Ben continued to stare at Luys’ crumpled form with an indistinguishable look stamped on his face.
“He needs an ambulance,” Avery insisted.
“We don’t know that.” Ben nudged him with a shoe.
“Hey, don’t,” she protested, repelled by his callousness before looking back down at Luys. She then noticed the blood on the carpet by his head.
“He’s hit his head. He could have a concussion or something worse. We need to call for an ambulance...”
Ben didn’t say anything.
Luys groaned.
“He’s probably drunk.”
“Are you serious?”
“Well, look at him.”
“I am! And he looks anything but.” She leaned closer and swept her fingers across his temple, tangling her fingers in the silky strands of his hair. The warmth of his scalp was reassuring. “Luys, it’s me. Avery.”
Ben hunched down beside her and checked Luys’ wrist. After a moment, he rose back to his feet. “His pulse is fine.”
Luys stirred just then and groaned. He blinked and stared up at Avery with blank eyes. Then they cleared, and Luys struggled to sit up.
Ben sighed. “I’ll call the police department and have someone come in and take your report.”
“He first needs to see a doctor.”
“No hospital,” Luys argue. I’ll be fine.”
“But you’re hurt,” Avery insisted. What was it with both men? Couldn’t they see Luys was bleeding?
“I need a minute to clear my head.” Jaw ridged, Luys moved from the floor to the sofa behind him, sinking into the cushion with a grunt. He stroked the side of his head and winced, dropping his hand down to his leg.
“So what happened with the window?” Ben. asked
“I’m not sure.” Luys met Ben’s gaze with an unfathomable expression.
Ben ambled across the room and peered into the kitchen. “So it exploded on its own?”
“I don’t know what happened,” Luys replied.
“But didn’t either of you see the mist?” Avery asked.
They both turned and stared at her.
“Mist?” Ben asked.
“Yes, it came out of the window. I swear there was someone there. I couldn’t tell if the person was male or female because of the fog….” Avery stumbled to a halt and realized how strange she sounded. It had to have been Mayor. Unless the woman was hiding somewhere in Luys’ condo, which made her ask, “Is Mayor here?”
“No,” Luys answered
“Who’s Mayor?”
Luys glared at him. “That’s no business of yours.”
“Luys, he’s a cop and doing his job.” But Avery wondered if Ben was trying to help. “Mayor’s his sister.”
Frowning, Ben pivoted and strode from the room. The sound of his steps receded as he disappeared down the hall and moved through both bedrooms. He finally appeared a couple of minutes later. “Well, it’s obvious Mayor isn’t here now.”
“Why the concern? Do you think I did something to my sister?”
“Did you?” Ben raised both brows.
Luys’ chin inched up a notch, but his features remained impassive.
At the sudden tension in the room, Avery frowned and glanced back and forth at both men. Ben implied that Luys had a prior history, and it wasn’t for the first time. But for what? It couldn’t be anything beyond a DUI or something equally minor. Still, the possibility of something more serious sent a wave of unease crawling across her flesh.
“So are you going to tell us what happened? We both find you on the floor with a busted front window.” Ben quickly glanced around the room, his eyes narrowing against one wall. He walked up to the wall and fingered a crumpled section of drywall. “Looks like someone did some heavy damage to your wall. From what I can tell, it’s pretty close to the size of a fist.”
“Nothing happened.”
All she had to do was look at the blood at his temple and remember finding him on the floor to know he was lying. Avery wanted to ask questions, but she knew he wouldn’t say a word with Ben in the same room. But what was he hiding? Did she want to hang around and find out?
Turning his back on Luys, Ben gave Avery a tight-lipped smile. “If he doesn’t want to file a burglary, assault, or property damage claim for insurance, my hands are tied. If you get him to change his mind, it will probably be tomorrow before anyone shows up. We’re short-staffed, and crime hasn’t exactly been disappearing.”
“Thanks.” Avery wrapped her arms around her middle.
Ben shrugged. “Of course.” He glanced down at his phone. “I’ve got to go. I had an appointment I’m now late for.”
When Ben stepped from Luys’ place, Avery hesitated in the middle of the room, wondering if she should go after him. Ben’s behavior had been off from the moment he’d shown up in front of Luys’ place with her. Maybe he hadn’t seen the mist. Maybe. Even so, he was holding back on what he knew about Luys.
She glanced over at Luys. Exhaustion seemed to etch brackets by his mouth and add lines between his brows. “I’ll be right back.” But she wasn’t so sure about going anywhere near him, not with everything she’d learned these last couple of days. She rushed outside and found Ben walking toward the parking lot. “Ben!”
He paused and turned around. “Yes?”
