Free Darkness of the Soul by Kaine Andrews Page A

died.
    Of course it was, you idiot. They all could see how bad it was, but nobody knew what to say to you; you wouldn’t have let them, even if they had.
    He wanted to argue with that inner voice, say it wasn’t so, say he’d wanted to come out and get on with living, but he couldn’t lie to himself that deeply.
    “All right, look, I overreacted. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry about the captain, too. I…” Drakanis paused, unsure if he should say anything or not, but he figured he’d already gotten it half out, so he might as well just do it. “I know how much he meant to you. So are we gonna buck up and kick this motherfucker’s ass or what, Tonto?”
    This managed to elicit at least a small smirk from Parker, who shook his head as he started rummaging in his pocket for the cigarettes. He flipped one toward Drakanis as he parked his own in the corner of his mouth and lit it. Taking his time on the first drag while Drakanis got his own cancer stick going, Parker considered and then nodded.
    “Motherfucker’s goin’ down, my friend.”
    “Right. So spill it. What have you got, and what does it matter?”
    Parker looked slightly reluctant for a moment. Maybe I am just seeing shit where there is none. Maybe that kinda shit’s catching, he thought. Then he shrugged and pulled a thin envelope from inside his jacket. The look of relief that passed over his face was unmistakable. However irrational it might be, the whole time he’d had the thing in there, it had felt like a lead weight that some fool had left in the fireplace for a few hours, burning against his chest and trying to drag him down. Finally being able to whip it out and show it to someone else was like the effect of zero gravity and a bucket of water, getting rid of both of those pains and helping to clear his mind a bit.
    Christ, I probably am going crazy, he thought, and then out loud, he said, “If you’re willing to accept a little bit of shuck and jive and accept some of the weirder shit as being possible, I think our boy’s been one fuck of a lot busier than we really could have expected. Have a peek.”
    He passed the envelope to Drakanis. He tore it open after a half-contemptuous look that wasn’t really serious and then started to skim while Parker smoked.
    *      *      *
    Damien Woods watched the back door as the nut departed alongside Parker and Perez, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips. The blonde next to him was probably still thinking it was about whatever she’d said last—though Damien didn’t even remember what it had been, nothing important, anyway. She continued to prattle on, so he could stare without fear of repercussions.
    Damien had been with the force for just about three years now. The night Gina Drakanis met her unfortunate end had been one of his first on-duty shifts, as a matter of fact. My how the time flies when you’re having fun! he thought. He had never received a promotion, never been cited or nominated for anything, and rarely even had his name appear on the duty roster, regardless of how many others were out sick. That was the way he liked it, keeping below the radar, just doing his thing. Sure, other cops knew him, but they only rarely remembered him, and while it was a bitch to get a raise in a situation like that, it helped tremendously when you were looking for something and didn’t want anyone else to know you were looking.
    Looks like maybe they’re catching on. There might be hope for those boys, yet. He’d been trying for at least the last year to get Parker to open his damn eyes and see that the world around him wasn’t really what he thought it was, that the impossible was only improbable, but hadn’t had much success. It was ironic, he thought, that all it took was for the killer to do something off-kilter and suddenly, Parker was a raving believer.
    Too bad Drakanis doesn’t look like he wants to buy into the show. Dumbass.
    Damien was broken out of his reverie and the tenuous mental