Page 52 of Black to Light

Maybe it was even a touch of anticipation I saw in his unfocused eyes.

Then the shot rang out… and Black spoke.

“There! Stop it!”

Morgan paused the recording.

Black walked up to the wall-length monitor

He traced his long fingers over the right-hand corner of the screen.

I hadn’t seen it during the first run-through, but when Black followed the path with his fingers, I pulled the wispy outlines out of the shifting light of the rest of the frame. I’d been so focused on Rucker, on the damage the bullet did to his face and skull, I’d completely missed what Black had seen.

It was a curl of smoke.

“The shooter knew exactly where the cameras were,” Black said. “He was sitting right under them. He likely set up his shot there for that exact reason.”

Morgan re-wound it again, and played it forward at regular speed.

That time, all of us saw it.

The shot rang out. Rucker slammed into the door jamb. And smoke curled up quietly on the edge of the frame right before Lucian collapsed. I didn’t see a gun, or a flash from the muzzle, but Black was right. The killer had perched just behind the camera.

The muzzle of the rifle had been just out of range of the wide-angle lens.

“Where is that?” Black asked, turning to Morgan.

Morgan frowned. He tilted his head, as if thinking.

Then, exhaling a breath, he seemed to make up his mind.

“Come with me,” he said.

The camera was situated on a balcony railing on a different wing of the building.

The angle was relatively high, but the telephoto had been pulled in on the camera aimed at that particular door. Seven other cameras pointed at different parts of the back part of thebuilding and parking lots, and covered four other entrances and exits.

All of us, meaning the security chief, Morgan, plus Black, Nick, and I, leaned over the stone balcony. Wicker had returned to his lab once it was clear he was no longer needed.

The balcony itself was huge, and had been decorated to resemble a small park, with trees in planters, stone benches with cushions, small stone tables, a wall fountain of a god’s head that looked vaguely familiar, outdoor heaters with umbrellas, stone sculptures, palms, flowers. The balcony’s architecture fit the same style, with ridged columns under a flat, stone edge.

Even the cameras had been coated in stone-like casings so they wouldn’t be noticeable from the other side.

“You said your people dusted for fingerprints on the door leading out here, and all of the furniture?” Black asked Morgan.

The tall, wraith-like security chief nodded. “Yes. It’s down in the lab. They were going to run it against all employees.”

“What about the balcony itself?” Nick asked. “And the cameras?”

“Presumably, yes.”

I fought to hold in a scoff.

From Black’s expression, he felt the same, maybe more so. I was still looking at Black’s face when Nick crouched down, peering at the columns just under the cameras.

I saw his nose wrinkle, though it was subtle.

He peered at the columns themselves, examining each one, then glided back to his full height, still holding the umbrella in one hand. Luckily, Morgan hadn’t asked about it, or about the gloves. Or the hat. Or the sunglasses.

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