Page 20 of Soul Sucker

He turned his attention to Feehan, who was passing out some paperwork.

“We’ve had an update from the Humboldt police. Apparently they finally interviewed Christa Morehouse’s best friend, and she shed some light on why Christa decided to move to the city for the vacation.”

“Was she looking for a new job?” Liz asked.

Despite what he’d said to annoy the empath, Vadim already liked the look of Liz. She was just Fae enough to appeal to his Otherworld senses, but not magical enough to irritate him and remind him of the past. Her Fae-Web was constructed differently to Alexei’s. He could already sense they were going to complement each other well.

“Not a job, no,” Feehan said. “Apparently she was expecting to meet her OCOS assigned mate. As he was coming in cross country from New York, she agreed to meet him in a more accessible place than Humboldt.”

“Where is this Humboldt?” Vadim asked.

“It’s in the far north of California, almost three hundred miles away.”

“So it would make sense for her to meet her male here.” Vadim nodded. “Do we have any information about this man?”

“There was nothing about him in her head.” The infuriating Ms. Walsh spoke up for the first time. “Was there anything in her apartment?”

“We have her laptop, perhaps there is something on there,” Feehan offered. “I’ll set one of the tech guys on it immediately.”

“If we’re talking about a communication from Otherworld, it won’t be on her computer. They don’t use that stuff over there. They don’t need it. Otherworld communication comes the old fashioned way, through the mail,” Vadim added. And he liked it that way. It kept certain people off his back.

“He’s right,” Ella agreed. “If she was offered a mate, she would’ve received a letter.”

Feehan frowned. “Would we be able to get copies of any correspondence from Otherworld?”

“I don’t see why not. They have a big administration department over there at Merton. But that means one of us will have to put in a request, and you know how long that takes.”

“I’ll do it,” Liz offered. “And I’ll pop over there if I have to and hurry them along.”

“Good luck with that. Although they might be more likely to help you than they are to help me.”

“Do we know the name of this male?” All eyes returned to Vadim. “We can put him into the Fae-Web now and see if there is any data floating around about him.”

“Sure.” Feehan consulted his paperwork. “His name is George Ralston.”

Both Liz and Alexei’s Fae-Webs lit up. It was fascinating how their combined data was already entangling like vines and taking on a life of its own above their heads.

“Before we end this meeting,” Ella said, “I’d like to hear about Alexei and Mr. Morosov’s experience with this serial killer.”

So, he was Mr. Morosov now, was he? Well, he supposed it was better than being called a jerk. Vadim felt Alexei’s stare and forced a smile. “Most of the files are already available for your perusal on the main SBLE site.”

“I know that, I’ve already downloaded them. I was thinking more of your personal impressions of the case, why you think your killer might have moved continents and carried on murdering empaths.”

Vadim leaned back in his chair. “The three victims we dealt with were all found with their minds wiped clear. On the last occasion, we came quite close to capturing the killer. I suspect we might have scared him off.”

“You think it is a male?”

“Yes, we do.”

“And did your empath get the sense that the victims were almost relieved to die?”

“She said something to that effect, yes.” He frowned. “Although I’m not sure if she put it in her official report.”

“Can we contact her to confirm that? I think it might be important.”

“Unfortunately, she is no longer working for the SBLE.”

“But can we contact her anyway?”

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