He looked out the side window. Though it was nearly three in the morning, the streets in this section of Springfield were crowded with the usual mix of night-
crawlers. The city had recently set up 'exclusion' zones to keep the drug users, prostitutes and other problems out of the downtown area, which was successful in itself, but in reality, had only shifted the problem to another area.
And while police crackdowns usually kept the streets clean for several weeks, everything eventually drifted back to normal. He'd long ago come to the conclusion it was all a waste of time, and that those in government hadn't the political will or the knowledge to truly tackle the problem.
He rubbed his eyes tiredly. He loved being a cop, but sometimes the sense of futility was almost overwhelming.
No matter what he or Mark or the others did, it just didn't seem to make a difference in what happened on the streets. The pros still hawked their wares, people still got killed, and maniacs still kidnapped innocent little girls and did God knows what to them…
'You got a name?' Her voice was sharp, as if she'd sensed the turn of his thoughts. Given the events of the night so far, nothing would surprise him. She continued on, her voice a little softer, 'Or are we keeping this strictly formal?'
He could hardly keep it formal when he intended to have sex with her. 'Ethan. You?'
'Kat.'
'Suits you more than Katherine.'
A smile tugged her generous lips. 'You're not the first to note that.'
He supposed not. He let his gaze linger on her lips for several seconds, then said, 'What was wrong with your grandmother's hands?'
'Arthritis. The visions make it worse.'
'Then why doesn't she stop?'
She glanced at him, green eyes bright in the moonlight.
'Can you stop the effects the moon has on you?'
'I can control it. Up to a point.' Up until the night the moon bloomed full.
'Exactly.'
'But she has a choice — ' 'No, she doesn't. Neither of us do.'
He frowned. 'What do you mean?'
She took a deep breath then puffed out her cheeks.
'You'll see soon enough.' She stopped the car. 'We're here. There's a flashlight on the back seat.'
He grabbed it then climbed out. The warehouse was at least six stories high and, like the warehouse in which they'd found the last kid, was fouled by vandals, time and the elements. His gut clenched. He didn't want to find what he'd find in there — be it Janie or the other missing kid.
Kat came around the car, her face pale as she studied the warehouse towering above them. He was half tempted to tell her to wait here, but he very much suspected she'd tell him exactly where he could shove such a suggestion. So he handed her the flashlight and said, 'Keep behind me.'
She didn't argue, which surprised him — especially after her stubbornness earlier. They pushed through a hole that had been cut into the chainlink fence and walked across concrete littered with weeds. The wind moaned through the windows broken glass, tin flapped. Somewhere a door creaked, creating a symphony of noise that very much belonged in some B-grade horror movie.
He pressed open the door and looked inside. Though the darkness was complete, he had no trouble seeing. The moon sharpened all his senses, and his sight was wolf-
keen. There was no one here.
But the metallic smell of blood hung on the air, mingled with the aroma of rotting flesh. He had to go on, had to see, but there was no reason for Kat to do either. 'Why don't you go call — ' 'Don't even think it.' Her voice was terse. 'You want the cops called, then you go do it. Right now, I have to go up those stairs.'
She pushed past him, the flashlight's bright beam dancing across the graffiti-strewn walls as she crossed the empty expanse. He caught her at the stairs.
'Damn it, woman, there's something dead up there.'
Her gaze met his, her eyes wide and haunted. 'Believe me, I know.'
She began to climb. He shook his head and stayed beside her. The smell was worse on the first floor landing — sharper, fresher, and ripened by the aroma of urine and excrement. He tried breathing through his mouth, but there was no avoiding the foulness of the place. She swung left and he followed. Moonlight filtered in through the broken windows, highlighting the bottles and syringes and shit lining the base of the walls. If this warehouse was some kind of refuge, where the hell were the dregs of humanity who lived in it?
When they entered the small room at the end of the hall, they found the kid. Not that anyone would have guessed the bits strewn over the floor had ever been a child. His stomach rose, and it took every ounce of willpower not to lose it right then and there.
There was bad, and then there was bad .
This was worse than either of those.
Kat made an odd sound in the back of her throat, and he quickly looked at her. She had a hand against her mouth and was shaking so hard her teeth chattered. She wasn't looking at the remains that lay scattered around them, but was staring off into space. Her eyes were wide-open and filled with such horror and pain it tore at something deep inside him. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he was sure of one thing. She couldn't stay in this room.
He swept her up into his arms and raced back down the stairs. She didn't protest, didn't say anything at all, her eyes wide and glassy. Sweat sheened her skin, but her flesh was so cold he might have been holding ice.
Once outside, he set her down on a pile of bricks and thrust her head between her knees. 'Breathe deep.'
She obeyed. After a few minutes the trembling eased, but moisture began to splash the concrete underneath her. He thrust his hands in his pockets and waited. He didn't know what else to do.
She sniffed, then wiped a hand across her eyes as she sat up. 'It wasn't — ' 'No,' he agreed softly. 'It wasn't.' But it was still a kid up there, a kid who didn't deserve to die the way he had.
'I have to go back up.' Had to check what he thought he'd seen.
She nodded. 'I'll wait here. I don't need to feel anything else right now.'
Feel? That was an odd word to use. 'Will you be all right here?'
A ghostly smile touched her lips, though it failed to lift the fear from her eyes. 'Fine. Just don't be long, because I'll have to call your people in.'
He nodded and went back. It was no better the second time around. He breathed though his mouth, but the smell still coated the back of his throat, so that he swallowed death with every intake of air. He fought nausea and mounting horror as he carefully studied each of the remaining body parts. He hadn't been mistaken before.
Something big had chewed through the bones. Something like a dog.
Or a wolf.
He rose and went back to Kat. She looked no better than she had twenty minutes before. 'You calling the department?'
'Just did.'
'Then I'll have to go. I'm supposed to be on leave.'
She didn't seem surprised. 'Take my car.' She handed him the keys. 'I need to go to the beach after I finish here, so you can meet me down in Florence , if you like.'
'What do you hope to find at the beach?'
'Cleansing.' She looked past him. 'You'd better go. I can hear their sirens.'
So could he, and they were a distance away. Her hearing was as good as his — and his was moon enhanced.
'Florence is a reasonably big place, with lots of ocean frontage. How are you going to find me?'
'I'll find you, believe me.'
Oddly enough, he did. 'Will you be all right?'
She looked at him. Deep in the green depths of her eyes he saw a suffering so deep he had to fight the urge
