that she owns another property about twenty-five miles away, up the mountain, near a rural town called Rail Road Flat. Looks like she might have inherited it based on the info on the assessor's website. Carol ran the previous owner's name and discovered that he died in 2013 in a freak accident at his home.” Carol was Aris's niece, a mid-level ghost killer and a damn good hacker/computer geek as well.
“The local newspaper wrote a small story about it, stating that he was found by his sixteen year old nephew, who'd been visiting for the weekend. They didn't disclose the kid's name, but the age fits our teenage kid….”
“How did this person die?” I thought I knew the answer, but asked anyway.
“The official cause of death was listed as accidental electrocution,” Phil said, his voice laced with suspicion.
“What, you think this kid killed his uncle?” Billy asked impatiently.
Phil wasn't fazed by Billy's frequently unpleasant disposition, so he just gave her a toothy grin and said, “Well, the guy died of electrocution, and we know this kid's playing with that demon, using its juice….” He shrugged, “But maybe it was just an accident.”
“What else?” I asked.
“Pete and one of his guys are up there now trying to confirm this is our teenager. The mother isn't home, but they talked with the neighbor, who said that the kid takes the car all the time. In fact, he got home last night around 3 a.m. The neighbor knows this because the stereo was blasting as the kid pulled into the driveway and it woke him up. The neighbor says the kid is strange and the mother lets him run wild most of the time. He said he thought the kid spent most of his time up the hill at his uncle's place. He has a beat-up old motorcycle he uses when he isn't driving her car, and had taken off on the bike an hour or so before Pete got there.” Phil paused for a breath. “Pete was headed up the hill to the uncle's ranch to check that out. He said he was going to swing by the mother's house again on the way back…hopefully she'll be home by then.”
Phil took a long pull off his beer; his usual enthusiasm had faded, and he seemed hesitant when he spoke again. “There might be a Vokkel connection…I found some references in Vokkel's journals. He'd really pared back on his research after he shut the German school down and moved back to the city. I think that's because he knew he was constantly under surveillance by the Watchers, so he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Plus we know he sort of became a recluse, barely leaving the house. But he didn't stop completely. He did stop dating the entries, but for the most part, I think they're in chronological order because of what he documented.” He looked at Billy. “He documented your college years via reports from Caleb.” Vokkel had hired a perfidious ghost killer to get close to her and determine the extent of her power and knowledge when she was in college. When Billy discovered Caleb's true purpose, she beat the crap out of him. He had rematerialized a few months ago, again hired by Vokkel, but this time it was to determine
my
power. He was a traitor to our cause and needless to say, an unscrupulous ghost killer.
“I remembered seeing some notations that I believe are from the early 2000s about a subject, a child that he'd located and coded C1, which could fit Calvin Brelong if he's our kid.” Vokkel had used a coding system to describe his patients, a first initial and a one, two, or three to describe the ghost killer's level (one being the strongest). He'd used the same system to describe a longaevus, but he used a four or five to reference their level of power.
“Anyway,” he splayed his hands on the table, “Vokkel was methodical about his research notes. His entries were concise and chronological, not like his journals, which are a mess.” Billy shot him an impatient look. He was constantly complaining about Vokkel's journals and the indecipherable way he
“The local newspaper wrote a small story about it, stating that he was found by his sixteen year old nephew, who'd been visiting for the weekend. They didn't disclose the kid's name, but the age fits our teenage kid….”
“How did this person die?” I thought I knew the answer, but asked anyway.
“The official cause of death was listed as accidental electrocution,” Phil said, his voice laced with suspicion.
“What, you think this kid killed his uncle?” Billy asked impatiently.
Phil wasn't fazed by Billy's frequently unpleasant disposition, so he just gave her a toothy grin and said, “Well, the guy died of electrocution, and we know this kid's playing with that demon, using its juice….” He shrugged, “But maybe it was just an accident.”
“What else?” I asked.
“Pete and one of his guys are up there now trying to confirm this is our teenager. The mother isn't home, but they talked with the neighbor, who said that the kid takes the car all the time. In fact, he got home last night around 3 a.m. The neighbor knows this because the stereo was blasting as the kid pulled into the driveway and it woke him up. The neighbor says the kid is strange and the mother lets him run wild most of the time. He said he thought the kid spent most of his time up the hill at his uncle's place. He has a beat-up old motorcycle he uses when he isn't driving her car, and had taken off on the bike an hour or so before Pete got there.” Phil paused for a breath. “Pete was headed up the hill to the uncle's ranch to check that out. He said he was going to swing by the mother's house again on the way back…hopefully she'll be home by then.”
Phil took a long pull off his beer; his usual enthusiasm had faded, and he seemed hesitant when he spoke again. “There might be a Vokkel connection…I found some references in Vokkel's journals. He'd really pared back on his research after he shut the German school down and moved back to the city. I think that's because he knew he was constantly under surveillance by the Watchers, so he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Plus we know he sort of became a recluse, barely leaving the house. But he didn't stop completely. He did stop dating the entries, but for the most part, I think they're in chronological order because of what he documented.” He looked at Billy. “He documented your college years via reports from Caleb.” Vokkel had hired a perfidious ghost killer to get close to her and determine the extent of her power and knowledge when she was in college. When Billy discovered Caleb's true purpose, she beat the crap out of him. He had rematerialized a few months ago, again hired by Vokkel, but this time it was to determine
my
power. He was a traitor to our cause and needless to say, an unscrupulous ghost killer.
“I remembered seeing some notations that I believe are from the early 2000s about a subject, a child that he'd located and coded C1, which could fit Calvin Brelong if he's our kid.” Vokkel had used a coding system to describe his patients, a first initial and a one, two, or three to describe the ghost killer's level (one being the strongest). He'd used the same system to describe a longaevus, but he used a four or five to reference their level of power.
“Anyway,” he splayed his hands on the table, “Vokkel was methodical about his research notes. His entries were concise and chronological, not like his journals, which are a mess.” Billy shot him an impatient look. He was constantly complaining about Vokkel's journals and the indecipherable way he
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