Page 8 of Silent Stalker
“That is all I can ask of you. But for the moment, we have more important prey to hunt: this serial killer. Or killers. I do not know if it’s a group or not. It could go either way.”
“I agree. And if my father is behind these killings, we’ll find out sooner than later if we focus on that. I can research his activities when I’m not hunting.” I rubbed my hands together, considering my stakes. “But what if it’s a human who is using a vampire’s blood?”
“If it is a human doing the murders, subdue without killing. They will face justice in mortal courts, assuming evidence can be found. We do not have jurisdiction if the killer is mortal. But if the killer is a preternatural, we can deal with the problem as we see fit, we just need proof.”
Proof would be the problem, of that I had no doubt. “I’m going to need sandpaper for this,” I teased, well aware he would lose his mind at the reminder I would go dumpster diving for some if I needed to carve a new stake.
He went to our dresser, dug through his collection of socks, and pulled out a pristine pack of sandpaper. “Then it is good I have learned to take such requests seriously. I have an entire toolkit for you for when you are hunting and need to make hours disappear through whittling a new stake.” He pulled out a leather-wrapped bundle from his drawer, spread it out on the dresser, and tucked the sandpaper inside before rolling it back up. “The other night, when I visited Kennwick while you were occupied caring for your stakes, we may have trialed this searching of dumpsters for things you might like, and there are a few things we found you should enjoy in the kit, including discarded pocketknives, abandoned but serviceable sandpaper, and several pairs of gloves.”
I laughed so hard my vision blurred. “You went dumpster diving with Kennwick?”
“We were overcome with curiosity. We were forced to acknowledge the lure of searching for treasures among garbage. As a result, we have purchased a present for you.” Emerick went to the bed, got to his knees, and pulled out several dark colored, plastic boxes. “Kennwick had several members of his brood go out and acquire these for you as a hobby you might enjoy. I paid for the venture, as I was too busy to do much more than help plan and pay for everything. Come see.”
I went over, wondering how the containers, not much larger than shoe boxes, might lead to the start of a new hobby. “What is it?”
He pulled off a lid to reveal a bunch of mud-covered gravel.
Okay. I had seen everything. Curious, I poked at the gravel, confirming its state as covered in muck. “It’s dirt?”
“This is not just any dirt. This is the dirt from an active vein of a premier mine. Each box contains gravel and rocks from different mines around the world. I have procured the tools you need to sit in your beloved bathroom and search for diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and other gemstones. There’s even a box with amethyst in it. You will go through trash searching for treasures, and should you find a facet-grade stone, you will decide how the stone is cut with the help of a professional. It is like a fancy version of dumpster diving. Kennwick has promised you will find at least one nice stone of each type. He had his brood buy raw material from each of the mines to seed inside of it so you would find some treasures even if luck isn’t with you.”
My eyes widened, and I dragged my finger through the dirt. Something glinted, and I pointed at a tiny clear pebble that had mostly dodged the muck. “Like that!”
“That would be one of the sparkling treasures for you to find, yes. Likely one of the ones seeded in to make sure you found something. Everything seeded was found at the mine the dirt is from. Do not ask about what we had to do to get this brought to the United States. It involved magic to make sure no pests came along for the ride.”
The bathroom had a first aid kit, which included tweezers. I retrieved them, plucked out my sparkling treasure, and searched the bedroom for somewhere safe to put it.
Laughing, Emerick retrieved something else from under the bed. “Your needs have been anticipated. I have already acquired jars for you, labeled with the type of stone you might find. That box will have sapphires.” He pulled out a glass jar with a lid and opened it for me. “Put it here.”
I obeyed, and I peered into my jar with its sole sparkling treasure. “You did all of this in just a few days?”
“Yes. It was not difficult once we decided it would be so. Kennwick’s brood enjoys traveling, and outside of the magic required to remove pests and contaminates, it wasn’t that bad. We wanted to give you a bloodless hunt, and I do not wish to fetch my wife from dumpsters often.”
I appreciated he understood I would end up with my ass sticking out of a dumpster. “This will be a reward for making progress on this serial killer. When and where do I start?”
“Tomorrow night. I will drop you off near the site personally. I will say this much, however. If you are so much as scratched, you will find yourself dancing the days away for at least two weeks and enduring the most rigorous self-defense courses Ben can concoct.”
I read between the lines: there would be no time for pursuing anything else, including reading in bed or indulging in any form of cuddling. The ruthlessness of the tactic would annoy me for at least a week. As I had no intention of letting him get away with such a callous threat, I growled, “That is beyond ruthless, Mr. Emerick Lowrance.”
“Then don’t get scratched—and know I will be watching, so if you do get scratched, I will find out about it.”
Hunting with backup beat hunting alone, but to have to be on guard against even a single scratch?
“The same applies to you,” I countered. “Except I won’t take over and make you dance, because you’d like that. I’ll find some equally heinous punishment. I know. I’ll key your Civic to teach you a lesson.”
He scowled. “You make that threat because you know you don’t have a car I can retaliate upon. How unfair.”
“Then we’re even. If we’re starting our hunt tomorrow, we have a lot of work to do, so let’s get to it.”
