I hovered while she set up the compact microscope. Simon strolled out of the bathroom wearing his black Inigo Montoya T-shirt.
“Hey, Autumn.”
“Hey, Butthead,” she responded without looking up.
Simon nodded to me. “I remember her now.”
“What did you mean when you said plastic bottle?” I asked Autumn.
“Look for yourself.” She pushed the microscope in my direction.
I peered through the eyepiece. The light below the slide illuminated a patch of entangled strands that reminded me of a bowl of spaghetti noodles. “This was on my arrow?”
“Yup. It’s plastic. There were a couple of crystalline structures too that I identified as salt.”
I remembered the times I’d been close enough to smell the creature and the whiffs of the sea that had accompanied it.
Simon grabbed a Mountain Dew out of the cooler he’d brought in and sat on the end of the bed. “We’ve seen it up close now. I didn’t see anything that looked nonorganic about it, unless its weird black skin is plastic.”
“Its eyes seemed oily,” I said. “Iridescent anyway.”
“Plastic is of course made from crude oil,” Autumn said, “but what you see on the slide represents a final-stage polymer. There shouldn’t have been any hint of its oily origins about it.”
“Is there any way to tell if it’s...” Alien, I wanted to say, but Autumn hadn’t seen all the strange things we had, and she’d think I’d gone nuts if I asked that. She was one of my few college friends still talking to me—I didn’t want to scare her away. “Is there any way to see what kind of plastic it is, where it might have originated?”
“Enh, it’s pretty common.” Autumn grabbed Simon’s bottle of Mountain Dew.
“Hey,” he protested.
Autumn pulled scissors out of her case and cut into the top.
Simon folded his arms over his chest. “I was still drinking that.”
“Now you have another hole to put your lips on.” Autumn handed the bottle back to him, then dug out an empty slide.
Simon accepted his bottle, but he glowered at it. “There are too many girls working on this team now. I need to recruit some men.”
“Maybe Eleriss and Jakatra would like to join you,” I said.
“Real men don’t have glowing eyes. No thanks.”
“What?” Autumn asked.
“We’ll explain later.” I waved for her to finish poking around with the scissors and drop a coverslip onto her slide.
“That should prove interesting,” she said, then placed her new specimen under the lens. She checked it, nodded, then gestured for me to take a look.
Something very similar to the first sample lay beneath my eyes. “So, I’m either mistaken and my arrow lodged in a soda bottle, or our monster is made out of Mountain Dew?”
“Was the arrow lying on the ground when you found it?” Autumn asked. “Or did you pull it out of something?”
“Someone handed it to me, and he didn’t say. It was over in the woods though, not sticking out of someone’s refrigerator, I’m sure of that.”
“Is it possible this... creature—” Autumn’s pierced eyebrow twitched, “—you’ve told me about is wearing some kind of armor or outer layer?”
I ignored the skepticism inherent in that eyebrow twitch—if she’d read the newspapers and learned about the grisly slayings, she shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the idea of a genuine monster. “As in plastic chain mail? No, like Simon said, we’ve had a pretty good look at it now.”
“Technically,” Temi said, “is it a good look if it’s bouncing off the windshield of your van when you see it?”
“I saw it fine in the rear view mirror when it was chasing after us,” I said.
Autumn looked at each of us in turn, probably wondering if we were messing with her.
I held up one of my bags of stained dirt. “Here’s that blood sample if you want to take a look.”
“I believe I would.” Autumn accepted the bag and held it up to her eyes. “This is from the creature?”
“We’re not sure,” I said. “It might be from the interesting men we’ve been following.”
“I’ll check for blood type then. I can’t run a DNA test with this simple setup—” she tapped her case, “—but I ought to be able to tell a few things. This’ll be easy compared to trying to dredge up clues in thousand-year-old blood samples.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I muttered.
After all the weirdness we’d witnessed, I’d be shocked if quirky things didn’t show up in Eleriss’s and Jakatra’s blood. Maybe they’d have phosphorescent cells to match their glow-in-the-dark eyes. Or maybe their blood would be full of nanorobots. Maybe the blood would shoot out rays and blow up our microscope to punish us for looking at it.
I yawned and rubbed my eye. What a week.
“I’m going to do some research of my own.” Simon moved his MacBook to the desk. “I keep forgetting to check on something obvious.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“Where those motorcycles came from.”
Right, we’d recorded the license plate numbers on the first day. “Montana, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but who are they registered to? Eleriss and Jakatra Something-or-other? Or Butch and Bruno from Kalispell, men who have been missing for the last month?”
“That would be interesting to know, but that information isn’t publicly available on the Internet, is it?”
“Not publicly,” Simon agreed with a small smile.
“Am I going to have FBI agents knocking down the door of my hotel room?” Temi asked.
“I think the nearest FBI office is in Phoenix. We’re probably safe for a while.”
“They’ll never know I was there,” Simon murmured, his face toward the screen, his fingers dancing over the keyboard.
“Uh huh.” I pointed at his MacBook. “When you’re done hacking the DMV, would you mind making an mp3 of that video footage? I’m going to try and get one of my old linguistics professors to run an analysis of it.”
