Ash Return of the Beast by Gary Tenuta

Author:Gary Tenuta
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Thrillers, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781478314196
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-08-14T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

The Next Morning…

Wheeler popped in to Kane’s office and flopped a copy of the Seattle Eye on the desk. “Seen this?”

“What is it?”

“Check the headline.”

Kane scanned the heavy black print:

SEATTLE’S CLERGY DROPPING LIKE FLIES

The Seattle Eye––popularly known simply as The Eye––was the city’s alternative weekly news tabloid. It started out ten years ago as a relatively insignificant paper that focused on entertainment and offbeat news. Gradually, it grew into a going concern and acquired a reputation for occasionally scooping Seattle’s major establishment newspaper, the Seattle Sound Times. The article causing the vein on the side of Kane’s neck to swell like a balloon was written by Mike “Bloodhound” Morran, a defector from the Seattle Sound Times and now the star reporter for The Eye.

The deaths of the preachers, up to this point, had been given little attention by any of the local news media. That was due in large part to Kane’s insistence that the Department keep a tight lid on the details of the case. But it was that hermetically sealed lid that aroused the curiosity of Bloodhound Morran.

Kane exploded before he even got through the first paragraph. He slammed the top of his desk with a closed fist. Two pencils and a half empty box of paperclips bounced onto the floor. His coffee sloshed over the lip of the cup, soaking The Eye and its unwelcomed headline. He glared at Wheeler. “Shit! How the hell did this happen?”

Wheeler froze. “Um… I…”

“Somebody around here leaked and I want to know who it was.”

“It wasn’t me, Lieutenant. Swear to God. Besides, if you read the rest of the article, you’ll see he doesn’t really know much of anything. It’s just a lot of questions and speculation.”

Kane was still steaming. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. But there is one thing. He’s noticed the nine-day pattern.”

Kane gripped his own forehead and began giving his temples a slow massage. It was only 10 a.m. and he was already getting the headache that was usually reserved for an afternoon slot on a really bad day. “All right. Get out. Let me read the rest of the damned thing.”

Kane discovered Wheeler was right. Morran didn’t really know much about the details of the case. But the star reporter’s bloodhound instincts were on high alert. His article mentioned the 9-day intervals at least three times and it focused on the fact that the official cause of death in each case was heart attack. He called it ‘A set of coincidences so unlikely that it seems to defy the laws of chance’.

Kane finished reading the article and called Ravenwood to break the news. “Wait’ll you hear this,” he said when she picked up the call.

“Morran?”

Kane winced. How foolish could he have been to think he was finally going to be one step ahead of her. “So you read The Eye.”

“Of course. I have a subscription.”

Kane rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. Well, you know what’s going to happen now, don’t you? The mainstream press is going to jump all over this.

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