Chapter Twenty-Five
Jesse checkedover his gun and put it back in its holster. They were drawing closer to the building. He could feel the tangle of the tentacles reaching into his mind. Near the Crowley building, the world seemed grayer.
Alex rubbed his temple. “Is it me, or is this thing getting worse?”
“Not just you,” Jesse murmured. He glanced out at the streets. The sidewalks were completely empty. Even the roads were absent of travelers.
“We need to scope out the surrounding area. See who might be around, before we approach the building,” Bryce replied. “I’ll circle the block. You two keep your eyes open.”
Making the building their focus only intensified the crawling in Jesse’s mind. Absent-mindedly, he put his hand on Bryce’s knee. That tiny tether to the real world helped steady him, kept him from feeling the tentacles.
“You okay, kid?” Jesse asked.
“My locks are holding,” Alex replied.
“After we do this, maybe you can teach me how you do that.”
The building was just a building, as far as Jesse could see. The parking lot was empty of cars, not even the typical construction trucks were around. Combined with the lack of people in the nearby vicinity, Jesse felt as though they’d wandered into a ghost town. Yet, they were in the middle of a city.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” Jesse said.
“Could be worse,” Bryce murmured. “Doesn’t seem like anyone will get caught in the crossfire.”
“Suppose that’s a good thing.” Jesse grinned wryly. “Is it too much to hope that there won’t be any fire?”
Bryce closed his hand over Jesse’s. “I doubt they plan on setting fire to a building they just finished.”
“Did you have to take it so literally? I only meant—”
“I know,” Bryce said. He let go of Jesse so he could park his car. Checking his phone, he said, “Celia and David are on their way.”
“Is that all the backup we’re going to get?” Jesse asked.
“Bonnell will have a team ready to come in after us, but until we know what’s going on—if anything is happening at the moment—then it’s safer to limit the amount of people going in. Celia and David will even remain outside, unless you two want to swap out with them,” Bryce said.
“Not happening,” Jesse said. “I haven’t come this far to sit on the bench.”
Bryce nodded.
They got out of the car. Jesse’s gaze was drawn to the front doors of the building. Cheery signs declared that it would soon be an apartment building. The imagined green landscape stuck out on the concept art used for publicity. It felt entirely false.
There were so many windows. Jesse hunted for any indication someone was watching them, but with ten stories and at least eight windows a floor, there were too many to observe. “Think anyone’s waiting for us?”
“Which way do you think would be lucky?” Alex asked, as Bryce opened the trunk of his car. “Because one means they’re paranoid and extremely prepared, the other means they don’t give a crap and think they’re unstoppable. Frankly, I like the paranoid and prepared. At least there’s usually a chance of talking to them.”
“I’ve only got two sets of kit,” Bryce said.
“Kit?” Jesse came around the end of the vehicle.
“You didn’t think we’d go in totally unprepared, did you?” Alex replied.
Bryce used another key to open the black box. For the most part, Bryce’s kit was average paranormal hunter equipment: flashlights, EMF detectors, two digital voice recorders. Then there was a shotgun, ammo for it, a handgun, also with a box of ammo, and the pile of plastic zip-tie handcuffs.
Jesse plucked out a piece of plastic. “Really? Thought you would have gone with metal ones.”
“Everything we face is either strong enough to snap the metal or can melt it,” Bryce said. “I’m thinking Jesse should take the electronics. We should try to get readings.”
“Fine by me.” Alex tapped his temple. “I already have my greatest weapon.”
