a second or two to attach a face and to control his own voice. "I could ask you the same, couldn't I, Filia?"
"You could, but I asked first."
"Shouldn't you be bowling?"
"Not all night. How about you?"
"Over and it sucked. Now leave."
"Not until you tell me what you are doing lurking about Zelly's house at midnight. Tell me, or I'll scream," she advised him.
"Okay... I'm collecting something for Zelgadiss." This was close to the truth.
"Oh? Why doesn't he just get it himself?"
"He doesn't want to run into his grandfather."
Filia stepped into the faint glow from a streetlight reflecting off a wall. Xel could see that she was confused. "How can Zelly avoid that? He must see him everyday."
"Ah, I guess you haven't been paying close attention lately. Zelgadiss is living permanently with Valgaav and me, at least for the summer. He blames Rezo for his unfortunate accident, and prefers to avoid him whenever possible. However, he left some medications here, which he would like another laboratory to check out, just in case the contents were tampered with." That was not entirely untrue.
"And that's where you come in, you figure? That all sounds pretty lame, to me. Breaking and entry? Why don't you use a key? Surely Zelly still has a key."
Alas, now he had to lie. "The locks have been changed." Xel pulled out his set of keys and tried one, demonstrating that it no longer worked; of course, it never had fit that lock, because it was the key to his father's car back on Wolfpack Island.
Filia was incensed. "His own grandfather locked him out of his own home! That awful man! Course, I never liked the man, which is why I've come over so late—to see Zelly and avoid Rezo. I need to talk to him. I made a promise."
"How nice, but your business will have to wait. As you can see, I was here first, and now I would like to get on with my business, and get this over with, so, if you would leave now..."
"I'll help." Filia narrowed hers eyes as if she could better read his mind that way. "Don't tell me you couldn't use a lookout."
"I won't, but two make twice the noise. He may be blind now, but the old man can hear just fine, and Eris is still living here."
"I won't make noise, besides, I know where the bedrooms and bathrooms are. I've been in them before. Have you?"
Xel hadn't been past the front room. Valgaav had been in Zelgadiss' bedroom, but not Xel. "Okay, Filia, lead the way. First, we check out the bathrooms— Rezo's."
"But why his if it is Zelly's medication you're here for?" She eyed him suspiciously again.
"Because Zelly said to. Golly, Miss Filia, you can trust me." His silly smile only made her less trusting, but she did want to make amends to Zelgadiss, and this seemed to be a good way.
"Upstairs, then," she said.
The reluctant couple crept into the back room, past the kitchen, and slowly up the stairs to the first landing. There, they paused to listen for movement.
"I hear someone in a room up ahead. Maybe Eris. It is early for everyone to be asleep, you know," Filia whispered.
They stood there in the dark for two minutes, then, convinced that no one was coming their way, they continued to the top of the stairway. Filia pointed to a door on the left and mouthed, "Rezo."
Next to that room was a bathroom. Xel didn't hesitate. He extracted an evidence bag from his pocket, and entered the room. Around the sink were two bottles. What he wanted were samples from Zanaffar labs, different ones if possible for his label testing. Inside the medicine cabinet he found dozens of non-standard containers. Could these be experimental drugs?– he wondered. Several were duplicates, so he took those. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed the trash can. More empty bottles with the distinguishing 'ZP' watermark. He added those to his collection, and started to leave.
Filia, standing guard outside the bathroom door, pushed him back inside, and then slipped in and locked the door. She held a finger to her lips, "Shhh."
They could hear a door open at the far end of the hall, then the footsteps of someone approaching the bathroom. If it was Rezo, they were sunk. There was a gentle rap on the door. "Are you all right?"
It was Eris checking on Rezo. Xel knew that silence wouldn't do. He repeated segments of Rezo's speech patterns and vocal range to himself until he was confident he could pull this off.
"Sir?" Eris sounded worried.
Xel flushed the toilet and turned on the water at the sink to further mask his voice, then said, "I'm fine. Trouble sleeping. Go on back to bed."
