Criminal Impulses: Janik Brynn Chronicles by Sandy R. Stuckless & Cloaked Press

Author:Sandy R. Stuckless & Cloaked Press [Stuckless, Sandy R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Cloaked Press, LLC
Published: 2023-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21:

Memory and Sorrow

The sinking feeling grew the farther Serena followed him. Nothing had changed in the Mission District since her mother died. Buildings still fell around rusted and burned-out cars. Only a few windows, those that weren’t broken or boarded over, had a dim light glowing in them. This had been her home once. Denying it did no good. Nothing I’ve done has changed it, she thought. It deserved better.

She blamed the UN for much of it. Perhaps she’d been naïve to think working for the Consortium would be any better. They had the money and the means to fix everything. They chose not to. Both organizations deserved their fair share of blame laid at their feet.

Familiarity twisted her gut, wrenching her back to a time when the shaking had started. Falling brick and concrete, shattering glass, her father’s unmoving hand sticking out from beneath the pile. Her mother’s screams. She heard them as if she were sitting beside her now. Her own screams and nightmares followed. Nightmares she still had occasionally. Time definitely doesn’t heal all wounds.

Janik pulled farther ahead as her foot came off the accelerator. It wasn’t too late to turn away. Take the next right and melt into the darkness. She tried to convince herself she didn’t need the keycard. She couldn’t.

Janik pulled over near the Mission San Francisco de Asis. Cracks from the Great Quake still snaked along the lower walls of the foundation and several windows were boarded up where stained glass had been. San Francisco’s oldest building, and one central to her childhood before her world was shattered, didn’t warrant restoration, apparently.

She climbed into the passenger seat next to Janik but refused to look at him. “What are we doing here?”

“Pretty sure many of my answers originate in a club not far from here,” he replied.

She cracked a window for some air and caught a whiff of searing meat. Bruno’s wasn’t far from here, but the risk of being recognized was too great.

He glanced sideways at her. “You okay? You look like this is the last place in the world you want to be.”

She squirmed in the seat. Her breath caught in her throat. Serena wouldn’t admit how right he was. She felt sick to her stomach that her parents rested in the cemetery mere steps away. She hadn’t had the heart to visit in some time. “Fitting I suppose that you’d expect to find answers from your own kind, in a den of thieves and liars.”

“I’m not all that enthralled with the idea either, but it’s all I’ve got. I hope I still have a few friends here.”

“I doubt anyone here is smart enough to help Felix conduct such a complex attack. Most are too worried about exploiting another young girl.”

Janik glanced askance at her. “That sounded personal.”

Serena turned away. She didn’t want pity from the likes of him. “Ask your questions.”

Slinking lower in his seat, he pulled his fedora down over his eyes. “What did you mean when you said

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