The Adventures of Lazarus Gray (3 page)

Scanlon licked his lips.
"I’ll take that drink now, if you don’t mind. Water will
do."

Morgan sprang into action,
leaving the room and returning a moment later with a glass full of
tap water. "There you go," he said with a grin.

Scanlon downed the drink in
two quick sips. He waved away Morgan when the thin man reached for
the glass to offer a refill. "I was going to kiss her anyway. Even
with the glowing eyes. I mean, I know it sounds awful, but the
chance to hold a girl like that overwhelmed any fears I had about
her eyes."

"And what happened?" Gray
prompted.

"I don’t know. I blacked
out or something. The next thing I knew, I was lying on my back,
with a tingling in my forehead. Two men in suits were dragging the
girl away from me. They were shoving her into the backseat of a
sedan. A third man was behind the wheel. She was screaming for me
to help her but I couldn’t think straight. By the time I was on my
feet, they were gone, the car turning the corner at the end of the
street."

Morgan looked at Gray. "One
of those boys must have clocked him from behind. That’s why he
can’t remember anything. And his head was buzzing from a
concussion."

Lazarus stroked his chin
but said nothing.

Scanlon rapped his knuckles
on the table. "I do remember something else, though. I memorized
the license plate number of that car. It was 30-T46."

"That could prove most
useful," Gray said. He didn’t bother writing the number down and
his aides weren’t surprised. His mind was like a steel trap,
capable of storing even the most trivial of data. "Did you receive
medical treatment after this event?"

"I did. The docs at the
hospital said I was fine. No trace of a concussion," he added,
looking directly at Morgan. "But they did say something really
strange. They said I was in a dangerous state of dehydration. I
think they thought I was nuts when I told them that was impossible.
Of course, the looks I got from the cops were even worse. I told
them everything, thinking some of it might be important, but as
soon I got to those phantom eyes of hers, they tuned me
out."

"Phantom eyes," Gray
repeated. "An interesting turn of phrase." He stood up and made for
the door, speaking over his shoulder. "I’ll look into this. Please
leave your address and a phone number where you can be reached with
my associates."

Scanlon rose, looking
surprised but pleased. "I really hope he can find her," he said to
Samantha. "She was so pretty and she said I made her feel safe. I
can’t stop feeling guilty over letting those brutes take her
away."

Samantha took him by the
elbow. "If there’s anyone in Sovereign City who can find her, it’s
Mr. Gray. You can count on that."

Morgan watched the pretty
young girl lead the man from the room, soothing him with her
confidence. He was glad she felt so positive about this one because
he was anything but. The whole story sounded crazy, from the part
where a pretty girl would put the moves on a guy like Scanlon to
the part where her eyes turned into glowing spotlights. Still, if
the boss thought there was something to it, Morgan would jump in
with both feet. Lazarus Gray had earned that level of trust and
then some.

***

The leader of Assistance
Unlimited rode the elevator to the third floor. Only one lift in
the entire building had access to his private quarters and that one
required a key to operate. Once he was alone in his quarters, Gray
stepped into his bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. As
always, the face that stared back at him was virtually a
stranger’s. He recognized the contours of the features from having
lived with him the past eighteen months but he still lacked a
connection to them. It was like he was living in someone else’s
body.

Phantom eyes, Scanlon had
said. Something about those words seemed to trigger a residual
memory in Gray, sparking things that he had forgotten until this
day. They were images from another life, from before he’d woken on
the beach.

He was in a temple in
Tibet, hiding in the shadows. A nude young girl was bound to an
altar, her screams stifled by a strip of cloth jammed into her
mouth. Standing in a semicircle around her were six men, dressed in
dark robes. One of them wore a ram’s skull over his head, its horns
curling to the sky. Two burning braziers were the only illumination
in the room and the light danced off the curved blade the man in
the horned helm held over the girl. The blade was raised and in
that moment, Lazarus thought that the man’s eyes had taken on a
strange cast, as if they were glowing from within. It was like some
dread phantasm had entered the man’s body and the only sign of it
was through those eyes, the portals to his soul.

Why had he been there? Was
he taking part in this awful ceremony? Or was he there to stop it?
He didn’t remember what became of the girl but he felt certain she
was dead now.

Lazarus shook away the
memory, suddenly feeling damp with sweat. "Who am I?" he asked
aloud.

As always, there was no
answer.

Chapter III

A Trail of Blood

"I’ll be damned if I know
why a man like Gray would hire a chink."

"Keep your voice down. He
might hear you."

Eun Jiwon maintained a
forced look of placidity but he was quite aware of every word that
was being said. The two female file clerks were in an adjoining
room, looking up the information he’d requested. He was dressed
smartly in a dark suit, white shirt and tie. With some people, it
helped to appear as Western as possible. For others, though, it
only accentuated the fact that he was a foreigner.

