Some Gave All by Nancy Holder Read Free Book Online

thought.
    All the color drained from Aliyah’s face and her mouth dropped open. But instead of screaming, as Vincent had anticipated, she went limp. She would have fallen out of her chair except that Catherine grabbed her and supported her weight while Tess and the social worker lent an assist.
    Vincent burst out of the observation room and rushed into the interview room. He bent over Aliyah and gently pulled back each lid. Her pupils were negative. Her pulse was racing, her skin clammy to the touch, and her breathing was shallow. The musky combination of animal and human pheromones filled his nostrils. Beast odor. He didn’t think it was her scent, but that it had been left on her. His head swam and he concentrated his apex predator senses, using the clues at hand to piece together the beast’s home invasion: window glass, carpet fibers, wood splinters.
    The murder itself: blood, tissue, bone.
    Rage. Such incredible fury. This was not a random beast attack. This was payback.
    For what? And by whom?
    “Vincent?” Catherine asked softly, and he locked gazes with her, gave her a little nod. Yes, he had something to tell her. He couldn’t wait to get to the crime scene. It contained a story with a beginning, a middle, and a gruesome end; one that, this time, he might be able to read. He’d come up empty at the other crime scenes. But this time he might even glean enough to learn the beast’s identity.
    “She’s in shock,” Vincent declared. “We should get her to the hospital.”
    Tess nodded and whipped out her phone. Catherine and the social worker flanked Vincent as he scooped Aliyah up and carried her out of the room. Wilson met them at the door and trailed after them.
    “Let me experience her energy,” Wilson said.
    “What are you doing here?” Tess blurted. “You’re a week early!”
    Wilson frowned. “Cap said I was all set.”
    Tess shook her head and spoke into her phone. “Emergency, the one-hundred-twenty-fifth NYPD precinct headquarters. That is precinct one-two-five. Minor needs immediate medical transport.” She repeated the pertinent medical details, with Vincent nodding at her to let her know she was getting it right.
    “She’s blocking out what happened,” Vincent said. He wondered if Catherine and Tess knew that there were flecks of blood on her arms, possibly her aunt’s. His mind jumped to DNA. Beast DNA. Something was different this time. Would the lab results be different too?
    That would be a dangerous game changer
, he thought.
    “The ambulance is arriving out front,” Tess told them.
    Unis, detectives, and staff swiveled their heads at Vincent and the others as they dashed through the busy precinct bullpen. A paramedic in navy uniform approached and Vincent reeled off the medical details of Aliyah’s collapse. A stretcher appeared seconds later and Vincent gently placed Aliyah on it. Her fingers stretched as if she were reaching for something. She had cuts on her hands.
    He turned and saw that Catherine had grabbed up the bear from the interview room table and was cradling it under her chin. She held it out and he knew to put it on Aliyah’s chest. It bobbed there as the paramedics loaded the stretcher into the ambulance. Mrs. Kuhl climbed in and sat across from her. Her face was grim but otherwise, she was composed. Vincent figured a woman in her position had seen just about everything—except a beast.
    “I’ll keep you posted,” she said to Catherine and Tess. Then one of the paramedics shut the ambulance door, and the vehicle screamed away.
    Tess turned to Vincent. “Beast?” Tess asked quietly.
    “Definitely,” he said under his breath. “I could tell this time. There’s not a doubt in my mind on this one.”
    “But not the other six,” Catherine elaborated. “Well, we all know that human beings are capable of monstrous brutality. Sad to say.”
    “So it’s possible that the first six murders are unrelated to this one. The crime scene’s still crawling with