“What connects them, Dom?We have four bodies, but what do they have in common?”
Dom looked up at me andshook his head. The expression on his face was mildly scolding. “You ever studythis neighborhood? Every one of those guys has a family history in this area aslong as mine. Longer, four or more generations back, Billy. Every last one.”
That thought gave me awicked case of the creeps.
“You need to find out moreif you can, Dom. From your dad.”
“I know that.” He cast ahard look my way. The shadows in the Benson hid half of his face, but I couldsee his eyes well enough. He looked angry and scared and more stressed than I’dever seen him.
I thought of hisgreat-grandfather on those old serials, and how much they looked alike. Like Isaid before, Hollywood looks.
I spoke before I couldstop myself, because there was only one reason we were here and even thoughneither of us had said it, we both knew it. “Okay, so if somebody is goingafter the guys who maybe did in your great-grandfather, why? What could theygain at this point? I doubt any of the people who were alive when it happenedare still alive now, or even if they are, they’re ancient, like celebratingtheir late nineties. So what’s the point?”
“I’ve been trying tofigure out any possible angle myself, and I can’t. I don’t know what the hellis going on, except someone is beating some serious creeps to death.”
Neither of us said it butthat part wasn’t such a bad thing. We’d had plenty of discussions about it inthe past, when one or another of the punks who ran in the wrong crowds met abad ending.
My partner pulled out hisflashlight and started looking. He moved chairs, checked around the edges ofthe walls, and even lifted an old carpet that had probably been sitting theresince dinosaurs roamed the earth.
“What are you looking for,Dom?”
“Seeing if there are signsthat a body was ever buried here.”
“What? Seriously?”
That was maybe a mistake.The look Dom threw me was not kind or forgiving. “What do you want me to do? Golook at pictures in the Cold Case files? I saw the images you brought up onyour phone. They’re probably the same ones.”
“How would you even hopeto find anything now, Dom?” I shrugged. “Fifty years is a long time.”
“Gotta at least look,Billy. Come on, what would you do?”
“Same thing, I guess. ButI think you’d get more from your dad if he remembers any of the old stories. Heknew the man right? The guy was his granddad.”
Dom nodded and saidnothing, he agreed, maybe, but he had to do this his way first. I could respectthat.
The sun finished setting.Aside from his flashlight the place was nearly dark. There were lights outside,but neither of us had thought to turn on the interior lights. Hell, I wouldn’teven know where to look.
Instead of being useless,I went back toward the kitchen and started looking for a light switch.
That meant I got to seethe Black Wraith first.
There was a doorway thatwas nothing remarkable. It was locked and painted a faded white. So when theBlack Wraith came through it I could see every detail.
He looked like he had inthe old serials, only more so. The suit was a gray pinstripe, the jacket openenough to let me see the shoulder holsters for two very large pistols. Theshoes were glossy and looked like they belonged to a different era. The hat wasa wide-brimmed fedora, and the cloak over the shoulders of the suit looked likesomeone had torn a funeral shroud off a rotting corpse and decided to make afashion statement with it. The gloves were jet black and so was the mask.
How can I describe it? Itwas a skull. There were features to that mask. It had sharp, crisp angles and Icould see the teeth, each and every one of them, done up in black. There was acavern where the nose should have been, just like you see on a skull, and therewere eye sockets and a bony ridge above. I’ve looked at enough pictures ofskulls. This was just that, a skull. Only if I’m honest it looked like someonehad covered it in felt, or carefully glued a thin layer of cloth to the thing,so that the bones were carefully hidden under a fine, thin fabric.
All of that worked fineuntil I got to the eyes. I didn’t see them. I sensed them. They looked my wayand held my gaze, and much as I wish I could tell you I did the manly thing anddrew my weapon to secure an enemy, I froze, horrified and fascinated.
I had no doubt in my mindwhat I was looking at. I was staring at a ghost. Not just the Black Wraith, buta genuine specter. Those teeth grinned at me. Those eyes studied me and judgedme and I think they maybe found me less than ideal.
The figure was as tall asme, maybe a little taller. He moved with purpose, he didn’t walk, he strode ashe turned away from me and headed for the door.
“Wait. Come back, I haveto ask you questions.” I could barely make my throat work. It was too dry andmy words just sort of fell away like so much ash.
I shook a little. Notgoing to lie, I was scared. Seriously scared but I shook it off and followedthe Black Wraith as he moved toward the front of the place and toward Dom.
“Dom! Dom! Look out!” Myvoice was a croak, but it was loud enough.
The swinging door thatseparated the kitchen from the serving area slammed open as the Black Wraithwalked away from me. I followed and shoved the door back before it could hit mein the face.
Even as I walked, I feltthe chill in the air and saw the vapor pouring from the walls, from the ground,filling the area with a dense fog.
I also saw Dom looking atthe same shape I was following. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. Hismouth opened in a wide gape and I suspect I had a similar look on my face.
The Black Wraith walkedpast