"All right."
Footfalls softly stepped down the hall, a door opened then closed with a 'click,' then silence returned. Xel's muscles ached with tension as he held an uncomfortable position– he was determined not to touch any of Filia's body as it pressed closer to his in an effort put as much space between herself and the door. He could sense her similar discomfort with the close confines. He bent slightly. Her perfume was citrus-y and clean-smelling, and her warm body movements were arousing. He couldn't remember when he had last made love to a woman-- or he could, and it had been totally unsatisfying. Far too long, he decided, if a snob like Filia could excite him. "I don't hear anything," he whispered into her ear. "Go, now."
Filia nodded and carefully turned the doorknob. She opened the door slightly, but his hand stopped it at a crack. "Careful."
Xel peered over her shoulder, but could see nothing moving on the other side. "Go slow."
Filia stole past the door to Rezo's room, then onward to the stairs. Xel followed her down and through the back room, until they finally darted out the back door. There he stopped to lift and jiggle the door back into its slot. He pushed until it slid into place and the catch engaged. Whether the poor lock caught or not, he didn't care or wait around to check. He dashed around to the front sidewalk, down the street, and around the block to where he had hidden his parked car. At his heels was Filia.
When he reached his car he turned around. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her. He had hoped she would go home without his telling her to.
"I am going to see Zelgadiss."
"So you have a car. Where is it?"
"Gourry gave me a lift on his way to seeing Lina."
"And if Zelgadiss had been home, how would you have gotten back to your house?"
"He would have driven me, naturally."
"Up a wall, perhaps, but that's as far as he could go. He hasn't got a car, you know."
"Yes, he has. He drove me to your place for that so-called party of yours."
"What facet of reality do you consider to be the here and now, Filia? That wasn't his car. He stole his grandfather's helper's-- ah, I guess that's what you'd call her-- Eris' car. He got caught and had to quit his job and go work for his grandfather, where he was nearly blown up. Stop me if you've heard any of this before."
"I hate you!"
"Oh, and then you dropped him like the shallow, narcissistic bitch you are. Have a nice walk home." He opened the driver's door and dipped into the car. "He'll get over what you did to him, but he won't forget it."
She grabbed hold of the door handle and wedged herself into the path of the door, blocking it. "I want to see him and apologize. I didn't think I had to go through you, but if I do, I will."
Her spunk and resolve impressed him, in spite of her otherwise dislikable personality. "Get in on the other side. If he wants to see you, he can, but if he doesn't, I'll take you straight back to your home immediately. Agreed?"
"Yes."
Monday mornings were bad enough, but Monday-night-back-to-work-after-a-three-day holiday was even worse. The phone was ringing as they unlocked the back door to the morgue. Valgaav ran to catch it on its last ring. "Rubyeye Morgue and Funeral home. How can I help you? Oh, sure. Right now? Okay, I'll put our driver on the line for directions. Hold a second, please." He cupped his hand over the mouth piece and shouted, "Lina, take this before you change! Zelgadiss, hold on, you'll be going out with her."
Lina was thrilled to have a 'pick up' to do. She wasn't looking forward to sitting around watching and avoiding Xel all night, every night at work. "Got it. Thanks. Okay, Zelly, we got a fresh one not too far, and get this: not surprisingly, it's on some remote Zanaffar property."
"Not again," Zel groaned. "I wish I never heard of that place."
"You are not alone," Xel said from his desk. "I'll start preparing slides of the label fibers for analysis. You and I can look them over when you get back."
Valgaav flipped over the chart with a sigh. "A simple embalming, that's all. If you help me get this one out of the way fast, Xel, we'll be able to do a full autopsy on the body they're picking up when it comes in. Coming from Zanaffar means it may be connected to the other murders. I'll bet you don't want anyone else to do it."
"Right, I'll go change." Xel and Valgaav entered the changing room to don their coveralls, masks, and slip into gloves, while Lina and Zelgadiss put on disposable protective clothing, bundled up gloves, and nabbed the keys to the van on their way out.
