“Tank my virus, Mr. Sebastian Sumners. Tank my virus so hard it’s the easiest scar removal operation for a lycanthrope they’ve ever performed. She’ll like it, promise. So will I. We’re easy to please.”
Sebastian laughed all the way to our room and let us in. A bouquet of roses waited on the entry stand, a new addition since I’d left in the morning. “Yes, those are for you. There’s catnip among the roses.”
I had special needs, and Sebastian understood them. Purring, I went to investigate the bouquet, burying my nose in the bright red blossoms and breathing in. Sure enough, I smelled catnip—the good stuff. “I’m going to be so stoned during the spa treatments, aren’t I?”
“We’re having facials done, and I’m taking you to them while you’re stoned on catnip. This place offers bribes to well-behaved lycanthropes, and since it’s significantly more expensive than the place in Cincinnati, I want to see if the bribes are better.”
“How the hell is this spa going to give better bribes? The other spa gave some really nice stuff.” Thanks to the other spa’s offerings and what I’d purchased, I doubted I’d need anything for bathing for a full year. “I will be the best behaved lynx on the planet.”
“I will even pretend you’re the best behaved lynx on the planet. Just try not to get upset if somebody grimaces. I did warn them, but I’ve learned people just don’t believe me when it comes to how scarred you are.”
“I’d say it’s okay, but then I’d be lying.” I shrugged, taking another deep breath of the flowers. “I really like these. Thank you.”
I wouldn’t tell him he was the first person to ever give me flowers that hadn’t been picked out of the yard. Once he went to bed for the night, I’d take the bouquet downstairs and find out if there was a way to preserve them.
I didn’t want to see a single blossom fade.
“I’m glad you like them. You’re welcome.”
“What do we have on Loureni?” I lugged my work crap to the sitting room, which we’d set up to be our primary workspace despite the suite having an office and a proper dining room with a table. “If I wasn’t aware of why he found me interesting, I would have assumed he was just curious.”
“Loureni has a brother, and I’m of the opinion the brother is the likely mastermind and killer and that Stefan Loureni is the grab man. Kenard is older than Stefan by three years. I asked the CDC and FBI to pull files from all members of the Loureni family, and then I had them do a search of all immediate family, and we found something interesting about Kenard’s wife. She was in a serious car accident that resulted in the loss of their unborn child. She had several organs removed due to trauma. Shortly after the child was supposed to be born, she disappeared. Kenard claims they were separating, she left him, and she went missing for several years before she showed up long enough to file for divorce. However, I use the term ‘show’ loosely. Documentation with the appropriate signatures made an appearance, but she was never seen. It was all done remotely and through the mail.”
Hello, red flags. “And nobody investigated that sooner?”
“Kenard wasn’t viewed as a suspect, as he doesn’t have any direct connections to the missing women. My request created some problems, but then I pointed out that Kenard—and all of the Loureni family—is connected to the killings through Stefan. When viewed in that light, they decided to cooperate. It took them all of an hour to locate the disturbing coincidences.”
“Let me guess. The organs of the missing women are the same as his wife’s.”
“How did you guess?”
“It seemed pretty obvious to me when you laid out the background and why you think Kenard is involved. But why take those organs?”
“I suggested that Kenard had his missing ex-wife alive somewhere and was trying to find suitable organs for transplant.”
I sat on the couch and stared at him. “Say what?”
“The FBI agent I spoke to started cursing at me when I made the suggestion, and then he hung up on me. Ten minutes later, he called me back with a list of fugitives who could handle such a transplant, odds of survival, odds of success, and so on.”
“But what about the babies?”
“Here’s where things get creepier.”
“You mean creepier beyond the one woman, one child theory?”