Past Life by C S Winchester Page B

to check on him. Next she saw Zoe sitting back down on the bed and start pulling her clothes on.
    Frankie opened her eyes and stood up.
    “ Ugh, I hate doing that.”
    “ What did you see?” Will asked.
    “ Nothing new.” She knelt down near where Dante had fallen. If his kidnapper was either a vampire or hadn't touched any surfaces, there wouldn't be any images for her to see, but she had to check.
    She moved her hands across the floor, searching for impressions that were left last night. Finally she found one. Whoever had come into the apartment had dragged Dante out, touching the floor briefly as they grabbed Dante under his shoulders.
    She opened her eyes suddenly, looking shaken.
    “ What did you see?” Will knelt down beside her.
    “ It's him, the guy from this morning. Or yesterday morning. The one who's been killing pets.”
    “ He took Dante?” Will asked.
    “ Definitely him.” Frankie nodded. “His thoughts are in a foreign language, like this morning and he left some of the same memories.”
    “ Are you okay?” Will asked, noticing Frankie was looking very pale.
    “ I'll be fine,” she said, pushing herself back to to her feet.
    Next she did a sweep of the apartment, touching almost every object that Dante owned, looking for any indication of where Dante had been taken or why the pet-killer wanted him. When her hands began to tremble, Will insisted that she take a break and began looking through the cupboards for something sugary.
    For someone who didn't eat, he noticed that Dante seemed to have a lot of food in his kitchen.
    “ It's a cover,” Frankie explained when he asked. “Empty cupboards would draw suspicion.”
    Will handed her a glass of orange juice which she drank gratefully, then when her shaking eased off, she continued her search.
    Will still thought that she looked a little pale and clammy, so he kept his eyes on her, just in case she pushed herself too far. When she had finally examined almost every surface in the apartment for psychic impressions, he sat her down once again and got another glass of fruit juice for her.
    He gave her a while to get her equilibrium back then asked what she'd been able to put together.
    “ Not much, he didn't touch many places.”
    “ Anything might help, so just tell me everything you can remember.”
    “ Okay. He poisoned Dante by spiking Zoe's drink.”
    “ You can poison vampires?” he asked.
    “ I remember now that Dante once gave me a potion. If a vampire drinks it they'll die but if a human drinks it, it will incapacitate any vampire that feeds off their blood.”
    “ So how did he know Dante would hook up with Zoe?”
    “ I didn't see that, but I would guess he's been following Dante and saw them together tonight. I think he's been looking for Dante for a few months.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Something about his blood,” she shook her head as though trying to clear it. “But I couldn't see any specifics. And I really don't understand this part, but he has memories of Dante that look at least 80 years old.”
    “ Are you saying our killer is an octogenarian?”
    “ No, Zoe glimpsed him before he knocked her down, he's middle-aged. Or at least he looks middle-aged.”
    “ But he's not a vampire?”
    “ No.”
    “ Could be be using vampire blood to prolong his life?”
    “ That would make sense.” Frankie frowned; that idea really should have occurred to her.
    “ Do you know where Dante is?”
    “ I could see a room with a bed and silver shackles, but I couldn't see where it was.”
    “ You're wrung out,” Will said. “Come on, let's get you home, you'll feel better after some more sleep.”
    Frankie nodded, knowing that she had done all she could here. Because she still looked pale, Will insisted on driving and once back at the apartment he settled Frankie into bed.
    “ I need to show my face at work,” he told her. “I'm up so I'll go in early and get it over with.”
    Frankie nodded.
    “ I'll bring breakfast back with