Lina drove hell-bent on getting to the designated pickup location while there was still a hint of light left. She decided that the job would be harder in the short days of winter, the sun angle low to the horizon, and the days often clouded and gloomy. At least people with normal hours slept through the deepest dark of winter nights, she thought. "If I drive fast enough," she muttered mostly to herself, "we might have twenty minutes of dusk in which to work."
Zelgadiss wanted to know what was going on between her and Xelloss. It was apparent to everyone that they were hardly exchanging banal conversation, and, what was a more telling sign, Xel was keeping his eyes off her. Valgaav was tight-lipped as usual, maybe even more than usual, casting an uninviting aura about him since they all returned from Atlas City. Zelgadiss had hoped that his friendship with Valgaav had deepened somewhat, and so he was disappointed by the return to normalcy. As far as his relationship with Xel was concerned, it was as if they were complete strangers again. He couldn't even imagine inquiring about the second trip to Wolfpack Island. He was daunted by the older man to begin with, and now Xel remained locked in his room or was "unavailable."
Zelgadiss was not ready to spend the rest of summer working with two men and a woman who were like smoldering coals threatening to combust at any moment. He was afraid to speak, should some inappropriate word or look scrape someone's feeling the wrong way, and send the ignition sparks flying. He had to do something, so he made a lunch date with Gourry for tomorrow. He hoped to gain insight into the problem and, frankly, have a pal to talk to for a change. But that was for the next day and now he was stuck in close quarters with Lina.
"That was some bowling tournament, wasn't it?" Zelgadiss asked, hoping sports would be a safe topic. His grandfather had always warned him against discussing personal problems, politics, or religion with a touchy person like Lina.
"We all sucked, and that's the truth."
"Yep. I didn't know Xel had a sprained finger. He had as bad a game as I'll bet he's ever had." Zel hoped Lina might see the opening for what it was: an excuse to vent about Xel.
"I think it was just a made-up rationalization for a bad game. The finger was fine before that. I was bushed from the day before; I just didn't have any energy. You were okay and so was Valgaav, not that it mattered. We still lost."
Zel decided that Lina wasn't going to say more about her relationship with Xel for today, and so he gave up. "On the bright side, the only other team with a perfect record, up until Sunday, was Zelas' team, and Gourry and his team trounced them."
Lina's face lit up. "Really? So they beat Zelas, eh? Good, that means we're tied."
"Yeah," Zelgadiss said. "Lina, I see flashing lights over there."
"Yeah, looks like that's our destination. You so, ah, talked to Gourry last night? I had wanted to, but I was so knocked out I just went home and slept."
Zelgadiss checked his watch, making a mental note of the time. In two minutes he had learned that Gourry and Lina were more 'in,' and that Xel was possibly 'out', which made sense given Xel's behavior. "Actually, I talked to Filia, and she told me about it. I guess Gourry had an awesome game."
"Filia? I thought she was a lost cause. Oh, look who's here!"
Zelgadiss was relieved by the interruption. Suddenly he didn't want to talk about Filia, not with Lina. They were greeted by the now-familiar Detectives Zolf and Rodimus, who led them to the naked body of a young woman. "Looks like she was strangled with her own blouse," Zolf commented as Rodimus took crime-scene photos.
"She hasn't been dead long," Lina noted. "Her body's still warm and rigor mortis hasn't set in." She turned to tell Zelgadiss to begin loading the body onto the stretcher, and then stopped when she noticed his face blanch. "What's the matter?"
"I recognize her; the face, that is." Zelgadiss' face flushed when he said that, but it was too dark for the others to notice.
Zolf paused in his note-taking. "Oh? You can identify the body?"
"When I was working at Zanaffar, she was in the research labs where my grandfather worked. I think she was the assistant to a lead chemist by the name of Halciform, and her name was... Rubia."
