Modern Pantheon: Ghost

by Grayson Barrett

  Chapter 27

  From the personal log of Special Agent L. Garrison

  Supernatural Investigations Department:

  Incident Report: Divination crisis.

  Paul Ingram's whereabouts during the night of Emmitt Cane's murder are unknown. However, he was present during the Cane Industries bi-annual banquet, as well the aftermath in which it appears Mr. Ingram attempted to either kill or capture Thomas Amberose.

  The mages organization appears to hate loose ends, and this case left two of them. First, there are the Divination's security videos – I'm pretty sure Lance wiped those. I went for them immediately, but there was no trace of the security systems being activated.

  The second is Paul Ingram, the murderer of Emmitt Cane and officially, the perpetrator of this whole crime. He was to be taken directly from the Divination to the Saudan underground prison facility. However, the armored truck was ambushed en route, and he was killed.

  So who ambushed the truck? Was it Lance Ruben? He could afford to pay Cane Industries billions of dollars, so what else could he buy? Or maybe he was killed by the government of mages. Would they kill their own kind?

  And what of Thomas Amberose? I initially figured him for one of Mr. Ruben's stooges, but after speaking with him I wonder if he was just working to stop more murders. If that's the case, perhaps he has information about Mr. Ruben and his mysterious organization that call themselves the Venir. In the meantime, I have one sure-fire way to keep him off of Supernatural Investigations list of suspects.

  I awoke late the next morning, and resisted the urge to stay in bed until next afternoon. Sometimes, when you have a really hard work out, you wake up sore the next day. I thought I knew what to expect, but reality out-shined all of that. A combination of sore ribs and a silky layer of soot in my lungs made me feel as though I’d awoken with a concrete slab on my chest. Every time I coughed, which was about every ten seconds, someone used that slab as a platform for jumping jacks.

  The funny thing was, I didn’t actually remember getting into bed the previous night. When I opened my eyes, I was in some unfamiliar room with only three walls and a sky. Eventually I used my recently acquired PI skills to determine I was in the Cane Tower. There weren’t curtains I could see, but when I found a random remote and pressed a button, the glass dimmed to black. That would have been nice at dawn.

  Two hours later, when I realized that I wasn’t going to get any more sleep, I got up. There was a bathroom nearby, so took a shower. That was another endeavor that was harder than it should have been, what it all the bandages and medical tape slung to me. I didn’t manage to pull it all off until I coughed up about a metric ton of black goo. My arm had turned purple along one side, but at least it matched my shoulder, which could hardly move. The dozens of scrapes and bumps burned as the water ran over them, but despite the stinging, it was refreshing and clean. As the water washed the ash off me, it left me feeling like I’d been baptized into a new life.

  Plus, the shower itself the most impressive thing I’d ever encountered. It could be set to spray from about twelve angles, and it only took me about a second to adjust the knob to a perfect temperature.

  When I stepped out a half hour later, I scowled harshly at the clean white robe hanging on the back of the door for me. I’d worn out that fashion trend by now, and walked naked into the bedroom.

  Simply because my luck had been so bad, I was almost certain someone – Ayaka, probably – would be in there, but upon seeing the room empty I figured it meant my streak of bad luck was over. The dresser had boxers, briefs, whity-tighties, white Ts, black Ts, sleeveless shirts, and even two pairs of pajamas – one plaid, and one adorned with rubber duckies. The closet had pants at one end, ranging from casual on up to tuxedos. I gazed over everything, and picked out a pair of blue jeans and a polo – today was my lucky day, after all, so I challenged fate by wearing white. I still had a few things in my morning routine, but at the smell of fresh, strong coffee, I decided that my toothpaste could wait.

  I followed the ambrosial scent out, into the diamond waiting area, where Cameron was at the bar.

  “Cream?” he asked.

  “Not today,” I said, collapsing onto the nearest sofa. Even my bum was getting better, but not enough to sit on yet. He handed me a thick cup of black goodness, and I burned my tongue with my first sip. “You know, I had the craziest dream. At least, I thought I did until I opened my eyes and found myself here.”

