Page 75 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

“This area’s gotten worse in the last two years,” Reed said as we drew closer to Anacostia. Even though Annie had retrieved my car and parked it neatly in one side of my double garage, we’d taken his SUV because it blended in better. “Boundaries have shifted, and Illusion’s disputed territory between three rival gangs.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Boarded-up buildings, a burned-out car, youths on street corners watching us through dead eyes as we drove past. Not a place I’d have wanted to venture alone.

On the sort-of-positive side, three people had been murdered outside Illusion that we knew of. Two stabbings and a shooting. Plenty of options, although I couldn’t help hoping for an older spirit. They were easier to deal with and sometimes even managed to make pleasant conversation. The younger souls still thought they could convince me to set them free, so they were less willing to help without strings attached. Demanding. That was the best way to describe them.

Although if a spirit was too old, they had little understanding of how the world worked now, and that could be difficult as well. A few months ago, I’d talked briefly to a gentleman who died in the American Civil War, and he’d been convinced that airplanes were some kind of witchcraft.

“Well, we’re here,” Reed said, pulling into a parking space. “Place looks even worse in daylight.”

Peeling black paint, a cracked sign with the N hanging off, and unless I was mistaken, a pool of vomit outside the door.

“Isn’t this just charming,” I muttered as Reed opened my door.

“I take you to all the best places, sweetheart.”

I tugged my coat tighter around myself as we crossed the lot. At Reed’s suggestion, I’d changed into jeans and fur-lined boots, and boy was I glad about that as the icy wind nipped at my face.

“Where to first?” Reed asked.

“Over there.” I nodded towards the door, where I could see a young blonde woman with blood seeping from her chest. Surely she’d be sympathetic to Emma’s cause? “The camera on the video was above the exit, right?”

“Ever thought of changing career? I could use an assistant.”

“Isn’t that my question? You’re amazing at remodelling gift bags.”

The blonde did a double take as we got closer. Apparently, the Electi emitted some sort of glow and the air around us crackled too. The spirit guides told them this, which was the reason I couldn’t play dumb and go about my daily business in peace.

“Hi.”

She looked me up and down. “Are you one of those elected things?”

“One of the Electi? Yes. And you’re Shana Conway?”

“About time you showed up. You’re three years late.”

“I’m afraid I don’t keep an appointment book.”

“Maybe you should. Anyhow, the bitch that stabbed me is called Keesha West. That’s Keesha with two e’s. Do me a favour and make it painful, okay?”

“I’m not here to kill Keesha.” From what Wyatt told us, Shana had started the fight in any case. “I’m hoping you can help with an ongoing investigation. A girl disappeared from the parking lot here just over two years ago.”

“Wait. You wantmeto helpyou? No, bitch, that’s not how it works. Some angel thing told me it’s your job to waste murderers.”

“Two thousand years ago, perhaps, but the world’s moved on. We have police and jails now, and I understand Keesha’s already served her sentence.”

“What about my sentence? I’m fucking dead!”

“Yes, I see that, but—”

“Just get lost if you won’t get off your fat ass and do what you’re supposed to.”

“My ass isn’t fat!” Was it? I mean, I hadn’t used the StairMaster since I split up with Alan, but I still fitted into a size eight. “And a girl’s gone missing.”

“Not my problem.”

I’d never met Keesha, but if I did, I’d buy her a big box of chocolates. The good ones with caramel centres. Shana was one of the most vile spirits I’d ever had the misfortune to come across.

“You won’t get anything out of her, lady,” a voice said from behind a nearby dumpster. “All she does is whine.”

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