She hurried over, unable to quell the pounding of her heart. “What is Luys guilty of? This is the second time you’ve implied something.”
A flush inched up Ben’s neck to his face.
“Please, I need to know.”
“Why can’t you keep away from him? That would solve everything.”
“There’s more involved.”
Ben sighed heavily and looked up at the sky for a moment. “Fine, but you didn’t hear it from me. Someone reported seeing him loitering by the victim’s place the night of his murder. There’s a witness. They found it suspicious that he kept walking by the victim’s condo numerous times that night, and there was no reason for him to travel that footpath to get to the parking lot or his home.”
Avery flinched. “There has to be another reason other than what you’re implying.”
He gave her a strange look. “I shouldn’t have mentioned what I knew. I could lose my job over it.”
“I won’t say anything. I promise.” She frowned. “But have you interviewed him? Or asked why he was around the man’s condo? Maybe there’s a logical explanation.” She didn’t want to believe that of Luys. That would mean she had sex with a murderer. At the thought, she felt her stomach sink and roil. “Does he have a prior?”
“No, but he’s on a list of possible suspects.”
“Oh.”
“Be careful! Someone was brutally murdered, and we have no clue what the motive was. This was done by someone with rage. I’ve been around a while and know when it’s personal, and this was definitely no random act.” He backed up a step. “Just be very careful who you trust. Sorry, I really have got to get going.”
“Yes, of course.”
She sighed. When it came down to it, what did she know of Luys, other than that he was a doctor who did research, lived next door, knew his way around the kitchen, and…had a psychotic sister? His sister was not only quirky but scary, according to Luys, but maybe he was the scary one. No. She was fooling herself. They were both dangerous—dangerous by association.
Ben looked over her shoulder, his gaze narrowing. Then he pivoted and disappeared around the corner of the complex’s building.
Wondering what had caught Ben’s eye, she turned around and jumped. It took a lot for her not to slap a hand against her chest. Face inscrutable, Luys stood a mere three feet away. He’d wiped at the blood from his brow, leaving red streaks across his fingers and temple.
She stepped back, needing the space between them. “Did you hear what Ben said?”
“Not all of it, but I have a good idea what I missed isn’t good.”
“You’re right.” She edged further away from Luys. “Did you know Noah Harris?”
“No. I never knew he existed until we found out about his murder. Why? Is that what he said to you?”
“No.” She didn’t like how he took a step closer. “It seems someone witnessed you hanging around his condo the night of his murder. The police have you as a suspect.”
“I don’t know who could have seen me around Noah Harris’ place. I stayed in that night.” He cocked his head to the side. “Do you believe I can brutally murder a man I don’t even know?”
“I—No,” Avery found herself admitting. “Not from what I know of you.”
“Once they gather all the evidence, it will prove that I was never in his condo and that I am completely innocent.”
“But what about Mayor?” Luys seemed to think his sister was dangerous, but she’d never thought of Mayor physically capable of taking on a man and killing him. But if she was filled with overpowering rage and hatred, which Ben seemed to think the killer had, she could have taken Noah Harris by surprise, hit him until he was unconscious, or done something else to subdue him. From there, it would be easy to murder him. “You told me to keep away from Mayor. But how dangerous is she? Enough to murder someone else?” The more Avery thought about it, the more she considered Mayor a possibility. “Do you know if she knows the victim? But maybe you don’t even know that. Maybe she’s the one that told the police she saw you hanging around Noah’s condo. You’ve also told me before that your relationship is not the best. It’s possible, right?” She kept on with the questions even as Luys continually shook his head. She had a good idea he hadn’t mentioned everything about his sister. “Were they dating or having an affair? Was she jealous? Maybe Noah called it quits, and she couldn’t take the rejection.”
Luys dragged in a breath and exhaled. “Right here isn’t the place to talk.”
“Really? Well, I’d like to argue with you on that point. Being inside closed doors with you would be stupid, especially when you’re brushing off my questions.”
Twisting his neck back and forth as if to crack it, he rubbed at his nape. “And talking out here for everyone to overhear is not smart either.”
Avery balled her hands at her sides. “I know you helped me when I needed it. You were there to get me to the hospital, but now I wished you’d left me alone. I’m seriously regretting ever meeting you. And that goes for your sister. She’s odd in a way a can’t really explain.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
“What? Is it true? Could your sister have murdered Noah?”
This time, there was no mistaking the sudden sadness that darkened his eyes. “She has a skewed way of doing things even when she thinks she’s trying to help. Her methods aren’t always right.”