"Well, let's get Rubia back to the morgue, and see if we can't figure out who killed her and left her here," Lina said.
"We'll need DNA, fingerprints, hair, anything to ID the assailant, when we catch him."
"Of course, on it." Lina asked, "You have a clue who that might be?"
"We'll start by locating Dr. Halciform, I think," Zolf replied. He stepped within arm's reach of Lina and lowered his voice. "You weren't in last Friday night."
"Er, no. We were all in court. Why, was there a related case?"
"Oh, no. I had called and there was no answer." Zolf stepped back to allow Lina and Zel space to work.
Before leaving, Zolf tried again. "You seem busy tonight. Perhaps I'll call you at a later time?"
"What? Oh, yeah sure. We'll let you know what we find, too. Thanks. Later, guys."
Back in the van, Zelgadiss asked, "You know he was trying to see if you'd go out with him, right? The guy's interested, so if you're not, just tell him, okay? It's hard enough to ask a girl out, much less figure out her confusing signals."
Lina rammed the gear shift into position, her annoyance obvious. "I'm not signaling anybody anything. I gotta boyfriend, and I'm trying to just do a job here, all right? Now, mind your own business!"
"Boyfriend?" Zelgadiss asked bravely. "And that would be...who?"
"Gourry, you idiot. Now shut up! I gotta keep focused on the road here."
Zelgadiss nodded and looked straight ahead. So, there was absolutely no Xel and Lina thing going on, at least not anymore. That was okay by him. He'd talk to Gourry later and confirm it. In the meantime, he planned to steer clear of Xel. Life could be overly complicated, even with a clue to how it worked.
While Lina and Valgaav wrestled the new body onto a morgue table, Xel called Zelgadiss over to his desk. "I have some slides for you to look at. Tell me what you see."
Without touching the adjustments, Zelgadiss peered through the eye piece. "Okay..."
"Now, look at this one."
"It's the same fiber-type. Are these off the same label then?"
"Not quite. The first came off a bottle from Wolfpack, while the second I collected from a bottle in Rezo's bathroom."
"Rezo's? How did you get that?"
"Filia didn't mention how we ran into one another the other night?" Xel smiled, and shook his head. He quickly explained about the break in. Before Zelgadiss could question him further, Xel continued, "What is important is that Rezo has been taking the same stuff some of those bodies were subjected to. It's too complex for me to analyze, but I sent the trace powder from his bottle to another lab. I have a dozen or more labels with the same fibers you were telling me about, which mark them as from his lab, too. My guess is that the bottles contained chemical variations of one another. I swabbed out the residues, and sent those in for lab work with the others."
"But what does it mean?" Zelgadiss said as much to himself as to his cousin.
"I can't say for sure, because I don't know, but we can make some educated guesses. Rezo has been secretly creating drugs in his lab that are not part of Zanaffar's average offerings. Somehow, those drugs made their way to Zelas' laboratories, where she's been testing them on subjects from the penitentiary and the asylum. I have only had time to trace a couple of the codes found on bottles in Rezo's cabinet to their corresponding match in the records on Wolfpack Island."
"But you found matches? That's incredible, Xel." Zelgadiss was impressed with his cousin's skills. "You ought to be a spy or something." He compared both slides again and stood up. "So you think Rezo has been taking some experimental drug he designed."
"Not just some drug, Zelgadiss, the Fountain of Youth. They want to live forever, or at least stop aging, and, you must admit, your grandfather could be your father from the looks of him. My mother, whom you haven't met but Lina can attest to this, looks younger than she should as well, so I think she started taking it at some point."
"How do you think she found out about it? Rezo wouldn't have shared that kind of information with anyone outside of Zanaffar. He has always been very loyal."
"I've been wondering about that, too. Maybe he needed more test subjects, and he had to get her involved. Maybe he made a mistake, and gave it to the wrong person, which led Zelas to him. Maybe Zelas saw Rezo, noticed how young he looked, and pressured him for his secret. I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
"And my accident was linked to all this, planned or accidental. Okay, then, while you're answering questions, where does the disinterment that you mentioned come in? You think we should check some of the bodies on Wolfpack Island to prove that the drug testing was the cause?"
