Free Scarlet Rain (The Escaped #2) by Kristin Cast Page A

activated, and go to sleep once the sun sets. Those are the only two things I asked Tyson to make sure of. I don’t want to spend the rest of the short time I have left on this earth sorting videos of my birds from those of grass growing or hours of nothing but night sky.”
    James clicked on the file, but hesitated before pressing play. “Ma’am, this video may contain some disturbing images of the crime.”
    She held her wrinkled hands up in front of her chest. “Say no more, Detective. I’ll make my way into the kitchen and fix that coffee I promised. Cream and sugar?”
    “Both. Thank you.”
    He waited until she’d left, then pressed play. The camera’s position was perfect, with a clear view of Monica’s back patio. Minutes went by, and several small birds floated in and out of view before James hit fast forward. Birds flapped their wings wildly, and squirrels twitched rapidly. Shadows stretched as the sun began to fade, and James released the button. A fat blue jay sat on the fence, ruffling his feathers and blinking sleepily in the setting sun.
    “This is a complete bust,” he muttered, stretching his arms overhead.
    Just then, a flailing figure came crashing into the picture. The blue jay sprang from the fence, leaving James with an unobstructed view of Tyson’s corpse. James leaned forward, inches from the computer screen. Tyson’s body lay still for several moments, and then it began shaking violently. James cringed as he watched it flop around on the stone before quieting again. Suddenly, Tyson’s chest surged up, but his hips and head stayed pinned to the ground. A geyser of red exploded from his mouth and rained down around his body. Then his head lolled to the side. His jaw rested on the ground, inches away from its intended location.
    “What the fuck was that?” James whispered. His mouth remained open as his eyes locked on the pulsing scarlet cloud hovering above the dead man. “It has to be some kind of shadow. It can’t be—” the cloud rippled over Tyson’s carcass, swirling from his head to his toes—“alive?”
    “It may not be that Starbucks your generation is so fond of, but it is freshly ground.”
    James jerked so violently he nearly toppled over backwards.
    “Oh, I startled you there, didn’t I?” She carefully set the tray on the petite coffee table in the center of the room. “You must have found something worth your while then.”
    He pulled up the Internet browser and quickly typed in the information for his private e-mail account. The page loaded, and he logged in and attached the video to an e-mail to himself. “Actually, the file was corrupted.” He moved the video to the computer’s trash bin, and emptied it before standing. “I spent my time trying to figure out how to recover it, but no luck.”
    She shakily handed him a hot mug. “Well, isn’t that a shame.”
    “Yeah, uh, you didn’t hear anything coming from next door anytime yesterday evening, did you?” He took a sip of the creamy, overly sweetened mixture before setting the cup back on the tray.
    “Well, let’s see.” She paused and studied the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts. “Yesterday Howard and I were out all afternoon and evening. Howard is my Bichon, though he’s really more like a son. He’s out with the dog walker now. A lovely little girl who lives a few streets over. But where was I? Oh, yes, we went to the groomer, then out to lunch with my daughter. She comes by a few times a week to pick us up. I can drive just fine, but she won’t hear of it. And then we went to—”
    “I’m so sorry to cut you off there, Mrs. Ladd, but I really have to get back over to the scene.”
    “Of course. I don’t know where my head’s at today. You have a big important job, what with finding out who’s behind the tragedy next door.” She led him back out into the foyer and opened the front door. “I hope you do catch him quickly. It will really help me to sleep better.”
    “It’s all