believe that a man had jumped from a window thirty feet up and landed on a moving car, but he did believe Karsten thought he had seen what he said he saw. Ambros didn't interrupt because Rath was listening with such intensity that he thought he might be missing something. Rath usually showed dispassionate apathy around most people.
"Then the fucker shoves this flaming sword through the roof of the car right into Malden."
"So he killed Malden?" Ambros asked.
"You could say that, but it was more like the sword tore him apart. Splattered blood everywhere."
"How did you make it here? Did you lose him? Were you followed?" Rath asked and suddenly he was looking around.
Rath's sudden change in behavior was making Ambros nervous.
"No, he didn't follow me. I took a sharp corner, and he flew off the car. I got out of there as fast as I could."
"Rath, don't tell me you are believing this stuff. Something happened, yes, but a flaming sword? Jumping thirty feet?" Ambros asked.
"But sir, I swear..." sputtered Karsten.
"Karsten, I don't think you are truly lying, but you have to agree that this is a little unbelievable."
"Don't be so quick to dismiss him Ambros," Rath said as he stepped closer to the other two. He towered over them. He seemed to grow, his mouth wider, his top hat taller. "There might be more truth behind this man’s words than you think."
"Do you know this man?" Ambros asked.
Rath didn't answer right away, but before Ambros could asked again he said. "No, I don't know him. But I have a feeling, a feeling that this is no trivial matter."
Ambros knew Rath's feelings. The last time he had one, Ambros had found out that one of his chief soldiers was going to betray him and sell him out to a competitor. It had taken some doing with no small help from Rath to turn the tables and kill both the soldier and his rival. Rath's feelings were like that—vague—but they uncovered significant truths. He turned back to Karsten.
"But you don't know for sure if the boy was killed or not?" Ambros asked.
Karsten shook his head. "No, I just saw Malden and that flaming sword guy come out of the house. I don't know what happened to the kid."
Ambros just nodded. "We will have to assume he’s not dead. And the man cloaked in black seems to be a new player. Killing a simple college kid is proving much harder than I thought it would be. Rath, maybe it’s time you take a hand in this personally.”
"But enough for the moment," Ambros clapped his hands and rubbed them together as though they were cold. "Let's get out of this shithole and back to my place. I need a drink and this place stinks."
As Ambros walked away, Rath's powerful and ominous presence fell in behind him. Rath didn't completely dismiss the story his man had told and this gave Ambros some pause. Rath seemed to grasp things that were beyond others’ senses and had talents that Ambros would not describe as normal. Talents that had proved very useful in the past.
He left the building and got into the backseat of his car. His people would take care of the grisly scene behind him. Take care of it and make sure the right people see the corpse and understand its message.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Let me get this straight. Two highly decorated dead police officers, a third story window shattered from the inside out, and three witnesses that said they saw a man waving a burning torch running from the front of this house down the street and jumping onto a moving car and you didn't see a thing?" Hamlin asked.
"I was scared, I told you." Christopher said. "I was taking a piss. I heard the commotion downstairs so I hid in the bathroom, hoping they would look and then leave."
"So you don't know who this guy is? Or how your window got blown out?"
"No."
"How convenient," Hamlin said.
They were in his bedroom. Technicians from the forensic unit were looking through his room, spraying chemicals all over the window and half the room.
Christopher knew he couldn't tell Hamlin
"Then the fucker shoves this flaming sword through the roof of the car right into Malden."
"So he killed Malden?" Ambros asked.
"You could say that, but it was more like the sword tore him apart. Splattered blood everywhere."
"How did you make it here? Did you lose him? Were you followed?" Rath asked and suddenly he was looking around.
Rath's sudden change in behavior was making Ambros nervous.
"No, he didn't follow me. I took a sharp corner, and he flew off the car. I got out of there as fast as I could."
"Rath, don't tell me you are believing this stuff. Something happened, yes, but a flaming sword? Jumping thirty feet?" Ambros asked.
"But sir, I swear..." sputtered Karsten.
"Karsten, I don't think you are truly lying, but you have to agree that this is a little unbelievable."
"Don't be so quick to dismiss him Ambros," Rath said as he stepped closer to the other two. He towered over them. He seemed to grow, his mouth wider, his top hat taller. "There might be more truth behind this man’s words than you think."
"Do you know this man?" Ambros asked.
Rath didn't answer right away, but before Ambros could asked again he said. "No, I don't know him. But I have a feeling, a feeling that this is no trivial matter."
Ambros knew Rath's feelings. The last time he had one, Ambros had found out that one of his chief soldiers was going to betray him and sell him out to a competitor. It had taken some doing with no small help from Rath to turn the tables and kill both the soldier and his rival. Rath's feelings were like that—vague—but they uncovered significant truths. He turned back to Karsten.
"But you don't know for sure if the boy was killed or not?" Ambros asked.
Karsten shook his head. "No, I just saw Malden and that flaming sword guy come out of the house. I don't know what happened to the kid."
Ambros just nodded. "We will have to assume he’s not dead. And the man cloaked in black seems to be a new player. Killing a simple college kid is proving much harder than I thought it would be. Rath, maybe it’s time you take a hand in this personally.”
"But enough for the moment," Ambros clapped his hands and rubbed them together as though they were cold. "Let's get out of this shithole and back to my place. I need a drink and this place stinks."
As Ambros walked away, Rath's powerful and ominous presence fell in behind him. Rath didn't completely dismiss the story his man had told and this gave Ambros some pause. Rath seemed to grasp things that were beyond others’ senses and had talents that Ambros would not describe as normal. Talents that had proved very useful in the past.
He left the building and got into the backseat of his car. His people would take care of the grisly scene behind him. Take care of it and make sure the right people see the corpse and understand its message.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Let me get this straight. Two highly decorated dead police officers, a third story window shattered from the inside out, and three witnesses that said they saw a man waving a burning torch running from the front of this house down the street and jumping onto a moving car and you didn't see a thing?" Hamlin asked.
"I was scared, I told you." Christopher said. "I was taking a piss. I heard the commotion downstairs so I hid in the bathroom, hoping they would look and then leave."
"So you don't know who this guy is? Or how your window got blown out?"
"No."
"How convenient," Hamlin said.
They were in his bedroom. Technicians from the forensic unit were looking through his room, spraying chemicals all over the window and half the room.
Christopher knew he couldn't tell Hamlin
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