Page 11 of Shadow Running
“Benny?”Lazenti laughed.“As long as I don’t have to work hand-in-hand with him, I’m good.”He sobered.“I don’t, do I?Have to work with him?”
“You might later on,” I said.“But right now, no.I want you to do some sleuthing around the city.See what you can find out about a group called Give A Hand Up.Not the surface stuff.We know that already.But see what you can find beneath the veneer.I talked to Destiny yesterday and she said there are a lot of complaints about the organization.There’s something shady there, but nobody knows what it is yet.”
Lazenti jotted down the name.“Give A Hand Up…that sounds familiar but I’m not sure why.Nonprofit?”
“Supposed to be.But there are some red flags, so don’t overlook anything that could be a cover-up.Also, there’s a veteran, Greg Swift, whom we’re looking for.Search out any dirt, rumors, whatever scuttlebutt you can pick up.Sophia, can you send Lazenti a bullet list of what we’ve discovered so far?”
“Sure,” she said, “I’ll write up a summary and send it over within the hour.”
“Other than that, how are things going?”I asked.
“All right,” Lazenti said.“I’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately, in the Underground.Reports of odd encounters.About strangers moving in.A few of the businesses that have been here years closed their doors and the owners vanished.Seriously, Kyann, something’s going on.”
“When did it start, do you think?”I asked.Lazenti wasn’t given to hyperbole.If he thought something serious was going on, then it was.
“About four months ago, I think.But I wanted to talk to you.Last night I was out at one of the clubs—the Crimson Rose, which is deep in the Underground.It’s a vampire club, and not for the squeamish, though as far as I can see, nothing unlawful goes on.”He paused.
“Yes?Go on.”
“Okay, here’s the thing.I met a man at the bar.He wasn’t a vampire, but he seemed familiar to me.Then, I realized, he reminded me of you.I wasn’t sure why, but he did.He has eyes that looked a lot like yours but otherwise, he didn’t resemble you, so I wasn’t sure why he set off bells.I started talking to him.He said he’s here on a private affair, but I managed to cadge at least one piece of information out of him.He’s an Arosien demon, in from the realms of Demonkin.”
I froze.“Arosien?” I knew there probably were others of my kind around, but for some reason the news startled me.“Did you get anything else out of him?Why’s he here?”
“That’s the thing.He wouldn’t even tell me his name, but he did mention he’s here looking for someone.He was…extraordinary.And no, I don’t know what I mean by that.”
“I wish we knew who he was.”Alarm bells rang.“Did he say anything else?”
Lazenti leaned forward, his eyes glimmering.“I followed him.He left shortly after, and something warned me that I should follow.He made his way to a place in Lower Seattle—I wrote down the address so I wouldn’t forget it.It’s in the White Center area of the city, on 17thStreet.”He gave me the address.
I stared at it.“That’s Lower Seattle, all right.”
Lower Seattle was where the poor congregated, stuffed into a small area, with houses that were falling apart and a high crime rate.If you were smart, you kept bars on your windows there, and bars on the doors.And you didn’t venture out after dark unless you knew how to fight.
“Thing is, I looked up the house’s owner?—”
“Let me guess.A member of Brim Fire?”Dante asked.
“Surprisingly no,” Lazenti said.“The house is owned by one of the local gangsta magnates—Groo by Groo.He’s a weasel shifter, and he’s smart and a self-made millionaire.He’s one of the most successful slum lords in the city.I’m sending you a link to his bio.”Lazenti sent the link through the chat.
I opened up the link and found myself staring at a tall, lanky man wearing sunglasses.He had thick, wavy hair that hearkened back to the seventies David Cassady shag cut, and he was wearing a suit that looked expensive and fit him all too well.His shirt was open down to his navel, and several thick gold chains completed the look.
“Groo by Groo, huh?”I asked.“Looks a little…”
“You’re looking for the word ‘seedy’ and you’re correct,” Lazenti said.“He’s a low life by nature, who wields all too much power.He doesn’t live in that house, but the demon went into it.I waited for half an hour, before he emerged.I followed him back to the Underground.”
“I wonder who he’s visiting,” I said.“We know whoownsthe house, but what about who rents it?”
“I checked on that, too.This is going to hit a little close to home, Kyann.”There was a warning note in Lazenti’s voice.
Again, alarm bells went off.“Tell me.”
“A man in his seventies.His name is Edward Trask.”Lazenti hesitated, then added, “He had a brother named Jace.”
I stared at him for a moment, then I understood.“No.”
“Yes.I’m sorry, but…”
Both Penn and Dante understood immediately, before the others got it.Penn stood, staring at Lazenti, while Dante reached out to rest his hand on my shoulder.