Being deliberately vague and the way his voice thickened and deepened to what sounded suspiciously like guilt boded ill. She didn’t think—no, she knew—she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “What are you talking about? Does it have something to do with me?”
Luys shook his head. “This isn’t the place. How about we go inside?”
When he nodded toward his condo, she quickly replied, “No, no, I don’t think so. Whatever you have to say can be said right here.”
He sighed loudly, opened his mouth, shut it. Then he said in a rush, “Mayor knew you were dying.”
“What?!” The shock of his words sent tension slamming against her spine. “You’re lying. How could she even think that!”
All this time she’d kept the secret, tucked it deep inside, even avoiding the truth to herself on too many occasions, never mind having the guts to reveal it to anyone else. Not one person knew other than her doctor and his medical staff. She’d been deliberate, careful at work, of anyone finding out. She couldn’t handle their pitying looks, their awkward conversations if the truth came out. And now not only Luys knew, but his sister. There was no way Mayor could have found out unless she’d deliberately started following her and digging into her life.
Sorrow—she’d call it more pity than anything—darkened his gaze. “She knew. Sensed it. She has an uncanny way of recognizing sickness in others.”
“There’s no way she could know that.” She slashed a hand through the air. “She has no business discussing anything about me, unless she’s nuts? Why would she even think of saying things like that?” She fisted her hand and pressed it against her chest.
“She might have problems, but I’ve never known her to lie.
“Tell me, why does she care? Why say something so crazy to you? Obviously, because she’s nuts.” Avery dragged in a lungful of breath, but she couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs. “This is my life. It’s no one else's business other than mine!”
He ignored her outburst and asked gently, “How many months?”
Avery blinked back tears as she pressed her fist harder against her chest. He was being brutal. He wouldn’t let it go, didn’t believe her denials. She couldn’t take it.
Stumbling back, she lifted a scornful lip and raised a palm to him. “I’ve had enough of you.”
She turned around and headed back to her condo.
“Wait! There’s something important.” The sound of his steps followed her. “There’s more you don’t know. Mayor chose you. The day we met—I know what happened to you.”
Whirling around, she gaped at him. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
“She’s the one…” He cleared his throat. At his side, he opened his hand from a balled fist, closed it, opened it again, and then rubbed his palm against the side of his thigh. “She…”
“She what?”
“She’s responsible for what happened.”
“No.” She didn’t have to ask. She knew what he was implying. Even so, he made sure she understood.
“She’s the one who cut you, the one responsible for putting you in the hospital.” His eyes misted with guilt, remorse, or some other emotion.
She suddenly became lightheaded, dangerously dizzy, and the muscles in her legs trembled as they threatened to give beneath her weight. She tried to grab for something to hold her steady, keep her from collapsing, but she grasped at empty air. Noises from around her exploded: a car’s engine backfiring, the chatter of televisions beyond the stucco and brick walls, music, and laughter from the neighboring pool, even the whisper of the breeze against the leaves. The sounds slammed into her head, worse than ever before, to the point she thought she was going to vomit.
He made to help her, but she backed away, smacking up against the wall before slumping against the stucco. “Why? Why would she do something like that to me? What did I ever do to her?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you other than I can’t apologize enough for her scarring you, for altering your life forever.”
“Sorry doesn’t do a damn thing. How about call the police? Put her in jail? She’s a danger to society!”
“She performed an ancient ceremony on you. She removed the disease from your body.” He stepped toward her and lifted a hand.
“Don’t touch me!” She slapped at his hand as she slumped against the wall. Her heart felt like it was going to explode inside her chest. “You’re both nuts!”
“Stop it.” Quickly, he moved over to her and gently grasped her wrist. “You look like you’re about to faint.”
“I—I—” Tears burned the back of her eyes. Humiliation, painful in intensity, washed through her. The muscles in her legs weakened even more. She blinked against sudden dizziness. In two seconds, she was afraid she was going to pass out. Damn him. All because of him. When he reached for her again, she slapped at his chest, his arms. Luys didn’t give her the chance to crumble to the ground and swept her up in his arms.
She shoved at his chest and demanded in a hoarse voice, “Put me down!”
Oh, God. She was crying and couldn’t stop, couldn’t even find the ability to scream because of her uncontrollable sobbing. She didn’t have the strength to fight as he carried her down the sidewalk and into his condo.
When he gently set her down on the sofa, he stepped back far enough to give her some needed space. “I’ll get you some water.”
Grabbing the sofa’s armrest, she closed her eyes and sucked in several deep breaths. She needed to calm down, get her bearings. She was beyond hysterical. What was wrong with her? She’d never lost it like this. Not even when she’d received her diagnosis. But she’d never been attacked under the pretense of some sick ritual.
