Marcus POV
A call came as I sat in Captain Reeves's office, trying to explain why I'd gone to the warehouse district alone without backup, I received a call,on the other end, Lisa's voice crackled through my phone with the kind of barely controlled panic that meant someone was dead.
"Reed, thank God you picked. There's been another attack." She said almost out of breath, she also sounded like she'd been crying. "Jesus, Marcus, it's bad."I heard her sniffle as she said those words.
In that moment, my enhanced hearing picked up everything, the chaos in the background,the medical examiner's assistant retching into what sounded like a trash can. But underneath it all, I caught something else. Somewhere in my mind,I had perceived this scent before...but where? My mind asked me.
Just then it hit me, it was the same wild musk I'd smelled on Ray in that shipping container.
"Where?" I heard myself say, my voice rougher than I had intended.
"Pioneer Square. Some kind of... Marcus, you really need to see this. The victim..."I heard Lisa's voice trail off. "It's Detective Torres."she said barely a whisper,but I heard her loud and clear.
I didn't realise when the phone slipped from my hands.
Captain Reeves caught it just before it hit her desk, her sharp eyes trying to read my reaction. "Reed, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Torres is dead." I blurted out, the words felt strange in my mouth, never in a thousand years,did I imagine myself say those words. Why did it happen to Mike Torres of all people, heck the man had gone soft around the middle and had taken an early retirement from real police work. His countenance always changed whenever someone mentioned Ray's name.
"Same positioning as the others?" Captain Reeves asked Lisa through the phone.
"It's worse captain,much worse. And Captain... there's something else. The Federal agents are here. And they're taking over the scene, I tried my best to stop them."she said and I could have sworn that she was crying again.
My world stopped for a split second. Just then Adrian warning about jurisdictions I didn't know about, flashed before my mind.
"What kind of federal agents?" I managed to ask against the lump in my throat.
"The kind with no sense of humor and really expensive equipment." Lisa's voice crackled with static. "They're saying this is part of a larger investigation and multi-jurisdictional task force."
Captain Reeves ended the call and fixed me with her signature stare the one that made hardened criminals confess to crimes they hadn't commit.
"Reed, I'm going to ask you this once, and I want a straight answer... Is there anything about Ray Sullivan's disappearance that you haven't told me?"she asked with a stern frown.
I almost blurted out the truth. The truth was that my missing partner had attacked me and did something to me that's changing my body in ways I don't understand.There was Adrian also and my new found love for raw meat.
"No, Captain. Nothing I can think of."I said bringing myself back to reality.
"Good, she replied, because the International agency is breathing down my neck, the mayor is demanding answers, and now we have federal agents crawling all over my crime scene." She said as she stood, reaching for her jacket. "You're coming with me to Pioneer Square." she commanded moving towards the door. "And Reed?"she said as she turned back.
"Yes, Captain?"
"If there's even the slightest chance that your partner is involved in Torres's death, I need to know. Your loyalty is admirable, but not when innocent people are dying."she added before walking out the door.
The drive to Pioneer Square felt more like a funeral procession. My shoulder throbbed under the fresh bandages, but that wasn't what had my nerves on edge. Every time we passed a restaurant or food truck, the smell of raw meat made my stomach rumble with hunger I'd never experienced before.
"You okay?" Captain Reeves glanced at me from the driver's seat. "You look pale."
"I am fine. Just tired."I said hiding my new found love for raw meat.
But I wasn't fine. Everything felt different, sharper, more intense in ways I couldn't wrap my head around. The colors seemed brighter, sounds were carried farther, and I could smell things that should have been impossible to detect through the closed car windows.
I could smell the fear radiating from Captain Reeves, sharp and acrid despite her composed look behind the wheels.
We got to pioneer square and it was a circus of flashing lights and yellow tape. News vans lined the perimeter while uniformed officers tried to keep reporters at bay. None of that was unusual at least not for me, then I looked around and saw three black SUVs parked in the center of the square. Our fears had been confirmed.
