Page 51 of Shadow Seeking

“I’ll ask them,” I said. I motioned for Dante and Orik to keep an eye on him while I went over to talk to the cops. Luckily, Destiny was there.

“Destiny, talk to me for a moment,” I said.

I filled her in on what we suspected about Kelvin being the one to bomb the SCAC, but also the potential possession.

“He’s not himself, and he’s already halfway over the edge. If I can suggest, you should take him to the psych ward and have them keep a constant supervision on him while you investigate. Take Sarah with you. She can help explain things. He listens to her.”

She frowned. “I might be able to swing it. You know that their secretary Candy died, and another member of the staff is in critical condition?”

I hung my head. “I knew Candy died, but not about the other one. Anyway, we’ll be glad to come in and give you statements of what we’ve found out.”

“Follow us, then, if you would. I’ll talk to my supervisor.” She motioned for the other cops to come over and had a hurried, whispered conference with them. They slowly approached Kelvin while she talked on the phone to someone.

Dante, Orik, and I stood back, beside Sarah.

“What will happen to him?” she asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But if he did bomb the Supe Community Action Council, he’s responsible for at least one death. They can’t let him go, Sarah.”

She leaned toward me, and I could tell she didn’t even realize she was doing so. I put my arm around her shoulder and squeezed. She flashed me a grateful smile.

The next few minutes were hard to watch. The cops moved in to arrest him, and he freaked out. He fought hard and they had to tase him. Sarah stood beside me, crying but not interfering. I suddenly caught another glimpse of her. She was in love with him.

Destiny came over to talk to us. “We’ll take him to the hospital to have him evaluated. Sarah, is it?”

Sarah nodded. “Yes, Sarah Oldpenny.”

“Ms. Oldpenny, if you would accompany us, we could use your insight to help Kelvin.”

Destiny had a way of soothing people in distress, which made her an asset on the force. She was a siren, and could manipulate others’ emotions, but she was one of the good ones and only used her powers to help.

“Do you want us to come with you?” I asked. “Or should we go to the station and make a statement there?”

“Come with me. I’m pretty sure the doctors could use your observations, as well.”

I turned to Sarah. “Would you like to ride with us?”

She nodded, but Destiny interrupted. “I’d rather Sarah goes with us.” To Sarah, she added, “You’re not being detained, not at all, but right now, I think it best if you ride with us.”

I cocked my head, giving Destiny a questioning look.

She shrugged. “Policy,” was all she said.

Still a little taken aback, all I could do was accede and promise that we’d meet them at the hospital.

Lanmyer Hospital hadtwo distinct branches, though both were on the same campus. Lanmyer Medical was for both emergency services, as well as general medical conditions. Lanmyer Psychiatric was focused on mental health and they also maintained a separate building for the criminally insane. The facility had become one of the largest medical complexes around, barring the University of Washington Medical School and Center.

The facility was so large and spread out that it had moving sidewalks inside the building, as well as a shuttle from the farthest areas of the parking lot to the building itself. We parked at the back and waited at the stop for the shuttle. It swung around every fifteen minutes, but we only had to wait five.

As we approached the building, I turned to the others. “I’m not sure how I feel about this. If Kelvin’s possessed, then the doctors won’t be able to do much. We have to make certain he has a Supe doctor, one who’s familiar with issues like possession.”

“Regardless of whether he’s possessed, he’s going to jail for this. Even if they exorcise his brother’s spirit from him, the fact is that it was Kelvin’s body that threw the bomb. At least, that’s what it looks like now.” Orik looked grim. “We may not be ableto come out on top with this one, but we may be able to put Tana’s mind at rest. And that was our original goal.”

“True,” I said. “I got so wrapped up in Kelvin’s issues that I almost forgot…If he did do it, and he isn’t stopped, it’s going to be worse next time because his passenger isn’t going to stop.”

We were headed into the main building to the reception desk. We were directed to the ER, where they would evaluate Kelvin. The doctor would decide whether he should be incarcerated in the regular jail, or the criminal psych ward.

As we rode along the moving sidewalk, the hush of the hospital echoed with an eerie silence. There was an energy to silence that could resonate as loudly as actual sound. And it was hitting me from all sides. The hospital had a tremendous amount of power stored in it—all the healing energy, the illnesses, spirits wandering the halls, forever trapped in limbo. And, over everything, death maintained a daily presence, draining those headed toward the Veil, and taking those ready to cross over.

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