Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers) by Desiree Holt

that’s what happened—has to be
severely twisted and evil.”
    “If that actually is the situation there has to be an
endgame,” Ric pointed out. “Maybe if we could figure that out we could discover
who might be doing this. It’s bad enough to think there might be dozens of
these creatures all over the world popping up now and then killing randomly and
at will. But for someone to be deliberately creating them?” He rubbed a hand
over his face. “It makes me sick to my stomach.”
    “And Chloe is sick with worry that Melinda might be in the
clutches of some kind of mad scientist.” She sat back in her chair and looked
up at the screen. “God. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to looking at these
bodies.”
    “That’s the damn truth.” He lifted a small cordless
microphone from the keyboard tray and pressed a button. “I’ve got the pictures
Rebecca and Logan sent up on the screen. You guys better come take a look.”
    Although each of them had personally seen the destruction
the beast could wreak on a body when someone close to them had been killed, it
was important for them to compare photos as each fresh kill occurred. They
weren’t just looking to compare bodies. They were desperately looking for
something that would give them a clue as to how the beast escaped without a
trace except for that faint lingering aroma of turpentine.
    By the time everyone had gathered—most of them with fresh
cups of coffee from the huge machine kept going at all times—Ric had also
pulled up shots from the other kills on the screens to either side of the main
one.
    “Those the ones from Montana?” Dante Martello asked. The
former Chicago detective stood directly behind Ric.
    “That they are.” Swiping his fingers, Ric mixed and matched
the photos until he had the ones he really wanted front and center. “No
question about it. These are all the work of the same demented creature. If I
placed these photos one on top of the other and lined up the bodies every
puncture wound, every slice down the midsection would align precisely.”
    “If we could just figure out where these things came from.”
Sam Brody’s voice was laced with frustration.
    Ric knew exactly how he felt. How they all felt.
    “Craig called,” Sophia told them. “His lab guys are working
round the clock in shifts dissecting and analyzing every part of the bodies
we’ve given them.”
    “Anything yet?” Sam asked hopefully.
    “Not much. They’re trying to separate the different strands
of DNA they’ve found. But he said whoever’s creating and breeding these
creatures has a real twisted mind. It’s almost as if they threw a bunch of
animals in a mixer, hit the switch and this is what came out.”
    Chelsea Roland moved up to stand beside Ric’s chair and
pointed at one of the pictures. Ric was interested in what she’d have to say,
which up until now had been very little. She was the quietest of the group, but
because she’d lost her sister to the Chupacabra she had been the most
sympathetic to Chloe and her worry about Melinda.
    Now she studied the pictures, tilting her head to look from
different angles.
    “Is anyone noticing the same thing I am?” she asked.
    Rich shrugged. “I think we’re all looking at how every
puncture wound and slice matches so well.”
    “That’s what I mean. I’ve seen wild animal kills before. I
even took some natural history courses in college. Many of them might kill in a
pattern but not with this kind of precision. It’s almost as if it’s been
programmed into them.”
    “That’s what Craig said too,” Sophia said. “If indeed a
madman is creating them, his scientists have found a way to program their
brains. Which is a very frightening thought. How have they found a way to do
this and what else have they programmed into its brains?”
    No one answered her, the silence lying heavy in the room as
the nightmare possibilities ran through their minds.
    Finally Ric cleared his throat. “Okay. Logan