Slowly, she got her heart rate down. She opened her eyes and wearily stared back at Luys and the glass of water in his hands. He stood between her and the doorway and escape. He didn’t look like a murderer.
Hah! What person ever did?
She searched his face and eventually met his gaze. Unless she was completely off at reading people, and he was adept at hiding his psychopathic tendencies, she recognized kindness in his expression. She frowned. Or was it more pity? Did he feel sorry for her because she was dying?
She sat up straighter. She sure as hell didn’t want his pity.
What else did he know about her? What did it matter? He knew this. And he knew about Mayor attacking her
“Why? For God’s sake, why? You just sat there and let her do what she did to me?” She dug her nails into the sofa’s seat cushion on either side of her thighs. “You did nothing!”
“At first, I didn’t know what had happened to you when I took you to the hospital. And then when she showed up at your condo, I was terrified of what she planned next. I thought she intended to kill me or torture me.”
“And still you never warned me!”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “She’s never hurt a woman before, and I didn’t want to frighten you more than you already were. I tried to keep a close watch on you to ensure your safety—”
“That’s a new one. You decided sex would be a great way to protect me from her.”
“No! I didn’t plan that. Being intimate with you was something I fought against from the beginning. I was afraid my attraction would cloud my judgment and make things more complicated.”
“So I’m now a complication?” She snorted and shook her head. “Excuses. They’re all excuses. You lied about everything. When I outright asked you about your scar and mine and the similarities, you lied yet again!” She looked up and down his body and backed up again, making sure when she met his gaze, he could read the disgust on her face. “And to think you were a priest.”
A flush rose into his face. “I deserved that.” He cupped the glass of water against his stomach. “If I had told you the truth about Mayor, you would never have believed me.”
“Another excuse.”
“I swear I didn’t know she turned you, not until today.”
Avery stilled. She didn’t like his wording. There were many things about Mayor and Luys she detested. There was too much mystery, too many unanswered questions. “What do you mean by ‘turned’?”
Gaze darkening, Luys paused as if to search for the right words. He then frowned. “There is no way to make this sound rational. She made you like one of us.”
“Us?” Oh, God. What the hell? That was crazy talk. She didn’t like where this was going. Before, she’d considered everything about Mayor and Luys crazy, but now this sounded beyond nuts. “What does that mean?”
“You won’t grow old. You’ll continue being the same age as you are now. Death isn’t something you will experience. It’s elusive from what I understand.” He lifted the glass of water in his hand. “You’ll probably want something stronger than this.”
“I don’t want your water.” There could be something in it, and she wasn't about to touch any alcohol. It could easily mask some poison or drug. She scrunched deeper into the sofa. “You’re nuts. Both you and your sister.”
Her heart rate kicked up. How far was Luys willing to go when it came to such an unbelievable story? Obviously, he and his sister lived in some make-believe world.
“I understand this all sounds incredible,” Luys admitted. “It will take time to digest.”
This time, she stopped herself from saying something nasty. She’d let her mouth take over her brain. The last thing she should want to do was antagonize him. She didn’t know what he was capable of. Just because he’d always been kind to her, that didn’t mean he couldn’t flip out on her now. She eyed the front door. He hadn’t moved from blocking her way out. He’d stop her in seconds. Take a couple of breaths and keep him talking. Wasn’t that what they always said in the movies? Yeah, but this wasn’t the movies.
“You think—you’re like some type of god?”
“Of course not.”
Well, what was she supposed to think with him rattling on about immortality? “Okay…”
“I was too quick to answer. We appear to be immortal. We don’t age for some reason. In truth, I don’t know what we are, but I understand we differ from the rest of humankind. One does not live past 300 years and not realize that, but my questions as to why or how we exist have never been answered. I suspect there are others like us, but I have yet to find anyone after all these years.” He searched her face. “And your health now? Mayor mentioned you had melanoma.”
“Melanoma.” She rubbed her hand against her eyes. The tears still came. Sniffing, she swept the back of her hand against her nose next. “The doctors have done everything. All treatments have failed. There’s nothing more anyone can do. Right now, there are no clinical trials available to me. I have tumors in my liver, kidneys, and lungs.”
He winced. “Have them do a PET or CT scan. I can promise you they’ll find no evidence of disease.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Avery, nothing is impossible.” He paced back and forth in front of her. “Think. How are you feeling? Has your energy level changed? You must have had symptoms.”
“I don’t know what to think! This is all too insane!”
But she thought about his questions. The tiredness had eased. Even the pain, but she hadn’t been paying attention because of everything else that had happened. She’d also been in denial. She’d thought if she willed herself, she’d get better.