  “So you’ve decided to take the job?”

  “Not sure yet,” I took another cautious sip as he sat across from me. “There’s something Lara said that’s been bothering me.”

  “You’re wondering if it was a coincidence that I just happened to show up minutes before Lance did.”

  I shrugged. “Guilty.”

  “It wasn’t.” Cameron said, sitting beside me. “Years ago, Emmitt told me that if anything strange ever happened to him, that I should go to either you, or a woman named Brianna Porter. A year ago, that changed to just Brianna for a few days, but then it changed again to Lara. Honestly, it wasn’t a coincidence. Until I knew a bit more about you, I choose not to divulge this.”

  I nodded with realization. Translation; Emmitt Cane had been keeping tabs on the Imperium. For a while, he’d have Cameron go to the Guardians in the event ‘something strange.’ When Lara started up her PI business, she was the new choice.

  “Sorry I can’t help more,” Cameron said.

  “That is more helpful than you probably realize,” I said.

  “Emmitt Cane has been obsessed with Magic since he discovered the truth about it. On and off over the past several months, he’s had people following you, Lara, Bree, and Ingram. It is a coincidence, I’ll admit, that you were the one put on the case. I honestly meant to hire Lara. I needed someone who was in the supernatural circles, and since she had a PI business, she seemed the most logical choice. It took me by surprise that you were there, but I knew who you were from the start, and what you could do. Not as vividly as I do now, of course, but I knew.”

  “Okay,” I said, glad for his honesty. I took another sip of my coffee, hoping it’d soon cool down enough for me to chug.

  “If you wish, I could give you a tour of Cane Industries. Come to think of it, most of our branches I’ve yet to see myself.”

  “Nah, not today,” I said. “Sorry, but there are a few things I need to finish up before making any firm commitments.”

  “Sure,” he said. We sipped our coffee in peace as I enjoyed the first peaceful downtime I’ve had in days.

  After I’d finished, I decided I to get to it. I enjoyed the view out the elevator’s glass window as it lowered me to the lobby. Typically, I’d take the stairs to the parking lot, but not today. Today was strictly a no-stairs kind of day.

  The car keys Cameron gave me about had an attached remote, which I tested right outside the elevator. Several black vehicles of varying models were nearby, each with custom plates reading Cane, followed by a number. “Cane 1” beeped. The sporty model. Cam was sure milking this life of luxury thing. I got in, determined to ensure a better fate for this car than what came upon the last one Cameron lent me. It’s strange how he never brought that up.

  I drove to my destination, Saint John’s hospital, up in the northern suburbs. It had a small gift shop, and although I planned to buy a bouquet of flowers I still didn’t have my wallet back, so I’d have to settle with a verbal apology and well wishing. A nurse directed me to Bree’s room.

  When I stepped into the doorway, Bree had her eyes closed. My feet hesitated as one hand clenched the other nervously. She opened her glossy, green eyes and gazed at me for a few seconds before closing them again. Her typically wavy strawberry blond hair lay matted and shapeless against the pillow as she rested with her arms on her stomach. One was wrapped in a plain, gray cast. Her face was blotchy with minor burns, but I doubted it’d leave any more scarring than a bad sunburn would. “How’re you feeling?”


  “Like crap, Thomas,” she said with closed eyes. “Same way I look.”

  “You look like a trooper to me,” I said, smiling awkwardly.

  Her face grew stiff as she frowned.

  “Look, I know we had our differences, but I wanted to wish you well,” I admitted. “And to say that I’m glad you’re okay.”

  She swallowed as I lingered in the doorway for a few seconds. Did that mean we were good? I never could read her very well. Several moments passed.

  Drooping my head between my shoulders, I turned away.

  “I’ll never forgive you for what happened to my brother,” she said.

  I rested my arm on the doorframe and said solemnly to the floor, “I’ll never ask you to.”

  “But I understand why you followed him.” She opened her hazy eyes, and I hoped it was her, rather than the painkillers, that were talking.

