Ash Return of the Beast

CHAPTER 77



Kane fiddled nervously with his cell phone as they sped down Capitol Hill’s residential streets, heading for the freeway. He called Linda again, but still no answer. Why didn’t she pick up?

He tried to push the worst-case scenario aside and thought back to her earlier call. He wracked his memory, scanning through her broken, chaotic words in his mind and suddenly he recalled something. She’d mentioned Pete. What had she said? The stranger had killed him? Of course he had. That was part of the whole sick agenda from the start.

He didn’t know how he should feel about that. He’d expected it. But now… The familiar dilemma had taken on a new twist. It was a bittersweet sort of revenge. In the past, he’d felt guilty for wishing the old man dead. Now that the old man was dead, he found himself feeling guilty about the sense of relief that was slowly seeping in along with the reality of the situation. He flipped the phone open. He should call somebody, report the old man’s death. Then it hit him. The old man’s death was going to be a problem.

If word got out that Pastor Pete was the adoptive father of Lieutenant Brian Kane and that the old man was killed by the mysterious preacher killer, the media would have a… He snapped the phone shut. There was no way in hell he wanted to deal with that. Then he remembered what Ravenwood had said about cover stories. She had resources. He was going to need her to tap those resources, big time.

He gave a quick appraising glance at Ravenwood. Her attention was glued to the road as she maneuvered the speeding vehicle through the traffic. Physically, she was a mess. She looked like someone had dragged her out of an alley after a drunken catfight. He pulled down the visor, looked at himself in the mirror and flipped it back up. He looked even worse than she did, if that was possible.

He attempted to smooth his hair back with a sweep of the hand and tugged at his singed jacket. One sleeve was ripped from the cuff to the elbow. His pant legs were covered with tiny burn holes. He thought about those horrifying minutes he was trapped inside the raging inferno. He wondered now if he would ever tell Ravenwood––or anyone, for that matter––that he’d come this close to blowing his brains out with his own gun rather than burn to death. He was one lucky son of a bitch.

Ravenwood’s voice interrupted his rambling thoughts. “I gotta ask. Did you see the body?”

Kane nodded. “What there was left of it.” He winced as he flashed back on the gruesome sight. “Burnt to a crisp.”

Ravenwood’s shoulders lowered as if relieved of a heavy burden. “Ashes to ashes.”

Kane didn’t respond.

“Can’t figure out about that book, though,” she said, as she cranked the wheel to make the freeway entrance. The SUV careened heavily to the right and then straightened out. She flipped the siren switch and the numbers on the speedometer jumped from 75 to 90.

Kane tightened his seatbelt. Her comment reactivated his previous train of thought about the old man. “Wait a minute,” he said. “I might know how that book could have ended up at my house. I mean, you know, Linda’s house.”

Ravenwood shot him a glance.

He shook his head. “I mean, I can’t imagine how Pete could ever have had possession of the damn book in the first place…”

“But…?”

“But when Pete moved into that little mobile home, there wasn’t room for all his stuff. So, like a dumb ass, I offered to store a bunch of it in my basement. You know, when Linda and I were still married. Bunch of boxes. I never even looked to see what was in them. Just stacked them up under the stairs. Some were labeled, though. I think one was labeled ‘books’.” He looked at Ravenwood. “That’s the only thing that makes any sense. If it’s in the house, that might be how it got there.” He shook his head again. “I mean… hell I don’t know. What do you think?”

Ravenwood gave the accelerator nudge. The speedometer jumped from 90 to 100.