Page 3 of Patrick’s Seduction

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Anita said. “I’ve never seen anything so brutal.” She pointed to the body on the ground.

Patrick stared down at the corpse. The man’s jogging suit was soaked in his own blood, his face smeared with it, his forearms showing long cuts as if somebody had sliced through the flesh using multiple knives. The worst was his torso. It was ripped open, the chest cavity exposed, ribs sticking out at odd angles.

He couldn’t stop his fangs from extending, an automatic response to the massive amounts of blood that impregnated the air. The chest cavity itself was filled with blood and dirt, even some leaves from the bushes around the area.

“Buffy, any idea how long he’s been dead?” Patrick asked.

“A couple of hours, maybe longer. The body is already feeling cool, and rigor mortis has set in. I should know more when I can take the liver temperature back at HQ.”

Benjamin approached. “So, he was killed before the sun came up?”

Buffy nodded. “Quite likely.”

Patrick exchanged a look with Benjamin and Nicholas. They were all thinking the same.

“Could have been a vampire attack.” He looked at Anita. “Thanks for keeping SFPD away. The fewer people who see the body, the better.”

“You think we’ve got another serial killer on our hands like a few years ago?” Anita asked.

For the length of a breath, Patrick held her gaze. “God, I hope not.”

Nicholas placed his forensics bag on the ground and started unzipping it. “Guy looks like he was mauled pretty bad.”

Patrick grunted to himself. “Looks like it. But given that we don’t have bears or mountain lions in the Presidio, it sure looks like a vampire attack. A pretty brutal one.”

He forced himself to be all business despite the horrific sight. He was in charge here, and it was time to get everybody organized.

“Nicholas, I need you to scout the area for footprints, tire tracks, and anything else that could lead us to the perpetrator. Search the immediate surroundings to see if the killer could have lain in wait.”

“Sure,” Nicholas said and began following his instructions.

“Benjamin, you’ll help Buffy transport the body to HQ, and assist Nicholas if he needs any help. But your first priority is to keep humans away from the scene. There are bound to be other joggers and people walking their dogs in the area.”

“I’ve got it covered,” Benjamin assured him.

“Anita,” Patrick continued, “go back to SFPD. Keep your eyes and ears open for any reports of physical altercations, assaults, stalkers, and the like. You know what to look for. Anything out of the ordinary that could point to a vampire.”

“Alright. I’ll see what I can find.”

Patrick acknowledged her reply with a nod, then ran a hand through his hair. “We need to find out who the victim is. That might give us a lead as to who did this.”

“Patrick, I found this on him,” Buffy said from her crouching position.

He bent down to her and took the small item from her hand. It was a hotel key card. He turned it over and read the name of the hotel. “Hotel Drisco.”

“That’s only two blocks from here,” Benjamin said. “Pretty expensive place.”

“I’ll go there. They’ll be able to scan the card to see which room it belongs to,” Patrick announced. “Nicholas, I’ll take the car.” He glanced at Benjamin. “Can he ride back with you?”

“No problem, bro,” Benjamin said. “We’ll be a little while longer anyway before we can move the body.”

With a nod, Patrick acknowledged Benjamin’s words. “I’ll see you all at HQ later.”

Confident that everybody on his team knew what they were doing, he turned his back to them and headed to the car. An uncomfortable chill crawled up his spine, and he stopped for a moment, freezing in place, slowing his breath and his heartbeat to concentrate on the sounds around him. Was the killer still in the area?

2

“Dr. Doyle?”