"Well, yes, in a way..." Xel paused while he decided how much to say. "One body in particular."
"I have a bad feeling that this has something to do with that DNA sample I just gave you."
"Oh, don't feel bad about that. The question is, do you want to be part of the tomb raiding?"
"Count me in," Zelgadiss said.
"Okay, that's a start, but we'll need more help."
Valgaav noticed Zelgadiss scratching his legs the next day. Zel was in a hurry to meet Gourry for lunch, and he rushed out before Valgaav could ask him about the itching. Valgaav mentioned it to Xel. "You have all these cats on flea medication?"
"Of course, why?"
"Oh, Zelgadiss had a leg covered with bug bites."
Xel thought that over. "And you don't and I don't, and he's been with one of us all the time."
"Not last night. He and Lina did a pick up."
"They were outside, too. I remember them mentioning getting grass caught in the gurney wheels. I wonder..."
"I'm seeing Amelia at lunch, so I'll check on Lina. It would be interesting if both she and Zelgadiss got bitten by the same bugs at that site." He looked away, not wanting to see Xel's face. If Xel blamed him for disrupting his little ill-begotten romance, he hadn't said so, but then he wasn't saying anything to anyone. "That body they picked up... I didn't notice bite marks on her skin."
Xel's eye's flashed. "I get where you're heading with this. A dead body wouldn't attract blood-sucking insects, so if the body was dropped there, or was killed soon after arriving there, then you wouldn't expect to see bites. But..."
"But...the murderer might have bites, too."
"Exactly!"
"All right. I'm on my way to see Amelia. I'll let you know what I find out."
"Take the camera!" Xel shouted, but Valgaav already had it in his hands.
Zel met Gourry for lunch. The first thing Gourry did was warn him. "Uh, Sylphiel will probably stop by. She's at her new job, and I think she's kinda lonely."
"That would be okay, but I want to talk to you first, alone." Zelgadiss didn't mention about what. "I saw Filia last night."
"That's good. I saw Lina last night." Gourry looked up shyly from under a fall of heavy blonde bangs. "But you go first."
He had a reason for wanting to hear what Zelgadiss had to say about Filia. The week before, Filia had come to him asking about a job opening. She knew Sylphiel had left and that he was looking to hire another woman. Filia wanted that job, and knew she was qualified. Gourry had agreed, but with the condition that she first apologize to Zelgadiss for how she treated him after his accident.
"It went okay, I guess. She was nice. She admitted that she hadn't handled my appearance change well, and claimed that now she wants to be friends." Zelgadiss looked up from his glass. "I told her I wanted to try again. I asked her out."
"What did she say?" But then Gourry saw Zelgadiss shield his eyes from him using his long silvery bangs. "That's okay, you don't haveta say."
Zelgadiss shrugged. "She wasn't mean about it, you know. It's just that I could tell then that she'd meant friend-friend, not boyfriend. We'll still do stuff together, maybe, but not like... But still, it was something that she came to see me. I hadn't expected her to after this long. Not that I hope it'll amount to something."
"Yeah, I know. That's tough, Zel." He would not tell his friend that he had anything to do with her visit. It was painfully apparent that Zelgadiss' ego was still fragile.
"It's just that she's so beautiful. I guess I was lucky she noticed me at all." He shook his head, but he wasn't sad. He had finally accepted his fate, and although he had held out hope to get Filia back for the longest time, it had been weak hope based on his own selfish reasons. With Filia as a girlfriend, he had been unarguably cool. Valgaav had showed him, though, that he was hot stuff in Atlas City– he no longer needed Filia to define his worth. His lips curled slightly into a wry smile. "Okay, now it's your turn. How did it go with Lina?" Zelgadiss crossed his ankles and rubbed them together, a self-destructive way to curb the itching.
