Page 12 of Shadow Running
Carson frowned.“Who?—”
“Jace Trask, the serial killer who murdered her mother,” Dante said, his voice low.
I sat there, unable to respond, a slew of feelings rushing over me.I gripped the edge of the table, trying to ground myself, but inside, a deluge of emotions threatened to bury me, as I stood at the center of the maelstrom.
“It’s not Jace,” Penn said.“He’s long gone.His brother is not responsible for Jace’s actions?—”
I lowered my head, closing my eyes as I struggled to retain control.The anger and fury were still hiding behind a wall, peeking out from where I had relegated them.Penn was right.Jace was dead.She’d helped me make certain of that.But the pain and anger were ever present, and I had no other place to put them.
Finally, after a moment of silence, I let out a slow breath and raised my head.I could feel my inner demon struggling.Yes, we had killed Jace, and we’d put an end to his string of atrocities, but it hadn’t soothed the need for justice.My vengeance had been assuaged, but there had been no justice, because therecouldn’tbe justice.Too many women had died at Jace’s hands, and nothing would ever be enough to ease the pain of their deaths for all their families.
“Okay, so he went to see Jace’s brother.What next?”I asked, finding my voice again.
“I followed him back to the Underground, where he entered a hotel there—the Lyleton.It’s for out of town visitors who don’t want to be noticed.After another half-hour, he hadn’t come out, so I returned home.I would have checked to see if he was registered there, but you can’t bribe the staff of the Lyleton, and they pride themselves on their anonymity.”
“What about Edward?What’s his story?”
“I don’t know much about him,” Lazenti said.“I haven’t had the chance to look him up.”
“Maybe I should go talk to him,” I said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Penn said.
“I agree,” Dante added.“Leave it to us.The more you keep your distance from him, the better.”He nodded to Carson.
“I’ll look him up,” Carson said.“Meanwhile, shouldn’t we set off for Konstantine Crow’s house?It may take a little time to get there, since it’s over on the Eastside.”
I glanced at the time.It was closing in on nine.“You’re right.Okay, Lazenti, if you run into the demon again, see if you can find out anything else,” I said.
“Will do.Meanwhile, I’ll also nose around for info on Swift, and Give A Hand Up.”He signed off, after apologizing again for startling me.I told him not to worry about it, and we ended the meeting.
* * *
We gathered togetherthe equipment we’d need and, leaving Sophia to manage the office while we were out, headed for the parking lot.Shadow Blade, as a company, owned several vehicles including the van, and we used the van when we were out on investigations, like haunted houses.
Once across the 520 Floating bridge, we wove our way through Redmond on Avondale Road, turning onto Bear Creek Road and then onto Northeast 133rdStreet.Right before the Redmond Watershed’s north entrance, we turned right onto 211thWay NE.We drove along until we reached the turning point into the Eleena District—Rosewood Street.
The neighborhood wasn’t large, but it ran for several blocks in each direction.A faded sign decorated with moss roses stood at the entrance to welcome strangers in.On the other side of 211thwere several urban farmsteads.Rosewood was square center, in terms of the length of the district.From here, the Eleena District stretched at leave ten blocks east, and five blocks both north and south.
One of the oldest neighborhoods on the Eastside, The Eleena District was fading, a part of the past.The houses were weathered, but they still stood, old but still livable.They weren’t in squalor, but the area felt abandoned, as though time had forgotten the people who lived here, leaving them and their homes in the past.A perpetual autumn permeated the area, where the cobwebs were thick and the shadows deep even on the sunniest of days.
“What’s his address again?”I asked, as we drove along Rosewood Street.
“21320 Bracken Lane,” Carson said, consulting his notes.“You’ll turn left when we come to it, and then we’ll have about three blocks until we reach his house.”
I kept my eyes open, and sure enough—it was only a moment before I saw the street sign signaling Bracken Lane.I turned onto the street.Sure enough, within three blocks we came to Konstantine’s house.As we turned into the lot, I eased the van next to a Toyota Corolla that was sitting in the driveway.I turned off the engine and stared up at the house.
The three story Victorian looked gloomy.The paint was peeling off some of the siding, and ivy twined up one side, onto the roof, which was the surest way to insure roof rot.Hydrangeas and roses lined the sides of the house, and while their leaves were still young, they looked ready to would bloom out into a massive swath of flowers come June or July.
The lawn itself was mostly moss, and stepping stone paths lead around to either side of the house.An oak, taller than the house, sheltered the front yard, and the leaves were on their way to full size.Oak moss dripped off the boughs of the tree, hanging down like some shaggy beard on an old man.The oak felt alive to me in the way that portal-trees did, but I couldn’t sense an actual portal around.Toward the back of the lot, it looked like a weeping willow guarded the back yard, as well as several firs and a giant cedar tree.
“What a beautiful yard,” Penn said.
“Yeah, but creepy,” Dante answered.“Do either you or Kyann sense anything?”
I paused before we reached the front porch and closed my eyes.A tingle raced up my back, branching out to fire off warning bells.There were spirits on the prowl—a lot of them.And they didn’t feel welcoming.
“We’re being watched, that much I can tell.The ghosts are rampant here, and they’re uneasy.I don’t know what happened here, but it feels more like a graveyard than a home to me.”I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.While the house was beautiful, in a macabre way, I didn’t like being here.I wanted to turn around and leave, but we had a job to do.“What about you, Penn?”
