Curran stared at Kwon. Kwon eyed him back.
Curran chewed his lip. “Mind if I smoke?”
“I absolutely mind. Don’t kill me with your passive suicidal tendencies.”
“You’re drinking.”
Kwon raised one eyebrow. “There’s no evidence that liquor burps will kill you. Leave the butts where they are.”
Curran cracked the window. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Maybe I am.”
“Doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Self-revelation doesn’t work that way. Despite what Oprah says.”
Curran glanced at him and grinned. “Thanks for hanging out tonight.”
“Forget it. Next time I’ll just unplug my phone so you can’t call.”
Curran’s phone rang. He picked it up. “Yeah?”
“Steve?”
Lauren. Curran smiled. “Hey.”
“Where are you?”
“Beacon Hill. In the cold rain. Kwon’s with me.”
“Can you come pick me up?”
“Where are you?”
“Marlborough Street.”
Curran frowned. Something about her voice. Anger? No. Fear. “You okay?”
“Steve.” She paused. “I think someone’s following me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lauren marveled at the way Marlborough Street could go from looking like a picturesque and homey slice of upscale urban life to a shadowy enclave of hidden secrets and deeper fears. The dogwood trees that blossomed white in the Spring groaned under the gusts of cold wind whipping through the street. Cold rain and sleet sprayed across her face even though she waited under the entryway of the secret library. The closest streetlight put out a pitiful amount of illumination that barely penetrated the ravenous shadows lingering on the yellowed fringes.
Please hurry, Steve, she thought.
She wasn’t sure when she’d become aware of him. She wasn’t sure when he’d started following her.
But she knew he was there.
Right now.
Close.
She could feel him lurking. A presence. Out of sight, but still nearby. Waiting.
But for what?
Was it the Soul Eater? Or just someone who had some other unnatural interest in her? She supposed she was attractive enough to warrant a stalker. But it had never happened before. And things hadn’t gotten strange like this until she’d gotten mixed up with Steve.
And his case.
The bushes closest to the stairs shifted. She jumped. A lone gray striped Tabby cat, its fur matted down wet and cold slunk along the edge of the building looking for a place to lay low for the night.
Lauren exhaled.
She knew the trip from Beacon Hill to her location shouldn’t take long. But every second seemed to crawl. Every minute took an hour. Every breath a lifetime of worry.
Behind her, the doors to the library were locked up tight for the night. The lone staff member had already gone home.
Lauren stood on the front stoop.
Alone.
Did he know that? Did her stalker know she waited by herself? Was he watching her right now, smiling to himself at her obvious discomfort and fear? Maybe he could smell it bleeding off her in waves the way sharks do when they scent their prey from miles away.
Lauren imagined the vibrations emanating from her body in ripples that fed out into the night. She could picture the predators who knew how to tune into those ripples. She could see them hungering for her. Salivating. Reaching for her…
Another cold wind snapped across the front of the building. A rustle in the wet leaves to her right sounded like a footstep. And then another sounded even closer.
Lauren drew herself into the shadow of the column closest to her. She wondered if its darkness would shield her from view.
Steve, hurry!
The wind rose and the dogwoods moaned, bending and weaving like eerie wooden specters. Lauren shivered and shrunk into the depths of her overcoat. She gripped her house keys in her right hand, trying to remember the self-defense techniques she’d learned in that course from years back.
A clap of thunder boomed. She jumped again.
A flash of lightning lit up the whole street.
And on the edge of her vision, she saw him. The details came at her fast. Fragmented by the brevity of the illumination.
A man.
Black overcoat. A cape? A mustache.
And…a smile?
From the subway the other night!
The darkness swallowed him up again.
And Lauren heard his footsteps. Clear this time. She felt sure he was coming for her now. Felt sure he knew she was alone.
Vulnerable.
Twin blazes of white light cut down the street at speed. She heard the car’s engine gunning, heard the brakes squeal as the driver slammed his foot down. A blue strobe light rebounded off the homes nearby.
Steve!
Dr. Kwon came out of the car and Curran came out of the other side. He rushed over to her and she fell into his arms. And breathed in the security of his body warmth, felt his arms wrap around her.
“Where is he?”
She looked up and saw a different man. Gone was the steely-eyed detective she’d met days ago. In his place she saw the ferocity and determination of a man who hunted.
She pointed. “Over there.”
Curran looked at Dr. Kwon. “Look after her.”
“You got it.”
A flashlight and a pistol materialized in Steve’s hands. He edged across the street, the heavy beam of the flashlight arcing through the darkness. The barrel of his gun moved where the beam did. Tracking. Ready to fire.
She felt Kwon’s arm come around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. Steve will bag him no sweat.”
“You’re sure?”
Kwon chuckled. “Seen him work a few times. He knows what he’s doing, that’s no lie.”
They watched him cross the street. He moved slowly, always panning left to right. He bent down once and then stood back up. He checked further down the street.
But after five minutes, Curran came back, pistol and flashlight lowered but still ready. “No one there.”
“I saw him. He was waiting for me.” She looked at him. “Steve, you’ve got to believe me.”
He nodded. “I do.” He gestured to Kwon. “Let’s get in the car.”
Kwon hopped in the back seat while Lauren took the front passenger’s side. Curran got in the car and locked the doors. He turned and faced Lauren.
“When did you notice him?”
“I don’t know really. It was like one minute I was perfectly fine and the next I knew he was out there. Like I could feel the weight of his stare. And I just knew.”
Curran nodded slowly. “What did he look like?”
“When the lightning flashed I only saw him for a moment. A mustache. Black overcoat. I thought it was a cape at first, but I think it was just a flowing coat of some sort.”
“Was he white, Asian, black — what?”
“He looked white, but not pale. Swarthy kind of. Almost olive skinned if that makes sense.”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
She paused. Would she? The light had been on and off again so fast that she wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. But I think he was on the subway with me last night.”
“Last night?”
“After you left. On the way home.” She glanced back at Kwon who was already shooting Curran a dirty look. “I insisted on taking myself home, Dr. Kwon.”
Kwon’s gaze softened and he leaned over the seat. “You sure there was someone out there, Curran?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“But you didn’t find anyone.”
“No. I didn’t. But I found this.” He held up his right hand and Lauren saw the circular object.
“What’s that?”
Curran handed it to her. She turned it over in her hand and examined it under the dim glow of the car’s interior light. “Some kind of button?”
“What I’d guess,” said Curran. “But it’s old. Very old.”
“It looks like it’s made out of…bone?”
“My guess, yeah.” Curran took it from her and handed it over to Kwon. “Ever seen anything like this before, pal?”