Prologue

Carol’s hand quivers closing around the cold metal of her revolver as she stares at the middle-aged man sitting at the bar. Sunlight filtering in from behind, casts his face in shadow and highlights the cigarette smoke curling around his head as he ignores the incessant nattering of the old native lady sitting beside him. He pulls another reluctant drag. His hand shakes, red flares from the end of the tobacco, and regret oozes forth in cloying streams of grey haze. Carol flicks off the safety and rises to erase months of searching. In the background a hard-rock song rages. Its guitars crying … …like Harleys in heat, drenched in the blood of betrayed bikers. Memories of a cold October night spring to life, like bats born in hell returning to roost, playing themselves over in her head once again.

Chapter One

Carol looked out over the seawall from the knoll in front of The Teahouse near Stanley Park’s Third Beach scratching her head. "Not a bloody clue to who killed Vancouver's Mayor." The restaurant behind her dark and cold, the parking lot empty this time of night. The ground beneath her boots squelched; a typically damp Vancouver fall night. Somewhere in English Bay a tugboat sounded its horn, seagulls squawked in response. Mist rose in clammy waves threatening to engulf the city and the park, reminiscent of scenes from The Fog. So far the only disturbance was a family of raccoons foraging, stopping their prowling to stare at her like a thief caught in the headlights. Through the trees the occasional duck and Canada goose honked from Lost Lagoon, as if laughing at her cold plight. Vancouver sounds she’d grown to know, having patrolled the park in a cruiser many times before recently graduating to the rank of detective. She sipped from her to-go designer coffee cup and sucked back another drag on her cigarette, hoping the wildlife wouldn’t report the recently outlawed activity. “Pretty soon I’ll have to go out of the city limits just to have a drag.” Exhaling, she realized a good slow smoke was something a non-smoker could never understand. The languorous effects of the sheer senses-numbing inhalation of nicotine was comparable to the heady effects of wine’s more lubricous and seductive aspects during moments of intimacy or pleasure. Sometimes a cigarette was better than sex, she thought, even when you can get it with a decent partner. Which wasn’t often; being a cop and single didn’t exactly add up to a full date calendar. Only the cigarette didn’t help this time. Nearly three a.m. Twenty-some hellish hours since the body of the City’s mayor, Cole Bridge, was found near the memorial to Pauline Johnson in a sheltered glade next to The Teahouse Restaurant. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area behind her where he’d been found brutally butchered, by what forensics knew was a hunting type knife. So far no leads—no clues. His daughter and wife were now known to be missing, but whether they were victims, hostages, or possible perpetrators was still an unknown. The city sat waiting for grim answers as Carol thought the worst and shivered, from the damp but also from her fears sinking in. The more time that elapsed, the greater likelihood the news wouldn’t be good. Still, it was at least peaceful here. The swish of cedar and pine aromas filling the air with an earthy sensuality and saltwater spume gurgling against shore rocks belied the fact that they were actually in the middle of a bustling city. Somewhere out there, on the misty waters, ocean tankers sat like squat walruses dreaming of engorging on salmon runs. Whoever preserved Stanley Park, probably some stuffy old English lord, was a genius. It had become a focal point of beauty, enticing many tourists, and was a major contributor to making Vancouver one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But in this case, the woods definitely had its darker, secluding aspects of malevolence. Her first big case and, while being a detective had its fun moments, she’d already learned that most of her time was to be spent on obs, shivering in the dark. Waiting. It took boring to a whole new level. With the cleanup crew not scheduled until the morning, she'd volunteered to join the graveyard shift police over the thoroughly investigated crime scene in order think over what happened here. Last thing they needed was the dead mayor’s blood pool on the front pages of the tabloids. The two on duty uniformed cops had gone off to grab coffees. Carol yawned and butted out her smoke. Sipping her cooling coffee she tugged the belt of her overcoat tighter, wishing she’d put on another layer. A glance at her watch told her she had another couple of hours here. Lost in the frantic pace of forensics and media, a clue existed, always did—only she hadn’t found it yet. There had to be something they’d overlooked, something she’d missed. Grabbing her flashlight she started toward the Memorial again when a voice cracked the air. “But one can’t keep a watched pot from boiling over forever.” An elderly voice shattered the stillness. Carol jumped at the stark gruffness from the direction of the darkened trail that broke her dulcet meanderings of being at peace. Her right hand instinctively set down the coffee and reached for her gun. Most of the people around the park at this time of night were usually crackheads. Trouble of some sort, anyway. An elderly native man shuffled forward into the dim glow cast into the fog by a nearby lamppost. Leaning heavily on an ornate Orca-headed cane, twin braids of white fire streamed down his back from under an old, outdated Expos baseball cap heavily studded with various pins. A blue-jean jacket and pants that needed washing weeks ago if not pitching in a dumpster, together with a western-style, checkered shirt, completed the