Page 31 of Shadow Seeking

Carson nodded. “This one is squeaky clean. She toed the line about separating her personal life from her professional one. I’ll continue to check it out, but I can comfortably say this is good to go and you can give it back to the academy.”

“What about her personal computer?” Dante asked.

“That’s another matter,” Carson said. He shut down the laptop and hooked up the desktop to the monitor. Then, he logged in. This computer had a lot more on it than the laptop. “She was a movie nut—she has dozens of movies ripped to hercomputer. She also seems to like puzzle games. I think she was trying to write a novel—a mystery.”

“Was she any good?” Sophia asked.

“Not that I can tell,” Carson said. “But here’s where we get to interesting things. I found a trail that led me to the places she visited on the Dark Web. Brim Fire was the only website there she frequented.”

“I still think it’s so odd…” I shook my head. It didn’t make sense with anything I knew about her.

“There were a few other things I found out. In a hidden file, I found evidence that she was part of some small leftist group trying to squelch the demonic activity that she was studying. I think she went in undercover and got over her head. I still haven’t figured out who the group is, though.”

My heart plummeted. “And if Brim Fire found out she was a spy…”

“Yeah, they might have sent someone to take her out. That would explain the demonic energy on her mandrake root.”

“Can demons just appear into a locked room?” I asked.

“That, I don’t know,” Carson said. “I suppose it depends on the demon, and where they originate from.”

“How did she find Brim Fire to begin with? If she’s working with a small operation, like you suggest, then how did she get into the Brim Fire site? We all know the Dark Web isn’t open for casual business. Nobody goes there just to play around. At least, nobody but some damned fool teenager or ego-ridden hacker.” Orik rapped his fingers on the table.

“That, I can’t answer. I’m not done searching, but I do have one potential lead for you,” Carson said. “While I was reading in the forums she posted in, a name that leapt out at me, and it did because…it shouldn’t be there.”

“Whose name is it?” Dante asked. “And why shouldn’t they be there?”

“The user name is Lazenti413X.”

I stared at him. “Lazenti? Why does that sound familiar?”

“Because I’ve talked to him in other chatrooms. I knew immediately it’s the same guy. And I’ve mentioned him to you before.” Carson shrugged. “I recognized his handle right away, as well as his manner of speaking. Do you remember that case we worked about eighteen months ago? The one with the vampire blood-ring?”

I sat straight. “Yeah, I remember. That was a nerve-wracking case.”

Blood-rings were forbidden by law. A move by hate groups, they tried to trick vampires into joining groups filled with wannabe bloodwhores, promising fresh blood waiting on tap. But then, once the vamps took the bait, the members of the group were waiting to stake them. It was against the law, but there wasn’t much the cops could do to prove that the hate groups were murdering the vamps, since there wasn’t much left when they went ‘poof.’

“Lazenti 413X was an informant I talked to. He was working on the inside, helping us try to find out more about the group involved. He’s a vampire, and if he’s posting in the forums, I doubt they know who he really is. Which must mean the Vampire Federation is checking into Brim Fire, too. I might be able to contact him and see if he knows anything about Letty Hargrove.” Carson leaned back. The beads in his braids clicked together as he moved in an almost musical way.

“See what you can find out. Maybe we can get some answers from him. Meanwhile, what do you all think about asking Angela to ask if she knew what her sister was doing?”

“I think it might be all right. She seems no-nonsense,” Dante said.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to call her.” I pulled out my phone and punched in Angela’s number. She came on the line after two rings.

“Hello? Kyann, do you have any news for me?”

“Actually, I have a question foryou,” I said. “Do you know anything about a group called Brim Fire?”

She paused for a moment, then said, “I’ve heard of them, but I can’t say that I know much about them. I do remember my sister had some books that mentioned the group, but I never read any of them. They’re some fringe group, aren’t they?” She sounded sincere.

I let out a sigh. “Yeah, they are. They want to summon demons in to take over the world, or something. Did you know that your sister was involved with them in any way?”

This time, the pause was longer. After a couple minutes, Angela said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why the hell would she belong to a group like that? My sister was, at times, opinionated, but she wasn’t crazy.”

I told her about the mandrake root. I was cautious to avoid mention of the Dark Web. Talking about sites on the Dark Web could get you killed in some instances, and I didn’t want her repeating anything to the wrong people. “So, she never mentioned Brim Fire to you?”

“Not in so many words. I still can’t believe she’d be connected with them. I mean, you must have found some damning evidence. But…I don’t understand.” There was a catch in her voice.

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