“‘kay,” Simon said without glancing up. I’d probably have to ask him a few more times.
With nothing better to do, I watched Autumn mix a couple of solutions for the blood test. Temi was still sitting on the bed, the book in her lap, her bad leg stretched out before her. She looked like she wasn’t sure if she should be helping somehow. I thought about telling her that the hotel room was help enough and greatly appreciated, but Autumn drew my attention with a hmm noise.
“Find something?” I asked.
“I can tell you that this blood isn’t human, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla, or bonobo.”
“Not bonobo? You’re sure?”
Autumn gave me an amused look.
“I’m guessing those are all the mammals that share the ABO blood group?” I said.
“That’s right. I don’t have the solutions to test for anything else with me. You should have told me you wanted animal blood testing done before I left home.”
“We didn’t have the blood two hours ago.” I thought of the webbed and clawed tracks. “I’m not sure this stuff is going to match up with any normal animals either.”
“You could run it to a vet’s office in the morning anyway,” Autumn said. “They could check for canine and feline, maybe equine and bovine too. Of course, I could take it down to U of A and have my friend run it through their DNA sequencer, but I don’t want to drive all the way down there tonight.”
“I was surprised you came down from Flagstaff as it is.”
“I wanted some sweet potato fries and figured you’d buy if I did.” Autumn winked.
“Ah. I guess that can be arranged.” Maybe the cafe would be more populated this evening, and town in general. I needed to find time to go around trying to sell some of the goodies we had in the van—before something threw a rock through the window and damaged everything. The sale of the antique coffee grinder wasn’t going to keep us in the bla
ck for long. “I’d love to see the results of a DNA test though, if you’re up for a road trip tomorrow. It’s Saturday—you’ll be off right?”
“Yes, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than run errands for you.”
“Judging from the sarcastic tone of voice, I better be ready to pony up a burger as well as fries,” I said.
“And some beer too. Though I admit you’ve got me curious as to what this came from too. I’m going to be irked if you dragged me down here to analyze squirrel blood.”
“We didn’t drag you down here, you came,” I pointed out. “But I promise it’s not squirrel blood.”
“Would a police crime lab have the ability to run a DNA test?” Temi asked. “Maybe there’s one of those in town.”
Autumn gave her an are-you-stupid look. “Crime labs do basic forensic DNA typing by comparing a sample of bodily fluid to the DNA profiles of people in the government’s database. They look at less than point one percent of the genome. Basically they have the ability to compare genetic fingerprints. Of human beings.” She held up the slide. “I’ve already told you this isn’t human blood. Unless your local vet can come up with an obvious answer, we’ll need to run a full genome sequencing to figure out what dropped this. If there is some kind of Franken-monster out there, that’s the only way we’ll get an idea of what genetic material was used as the base.”
“I see.” The set of Temi’s jaw suggested she wouldn’t have minded the information without the condescending tone.
I gave her an apologetic wave. Autumn had always been brusque and not particularly interested in bothering with social niceties, but she also didn’t care about my unique new career choice.
“I’ll definitely be curious to find out that information,” I said, trying to steer the attention away from Temi. “I’ll be even more curious to find out if this blood belongs to the creature or the interesting men I mentioned.”
“Your interesting men aren’t human?” Autumn asked.
“I... don’t know.”
“They’re a little too pretty to be bonobos too,” Simon said, surprising me by chiming in.
“Got my mp3 sample yet?” I asked him.
“No, but I have the information on those plates.”
“Butch and Bruno?”
“Elizabeth and Maude Somersett from Deer Lodge, Montana,” Simon said.
“Are those lovers or sisters?” Autumn asked.
“The DMV records didn’t mention it, though the Silver State Post does have a blurb on the theft of the ladies’ motorcycles. Apparently, they’re retired grandmothers whose hobbies include crocheting, running a book club, and cruising through the Rockies on their bikes.”
I wasn’t sure what made me scratch my head more, the idea of grannies on Harleys or the idea of our interesting men stealing Harleys from grannies.
“There’s one way we could find out whose blood it is,” Temi said.
“Go ask?” Simon suggested.
Temi nodded. “We could visit their hotel room and see if they’d like to join us for pizza. If one of them is wearing a bandage or limping, we’ll have a good idea that it was their blood.”
Simon checked his phone. “The tracking device is back outside the Vendome.”
“Tracking device?” Autumn mouthed.
“I believe the rules of stalking say that you’re not supposed to actually let your target know you’re stalking them,” I told Temi. “Asking them out to pizza might give us away.”
“Perhaps so,” she said, “but it would give us a chance to talk to them instead of simply guessing as to their plans and motivations.”
“I didn’t know you’d developed that much of an interest in their plans and motivations,” I said. “Or is this only since you decided the older one is striking?”
“Of course not.” With her dark skin, it was hard to tell when she was blushing, but she did avoid my eyes when she spoke.
Simon craned his neck around to frown in Temi’s direction.
Lovely. My best friend had a crush on a former pro tennis player, and a former pro tennis player had a crush on an alien. When had my life gotten so odd?
A firm, crisp knock sounded on the door. We all looked at each other.
“Any chance someone ordered a pizza?” I asked.
