Blood Pact Tanya Huff

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puddle of illumination now spilling over her feet. "The layout of this place defeats any kind of a
systematic search. "We've got to use our heads."
"Granted," Celluci agreed. He tucked himself up against her left shoulder; close enough, he judged, for
her to see his face. "But we've got a crazy woman who's run oif with a vampire. That doesn't exactly
lend itself to logical analysis."
"It has to." Adjusting her glasses, more for the comfort of a familiar action than from necessity, she gave
half her mind over to searching the scant information they had for clues. The other half of her mind
filtered the noises of an old building at night, listening for the approach of shuffling footsteps. Suddenly,
she turned to squint up at Celluci. "Dr. Burke said Henry was in a large metal box."
"So?"
"And she implied it was heavy."
"Again, so?"
Vicki almost smiled. "Look at the floor, Celluci."
Together, they bowed their heads and stared at the pale, institutional gray tile, dulled by the passage of
thousands of feet. A number of nicks and impressions dimpled the surface with shadow and darker still
were a half-dozen signatures of black rubber heels.
"If the box is as massive as Dr. Burke implied," Vicki said, raising her head and looking Celluci in the
eyes, "one way or another it'll have left its mark. Rubber wheels will scuff. Metal wheels will imprint."
Celluci nodded slowly. "So we look for the tracks she left moving the box. It's still a big building. . . ."
"Yeah, but we know damn well she didn't take it up and down the stairs." Vicki raised her arm and
shone the flashlight down the hall. "The power's on, so the elevators must be working. We check just
outside them on every floor for the marks and then backtrack from there."
An appreciative grin spread over Celluci's face. "You know, that's practically brilliant."
Vicki snorted. "Thanks. You needn't sound so surprised."
For no reason other than that they had to start somewhere, they began working their way down from the
eighth, and highest, floor. On three, they found what they were looking for-pressed not only into the tile
but into the metal lip leading onto the elevator, were the marks of two pairs of wheels about four feet
apart. Silently, they stepped ut into the hall and let the door wheeze closed behind them.
No one appeared to investigate the noise.
Unwilling to risk the flashlight and a premature discovery, Vicki grabbed Celluci's shoulder and allowed
him to lead her down the hall. To her surprise, moving in what was to her total darkness was less
stressful than the peep show the flashlight had offered. Although she still listened for approaching
footsteps, the accompanying tension had lessened. Or maybe, she conceded, her grip tightening slightly,
it's just that now I have an anchor.
When they reached the first intersection, even she could see the way they had to go.
The harsh white of the fluorescent lights spilled out through the open door and across the corridor.
Vicki felt Celluci's shoulder rise as he reached beneath his jacket and she heard the unmistakable sound
of metal sliding free of leather. Up until this moment, she hadn't realized he'd brought his gun.
Considering the amount of trouble he could get into for using it, she couldn't believe he'd actually drawn
it.
"Isn't that just a tad American,'- she whispered, lips nearly touching his ear.
He drew her back around the corner and bent his head to hers. "What Dr. Burke neglected to mention,"
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he said in a voice pitched to carry to her alone, "was that there's something else wandering around in
here besides a mad scientist and your uh . . ."
"Mother," Vicki interjected flatly. "It's okay." Her feelings were irrelevant to the situation. And I'll just
keep telling myself that.
"Yeah, well, something else killed that kid and we're not taking any more chances than we have to."
"Mike, if it's already dead, what good will shooting it do?"
His voice was grim as he answered. "If it died once, it can die again."
"So what am I supposed to use, strong language?"
"You can wait here."
"Fuck you." And under the bravado, fear. Not alone. Not in the dark. Not here.
They made their way to the open door. Vicki released her hold on Celluci's shoulder at the edge of the
light. "Give it a five count." His breath lapped warm against the side of her face, then he darted across
the opening.
The next five seconds were among the longest Vicki had ever spent as she closed her eyes, leaned her
head back against the wall, and wondered if she'd have the courage to look. On five, she swallowed
hard, opened her eyes, and peered around and into the room, conscious of Celluci across the doorway
mirroring her movements.
Even with lids slitted against the glare, it took a moment for her eyes to stop watering enough for her to
focus. It was a lab. It had obviously been in use recently. It had just as obviously been abandoned. Eight
years with the police had taught her to recognize the telltale mess left behind when suspects had cut and
run.
Cautiously, they moved away from the door, slowly turned, and simultaneously spotted the isolation
box, humming in mechanical loneliness at the far end of the room.
Vicki took two quick steps toward it, then stopped and forced her brain to function. "If this is the
original lab, we know Catherine moved Henry away ..."
"So Henry's not in that box."
"Maybe it's empty."
"Maybe."
But neither of them believed it.
"We have to know for sure." Somehow, without her being aware of it, Vicki's feet had moved her to
within an arm's length of the box. All she had to do was reach out and lift the lid.
. . . and lift the lid. Oh, Momma, I'm sorry. I can't. She despised herself for being a coward, but she
couldn't stop the sudden cold sweat nor the weakness in her knees that threatened to drop her flat on her
face.
"It's all right." It wasn't all right, but those were the words to say, so Celluci said them as he came
around her and put one hand on the latch. This, at least, he could do for her. "You don't have to stay."
"Yes. Yes, I do." She could be a passive observer, if only that. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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