Acheron Highway: A Jonathan Shade Novel (12 page)

“Take a deep breath.”

“Those guys scare you too.”
 
It was a statement.

“Not really,” I said and realized it was true.

“Then you’re crazy
and
stupid.”

She turned away from me and rode the last few seconds to the thirteenth floor in silence.
 
I wondered if she was right.
 
Maybe it was stupid to mouth off to someone who could rip me limb from limb and not even consider it good cardio.
 
The fact was I just didn’t care.

The doors opened and Mike Ender stood there waiting.
 
He wore his usual suit and tie and initially wore his special sunglasses.
 
I knew he was looking to see if Esther was there.
 
He removed the glasses and tucked them in a pocket.
 
“Follow me,” he said without any niceties.

We followed him down a hallway that brought back a lot of memories.
 
They’d replaced the window at the end of the hall.
 
The office doors were all closed, including the one that had belonged to Anselma Kaiser.
 
The name on that door read Paul Tanner.
 
I didn’t know him.
 
A bit farther down the hall, Al Davidson’s old office had a different name too.

Mike opened a door that led to a meeting room that reminded me of Naomi.
 
That threatened to pull up some old feelings, but I forced them down.
 
I didn’t have time to think about her.

“Von will be right with you.”

“Thanks, Mike.”

He looked at me.
 
“No smart-assed remarks?”

“I’m saving them for later.”

He stared a moment longer then nodded.
 
He glanced at Miranda then turned and left.

“He doesn’t like you,” Miranda said.

“I’m not looking to win a popularity contest here.
 
Besides, he’s a prick.
 
He almost got me killed.”

“You’ve been a jerk to everyone since I met you.”

“That’s not true.”

“Fine, you weren’t a dick to Kelly, but other than that…”

I sat down and put my feet on the table.
 
“You going to tell me to take a Dale Carnegie class?”

She pushed my feet off the table.
 
“No, but I will tell you to show a little respect to people.”

“I show respect if they deserve it.”

“Seems to me you start with disrespect and expect people to kowtow to you.
 
Try starting with respect.
 
You might get better results.”

I was about to shoot that down, but an old woman entered the room.
 
She had olive skin and silver hair.
 
Her eyes shone with the wisdom of the ages.
 
I couldn’t even guess her age.
 
She could be sixty, or she could be a hundred.
 
She held herself with strength, though, and she had an aura of calmness.

“My name is Von,” she said.

“Short for Yvonne?” I asked.

She nodded.
 
“Yes.
 
I hold sway over the dead.”

Oh, I wanted to throw a smart-ass remark at the wall for that one.
 
Miranda shot me a look, so I bit my tongue.

“Thank you for coming, Von,” Miranda said.
 
“We really appreciate it.”

Von gazed at Miranda, glanced at me, then focused on Miranda again.
 
Von scrutinized her for a moment.
 
“Dear child, your spirit is strong, but your heart is not beating.
 
No, wait… your heart is actually missing.”

“Thanks to someone in your department,” Miranda said.
 
“Zach Banner?”

“Is that why he took a sudden vacation?
 
Oh, child, how are you even standing?”

I noted that she said vacation, not that he’d been terminated, but DGI didn’t broadcast their business and his state of employment wasn’t our concern.

“Zach has my heart,” Miranda said.

Von furrowed her brow.
 
She shook her head slowly.
 
“That would be beyond his ability.”

“Tell that to him.”

“I hate to interrupt,” I said, “but we came here to see you about something else.”

“Yes.
 
I understand you require my services.”

“That we do,” I said.
 
“There are dead people hanging out at my apartment and we’d like to know if you can put them back in their graves and keep them there.”

“I have felt some
tremblings
in the spirit world,” Von said.

Oh, the things I could say to that, but Miranda actually kicked me in the shin.

I gave her a dirty look.
 
After all, she was the one mouthing off about Von’s employee.
 
Not that I blamed her, of course, but, pot, meet kettle.

I turned back to Von and forced myself to stick to a professional business manner.
 
“This started a month or so ago with a few corpses coming back, but it’s escalated in the past week and now it seems like the dead just won’t stay dead.”

She shook her head.
 
“These are not really the dead returning.
 
They are spirits using the bodies of the deceased.”

“I can name at least one guy who came back and killed his wife after she killed him.”

Von nodded.
 
“A murder victim would be an exception.
 
This is true.”

“Other than that, I think you’re right.
 
Spirits are dressing up in meat suits.”

“Meat suits?”

“Sorry, obscure TV reference.”

“It’s an apt term, though.
 
The fact is that a murder victim would have unfinished business.
 
As such, the spirit might stay in our realm as a ghost and if its body rose, the ghost would return to it for the familiarity.”

“I’m with you so far.
 
I know a little bit about ghosts.”

“Generally speaking, ghosts who remain in our world are victims of violent death or suicide.
 
