Out of the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

used. The only evidence I can find of foul play is this." She gently pushed the head to the side, exposing the side of the neck. Dried blood was smeared across it, but two puncture wounds were clearly visible. Each hole was the size of the end of a Q-Tip, and they were spaced a little over an inch apart.
    "Go on," Mac said, coming to squat beside her.
    "Okay. Well, notice the pallor and dryness of the skin. The grayish cast denotes a lack of blood. Now, I figure they've been dead for several hours. If that's true, then we should see signs of lividity in the lowest levels of the body—in this case, the man's right side, since that's how he's lying. But look here." She pulled up the man's shirt. "It's the same gray color—there wasn't enough blood left to pool and discolor the skin."
    At her declaration, their eyes met and Lanie wondered what thoughts raced through his head.
    "Who would take the time to do something like this?" he asked.
    "I guess it could have been some type of wild animal," she offered.
    "No, it was human." He pointed to a bloody stain on the man's shoulder where Lanie could barely make out the imprint of a hand—a human hand.
    "Well, I know this sounds far-fetched, but there might be one other explanation…"
    "What?"
    She didn't say anything, her gaze and attention focused on the two puncture marks on the victim's neck.
    "Oh, hell, no. Don't even say—"
    "Vampires."
    He swung his head away from her, uttering a soft curse under his breath before slapping his hands against his legs and pushing himself to a standing position. "You know? For about three minutes there, I actually thought you had a brain cell."
    Lanie knew it sounded crazy and wished she could laugh it off and tell him that she was kidding, but too many years with her father kept her silent.
    "I don't believe any of that crap." Mac walked to the opposite side of the room, clearly agitated. He stopped at the doorway long enough to look back at her. "It'll be dark soon. I'm going to check the outside of the compound while I can still see."
    He left the lab and she hurried to follow, trailing after him to the small security office they'd discovered earlier. She stood silently by the door as he systematically searched each of the cabinets. From the fourth, he extracted a handheld search lamp that, when switched on, was so bright, Lanie had to shield her eyes from the nearly blinding light.
    Apparently satisfied, he shut it off, left the office, and walked to the front of the building, Lanie following behind him. As they passed the security desk, she tried to ignore the bodies.
    "I want you to wait in here," Mac said, heading for the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
    "No, I don't want to stay by myself."
    "I don't care. You'll be safer inside."
    She jerked her head toward the bodies. "Like they were? No thanks; I'm going with you."
    He glared at her. "Be reasonable. We've searched the entire building. There's no danger inside, but there may still be something outside. If I run into trouble, the last thing I need to worry about is keeping your butt safe."
    "You worry about your butt, and I'll worry about mine."
    He pointed a finger at her, his expression stern and unyielding. "Stay here."
    She pushed her glasses up her nose with the tip of her index finger as she stared at him, unfazed. "Do you find that works with most people? Because I'm not buying it."
    His expression grew outright lethal and despite her bravado, she found herself a little intimidated. "Fine, I won't go with you," she finally huffed.
    "Very sensible of you," Mac acknowledged, pulling the guard's gun from his waistband and handing it to her. "Do you know how to use this?"
    "I think I can grasp the basic concept—you point and pull the trigger, right?"
    She peered down the weapon's sights at an imaginary target, perilously close to where Mac stood, her aim not quite steady as her arm wavered in the air. Mac swore again as he pressed her arm downward until the weapon was