It was then I recognised the federal agents in tactical gear that moved through the scene with military precision, confiscating evidence and taking statements from witnesses. A man in clothing that was different from the rest and I had assumed was their leader stood near Torres's body, he was a man in his forties with chestnut brown hair and dark gray eyes that looked almost souless.
I was about to turn my attention elsewhere when I saw his left arm. It ended at the elbow, and was replaced by what looked like a sophisticated prosthetic made from silver.
"That's Agent Kane Wood," Captain Reeves muttered to no one in particular. "He runs some kind of specialized task force. He just came to town a few weeks back and he has been asking questions about Ray's disappearance for weeks."
I knew I have heard that name Kane Wood before. The name triggered a memory I couldn't quite place, it had to do with something Adrian had said about dangerous people and prehistoric laws.
Wood looked up as we approached, his dark eyes locking onto mine with keen interest that gave me goosebumps.
"Detective Reed." He shouted, almost pulling me in for a hug. "I've been hoping we'd have a chance to meet."he said when I declined his hug offer.
"Agent Wood." I said keeping my voice steady despite the sudden spike of adrenaline I felt. "I understand you're taking over our investigation."
"Not necessarily taking over, it's more of expanding." He said with a wide grin. His silver prosthetic shone as the streetlight reflected on it as he gestured toward Torres's body. "This case has implications beyond local jurisdiction."he added.
I took one good look at body that was in front of me. Torres laid in the same deliberate position as the other victims, arms spread wide, face turned toward the sky. But In his case, this was worse. The brutality seemed personal and oddly intimate, as if someone had a score to settle with him.
"Any theories about who might be responsible?" Wood asked when he noticed that I wasn't saying anything, but his eyes never left my face.
"We're pursuing several leads."I said
"Including your missing partner?"he asked raising a brow and waiting for my reaction.
The question threw me off guard. Around us, Wood's agents continued their methodical collection of evidence, but I could feel their attention focused on our conversation.
"Ray Sullivan disappeared three months ago. We've found no evidence connecting him to these murders." I said after a while l.
"You say you haven't right?" Wood said as he pulled out a tablet, his fingers flying across the screen. "Well the tape I have here says otherwise," he said handing over the tablet to me.
"Surveillance footage from the Chen crime scene shows a figure matching Sullivan's description in the vicinity and the DNA evidence we found links him to at least two other victims, and also to yesterday's attack in the warehouse district..."he said without catching his breath
The screen showed grainy security footage of the shipping container, timestamped just before my attack. A figure that looked like Ray approached the entrance, and moved with inhuman speed, before disappearing inside.
"You were the only witness to survive an encounter with our suspect, Detective Reed," he said, "So that makes you very valuable to our investigation."he added as I handed the tablet back to him.
"I already gave my statement." I said looking at fingers and intentionally avoiding his gaze.
"You gave that to the local police, This is a federal matter now." Wood said with a sense of pride, before pocketing the tablet, his dark eyes never leaving mine. "I'd like you to come in for a more detailed interview. Tonight, if possible."he said while handing me a card.
"I'm not available tonight."I said rather harshly
"Well,you would make yourself available then,got it." Wood's said , his voice carried quiet authority that suggested he wasn't used to being refused. "Detective Reed, he continued, there are forces at work here that you have no clue of and dangers that could threaten not just your city, but the entire region."he added
"What kind of dangers?" I asked
Wood smiled a little before he answered. "The kind that hunt in packs, Detective. The kind that turn ordinary people into weapons."he said and I could see the seriousness on his face.
Before I could ask what he meant, Adrian Kane appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the crime scene perimeter. Even from fifty yards away, I could still feel his presence like he was standing before me and breathing down my neck.
When Wood saw that my attention was divided,he followed my gaze and I watched the smile on his face turn to a frown.