Read Online Ashes to Ashes by Nathaniel Fincham - Free Book Online Page B

when it came to danger, as if they lacked the instinct to
keep themselves alive.
    He suddenly felt a little less safe.
    There was a part of him that wanted to turn
himself in, to plead and beg for them to understand. But without
proof, he would seem crazy. Without facts, he would never see
daylight again. His own father would even view him as being
confused, off the deep end, without any evidence pointing in
another direction, illuminating another possibility.
    Scott wondered if his dad had noticed the
clues that were left for him. He knew that the hope was slim
because the objects might not immediately stand out to his
father…or to Oscar. But he had to have faith that his dad’s mind
would look close at each piece of evidence left behind, including
the clues. Maybe his father was already chasing down the truth.
Maybe he was even running down the street as that very second.
    Maybe. But Scott actually hoped against his
father finding him so soon, because there was still so much to do.
Dr. Ashe Walters would have to remain a few steps behind for the
time being, following his own path while Scott dug his way forward
out of the cold, hard ground.
    The truth behind the curtain could be hard to
fathom, almost impossible to believe in unless solid facts were in
hand. His father would accept anything that he could touch and
examine. But it was real. Scott would have to make sure that
he had the proof he needed to make Oscar and his father see it for
themselves. Seeing absolutely was believing. He knew that
more than ever before. And even his scientific-minded father
couldn't push aside the truth if he were able to set his eyes
directly on it.
    Bam was the key.
    Bam had access to the proof.
    Scott closed his eyes tight again. Far away,
the dead man with the bloody halo floated in the dark distances of
his brain. The macabre dance was stopping, becoming a memory. The
only death that he could clearly see in his mind was Owen's
shattered skull. He couldn't help but to feel bad, even sorry,
about his roommate and sometimes friend. But Owen had been a junkie
and unstable, and it was kill or be killed.
    He had simply replaced one dead body with
another. Or so he told himself. What he had done was
entirely…human. Anyone with a rational mind and the knowledge that
he had should respect his choice. But the police would never
believe his reasoning. The only dead man they had seen had been
Owen. That was the only death that mattered to them. It was not
self-defense to them...it was murder...and Scott was a murderer who
needed to be put down, like a dog who had gotten a taste of human
blood.
    He had to get to Bam and proof, before Oscar
Harrison and Ashe Walters got to him.
    Sliding from the bench, Scott slowly,
cautiously, and quietly began to make his way across Lincoln Park.
At the far side of the park was an old baseball diamond, which had
long been overgrown with grass and weeds. There once had been a
tall metal fence sitting around the diamond, but all that was to be
seen were metallic bones. While sitting and observing, he had
noticed an occasional group enter and leave the beaten down wooden
dugout box. Drug deal? Bathroom break? Sex? He didn’t want to know,
especially since the group always consisted of only men.
    Scott set his sights on the abandoned
baseball diamond and circled around a group of men and headed
across the expanse of field in that direction. He would cut across
and leave the park on the opposite side from which he had come,
unnoticed, or at least that was the plan.
    Two men with dark faces, wearing dark
t-shirts came into view from dark places, and Scott couldn't for
the life of him figure out where they had come from. They were
just…there. And in the hands of the taller of the men was what
looked like a common steak knife, black handle and steel blade. But
the way the blade caught a glint of pale moonlight, Scott knew it
had a purpose more than that of a common kitchen utensil.
    Scott stopped as the two men