First to Die - Kate Slayer Page 0,4

jacket.

"You think Ben had something to do with this?" Ben was bad. The worst criminal on the street, but he didn't mess with shit like this.

"Hell, no, he doesn't operate that way." He looked at me like I was the crazy one that had suggested it. "Still trying to figure out how the two of you came from the same gene pool."

"You've been sneaking shit from the evidence room again, haven't you?" I cocked my head to the side and lifted my brow. "He's no different than you and me. We're all a little tainted." I turned up the volume of the radio to block his latest DNA analysis of the Kelly clan.

He paid no attention and talked over it. "Chief Kelly's little girl, all grown up and following in his footsteps. Your dad would be proud of you. He was your biggest fan, ya know." He reached over and patted my arm. He didn't go there. He knew better.

I missed my dad every day. Ten years this month. I felt like a part of me had been ripped away when he died. The most important part. Sometimes I was okay with it and other times, I would burst into tears for no reason at all. I don't think I ever cried for myself. I cried his tears. I felt his pain. It was an overwhelming sadness and it had a power all its own. I was getting better as the years passed, but it was as unpredictable as the weather. I held the flood gates as best as I could and stared out the window into the dark haze.

Everything was in slow motion and the distant glow lingering beyond the clouds was casting shadows in doorsteps and windows. I knew the creatures that were hiding in the crevices, waiting for the dawn to break over the landscape, bringing the promise of a new day and to ease their worries. "Not tonight," I said to the pair of eyes I saw glancing from the window. It was eerie and unsettling, and for the first time in many years, I was afraid.

Chapter 3

It was the dark hours of Sunday morning and every clock in city was set to awaken the designated chefs for the annual Summer Festival, each of them frantically rising at the hour of dawn to prepare their secret recipe for a grueling gathering of food and verbal assaults.

Locals and patrons from far and wide would be automatically programmed to rise and dress themselves in the traditional navy and red attire for the downtown parade and festivities. Massive traffic jams and minor road-rage would be on the morning agenda. Everyone would be dressed to perfection and feasting on the traditional chaos. I, on the other hand, had planned to make my peace-keeping rounds, head home and barter with the devil for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. I erased the thought from my mind as I watched the glow of the lights getting closer.

We raced up the hill on Church Street, made a sharp right onto Main and passed River Lawn Cemetery's massive wrought iron gates, the kind of gates that instinctively activates a warning signal to the living. You don't belong here. My heart pounded faster and I forced out a long, calculated exhale when I knew the entrance was somewhere behind me in a cloud of dust. I had unwillingly visited River Lawn on a many occasions. Most of my family was beneath the uncompromising collection of stone and ash and I’d never felt comfortable when I was near it.

The immediate glare of lights jolted the reality of the situation back into my consciousness. Neville was sucking on another cigarette and repeating the rest of the details that he knew. His voice was muffled by the wind howling in the open windows and the car slid in the gravel toward a cluster of blue statues huddled in a rigid circle outside the house. I braced myself for the impact, but we managed to skirt past, producing a cloud of dust and shooting the loose rocks and dirt into the crowd. "Nice." I glared at Neville. "I'm driving back."

He crinkled his face and shook his head back and forth. "I don't think so."

The passenger door flew open before I could grab the inside latch. "What took you so long?" Jason leaned in. His dark eyes sparkled like black diamonds in the blazing lights. It was always best to avoid his penetrating laser beams. Their melting capability is one