  “If I’d have known what would happen to your brother, I swear, things would have been different.”

  “I know,” she said lightly before closing her eyes.

  You didn’t have anything to do with her brother’s death, Thomas, my defiant side said. She has no right to be mad at you.

  But then, could I honestly say that? Did I honestly believe the child would have destroyed that warehouse, even if I hadn’t come? I sighed at the thought, for the truth was that I had no idea what killed her brother. Children can’t cast, and adults can’t rip apart a warehouse with a spell that effectively. Not without some kind of massive power source, which the Blind Child simply didn’t have.

  Maybe her brother’s death was my fault. Maybe it wasn’t. It seemed to me that it didn’t matter – Bree just needed an explanation to put her mind at ease. The least I could do was offer myself as an output for her anger.

  So here we were. I left a free man. In other words, Bree and I were exactly as we’d been before this all started.

  After that, I got a bite to eat, and started for Cane Industries to see if they could do anything about getting me a phone and a wallet. I had no doubt that there were already people working on the wallet. I figured there was a phone already on my desk, which I hadn’t checked this morning beyond the quick grab for the keys. However, I was just about to pull onto the highway when I realized that all I was doing was stalling the inevitable. I struggled to keep my mind free of the potential consequences as I drove to my next destination.

  A quarter hour later, I walked with drooped shoulders into Lara’s office. She stopped typing and slammed her laptop shut the moment I walked in. Flinging a wayward bang off her forehead, she said through biting teeth, “You really are an egocentric ass, aren’t you?”

  “Sorr–”

  “Don’t you sorry me,” she snapped. “You just left me. Alone. I trusted you, but you even stole my phone. What the hell were you thinking, Thomas? We were supposed to be a team.”

  “We were.” I said, drooping my head another inch. “I just-”

  “-didn’t think I’m up to the job?” she interrupted. “Didn’t want me to hold you back?”

  I stepped boldly inside. “I didn’t want to see you hurt,” My turn to be angry. “Since I left you, I’ve been through two burning buildings, another ghost attack, held at gunpoint, and shot at with both bullets and spells. I hate to say it, Lara, but you’re no good in a fight.”

  Her face reddened as she exhaled with a fiery disgust. “That’s why I avoid them. I bet you I figured out it was Ingram hours before you did. Hell, I suspected him from the beginning but had no way to tell you since you wouldn’t answer the god-damned phone. Plus, it was me who killed the ghost.”

  “Look, Lara, I’m sorry that I– hold on, you killed the ghost?”

  She opened her computer and began typing again, ignoring my glare. “I thought you had all the answers without me.”

  “Fine, I’ll play,” I said, getting down on one, sore knee like a withered old man. “Lara, I am truly sorry. I shouldn’t have left you at Wal-Mart.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re just doing this because you need a place to stay. My house is small, be we can manage.”

  “Err, actually–”

  “No, really, Thomas. I don’t mind.”

  I could tell she was still a burning furnace of anger. Maybe playing nice after I’d been so selfish was her way of getting back. I got creakily back up. So did she. Then, instead of throwing me out like I thought she would when she arrived, she instead rushed around desk and tackled me in a massive hug.

  “Damn-it, Thomas. You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were dead for a while. I just want to put this whole thing behind us.”

  I returned the hug awkwardly, uneasy at her abrupt, ever-changing moods.

  She pulled slowly away, smiling with a slightly reddened face before leaning against the back of her desk. “So, what happened, anyway?”

  “I, err, actually got captured again, by Bree.” I gave her a summary of the events, and it only took me a minute. With her, I was completely honest, but stopped my story short.

  “So, have you talked to Cameron?” she asked.

  “Err, yeah,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure what tipped me off, but somehow I knew she’d react badly to the thought of me working for Cameron.

  “I can’t believe he finagled his way up to CEO,” she exploded, walking back around to the front of her desk. “I mean, he’s so young.”

  “Err, so what?” I said.

  She gave me a hard stare for a couple of seconds, before saying, “Come on, Thomas. You can’t tell me he’s suckered you into believing he’s one of the good guys.”

