Of Man and Monster (an excerpt from my 2nd novel)

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Central Oregon

Another Earth

Detective Rachel Flynn squatted next to the body and pulled the latex glove over her right hand with a sharp 'snap.'  

The body lay like a ice sculpture, pale and blue, back pressed against the bedroom wall, with her head laying on her arm as if she'd simply fallen asleep.  Not quite nude, but close to it.  Rachel frowned, moving hair out of the victim's face so she could see it more clearly.

Very young.  Maybe eighteen. Barely more than a child.   Damn, I hate this.  She hadn't really looked around the crime scene yet, but she already knew what she'd see.  A bedroom done up in romantic candlelight, a couple glasses of wine sitting somewhere within easy reach of the bed.

The girl herself was dressed in fine lace panties and a peach camisole.  Her creamy skin, lightly dusted with freckles, gleamed oddly under the harsh overheads.

She glanced over her shoulder at the hulking figure of her new partner, Jeremy Binks.  They called him "Binkie" just to annoy him.  So far it wasn't working.

"Her name's Tanya Voss.   Twenty years old last week.  She was found by a friend," he told her, his high, almost squeaky voice sounding absurd emerging from his considerable bulk.  He consulted his notepad.  "Name's Angela Tarn.  They were supposed to go to the gym together this morning."

Rachel leaned forward and brushed a lock of lank, bleach-blond hair away from the girl's face.  She'd been pretty.  So why'd this happen to  you, Tanya?  She saw no sign of injury, no blood, no blunt force trauma.  Again, like the others.

She moved the hair back a little farther and spotted what she'd expected to see.  A thin gash over the jugular with--again--no sign of blood other than a little clotting around the wound.  The scene was as clean as the other two had been.

"It's like someone--or something--sucked all the liquids right out of her.  Right?"

"Uh-huh," she grunted, barely listening.  They weren't going to be able to keep this away from the press much longer.  Redburn had a vampire killer on the loose.  The worst part is that he seemed, somehow, to be able to drain his victims in the classic way a vampire was supposed to, by sucking it all out through a tiny hole in the throat.

Ridiculous, on the surface of it, but that's what the evidence suggested.  "It's gotta be one of those freaks," Binkie murmured, as if his brain was churning along the same path as hers.  Except for the last bit. 

"Don't call them that," she growled, climbing to her feet.  She shot him a scathing glance to drive home her words.

He shrugged, apparently not feeling particularly apologetic.  The world's sudden shift from normalcy had taken everyone by surprise, but no one more than the protectors of the peace.  Rachel had heard more disparaging comments from other cops than just about anyone else about these so-called 'Metahumans.'  Some called them 'freaks,' particularly certain conservative radio commentators.  And cops.

This novel is available now through my website or from the publisher, Wings ePress.  Not to worry.  It may be the second in a series, but it stands alone very well.  It's already received some excellent reviews, from both readers and reviewers.