Read Only Human for Free Online

removed a stack of cash as he stepped towards me. He laid it on the table beside my chair and said, “For services rendered. You have been most helpful. Gwen and I will walk you to your car to make sure you are safe.” As I stood, he retrieved the questionnaire and handed it to Gwen. I locked up, and they walked me to my car and watched as I drove off.

Chapter Three
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The next afternoon I received a text message from Aaron.
     
We need to talk. Please call me when you have time.
     
    Aaron may have embraced technology in spite of being thousands of years old, but he would never take shortcuts with language — I think it might kill him to use a ‘ 2 ’ in place of ‘ to ’ when texting.
    My day was back-to-back patients and I texted him between appointments to let him know it would be after work before I had time. So as I left my office that evening I put my bluetooth earpiece in and called him as I slid into the driver’s seat. It isn’t a good idea to talk to him while I’m walking to my car, because our conversations aren’t usually fit for the general public to hear.
    He jumped right to the point with no niceties, which wasn’t like him. “The new police chief in Fort Oglethorpe called me in to a murder scene, as he didn’t think a death this way was humanly possible. I’ve known him for years as he’s moved up the ranks in the county sheriff’s department, so hopefully things will work smooth with him at the helm in Fort O.”
    He took a breath and continued, “I’d like to spare you the details, but we have something nasty in the area and you need to understand what’s going on because whoever did this seems to have skills similar to yours. I’ve called someone in who might be able to help with whatever this is. And, well...” He really didn’t want to tell me, but took another breath and did so anyway. “The body was cut up and each slice appears to be cauterized. It was like the pieces were melted apart. No splintering of bones; a smooth cut.”
    “You don’t think I did it, do you? I only kill in self-defense, and even then I’m racked with guilt.” There was no need to say it, he was well aware of my guilt when I was forced to take a life. Still, I felt I needed to defend myself. “Besides, if you aren’t there when I kill someone, you always know about it as soon as I can call you and tell you.”
    “I know, Bug. I’m just a bit spooked that someone else is killing, and the mode of death appears to mimic one of your kills.”
    “Yeah, well, thank goodness the new police chief doesn’t know what it would look like if I killed someone.”
    “Right, we’ll have to be extra careful with you around him until we solve this murder. Good point.”
    Fort Oglethorpe is a small town in Georgia, just over the state line from Chattanooga. Because of its proximity to Chickamauga Battlefield, a lot of non-human activity happens in the area. The police force has had to come to terms with the fact they can’t deal with non-human beings, so they call Aaron in to help on their supernatural cases.
    I’m not sure why I didn’t tell Aaron the new police chief and I had met. Intimately. Perhaps because I wasn’t sure how things would be when Denny and I were within speaking distance of each other?

Chapter Four
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The next evening I found myself at the back of the children’s theater watching my daughter practice for Alice Through the Looking Glass . I was checking email on my tablet when a gentleman sat down a few seats away, and I glanced up long enough to see an attractive man impeccably dressed in an expensive suit, clearly not off the rack. His black hair was cut stylishly and his face looked as if it’d been chiseled out of granite by a master sculptor who agreed with my definition of sexy. It was hard to tell his age, but I’d have guessed within a couple of years of my own thirty-four. I nodded to him politely and looked back to my