ensemble. “Most interesting death.” He hummed and hawed walking around the area, careful not to tread beyond the official yellow tape. Noting that the statement didn’t elicit a response from the detective, other than a disapproving glare, the native man added, “Nice night, if it don’t rain.” His breath rose in white mists, dispersing into the chill of the night, and still eliciting no overly enthusiastic response. “You’re not very chatty. Sea Otter got your tongue or are you bound by those inane legal contracts that says you can’t comment to the public?” What would an elderly native fellow be doing out at this time of night and how’d he sneak up on me? “Look, buddy, this is a crime scene. Detective C. Ainsworth.” She flashed her badge. “No offence, but you need to beat it.” “I know, on both parts,” he grunted, “and none taken. Caught you on the TV.” He turned his gaze back to the night sky. “But I guess rain only matters if you’re not aquatic or amphibious.” He changes subjects in mid-sentence; probably a little mad, touched in the… “Touch the stars, you can, on nights like this.” He waved his cane over his head, even though there wasn’t a single star to be seen in the overcast sky. “Charlie Stillwaters, native ska-ga or, as you white folk affectionately call us, shaman. A term originally meant for Mongolian Healers, but I think, as you can see, I’m not Mongolian, nor even remotely Chinese. Although I do fancy a good egg foo yung. Can’t beat the Chinese for food. You ever wonder what they eat for takeout over there? Shall we go for some Canadian tonight? Ohhh, I’d murder for some back bacon and pancakes smothered in maple syrup.” A disgusted frown crossed his face as he stuck out his tongue in a feigned display of throwing up. “Look old man.” She rose, not in the mood for banter to distract her from deliberations, realizing he was either whacked out on alcohol-laced mouth wash, Ecstasy, or just plain whacked. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m here on police business and would prefer to be alone. It’s been a rough day and tomorrow doesn’t look much brighter. So like I said politely earlier, you need to leave this area.” “Hmmm. No clues then,” he said, turning to stare back at the old trees along the trail, apparently losing interest in Carol. “It’s been written ‘We cannot choose what we are—yet what are we, but the sum of our choices?’” Carol experienced a mental double-take. The eloquent voice didn’t match the image before her of some grubby old hobo. He talked in the slow, clipped native tones, but it was becoming obvious to her that more intelligence resided under that ball cap than the originally estimated two pinches of blue smirf shit. Catching her interest she decided to engage him in conversation. Besides, the park bench and pine trees of the local environment weren’t exactly much company. Even the raccoons had left her. “Yes, I think I’ve heard that quote. Aristotle or Shakespeare?” “No, Rob Grant, co-writer of the Red Dwarf series. Brilliant stuff, English TV, smart comedy too, ‘specially compared to American comedy. The Brits play more on words and make you think, highbrow stuff. However I suppose I should let you go. Busy day and all.” He was flaky, but no dummy. “Yeah, you’re right. Tough day and still no answers.” His words rattled through her head; without her realizing, she’d spilled some of the case out. “Hang on, what made you think of using that quote?” She’d hated philosophy in college, preferring the more direct hands-on courses, like the sciences. “Simple. Someone in your situation can’t be greater than the choices you made to arrive at the sum of your parts to get to this point in your life. In other words, you can't look outside the box if you’re not conscious enough to know you’re stuck in one. Of course, that doesn’t explain the whole synchronicity thing. Great album. By the Police, oddly enough. Good night, Detective.” He started back down the dark trail, leaning on his cane, as the mist began to swallow him into its shifting curtains. What a load of crap. Okay, reserve judgment on the soundly intelligent part, there were some brains there, but the man sounded borderline psycho. More pressing matters. Where to start tomorrow? We haven’t any clues and there isn’t anyone left to check out, at least not until we find the wife and daughter. No one at all. God! And she feared the worst, sensing the wife and child were also here, as their house revealed no-one and the family SUV had been discovered in the parking lot near the memorial. “Only it’s whom or, more precisely, what,” Charlie called out from the shadows edging the light cast by the lampposts. “We have a native saying that when you’re chasing squirrels there’s more than one tree to climb and more than one squirrel to chase. Some just hide in better places, or in their case, trees.” “Then you got any bright ideas, non-shaman shaman man?” Carol shielded her eyes from the glare of the bulb, squinting into the dark, trying to pick out the old man. Weary of his baiting and bantering, suddenly the company of only trees and park benches seemed appealing and sedate. “No, Detective Blinders, but if you know where to look, I’m sure you’ll probably find your killer of these folks. Sorry for wasting your time.” Carol just caught his image highlighted under the bright moon ghosting through the mists and scattering clouds. Carol blinked, swearing as his figure wavered, thinning, blending into the mists as if it wasn’t really there. “Crap!” She rubbed her eyes. “Either too much coffee or not enough sleep. What a nut job. A few poles missing in his teepee...” Retrieving her cup Carol gagged on the now-cold coffee. His words echoed back at her. He’d said folks? She clicked on her flashlight and marched down the trail. “Hang on, old man.”

