C. Barry - Redemption

“No one saw any weapons of any kind,” Pampinella replied. “No explosion. And don’t even go for spontaneous combustion. I ain’t puttin’ that in the report.”

“Maybe the autopsy will shed some light,” Thane told him.

“Good luck,” Pampinella muttered.

Thane stood up. “Do we have an ID on him yet?”

He nodded. “He was identified by a local as Billy Johns. Said he was a nice man. He’s clean. The guy didn’t even have a parking ticket.”

So much for his theory that his mystery woman was hitting up the baddies. Or maybe this wasn’t her. And if it wasn’t her, then who was it? Who had the power to torch a human being?

Thane scanned the street. What was going on? Bad guys were dying in freakish ways. Good guys were dying in freakish ways. His entire city was going straight to Hell.

From her vantage point on the building roof, Reya watched Thane Driscoll shake the hand of the uniformed officer. He was not what she had expected. He was around thirty-five years old and moved well, like a man who could handle himself in a fight. Dark jeans hugged his hips, and a leather jacket stretched across a broad back. His hair was brown, and his intensity fascinating. And from here, he was pretty damn good-looking. This might not be so bad after all.

He turned and talked to another man who approached. They knew each other well. This one was settled, married, probably had kids, and was not happy with the current situation. She watched the men interact, and noted the concern on Thane’s face. It surprised her based on the reading of his sins she’d done. Then she noticed the ghost of the victim standing mere feet away from his former body, unseen by human eyes. His soul was pure and white. There was no reason he should be dead. It wasn’t his time.

Something was very wrong here. A good man had died—burned alive. That didn’t happen every day. On the other hand, did she care? It was only a vessel for the soul to experience with. He could always come back if he wanted to—new life, new body.

Still, it irked her that someone had taken him out of the game early. It didn’t feel right, and that part worried her. Because when she felt this way and ignored it, it always came back to bite her in the ass.

That settled it.

“Orson, need you,” she said aloud to the sky.

Nothing. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I know you can hear me.”

She sighed. He wasn’t going to show up. He wasn’t kidding when he told her she had to handle this herself. Boy, was he going to be sorry.

She walked to the edge of the rooftop where no one could see her and dropped the three stories into the alleyway below, sticking a perfect two-point landing. There was something to be said for having a few superhuman skills.

Reya headed toward the dead man’s soul, now hanging in the shadows of a storefront. She skirted cop cars and uniforms and ducked into the alcove next to him.

The dead man looked at her in utter confusion. He’d definitely been taken before his time. Every soul had a clock on them. She couldn’t explain it, but she could see it.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He looked dazed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t feel my feet. Am I dead?”

She shouldn’t get involved. This wasn’t her area of expertise. But it didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon without help. “I’m afraid so. It’s okay though. No one can hurt you now. Do you know who did this to you?”

“I don’t remember,” he said, sounding lost. “I didn’t see anyone.”

That didn’t sound good. “No one?”

He blinked a few times, and then frowned. “Wait, there was someone. I could hear him whispering.”

Reya inhaled a little. “Do you know what he was saying?”

He shook his head. “No, I never can.”

Wait, what? “You’ve heard the whispers before?”

“All the time,” he told her. “No one believes me.”

She smiled a little. “Well, I do. When did you start hearing them?”

“A few years ago.” He cocked his head. “You hear them, too?”

I am them . “Yes.”

There was a flutter of activity in front of them, and a spirit escort appeared in a blinding burst of glory. He stepped toward the deceased.

Great. The almighty, heavenly cavalry.

He eyed Reya, recognizing her status, or lack thereof. “I’ll take him from here.”

She wanted to tell him that this man could hear the whispers of the dead and somehow that’s why he was killed, but the spirit escort wouldn’t care. He had one job to do, and he followed orders. She didn’t. And that’s why he was scowling.

Reya turned and said to the recently deceased, “This…gentleman will escort you to a new home.”

He blinked back at her uneasily. “But I like it here.”

Reya saw the escort move toward them. She needed to convince the dead man to go willingly. Otherwise, the transition could be long and difficult. “There’s a much better place waiting for you. A place with sunshine and light. A home where nothing bad can ever happen to you. All love, no pain. I promise.”

The dead man glanced from her to the escort and back. “Okay.”

Reya handed him over, and in a flash, they were gone.

That’s when she noticed Thane heading in her direction, his gaze pinning her in place. Time to shake him off her trail so she could get back to saving her eternal soul. For a fleeting moment, she thought she’d met him before. It was just a shadow of a vision, like a dream. No. They’d never met. She would have remembered. Besides, she had bigger worries, like his state of humanity.

He flashed a badge at her, and then stopped in front of her. “Detective Thane Driscoll. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

His voice was deep and rough. His hair was a little long in the front, and his eyes were pale blue. Normally, that would be a great package, but his stern expression kind of negated it. Reya smiled her brightest and most angelic smile. “Of course, Detective.”

He pulled out his phone and punched the screen a few times. “Your name please.”

“Reya. Reya Sinclair.” She studied his aura as she replied. It was changing, light and dark taking turns. “What happened here?”

“I’ll ask the questions,” he said. “Phone number.”

She smiled. “Are you going to ask me for a date?”

“No,” he said, a bit quickly. His energy flashed darker for a moment. It’s not that she hadn’t seen dark energy. But his didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be. It was like a battle raged for his soul. He was a good man, but he’d done some bad things.

She gave him a fake cell phone number and a fake address and told him she was unemployed. Once he had it, he said, “I’d like you to come down to the precinct.”

Reya considered that for a few seconds. Naw . “Am I a suspect?”

Thane’s eyes met hers. They were direct and intense. She’d bet he could intimidate a lot of people with that gaze. But she wasn’t just anyone. One cop couldn’t scare her. She’d seen Hell.

“It’s just an interview,” he said.

She crossed her arms. “Then interview me here.”

“There’s some video we’d like to show you.”

Ah, the evidence. That’s what this was about. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

His eyebrows lifted. “That was a leap.”

“I know about the surveillance recordings,” she said. “I know about the deaths, but I didn’t kill them. They were going to die anyway.”

His entire demeanor changed in a flash. A sudden wave of anger from him swept out over her then. Righteousness was a dangerous thing. It made people believe they were judge and jury.

“You admit you were there,” he said tightly. “You may even have seen them die.”