Page 55 of Reaper and Ruin

I couldn’t imagine there’d be a rush of businesses wanting to move into the area once they found out the place was a murder scene.

I forced myself to walk confidently, to keep my strides long. I didn’t want to give myself a chance to back out.

But the sight of the building where it had all gone down still sent shivers down my spine when it came into view.

We stopped at the door, and Whip took up a sentry position at the end of the row, keeping watch, but it seemed pointless. Nobody cared we were here. The other businesses at the front of the complex, where they had street visibility, were busy doing their own thing, and there was nobody around when Levi pulled tools from his pocket and picked the lock, bright and shiny, like it had been replaced recently.

He pushed the door open, and we all waited for some sort of alarm system, but nothing happened.

Levi put away the pliers he’d brought, ready to cut wires if there had been, and we all stepped inside. Whip put a brick inthe way of the door locking, like he knew I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of being completely closed in here again.

Even still, dread filled me. It was brighter than the night I’d been here, sunlight filtering through the high window.

But not enough to ward off the lingering feeling of death and despair.

There was something wrong with this place. The air felt stale. The darkness pervasive.

Everything inside me screamed at me to run.

I stood my ground, refusing.

Even when my gaze caught the faint trace of Toby’s blood on the floor. Mostly cleaned off but the stain remained, nonetheless.

X just squeezed my hand and past me, for once in his life silent, his gaze flittering around the space.

The other two did the same, the four of us moving in different directions, wandering around beneath the high ceilings.

But there was nothing much here. Like I remembered from that night, there was no sign of anyone owning or occupying the building. I knew X had Hendrix, his brother, search for ownership records and the building had come back as owned by a huge foreign investment company. Which didn’t seem tied to anything relating to me, or the Murder Squad, so the idea of the owner being involved had quickly been dismissed.

But Levi wasn’t the only person in Saint View who knew how to pick a lock. Anybody could have broken into this place and quietly laid a trap, just as easily as we’d walked in here today.

“I think this place must have been occupied by a business at some point,” Whip called from the front. “There’s an old fridge up here and a couple of broken chairs. Might have been used as a break room once upon a time.”

I didn’t remember seeing that the night we’d been here. Just the dark shadows and evil voice who haunted my dreams.

“Agreed,” Levi answered from the other end of the echoing space. His voice bounced off each corrugated metal wall. “There’s scrap metal and some other junk back here. If this stuff isn’t leftovers from a business, someone has used it as a dumping ground.”

I moved slowly to where Levi stood, remembering the same area but dark with shadows. I remembered looking over it that night and dismissing everything there as junk and nothing that could help us.

My heart rate picked up, and I studied it again in the light now. Had I been wrong? Should I have paid more attention? What if there had been something there that could have saved us?

I almost didn’t want to look.

But there was nothing.

Just junk like Levi had said. Piles of metal. Some discarded, ripped shirts. Trash.

Relief flushed through me.

X wandered over and kicked at the pile. “Seems like the cops went through it but didn’t care enough to take any of it with them. Can’t blame them. Look at all this shit.” He kicked at a broken crate and then crouched to pick up a grubby teddy bear. “Hi, Violet!” he said, putting on a voice that was supposed to belong to the bear. “I’m Whip’s emotional support bear. He cries into my matted fur at night.”

Levi snorted on a laugh and swatted it out of his hand. “Don’t touch that. It probably has lice.”

It landed at my feet, and I jumped out of the way, sure he was probably right. The thing was ugly as hell.

A sudden jolt of recognition splintered through me.

I’d seen a bear that ugly somewhere else.