* * *

Two vans accelerating wildly shatter the serenity cast by the Harley’s beefy growl cruising along the open highway. Its skull-capped rider glances in the mirrors hung on the long-handled chrome bars. Windows darkened with tint; they pull alongside him, one slightly ahead, forcing him closer to the metal guardrail on his left. The roar of a third van gunning its engine behind him sends a lurch into his guts. His Sunday cruise has gone terrifyingly wrong. The lead van accelerates, moves over, and blocks his escape to the front. Another glance in his mirror reveals the one behind is closing the gap fast. He hits the brake, attempting to dodge behind the van on his right before this avenue is blocked too, but the last van is too quick; it swerves into his lane. Four barrels open in a hungry, air gulping roar. “Oh shit.” Reminiscent of starved hyenas chasing down an injured gazelle, the van’s throaty carbs cackling in glee as they close the space between him and freedom on all three sides. Ben tries to hug the guardrail at a hundred clicks an hour. Sparks ignite in a myriad of colours as he contacts the rail, trying to buy even an inch of freedom. Only that inch doesn’t exist in this lifetime as brakes fry on steel and the very air shoots skyward as day vanishes in a haze of GMC obscuring chassis. Metal groans under protest, pain screams its voracious voice, legs crumple backward, bones popping like guitar strings and the raw stench of fuel from rupturing tanks fills his lungs, along with blood and betrayal. Glass shards splatter like neon fireworks and cold asphalt caresses his body with its sandpaper claws, tearing away life and consciousness.

* * *

Ben lurched awake. “Why? Why can’t I get this dream out of my head?” He gulped down water and stared into the shadows cast by the dim nightlight. “Two nights in a row. It’s so bloody real.” Wiping his forehead, Ben realized he’d awoken at the same point last night. Crushed up against the guardrail, body being grated into hamburger. “Why a bike?” He preferred a more luxurious ride, like his BMW, and had never ridden a bike. Hated them, actually. Only two hours to get some decent sleep before his workweek began. Ben yawned and turned off the light, preferring darkness to the wavering shadows. Some psychobabble believers would, he knew, insist this nightmare represented some horrendous past event. Only whose? Because it sure as hell wasn’t his.

* * *

Across town a woman cries as she packs a few belongings, preparing to leave the house, her home, for the last time. Swollen lips throb; she’s had enough from a man who says he loves her but doesn’t know how to show her. Instead he allows his anger to get in the way of explaining his emotions, and reverts to his fists and brute force to exert his will. She wipes away the tears, wincing at the shooting pain from her darkened eye. She stares at the last letter he'd written to her, explaining how he loved “his Dear Yolanda” and would do anything to earn the money to make her happy. It took her years, but she realized he was a dreamer and always would be. Maybe that's why he carried that inane hunting knife in his belt. He never went hunting. She feared that knife. The letter was two days ago. She sobbed, it was so hard giving up. Replacing her sunglasses she zips shut the final case and marches down the stairs to the waiting taxi. “Where to?” The cab driver pretends he doesn’t notice her battered features leaking into his rear-view mirror. He’s learned not to get into things he’s seen too many times before. Tears stream down her face. Outside, the day is pleasant. Children play in sprinklers, lawnmowers hum, and the tang of fresh-cut grass hovers over the edge of quiet suburbia while inside her own world hell drags its razored talons through her heart yet again. Yolanda stares into the street, unable to answer.

* * *

Lightning’s jagged voice shrieks through nerves. Thunder bellows retribution’s rage like Harleys shifting gears into the night. Strings yanked taut holding him begin to snap. In the darkness hyenas cackle in gleeful mirth. Tendons of reality tear away like cobras striking. Larry spun away, experiencing the sickening sensation of falling through unending darkness. He’s flung around like tissue paper in a gale, as the final umbilical cord tethering him to purgatory’s demons recoiled away. Tumbling. Too late, oh so too late, for in hell’s all-consuming hunger even angels die. Betrayal’s stench burned vengeance in his mind like tattoos etched in acid. A crying woman holding her crushed cat, its one eye dangling. Fires erupting within, licking at his soul and all he once held dear. Naked blood of innocents; his own families, spilled. Memories that stopped him from leaving and dragged him back here. The need to exact his revenge on the despicable man who performed the deeds holding him in this time and place. Not to mention the code. The Devil’s Spawn bikers always stuck together, even in retribution. He refused to go, someone had to pay. A final staccato echo of gunfire. He gasped for air, like a drowning man. Heart thumping in response. Guts heaved heavenward. Raw whisky’s reek burned down his throat. Reborn. He could taste again. Through the pounding in his head, Larry fought to focus. Opening his eyes to neon light as urine’s vileness caught in his nostrils and the porcelain-white toilet stared back. He threw up again. Time’s mistress played harsh games with revenge, and to time’s abeyance of his soul. He dry-heaved what little was left of bile and alcohol, wiped his mouth and staggered to the sink. His head throbbed in migrainic pulsing. An unrecognizable reflection glared back from the pockmarked mirrors. Swaying on his feet, he gripped the counter top, trying to gain his bearings as the world spun around and hell slowly vanished into the thrum of pounding background music. A cold splash of water on his face, a couple of deep breaths, before trying a few nervous steps. The pounding in his brain subsiding, Larry headed for the exit. He was back.