Even with those, unless the spirit feels it has unfinished business, it moves on to the next world.”

“Go on,” I said.

“I don’t wish to bore you with a lecture about spirits.”

“Dead bodies are up and about,” I said.
 
“Does that sound like a necromancer at work?”

“Possibly.”

“What about Zach?
 
Could he do something like this?” Miranda asked.

“I told you, Zachary does not have that much power,” Von said.
 
“Like most necromancers, he might be able to raise one body.
 
Two if his concentration is extremely focused.”
 
She shook her head.
 
“Alas, Zachary does not have that much focus.
 
He is easily distracted.”

“Could he be faking it?” Miranda asked.

She kept shaking her head.
 
“This is something else.
 
I do not believe this to be the work of a necromancer or even a team of necromancers.”

“What else could it be?”
 
I wanted to know if anyone at DGI had a clue about Persephone.
 
Sharon had been here, though she’d only been in the catacombs.
 
I doubt the guys who met her had any clue about her true nature.
 
Then again, they might not admit it.

“I do not know.”

“More importantly,” I said, “can you send the dead back to their graves?”

“I would need to see one of them up close.”

“Well, there are at least a hundred of them at my place.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.
 
How many necromancers would it take to send them back?”

“Again, I can’t answer that without seeing them.”

“Can you bring a team over to my place so we can at least check things out?”

“I am curious about this.
 
I don’t need a team.
 
I will go with you.”

“How much will this cost?”

“That depends on what the job requires.”

“Free estimate?” I asked.

She smiled.
 
“Of course.”

“Since Miranda works here, can we get an employee discount?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dead people congregated on the sidewalk, crowded the stairs, and clogged the entryway to my apartment.
 
Others milled about on the grass.
 
A few of my neighbors peeked out their windows, but nobody approached the walking cadavers.
 
The landlord stood, cell phone in hand, as I pulled up in Kelly’s SUV and parked.
 
Von and Miranda slid out of the vehicle after me, and I nodded to the landlord, a slender old man clad in a bowtie and suspenders.
 
He wore thick glasses, and every time I saw him, he reminded me of Les
Nessman
from the TV show
WKRP in Cincinnati
.

“Mr. Shade, do you have a permit for this?” he asked, shaking the movie audition page I’d had Kelly place on the building.
 
“These people will not listen to me.”

“They’re staying in character, Mr. Tyler.
 
My friend is going to film a movie in town, but I had no idea we’d get this kind of turnout for auditions.
 
I guess everyone wants to be a zombie these days.”

“They don’t shuffle along like in the movies.
 
Some of them have no sense of makeup, and quite frankly, many of them are severely lacking in personal hygiene.
 
You need to get them out of here, or I’m calling the police.”

“I’ll have them gone within the hour.
 
Cool?”

“So...”
 
He adjusted his bowtie.
 
“A movie.
 
Would there be a role for someone like me?”

I nodded.
 
“I can talk to the director and the writer, maybe work in something for you.”

“Can I kiss a girl?”

That would be a first.
 
“I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’m really not happy about these people being here, Mr. Shade.
 
It’s a major inconvenience for all the neighbors.
 
They’ve been complaining all morning.
 
And some of these people are far too method.”

“Tell you what,” I said.
 
“If the movie goes forward, I’ll make sure that you get a small role.
 
I’ll even guarantee that you’ll get to kiss a gorgeous girl.
 
A nice, deep, long, passionate kiss.”

He looked around, his face a burning red.
 
He waved a hand in front of his face then leaned toward me.
 
“Really?”

“Really.”

He hesitated, clearly dreaming about having a hot woman kissing him.
 
After a moment, he gave me a nod.
 
“You have one hour.
 
The neighbors can whine if they want.”

“Thanks, Mr. Tyler.”

“I want a redhead.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“A blonde will work, but I’ve always wanted to be with a redhead.”

When he left, he stopped to knock on one of my neighbors’ doors.
 
No doubt he would tell them he’d told me to get these unseemly people out of here.

I turned to look at the women.
 
Miranda remained by Kelly’s truck.

Von approached the closest dead person, a middle-aged woman.
 
I motioned for Miranda to stay by the truck then followed Von over.
 
The dead woman turned and gave me a once-over.

“Bring her to us,” the old woman said.

I played stupid.
 
“What do you want with Miranda?”

The woman moved toward me, but Von held up a hand, and the woman stopped.

“You shall not pass,” Von said in her best Gandalf.

“Can you get rid of them?” I asked.

Von walked around the woman.
 
A few corpses started toward her, but again, she held up her hand, and they all stopped.

“The flesh is freshly dead, but the original spirit is not here,” Von said.
 
“They are not zombies.”

“Bring her to us,” the woman said again.

Von looked into the corpse’s eyes.
 
“Bring who?”

“The one we came for.”