"Real good, Zel. I nearly hung up when I got this call from...Xelloss. It faded in and out lots...hard to hear 'cause he was calling from his plane. Then he said he was bringing Lina home so I could meet her at her place. He felt real bad about monopolizing her time. He said other stuff, I forget, but he seemed real nice. Made me feel guilty for having hit the guy."
"He is nice, for the most part," Zelgadiss said. "Especially if you leave Lina out of the mix. Did Lina tell you what she and Xel were up to their on Wolfpack trip?"
"Dangerous. Yeah, she was real excited 'bout that, but I thought Xel shouldn't put her in that situation. She defended him. Said it was her idea and all, but..."
"Well, that's right. Lina got them into the worst stuff. He got them out of it. Did you really punch his face?" Zelgadiss asked as he leaned over to really scratch at his legs.
He had. Gourry went on to tell his friend about his date. Lina had seemed a little quiet, but he figured that she was tired. "I know she has some sorta 'thing' for Xel, but now I don't think it was a serious as I'd thought at first. More of an 'older man aura' thing."
"We were talking, and she called you her boyfriend last night. That may have been the first time I'd heard her say that."
"She did?" Gourry smiled, grateful for that little bit of encouragement. He knew, however, that no matter what Lina said, she was nobody's conquest. "Well, we had a pretty nice time, and then we went out Sunday for a little while before our bowling games. I kinda lost track of the time and was late getting to mine." He told Zel about the game and then Sylphiel walked into the restaurant.
"Um, you keep doing that and you'll start bleeding," Gourry remarked.
"Doing what?" Zelgadiss asked. He caught himself scratching again behind his knee. The skin stung, so he knew he must have already rubbed it raw. "Hi, Sylphiel," he greeted her as she walked in, her usual sweet but simpering expression lighting up at the sight of them. "I don't know what it is, but I have these itches."
"Let me see." Sylphiel seemed no-nonsense about it. "There are lots of bugs this summer because of the recent rains. I've been treating all kinds of rashes and bites this week."
Zelgadiss shyly rolled up a pant leg to expose an ankle. "There's a spot down there."
"Well, looks to me like a bug bite, and a bad one," Gourry offered.
Her fingers were cool and tickled. "It is. Zelly, have you been out hiking in the grass?"
"No, not exactly. Oh, yeah, last night. Lina and I had a body to pick up. It was under trees in tall grass."
"So, Lina might have bites, too." Sylphiel straightened up. "We should drop by and see her. This is a chigger bite. She should be treated so infection doesn't set in."
They paid their bill and hurried to Lina's house. She was barely awake, but she'd managed to get dressed. Still groggy, she said, "What? Oh yeah, and itchy. You all came to see me about that? I got bites on my legs and waist that are about to drive me nuts," she groused to Sylphiel.
"Hold on!" Valgaav's voice carried all the way from the outside. He had been visiting Amelia, having lunch at her house when they heard Sylphiel and Gourry's car's pull up. "Don't do anything!"
A short time later, Valgaav had Xel on the phone. "That's right. Both Lina and Zelgadiss have bites. Yeah, I took pictures, but better than that, Sylphiel's here and she has identified them as chigger bites."
Xel was at home, locked in his room pounding the computer keys, researching and trying not to dwell on Lina Inverse. When he was at rest, he brooded about his decision to cut Lina off. He had locked himself in his room and avoided his roommates so that they wouldn't see how upset he was. It was bad enough to suffer self-imposed heartache, but to have his friends know would have been insufferable. He dove into his work for a distraction. "Okay, I'll give our favorite crime scene investigators a call-- you know, Detectives Zolf and Rodimus-- and see if they can meet us out at the crime scene. I'll call you when I learn more." Xel hung up and dialed Detective Zolf.
"Lina?" Valgaav turned back to her. "I need directions to the field where you did that pickup."
"You learn something? Take me and Zelly with you."
"Me, too!" Amelia chimed in. She wanted to be a part of the action for a change.
