CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
RAN HAD SENT WORD TO THE MEMBERS OF THE TEAM. THEY planned to gather for dinner in a private salon off the main dining room, where they could discuss what might happen at the asylum and address any concerns.
Afterward, Jesse and Katie would collect whatever audio/video equipment they could piecemeal together. Each still had several handheld devices that hadn’t been destroyed. Jesse could probably jury-rig something that could be useful.
At this point, Ran didn’t really care what they were able to document. He simply wanted to send the ghosts of the orphan boys on to the Other Side.
Violet planned to go along to counsel Eve and give her support. So far, Violet had been unable to interact with the spirit world, either in the house or orphanage. It was Eve’s show all the way.
Lucas was coming to supper. He was preparing himself for another spiritual encounter with whatever hellish creature had threatened to kill them the night they had all been together in Eve’s house.
Grabbing his black wool jacket off the back of a chair, Ran left the suite, headed down the hall, and knocked on Eve’s door. He had left her alone since their return to the hotel, but memories of the glorious afternoon they had spent together would not leave him.
Whatever happened, he would cherish the hours he had shared with the woman who had stolen a piece of his heart.
If things were different . . .
But nothing had changed, and there was nothing either of them could do. Ran buried his unpleasant thoughts as Eve pulled open the door and joined him in the hallway.
Ran smiled. “Hungry? That snack on the boat wasn’t nearly enough.” No truer words, he thought as a memory surfaced of the two of them in the bow of the boat. The brief interlude had hardly satisfied the hunger he felt every time he looked at her.
Eve smiled, but her eyes held the same underlying sadness that had been there all day. Both of them knew the end of their time together was near.
“I’m starving,” Eve said, sliding her arm through his. “Are we eating here in the hotel?”
Ran caught her hand to keep her close. “We’re meeting the others,” he said. “With luck, it’ll be a farewell supper. The orphans will finally be where they belong, and our work here will be over.”
Eve smiled sadly. “I’m sure you’ll all be glad to leave behind the cold and damp and be back in Seattle.”
He had been telling himself that for days. He only wished he believed it. “Just as cold and damp in Seattle this time of year.” Before either of them had to deal with where the conversation was headed, Ran urged her down the corridor to the elevator.
The rest of the team, all but Zane, was waiting for them in the private dining room, sitting around a table set for six. Ran took the chair saved for him at the head of the table. Eve sat on one side, Lucas on the other.
“Anybody seen Zane?” Ran asked as the server appeared to take their orders.
“He had an errand to run,” Katie said. “He should be here any minute.” The look in her eyes said she and Zane had been together at least part of the day. Ran hoped Zane was prepared to deal with Katie’s capricious approach to romance.
“How was the sailing?” Luke asked as a server took their orders. “The bit of sun you two got looks good on your faces. I’m glad you decided to take a break.”
“It was wonderful,” Eve said. “Ran’s an amazing sailor.”
Ran’s mouth curved. “I think she means she’s grateful I managed to get us back to the marina alive.”
Luke laughed.
Eve smiled. “Not at all. I went out on a yacht once, but until today, I’d never really been sailing before. It was incredible.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Ran said, with just enough huskiness in his voice to make Eve blush.
Their orders arrived just as Zane appeared, bomber jacket slung over his shoulder. “Sorry I’m late, but I was following a lead I picked up yesterday.” He draped the jacket over the back of a chair and sat down, and a server quickly approached. Zane pointed at the fresh cod in lemon butter on Ran’s plate, the special of the day. “I’ll have what he’s having.”
The server hurried away and Zane took a drink from the glass of water in front of him. “We’ve been looking for something that would connect the orphanage with the events of that day at Victoria Hall.”
Ran glanced at Eve, already beginning to worry about her. “That’s right.” He dragged his gaze away and swallowed a bite of succulent fish.
“Turns out the owner of the hall, Frederick Taylor, was a noted philanthropist. He often gave out free tickets to the poor kids in the community. Since this was a performance especially designed for children, it’s logical and more than possible that Mr. Taylor would have given free tickets to at least some of the boys in the orphanage.”
Eve stopped eating.
Ran noticed and silently cursed.
“Sorry,” Zane said as his supper arrived. “I thought you’d want to know.”
Ran nodded. “That’s what this meeting is for. We need as much information as possible before we go over to the asylum.” He saw Violet reach for Eve’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze.
“Why don’t we enjoy our dinner and resume this conversation after we’re finished?” Ran looked at Zane. “Good work, Zane.”
Zane made no reply. Ran had a feeling the research he had done was every bit as hard on Zane as it was on the rest of them.
It was almost nine p.m. by the time they had talked things over, collected their gear, and were ready to make the trek to the abandoned asylum.
They had all dressed warmly. Being together for dinner seemed to have bolstered everyone’s mood and determination.
Jesse was loading their gear into the limo when Ran walked up with Eve. Lucas joined them. Ran noticed that tonight Luke carried a Bible.
Considering what had happened the last time, Ran figured they needed all the help they could get.
* * *
As the BMW approached the asylum, Eve sat forward in the seat. Blue lights flashed behind the derelict building.
“What the hell?” Ran’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Police,” Luke said from the rear passenger seat.