Sighing, he placed the water on a table, two feet from where he’d been standing. Avery tensed. There was now a direct path between her and the door, but still, if she rushed forward, it would take seconds for him to block her way.
“The scans will prove that the ritual Mayor performed on you has healed your body.” He rubbed the heel of his palm between his brows, then dropped his hand. “I am not explaining this well. My history is not something I discuss. I guess for you to understand and maybe realize I am not delusional or mentally imbalanced, I should ask instead whether or not you have noticed anything about yourself? Heightened senses or unusual strength since the day after Mayor attacked you?”
His words sent her heart pounding harder. Suddenly, she thought of her strange, amplified hearing. All this time, she’d wondered, even doubted herself, but she had a hard time with the idea of Mayor cutting her open and performing some type of ritual or ceremony on her body to make her immortal? The thought made her stomach roll, but she couldn’t discount his sister might be the cause for her heightened hearing. She couldn’t think of any logical explanation.
She frowned. If she believed some ritual heightened her senses, she would have to believe what Luys was saying.
No. It was too far-fetched, too insane. Still… “There is something…” Her frown deepened as Avery shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. “I…”
“What is it?”
Finally, she admitted, “My hearing.” She shifted again against the cushions. “I’ll get a rush of sounds all at once to the point I think my head is going to explode. At other times, I can hear people inside their homes or far away—too far for any normal person. All impossible before.”
“Anything else? What about the power in your hands? Have you detected any increase in strength and balance or quickening of reflexes?”
She lifted her hands from her lap and stared down at them, flexing her fingers and then turning her palms up and down. “I have no clue.” She looked around the room. “And I wouldn’t even know how to begin to test to see if I’ve changed in other ways.”
Luys moved over to the kitchen table. “I guess the only way is to see what you’re capable of.”
She made a face at him. She was starting to believe him, which was probably not smart on her part. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still furious at him or that she didn’t fear him. Her level of disquiet had eased somewhat, though. At least for the moment.
She eyed the door once again. He was far enough away that she might get a hand on the doorknob, but the need to know more kept her rooted to the cushion.
The cry of a siren penetrated the condo’s walls. Luys stilled and stared over at the front window, and she did the same. From the open and ruined window, heat radiated into the room.
Her body tensed as she stood up, her muscles going rigid. She hated that sound more now than ever.
The volume increased until she thought her head would explode with the noise. More sounds swelled around her.
“Focus.”
She glanced over at Luys, wanting to squeeze her hands over her ears.
“Focus on your breathing. That helps with controlling your hearing or any other heightened ability.”
She tried to do what he suggested, caving in and squeezing her palms against her ears, but it didn’t smother the sounds bombarding her from every direction. She pivoted and recoiled, hitting her elbow against a floor lamp.
Silence crashed in all around her. Even the sirens had stopped. All she could hear was her agitated breathing.
Luys started to pick up the lamp, but he paused, lifted it to one side, and frowned.
“Did I break it?”
His brow creased as he reached inside the lampshade. “No, but there’s something above the switch.”
He pulled out a small circular, electronic-type device. “Someone’s been listening to us.”
Palming the microphone, he strode over to the kitchen, dropped it in the sink, hit the switch to the garbage disposal, and then turned it off.
“Do you know who?”
“I have no idea. It could be the police, Mayor, anyone.”
Avery looked back at Luys in horror. She couldn’t remember what she’d said in this room. The idea of another device in the bedroom was mortifying. She’d revealed so many intimate details about herself in there; they’d had sex, talked about her cancer, and God only knew what else. Her mind couldn’t wrap around the idea.
Maybe the police were outside right now to arrest Luys. He must have thought the same thing because he strode toward the front door and opened it. Pausing on the threshold, he grabbed the doorjamb with one hand as he looked both ways.
“What?”
Avery hurried to his side and ducked under his arm. Hot air immediately engulfed her as she walked over to where two sidewalks intersected: one from his condo and the other running the length of the building. She glanced toward the parking lot.
The beam of red, blue, and white rotated across the building’s brick walls and crushed gravel yard. The police had parked. The distant sound of a police radio filtered into the night sky.
She wasn’t safe outside either. “Oh, God.”
“We don’t know what the sirens are for,” Luys murmured as he moved to her side. “There might be a car accident.”
“But we don’t know that for sure. There could just as easily be another murder.”
Luys closed his mouth and didn’t reply.
Glancing up, she searched his expression and realized he believed what she’d verbalized aloud. The police’s arrival had nothing to do with arresting Luys, a family fight or car accident, and everything to do with a murder.
She stayed behind as Luys walked up the path to see more.