"I don't have to go back to work for hours," Sylphiel said. "Split shift. You want to come too, don't you Gourry?"
"Amelia, you stay here. I'd rather you not get into the bugs. Same goes for the rest of you." He didn't want Lina, Gourry, and Xel to be within fighting distance of one another, nor did he want Amelia exposed to the kind of work they did, lest it offend her sensibilities. As stuffy as that sounded, it was how he felt toward Amelia. He wanted to shield her from the harshness and cruelty he was exposed to every night, and it amused him that he did. He had never felt protective toward a girl before. There was something about her sweetness that made him want to preserve her innocence as long as possible. He figured that he was demented and that his friends would think so, too, so he covered up as best he could with bluster and lame excuses. Valgaav tried to discourage them all from joining him, but he lost the argument that ensued.
When Xel called, he told Valgaav, "Guess what? Right! Both Detectives Zolf and Rodimus have chigger bites on their waistlines, ankles and behind the knees. We're going to have to look for chiggers over a huge space, so it's fine to bring as many helpers as possible."
Valgaav ended up driving Lina, Zelgadiss, Gourry, Sylphiel, and Amelia to meet Xel. Zolf and Rodimus were already on the scene with another man Valgaav didn't recognize. Xel had preceded them, combing the grass for specimens. He stood up when his friends arrived and smiled with a determined effort.
Zolf introduced everyone, "This is Dr. Tiiba, a well-known entomologist. We are looking for chiggers. If you want to help, listen to his instructions, otherwise, leave."
Everyone stayed to help. Rodimus had laid out a grid of strings covering one hundred and fifty square feet around the area where the body had been found. He sketched a rough outline in his notebook, and numbered each section in the grid. "Okay, I'm assigning each person a spot inside a grid space to search for bugs. Lina, number one..."
"You bet!"
He continued down his list. Xel was number four and far apart from Lina. When everyone had their designation, they all listened while Dr. Tiiba demonstrated how to identify and collect specimens.
"Any questions, just yell." Zolf waved them all to work.
After an hour of testing in each designated place, Dr. Tiiba called them together to compare results. The only place they found chiggers in was a narrow strip near a pine tree under which the woman had been found. Valgaav had been searching there and found several, and several more found him. Valgaav grumbled, "Lucky me."
"So, can they connect her boss from the labs to the scene, too?" Lina asked. "What was that guy's name Zelly?"
"Dr. Halciform," Zelgadiss supplied, "but that was just what I remembered from when I was working there."
"We have investigators checking on that. Hold on, incoming call." Zolf stepped aside and listened to his call in private.
Rodimus explained, "We questioned Dr. Halciform, but he claimed to have seen the woman the last time at work, then he drove straight home. He was very clear about not being outside, and now we have evidence proving that the chiggers cannot be found on the parking lot– only under the tree where the body was found."
"So, you want to know if he has any bites like Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadiss, right? Isn't it possible that he may not have been bitten, but still have been here?" Amelia asked.
"It's possible, if he wasn't here long. When Xelloss called us earlier, we sent a couple officers and a medical technician to Dr. Halciform's office. That is who Detective Zolf is speaking to."
"Thank you," Zolf was saying as he ended the call and joined the group on the pavement, where they were checking one another's clothes for unwanted bugs. "Well, sure enough, Dr. Halciform has chigger bites. We'll have nurse Sylphiel examine his bite marks and confirm that they are similar to the ones that the rest of us have. This means that he had to be at the crime scene at some point, which doesn't correlate with his testimony. Dr. Halciform is now primary murder suspect, thanks to your lead. Oh, and Miss Sylphiel, you may be called into court to give your expect opinion later."
"I could do that, sure."
"Wow!" Amelia cried out excitedly. "If the suspect is found guilty, then I'll bet that makes it the first time chigger bites ever convicted a man for first-degree murder!"
Everyone chuckled, pleased to have something to laugh about for a change.
End Graveyard Shift, Chapter 18.