“And who might that be?”

The woman pointed at me.
 
“He knows.”

Von looked at me.
 
“Are you holding out on me, Mr. Shade?”

“I could make a few guesses, but . . .”
 
I gave her a shrug.

She gave me a look that said,
bullshit
,
then looked back at the corpse.
 
She moved to the next dead guy then walked along a line of them, holding her hand up to keep them in place.
 
Some of them fidgeted but none advanced.

Von returned to me.

“Thoughts?” I said.

“There are many spirits here using the dead as vessels to get around.
 
This is powerful magic.”

“Can you get rid of them?”

“The spirits?”
 
She shook her head.
 
“I do not control spirits.
 
I can clear out the bodies, though.”

“Great.”

“There are one hundred twenty-two bodies here.”

“But more will come.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because the spirits won’t go away.
 
They’ll just go get new bodies.”

“These are not ghosts,” Von said.
 
“Ghosts can’t take bodies.
 
What sort of Pandora’s box have you opened here?”

“Hey, I didn’t open it.”

She nodded and I doubt she believed me.
 
“I will make the bodies go away for one hundred dollars each.
 
That is a bargain rate.
 
It’s a simple spell.”

“That’s over twelve thousand dollars.”

“I take Visa and MasterCard.”
 
She pulled out her iPhone.
 
“I even have an app so I can charge you right here and now.”

“That’s too much.”

“In that case, Mr. Shade, have fun with the dead people.”
 
She moved past me toward the SUV.

“They’ll just get more bodies,” I said.

“I can destroy those for one hundred dollars each too.”

“I can’t afford that.”

“Then you’re wasting my time.”

“Hey, I saved DGI from Ravenwood.
 
Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“As I understand it, you had help.”

“Fine.
 
My friends and I handled it when you guys couldn’t or wouldn’t.”

“Have your friends help you here.”

I walked over to Von.
 
I was extremely proud that I didn’t look over my shoulder to see if she’d released the dead folks.
 
I figured as long as she was there, Von wouldn’t let them approach.
 
I was also trying to suggest a level of trust I didn’t really feel.
 
She did work for DGI, after all.
 
They aren’t exactly the poster children for ethical behavior.
 
I lowered my voice so Miranda wouldn’t be able to hear us.

“I think this is blowback from helping you guys out.
 
They’re after one of my friends.”

“What’s your friend’s name?”

“I’d rather not say.
 
Names have power.”

“Is your friend dead?”

“No.”

“Then I couldn’t do anything with the name.”

“I’m a little concerned about speaking the name anyway.
 
Especially when so many of the dead folks are in such close proximity.”

“What’s your point, Mr. Shade?”

“Can you cut me a deal here?
 
I have seven thousand dollars clear on my credit card.
 
You can make the charge, but in exchange for that, I want you to cast a spell that will disintegrate all the dead bodies in Colorado and the surrounding areas and do something to prevent the freshly dead from being used.”

She laughed.
 
“Do you have any idea what kind of power that would take?”

“Not nearly as much as you want me to believe.
 
You and your team could handle it with no trouble at all.”

“The entire state?
 
Not a chance.”

“Fine.
 
How about just the metro area and the front range?
 
It’s just a question of casting a spell to destroy the bodies in the morgues and cemeteries.”

“It would be improper.”

“It would earn you seven thousand dollars.”

“How do you think grieving families would feel to have their loved ones dissolved?”

“How would they like it if their loved ones sat up during the funeral?”

“These corpses are merely a nuisance.
 
They aren’t particularly dangerous.”

“Tell that to my car.”

“Seven thousand dollars is a paltry sum.”

“It’s all I have.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What’s the matter?
 
Can’t you do it?”

“I have nothing to prove to you, Mr. Shade.
 
A spell like what you want would run at least a hundred thousand dollars.”

“Too rich for my blood.
 
Fine.
 
I’ll take you back to DGI.
 
Give me a minute.”

I turned away from her and walked toward the throng of corpses.

“If you give her to us, we’ll let you live,” one of the dead guys said.

“If I tell you where she is, will you go away?” I said loud enough for Von to hear.

“What are you doing?” Von asked.
 
“If you aren’t paying me, you need to take me back to the office.”

“Be right with you, Von,” I said over my shoulder.
 
“I’m just going to let these fine dead folks know that their target is hiding out at your office building.
 
No worries.”

“Where is the office?” one of the dead folks asked.

“Don’t you dare answer that!” Von said.

“You can’t hide her forever,” I said.
 
“They’re going to find her eventually whether or not I tell them where you have her.”

“We don’t have her.
 
I don’t even know who she is!”

I glanced at the dead lady before me.
 
“She’s lying.
 
Von here works at a place called DGI.
 
It stands for Dragon Gate Industries.
 
They have a gateway in the corridors beneath their building that leads to other dimensions and—”