Chapter 8 #2
After Luke also sanitized his hands twice, Kyle finally removed his mask and let out a relieved breath. “That was close. Y’all could have killed me. You need to be more careful, spreading germs without any thought.”
Okay, sure…
As he turned away from them to face his monitor, Sorcha caught Luke’s gaze and mouthed the words “wow.”
“So… Con… Kyle,” Luke cleared his throat as if he just caught himself from calling the man Conspiracy. “You were saying it was a canine attack?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely a canine, but not a dog or wolf. In fact, it’s really weird.
” He pulled a file from under a stack of them.
“I’m thinking something bio-engineered.” His eyes widened, and then he spoke louder, as if speaking to someone only he could see.
“Not that I’m speculating, or anything. Don’t want to do that.
Just that it’s not what we normally see.
But…” He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper.
“Unofficially thinking they might be doing some kind of super soldier testing at Fort Stewart. I mean, it could be something else. Maybe not. What do you think?”
He spoke so fast that Sorcha could barely follow his words.
Luke handed the file to her. She opened it and had to bite back a gasp as she saw the cleaned-up jagged marks on the student’s body.
Kyle was right. This was from something much bigger than a dog, wolf, coyote or any canine she’d ever seen.
The only canine that size that came to mind was the Dire Wolf they’d investigated in Peachtree City.
Could it be the same person?
Or were there werewolves or other such preternatural creatures roaming the streets of Savannah?
She desperately wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure how much knowledge Kyle had about their agency and the last thing she wanted to do was make him even more paranoid by exposing the poor man to the truth.
Can you hear my thoughts? She glanced to Luke who gave her a subtle nod.
Dire Wolf?
He shook his head. “So other than military experimentation or Wolverine, what other thoughts do you have about the attack?”
“Oh, I didn’t think about Wolverine. I’ll add him to my other report.”
Sorcha scowled. “Other report?”
“The one he doesn’t let his superiors see. It holds all the speculations he’s not allowed to put in his real work.” Luke held the official file up to illustrate what he meant.
Kyle clicked his tongue. “Exactly and it doesn’t exist because if it did, it could be subpoenaed and that would be terrible. So I have no other other list.”
Yeah, she could imagine the horror. If he had to testify in court and someone knew he’d drawn paranoid, or off-kilter speculations, they could use it to discredit him.
Kyle locked gazes with her. “I’m not really a crackpot. I know my theories are out there, but sometimes even the craziest thing becomes reality. You’d be amazed at all the things that sound insane and aren’t.”
Like her seeing ghosts and Luke’s parentage, as well as the Hell imp standing at their side. “I get it. Don’t worry. I have some oddball theories myself that I wouldn’t want other people to know about. I won’t ever judge you.”
Kyle smiled. “Thank you.” Then he pulled another folder out from his stack. “These are your special notes I made.”
Luke took it. “Thanks. Anything else I should know?”
“I sent over some saliva and hair samples to the lab, along with one partial print. I haven’t heard back from Jedi, but I’ll let you know when I do.”
Luke closed the file and nodded. “I’ll give him a call and see if he’s run them.”
“Sounds good. If you need anything else, let me know.”
Luke handed her the second folder. “When are you releasing the body?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Kyle inclined his head to Luke.
Sorcha didn’t say anything as she followed him out of the room, through the building, and back toward the car. “Should I ask about Jedi?”
“Probably not. He’s…different.”
Different was taking on a whole new meaning with this crew. And here she’d thought she was unusual. The one good thing about all her new colleagues was that they made her feel at home.
“Why Jedi? Does he like Star Wars?”
Luke snorted. “His name’s Jedidiah Cyprus and he thinks of himself as an alchemist.”
“Is he?”
“He’s definitely something.”
Not quite satisfied with that answer, Sorcha opened the door to the car. “So what do you make of Kyle’s findings? If it’s not a Dire Wolf, what else could be that size?”
“Hellhound or another shapeshifter.”
She looked at Helly. “Pardon?”
“Hellhound,” Helly repeated. “Right, boss?”
Luke looked a little green as he got into the car. “Yeah.”
Sorcha was confused by how reserved he sounded. “Why does that upset you?”
“Because the only hellhound I know around here is me.”
Oh. That would make things a bit sticky. “Maybe one came out to guard you in addition to Helly?”
Luke cleared his throat. “Not possible. I would know if one was anywhere nearby.”
“How? Spidey-sense?”
He gave her a sharp stare but said nothing more as he pulled his hair up for the drive.
There was a sudden tension in the air between them that she didn’t understand. She’d never felt awkward with him before, but she did now. Kyle’s findings really bothered him. She glanced back toward Helly who also appeared a bit shaken.
Luke started the engine at the same time his phone rang. “Teivel.” He put the caller on speaker.
“Hey, Luke, it’s Jedi. Where are you?”
“Just leaving the ME. I was about to call you. Did you run the evidence for the college student?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“We have nothing to match the saliva to or the fur. It’s not any known species. Really weird, right?”
Luke winced. “Yeah. What about the print?”
“That’s where the train goes off the tracks. I mean, I know it’s a partial and all, but there’s only one match we can find.”
Before he could say anything more, three police cars pulled into the parking lot and surrounded them.
Sorcha froze as she finally understood what Jedi was hinting at.
“The partial’s yours, Luke. There’s no denying it.”