Dark Rite by David Wood & Alan Baxter

Author:David Wood & Alan Baxter [Wood, David & Baxter, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gryphonwood Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Grant rolled into town, his mood as black as the clouds that hung low on the horizon. He knew Cassie hadn't taken off on her own, but the slightest doubt remained. What if she really had left? He couldn't entirely blame her if she had. Her life sucked. But he was sure he'd felt a connection between them, and she had indicated she was tired of Carl. Then again, she'd also indicated that she couldn't seem to shake the guy.

“What am I doing?” he said aloud. “Pull yourself together, Grant.” He steered the car into a parking space on the main drag and sat for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

He wanted two things: answers about Kaletherex, and to find Cassie. If Cassie had left of her own accord, there probably wasn't much he could do about it. If she hadn’t, he was convinced the key to finding her lay with whatever secret hid behind the sinister name. Maybe he was stuck in Wallen’s Gap for a while longer after all. After a few minutes' contemplation, he decided to give the library another go.

Since he already had a library card, he was able to avoid another annoying question-and-answer session with the aged librarian, and got right to work. Settling in at one of the computer stations, he decided to take a different tack. McKenzie had known something about Kaletherex, so he decided to start by researching the recently-deceased professor.

The first several results were accounts of the unsolved murder, sudden big news in the area, but at the bottom of the page he found a link to the professor's page on the college website. He skimmed the brief bio and list of publishing credits, and one title leaped out at him. Ancient Mysticism in Appalachia. That sounded promising.

A quick web search revealed the book was out of print and unavailable in electronic form, but when he checked the library catalog, he was surprised to find it listed. His sudden euphoria turned quickly to disappointment when he saw that the book was checked out. He muttered a curse, drawing the attention of the librarian, who frowned and raised a finger to her lips. Since she and Grant were the only people in the place, shushing him was a bit absurd, but he didn't want to get on her bad side just now. He nodded and adopted a duly chastened expression.

He made a few more fruitless web searches and then, on a whim, checked to see if Cassie had a Facebook page. No luck. He sighed. The book was his only possible lead. Time to go for it.

He approached the front desk and waited politely while the librarian pretended not to notice him. She puttered about, shifting items around and opening drawers to inspect their contents. She was clearly doing no actual work. Finally, she let out a deep sigh and looked up.

“I was interested in a particular book,” Grant said, forcing a smile, “but it's checked out. Any chance you could tell me when it's due to be returned?” He handed her a slip of paper with the title and author.

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