Three people shook their heads. The curtains were closed, so we couldn’t see outside without alerting our knockers, but I hesitated to hustle over to answer the door. We weren’t expecting anyone, and at this point, I couldn’t imagine anything good finding us.
Temi slid off the bed and headed for the door.
I nudged Simon. “As the man in the room, don’t you think you should go help her?”
“How?” he whispered.
“You could loom threateningly at her shoulder.”
“She’s taller than I am. I don’t think it’s possible to loom threateningly from under a woman’s armpit.”
Temi fastened the chain, then opened the door the couple of inches it allowed. “Yes?” she asked.
I shifted from foot to foot. Short of jumping up on the bed, I couldn’t see past her to who stood out there. Nor could I hear enough of the soft-spoken voice on the other side of the door to guess at the owner’s identity. I scooted forward, thinking that I wasn’t beneath peering underneath her armpit, but she said, “I’ll check,” and closed the door.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Our interesting men,” Temi said.
“Do they want to punch, strangle, pummel, or otherwise maim us for following them today?” Simon asked.
“No.” Temi gave him a curious look. “They want to hire you.”
CHAPTER 18
“Erp?” Simon said.
I didn’t say anything, but my response would have been similar. I stared around the bland hotel room, wondering if this was a trick and if we should all be fleeing, but there wasn’t anywhere to go. The bathroom lacked a window. There wasn’t even a closet with proper doors one could hide behind. I hadn’t peeked under the southwest-print bedspreads yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the frames were too low to hide beneath.
For some reason, everyone’s gaze turned toward me. Was I in charge here? We hadn’t decided how much of the business Temi would control yet, but Simon and I were equal partners. Surely we should share such big decisions as whether or not a door should be opened. Autumn waited with her back to the wall, her elbow propped on the television stand. She had the look of someone wishing she had a bowl of popcorn to enjoy while she watched the entertainment.
“Let’s see what they want,” I said.
Temi unchained the door and opened it.
Eleriss and Jakatra, still wearing the same black leather and the same wool caps, stepped inside.
“Good evening,” I said cheerfully—it seemed like a good way to greet people one had been stalking of late. “Can we assist you?”
The riders exchanged long looks, and I sensed there’d been an argument or two as to whether they should come here. Jakatra took a single step to the side of the door, putting his back to the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. His sleeve shifted enough that a hint of something white came into view. A bandage encircling his wrist? My breath caught. If that was his blood sample and not the monster’s... Dear Lord, they weren’t human, not at all. Even a genetically modified human ought to have A, B, or O blood, right? I glanced at Autumn, but she shrugged, probably not understanding my unspoken question. She hadn’t seen enough, didn’t know all that had happened.
Calm down, I told myself. Just because he was bandaged didn’t mean that had been his blood I collected. The monster might have been wounded too. Except the monster was apparently made of plastic...
Eleriss stepped forward and smiled at us. “Greetings,” he said in the same tone of voice I’d used. “It is unfortunate that you did not leave to go to your Alaska. Further, by following us, you’ve exposed yourself to great dangers.”
I flicked a hand. “Danger is our middl
e name.”
I didn’t feel the casualness I feigned, but putting up a brave facade seemed important. I wasn’t sure why. It was clear from Eleriss’s curious head tilt that he wasn’t familiar with the expression. He was probably trying to figure out how we’d all come to have the same middle names.
“How did you find us in the forest?” Eleriss asked. He didn’t seem angry or irritated, merely curious. Mr. Stony and Silent by the door was another matter. Jakatra appeared irked by the entire situation.
“You first. How’d you find us here?” I gestured toward the hotel room.
“You have our blood,” Eleriss said, as if that explained everything.
Jakatra hissed something to him in his own tongue. A troubled expression flashed across Eleriss’s face, but he shrugged and dismissed the comment.
“This is your blood?” Autumn asked, losing her I’m-just-here-for-the-entertainment mien. She flicked her thumb toward the microscope. “From your veins?”
Eleriss stared down at his wrists thoughtfully. Jakatra stalked past him to the television stand, his face hard and cold. I’d always considered Autumn a tough girl, but she shrank back at his approach. He removed the slide from the microscope, pocketed it, and stared at her, as if to ask if she meant to battle him for it.
Eleriss spread his arms in a gesture that he might have intended to be placating, but he got it wrong, with his palms toward the carpet and his fingers curled. “It is blood that belongs to us,” he said, “and we can find it when it goes missing.”
“What?” Simon mouthed.
“I think they’re bad liars,” I said sotto voce, then raised my voice for Eleriss. “You said you wanted to hire us?”
He nodded firmly and looked relieved to have the blood topic dropped. “You said you are good at research and locating things. We have witnessed that you located us more than once.”
“Yes,” I said carefully. No need to mention the tracking device. As far as I knew, it was still on one of their motorcycles. I’d swat Simon later for not checking in every five minutes to see if those guys were leaving their hotel to cross town and stroll up the stairs to our room.
“We are,” Simon said brightly. “What do you want to hire us to find? And in what currency will you be paying us? I only ask because we’ve learned that your motorcycles aren’t legally yours. Do you have money?”