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intestines were still lying outside her body. The only difference was the chalk outline
that had been drawn around it.
Mark sniffed the air, but the faint trace of turpentine had dissipated. Gone. Only the
smell of death remained. What in the hell made that turpentine odor anyway? The
people at Craig Stafford s lab were baffled by the lack of any identifiable DNA in the
creature they d autopsied, and Night Seekers weren t even sure now it was related to El
Chupacabra. The thing that made them more than a little nervous was the idea that
there might be more than one. That whatever kind of creature this was it had somehow
managed to reproduce. Or worse, that someone was creating them in a lab.
Mark pushed the thought out of his mind. He had the here and now to deal with
and that s what he needed to focus on.
Well? Torres prodded. This is just the way you found Rob, isn t it.
Mark nodded. The image of his friend had returned so vividly that it nearly
brought him to his knees. He cleared his throat.
Yes. Exactly.
Torres looked away. I ll say it again, I owe you a big apology. Even though my
family has lived here for generations, I always discarded the whisperings about El
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Lust by Moonlight
Chupacabra as illiterate imaginings. He shook his head. I guess I have to change my
way of thinking.
So you re not writing this off as a wild animal attack? Mark wanted to know. He
was very conscious of Chloe right next to him, looking at Sherry but in her mind seeing
her friend.
Damn it! I should have insisted she stay home.
But in the next instant he thought, Yeah, sure. Fat chance.
He wished he could spare her everything she was thinking. Everything that had
happened.
Can t quite do that. The sheriff inclined his head toward the back door. For one
thing, no feral animal around here that I ve ever heard of would actually come up on a
porch and bash in a door that way. Maybe a bear could do it, but we sure don t have
any of those around here.
Anyway, he d have to be damn hungry and actually smell food, Mark pointed
out.
The sheriff turned his attention to Chloe. Miss Hanson, I need to apologize to you,
too. I m damn sorry we blew you off the way we did.
I tried to tell you something was wrong. She clung to Mark s hand.
Yes, you did. But this is such a wide-open area, not the place where you d expect a
kidnapping without someone noticing. I let myself be persuaded your friend had just
decided to ditch you.
We can stand around all day saying how sorry we are, Mark put in, but that
doesn t accomplish a single thing.
I was hoping you might have some ideas about where to go from here, Torres
said. We re doing all the usual things but obviously that s not going to be half
enough. He paused. I don t suppose that fancy new group you joined might give us a
hand here.
Mark kept his face deliberately blank. He was wrestling with exactly how much to
tell his former boss, anyway. He realized he couldn t keep too much to himself or he
was putting the people of Zapata County in danger. They had to at least have some
warning.
Here s the thing, he told him. If we need them I ll bring it to the team. But I ve
been doing some research on my own so let me fill you in on what I ve learned first.
That s the best way to play it right now.
I agree.
Startled, his hand tightened on Chloe s and he glanced at her. She was looking at
the sheriff but she gave his hand an answering squeeze. So. She could hear his thoughts.
They could communicate mentally even in human form. Interesting. Another indication
of their fate together. It also meant they could shut everyone else out when they needed
to and prevent eavesdropping. He d have to mention that to Craig and the team.
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Desiree Holt
Go ahead.
He dragged his mind back to the subject at hand. As briefly as he could, he told
Torres about the killings in Maverick County, the slaying of the beast that turned out
not to be the one they were hunting, and the pattern of three kills that his research had
uncovered. He deliberately left out Logan s trip to the Florida Panhandle although he
did mention the reports of the kills in Florida.
Torres frowned. Then are you saying it s not the Chupacabra?
No. I m, saying it& and I hope to god there s only one of these things& seems to
roam the states at will. I have no idea how fast it travels, but apparently it s pretty
speedy. We& I think it s back here to complete the pattern that we interrupted last
month near Eagle Pass.
Why not go back to Eagle Pass, then? the sheriff wanted to know.
Maybe it can reason enough to think we or someone would be waiting for it, so
it took the nearest location. Webb County is closer but it s more highly populated.
Should we take it that this kill completes the pattern, or do you think it will start a
new trio of slaughter?
Mark shrugged. I d like to say it will move on from here but I have a funny itch
about it on the back of my neck.
How did you decide you might have killed the wrong creature? Torres wanted to
know.
When we read about three new killings in Florida.
Torres looked as if he was about to say something else when a voiced interrupted
him.
Sheriff? One of the deputies walked into the house.
Mark noticed that he carefully avoided looking at the body.
What is it?
Sorry, but the medical examiner wants to know if he can get to the body yet.
Torres sighed. I ve been holding everyone off, he told Mark, until you got here
and verified for me what I knew all along. He turned to the deputy. Sure. Tell him to
come ahead. I hope to god he hasn t had his breakfast yet.
Andy Milburn still doing that? Mark asked.
Sure is. Even if he wanted to quit we don t exactly have candidates beating down
the door. His chuckle had little humor to it. I keep telling him he ll probably have to
do his own autopsy when we get to it.
Mark urged Chloe back away from the body as Milburn made his way into the
house. He nodded briefly at Mark, glanced at Chloe, then set his bag down and opened
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