Part 40 (1/2)
Ask your father, the historian. There were torsos found in the Thames near the same time.
You have to sever the arteries. I'm telling you the absolute truth, and you have to believe me. You know that men can be monsters, you've seen killers. You've seen men kill out of pa.s.sion, in anger. You've seen the results when a killer has a sick mind. Combine it all with an unG.o.dly strength and a creature who can come and go at will-and you have Aaron.
He's smart. He's leaving these bodies displayed so horribly on purpose. If he had wanted his crimes hidden, they would be hidden. Aaron knows how to dispose of his leftovers.”
Sean shook his head. ”All right, we have prost.i.tutes dead- and a pimp. Aaron-so you say. But Anthony Beale was a man-using those poor women, from the best we can figure.
You say you decapitated Ray. Did you also murder Anthony Beale? Tiny drops of his blood did lead to your door.”
”I didn't kill Anthony Beale,” she said evenly. ”I didn't murder anyone. Ray was already dead. I just kept him from coming back to life.”
”So, who killed Beale?”
She looked down at her hands again, shaking her head. ”It must have been Aaron. Beale either annoyed him, or got in his way.”
”And what about old Rutger Leon? Did you do him in- or was Aaron in the middle of a humanitarian streak?”
She frowned, looking at him. ”Rutger? Rutger's dead?”
She was honestly surprised, Sean determined. ”Rutger Leon's body was found yesterday. His torso and head, at least.”
Her frown remained. ”Were they found-separately?”
”Yes.”
”I can't imagine Aaron killing Rutger-he would have enjoyed him being alive too much, tormenting Callie.”
”Well, someone killed him.”
”I didn't do it,” she said, sounding exasperated. ”I'd tell you at this point if I had done so, don't you think? Especially since you're not believing a word I say to you anyway.”
He reached over and opened the pa.s.senger door so that she could get out. ”I've got to go to work. I'm going to have to go and see what's left of Rutger's body. Then I'm going to have a meeting with the task force. By the way-should I buy all my guys crosses?”
”Yours is very nice,” she murmured tartly. ”It doesn't bother you?”
”I've always loved religious art. And I adore churches. Lucian is always making fun of me. I pray a lot.” She hesitated, then said, ”Some vampires are weakened by crosses. They won't stop them ... but a cross can buy some time. And holy water can cause burning ...
especially during the daytime. Vampires are weakest by day.”
”What about garlic? Truth or myth?”
He saw the muscles in her jaw tighten. She didn't know if he was mocking her or not, but she wanted to give him what she considered to be truthful answers. ”Eat a lot of garlic.
Garlic in the blood makes vampires sick as dogs.”
”And I can kill one with a stake through the heart?”
”If you get the chance to get a wooden stake through his heart.”
”Or decapitation?”
”Yes, decapitation kills vampires.”
”Great,” he muttered. ”Just so I have something I can give the guys on the force when I tell them we're after a vampire. Right before they haul me away.”
Maggie stared at him coolly. ”I've bared everything to you,” she said. ”I've risked my existence. And all you're doing is mocking me.”
”I'm not mocking you.”
”You're not listening to me.”
”Maggie, think about what you're saying!”
”Sean-”
”Maggie, I'm not mocking you, I swear. One way or another, there's a terrible killer out there. I just have to go to work.”
”But you still don't believe me. And going to work isn't going to do you any good if you don't believe me.”
He hesitated, looking out the front window. ”I don't know, Maggie, think about how fantastic it all sounds.” He stared back at her. ”I do know this.”
”What?”
He smiled crookedly. ”I still love you. And whatever this guy is, I have to go catch him.
For you, for me, for New Orleans Parish. Because I'm a cop, and I couldn't live with losing this one. And again, because I love you. And we're going to have some kind of a future.”
Maggie shook her head very sadly. She touched his cheek. ”I love you, Sean. But no, there is no future. Not unless you can trust me enough to believe me.”
She got out of the car, and immediately started walking away from him.
”Maggie!”
But it was too late.
She didn't look back.
CHAPTER 15.
He walked into the office, barely aware of the ringing of phones, the hustle around him.
He plopped into the chair behind his desk, hands folded in his lap, staring blankly before him.
”The night continued bad, huh?”