Club 669

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1

I don’t know how long the dead guy had been there. I hadn’t seen him the night before, but I’d been tired and snow had been falling. By the time I’d discovered him laying in the alley on my walk to work, his shoes had been stolen.

From the look of the rest of him, they had probably been expensive.

“Let me guess. Good-looking, right? Tattoo? Alley off Pearl, north of Long?”

“That’s the one.” Yeah, even dead, I’d noticed the guy had been hot, and I’d peeked at the unusual tangle of snakes inked on his forearm as I rummaged through his pockets looking for identification. But if he’d had a wallet, it was long gone, like the shoes.

“That tattoo, is that a gang thing?”

“Nah. Probably one of the eastern covens.” The cop didn’t sound as if he found it particularly interesting, like he couldn’t fetch a coffee without tripping over a dead witch. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen one. “We’ve got a call out to his people. They’ll retrieve the body if he’s important enough.”

“And if he isn’t?” I wasn’t sure why I bothered to ask. The officer didn’t care, and it was brass-balls cold out. It’d be weeks before the weather warmed up enough for it to matter.

“Not your concern. Just stay away from it. Who the f**k knows what those things carry.”

By those things, he wasn’t talking about dead bodies. That was clear enough.

Dropping the phone back on its cradle, I forced the old, rusted booth open again and walked back to look the man over one last time. I had no desire to stick around, yet I was hesitant to leave. But he was way past needing someone to stand guard.

The sun was just peeking through the clouds, and I saw a flash of something in his jacket pocket when it caught the light. I bent down and fished out a thin silver card. A ticket to a concert? Maybe a pass into a club?

Everyday necessities were hard enough to come by. Something so frivolous? I was surprised it hadn’t been swiped along with the shoes. I stared at it a moment, fighting the impulse to pocket it myself, as if Mr. Aki was watching me from behind the dumpster. Employees must strive for perfection in every aspect of their lives. I moved to put it back.

The wail of a siren caused me to jump, and after another moment’s hesitation, I slipped the ticket into my coat.

I stood, checked my watch, and cursed. I was late. Very. I’d spent far too long waiting to speak to an officer. I should never have bothered to make the call.

It seemed no good deed ever went unpunished.

***