  “One of the good guys? Lara, this world isn’t divided into good guys and bad guys.”

  She scowled aggressively, her mood switching again. “He’s a kid in a business suit, Thomas. People his age don’t become CEOs. Do you have any idea how CEOs are even hired?”

  “How do you even know he’s CEO,” I asked.

  “Because it’s all over the news,” she replied. “There is simply no way the Board of Directors would consider someone with no experience at company of that size. It’s not a monarchy. Cameron isn’t Emmitt’s heir. Being Chief Shareholder doesn’t give him the power to run the place.”

  “What exactly are you suggesting?"

  “Suggesting?” she said. “I don’t need to suggest anything. I’m saying there’s simply no way he should have gotten that job. Cameron is hiding something.”

  “Oh, so this is some kind of conspiracy.”

  “We still don’t know Ingram’s motives in killing Emmitt. I think it’s obvious that he was working with Cameron from–”

  “Lance Ruben was the intended target,” I bellowed suddenly. “Cameron showed me a signed contract that turned out to be an Oath. Any spell cast at Lance would instead target Emmitt Cane.”

  I could see her mind simply rejected the possibility. “And you believed it?”

  “I had no reason not to,” I said. “Especially considering that he helped so much in solving the case.”

  “Cameron used you, just like he used Ingram!” she said, her voice rising above my own.

  “He offered me a job,” I countered. “As his consultant and bodyguard, to ensure something like this never happens again.”

  “No. No, stay with me. At my house!” she said, her eyes gaining a ferocious concern. “We’ll work a few cases. We had a rough start, but it’ll be downhill sailing from there.”

  “Downhill sail–” I cut myself off, realizing that correcting her could upset her even more.

  “If that sounds so horrible, you can find a new place,” she snapped. “I’ll help you do that, too. I’ll even chip in, but you can’t put yourself near that man.”

  Resistance I expected, but outright hostility? My jaw sagged at her unexpected reaction. Annoyance alone compelled me to shout, “Gee, Thomas. Congratulations! It’s about time you find something practical and useful to do with your life! And hey, you’ll be making thousands as you do it!”

&nb
sp; I could see her try to remain calm, but after her night full of worries, she was anything but. “Cameron Cane cannot be trusted. And the Imperium–”

  “I already asked him about your suspicion, Lara,” I said, about ready to just walk out on her. “Cameron’s no longer hiding anything. He already admitted to knowing who we were when he hired us. Emmitt Cane kept track of us for years.”

  “I... I won’t let you work for him! I’ll tell Dad.”

  She’d tell Lucian Mercer. My mentor. That was the final blow I needed. She was the one that constantly urged me to do something with my life. Something practical. Something that could help people. What better way to help people than by working for one of the country’s most powerful men?

  I bellowed, “You go and do that, Lara! But I know the rules – positions of power are off limits, but there’s nothing that says I can’t be a bodyguard. It’s a well paying job for a man that already knows a fair amount about the magical world. You’re damn right the council won’t like it, but at least this way I can keep tabs on things in Cane Industries, and maybe I’ll learn a thing or two about the Venir in the process.”

  Simultaneously, she arose and screamed, red faced, “Cameron Cane’s been pushing your strings from the beginning! Who was the one that first told you to look into James Freidman? Who led you right to the ghost in his cabin? Who was the one that ensured you were at the banquet, where Daniel Cane was attacked? Who was the one that told you to go to the Divination last night? Cameron did! And if that’s not enough, he’s somehow coerced the board into making him the next CEO! If you think he’s still on our side – if you think he doesn’t have a hidden agenda, then I was wrong to think you’d ever make a good partner! They were right to throw you out of the Guardians!”

  I had my fists on the top of her desk as I shouted. She had her palms on the edge of her side. Our glares met with the intensity of two recently branded bulls, and our rants both ended at the same time. Spinning on my heel, I realized couldn’t have been more wrong about the luck in the air today. I slammed the door on my way out.