Eve saw the parking lot behind the asylum was filled with yellow and blue Sunderland police vehicles, the lights on top flashing blue neon into the night.
“What is it?” Eve asked.
“No idea,” Ran said, and Eve was afraid to guess.
Ran braked to a stop some distance away, turned off the engine, and all three of them got out of the car. The Bentley pulled up behind them, and Violet, Zane, and the others got out.
Across the way, police officers were filing in and out of the door to the room off the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” Katie asked as she walked up.
“Stay here while I find out.” Ran started walking, his long legs carrying him swiftly across the unmanicured grass. Eve spotted Detective Inspector Balfour walking toward her and started in his direction. He intercepted her halfway.
“Dr. St. Clair. What are you and the others doing here at this time of night?”
Since she had no answer, she went on the offense. “We saw the blue lights, Detective. What’s going on?”
“All I can tell you is that this is a crime scene. You and your friends will have to leave.”
Eve spotted Ran striding back to them. Balfour turned his attention to Ran. “This is a crime scene, Mr. King. You need to leave.”
“I understand there’s been a murder.”
Eve wondered how Ran had wrangled the information, but nothing he accomplished surprised her.
“That’s right.” Balfour’s gaze returned to Eve. He hesitated, as if making a decision. “You remember the East End Boys we talked about?”
“You said the man we found in the tunnel was Asif Rashid, a member of the gang. You said it was possible one of the East End Boys could have been responsible for his murder.”
“That’s right. Tonight, an anonymous call came in claiming there was at least one person dead in the old asylum. Turned out there were two victims.”
Eve’s stomach tightened.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Ran asked.
The detective shrugged. “Since you have a history with the East End Boys and you showed up here tonight, you’re going to be questioned. Which means you’ll find out most of it anyway.”
None of them spoke, just waited for the detective to continue.
“Both victims are gang members. We figure there was a fight, one of them stabbed the other. The second victim—that’s where this gets interesting. Let’s just say the coroner hasn’t figured out exactly how he died.”
Eve caught the brief glance Ran sent her.
“Any guesses?” he asked.
“I heard Ozzie say it looks as if a projectile of some kind was hurled through the air with enough force to cave in the back of the guy’s skull.”
Oswell Townsend. Eve remembered meeting the Sunderland coroner when he came to her house.
“You think a third gang member committed the murder?” Ran said.
“Maybe. But that isn’t the impression I’m getting. The angle’s wrong or something. The projectile was thrown from somewhere up near the ceiling. They’re still searching for the murder weapon. We’ll have to wait for the coroner’s report before we know exactly what occurred.”
But Eve remembered the vicious assault by whatever soulless entity inhabited the asylum. Projectiles flying with deadly force. The power and rage were beyond anything she could have imagined. They had been lucky to get out without anyone being seriously hurt. Or killed.
“I need to get back,” the detective said. “You might as well get comfortable. You won’t be leaving anytime soon.”
“The others aren’t involved,” Ran said. “Is it all right if they go back to the hotel?”
“Sorry. You showed up at exactly the wrong time. Detective Inspector Charlene Leighton is also working the case. I can have her interview the others while I talk to you and Dr. St. Clair.”
Ran wasn’t pleased but clearly understood the police had a job to do. “All right. Give me a minute to let the others know what’s going on.”
“I’ll find Detective Leighton. That’ll give you a couple of minutes.” Balfour flashed a look at Eve. That’ll give you time to get your stories straight, his look said.
Balfour was giving them a break. He didn’t like criminals any better than she did. And he was probably fairly sure they weren’t involved in the murder.
Fairly sure.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Ran said as Balfour walked away. Ran took off at a jog, hurrying over to the limo, where Lucas stood next to the other members of the team. Ran spoke quickly to all of them, then returned to Eve’s side.
“When they ask why we’re here, tell them we came over on a lark. Lucas was in from out of town and we had been telling him how scary this place was. We figured we’d be safe now that the police are patrolling the area.”
If two people weren’t dead, Eve might have smiled. A lark. As if they actually wanted to be in a place as terrifying as the abandoned asylum.
“I guess it’s as good a story as any,” she said.
“Makes me sound like a fool, but it’s the best I could come up with on such short notice.”
Eve surprised herself by laughing. It eased the tension she was feeling. Amusement touched Ran’s lips and she realized he had done it on purpose.
Eve’s smile slowly faded. “I just hope stirring all of this up didn’t cause these deaths.”
“If Balfour is right, the guy who got hit in the head had already stabbed the other man. He was a murderer. Hard to feel sorry for a killer.”
She looked back at the towering shadow of the dilapidated asylum. “I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t like the idea this thing could kill someone else, someone far less deserving.”
Eve looked up at him. “Oh, God, you’re right. What are we going to do?”
“Balfour says the police should be out of here day after tomorrow. If that’s the case, we can go in that night.”
More time waiting, Eve thought. More time worrying. She steeled herself, resigned to the fact that there was nothing they could do.
Half an hour passed before she spotted Balfour walking toward them. She liked him, she realized. Perhaps once Ran had gone back to Seattle—
Eve glanced away. She liked him, but she wasn’t ready for another romantic entanglement.
She thought of Ran and how much she loved him and wondered if she ever would be.