The woman who had called
him by the racial slur returned with a slip of paper in her hand.
She gazed at him from over her horn-rimmed glasses and the set of
her lips made it appear she had just taken a bite of a sour apple.
"I was able to find out who that license plate belongs to," she
began. "But I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for verification
that you’re getting this for Mr. Gray. We don’t give this sort of
thing out to just anyone."

Eun’s eyes must have
betrayed his irritation because the woman drew back slightly. "I
gave you the signed request from Lazarus. If that’s not good enough
for you, perhaps you should pick up the phone and call him? I’m
sure he’s not doing anything more important right now than talking
to a filing clerk."

The stinging rebuke had the
intended effect and the woman simply shoved the paper at Eun,
quickly turning away with a harrumph. Eun looked at the words
printed on the sheet, identifying the owner of the car as a
Jonathan Nero. He tapped the name quickly. "Are you sure about
this?"

The woman looked back at
him, disdain pouring from her. "Quite. I may only be a filing
clerk, but I know how to look things up. Or do you need me to read
it for you? I know some of you boys have trouble with
English."

Eun bit back the reply that
threatened to erupt from him. He could speak and write fluently,
almost undoubtedly much more impressively than this woman. But he
knew that Mr. Gray would be upset with him if he made a scene. He
simply wrote down all the information that was on the paper and
left the original on the counter. He hurried from city hall,
offering a few brief nods of his head to the people he recognized
in passing. Working for Lazarus Gray meant that Eun often came into
contact with the people of power in Sovereign City. This was both
good and bad. For every one honest cop or upstanding city
councilman, there were three more that were crooked.

Eun walked to a black
roadster parked outside and slid easily into the passenger side
seat. Gray was behind the wheel, looking as still and quiet as a
statue. "The car belongs to Jonathan Nero."

If Eun had been expecting
his employer to show surprise, he was disappointed. Gray simply
nodded, his eyes narrowing only slightly. Nero was a very wealthy
man, owning a large number of tenement buildings in the city. By
all rights, he should have had most of his real estate condemned.
But being one of the chief contributors to the mayor’s coffers
never hurt.

"We should go and talk to
him," Gray said, shifting the car into drive. He pulled out onto
the streets and began directing his vehicle smoothly through the
traffic. It was midday, just a few hours since Scanlon had visited
Assistance Unlimited. The streets were glistening with wetness,
evidence of a shower that had just passed through. Thick clouds of
pollution hung over the city, combining with the rain to evoke
memories of London in Gray’s mind. He didn’t recall when he’d
visited the city but he was certain that he had. A vague ache in
his heart made him think that he had lost someone there.

"Chief?"

Gray realized that Eun had
been waiting for him to respond to something. "Sorry. My mind was
wandering."

"Thinking about the
case?"

"Yes," Gray said, thinking
once again how easily lies sometimes came to him. "What were you
saying?"

"I’m not sure it’s wise to
just drop in on a man like Nero. There are already folks who think
you’re given too much freedom to move about. If Nero thinks you’re
pressuring him, he could go to the mayor and have the screws
tightened on you."

"I’m not afraid of
that."

Eun looked out his window
and waited a moment before speaking again. "What does scare you,
Chief?"

"What do you
mean?"

"We’ve all heard you cry
out at night, like you’re having the worst kind of nightmares.
Samantha and Morgan both say we shouldn’t mention it, that you’re
entitled to your privacy. But I think we’re family now, whether we
want to admit it or not. And if something’s eating away at you, we
should know about it. So we can help make it better."

Gray slowed the car to a
stop in front of a house that could only be described as a mansion.
A large stone privacy fence surrounded the property with wrought
iron gates preventing unwanted access. "Eun, I appreciate what
you’re saying. But there are reasons why I keep certain things to
myself."

"Like anything to do with
your past? None of us know where you come from or what you did
before you opened up Assistance Unlimited. It’s strange sometimes,
realizing how little we know about you."

"Do you trust
me?"

Eun turned to stare at
Gray. "Of course I do. With my life."

"Then allow me this. When I
feel I can tell you more, I will. I’m not deliberately keeping
things from you. To be honest, you know almost as much about me as
I do. Lazarus Gray is probably not my name."

"I don’t
understand."

"I’m an amnesiac. I woke up
here in Sovereign City back in ’33."

"Why didn’t you tell
us?"

"I’m not sure. I seem to
instinctively try to limit how much others know about me. One
reason for my attempts at staying in the public eye was to draw out
anyone who might know something about me." Gray hesitated. "Let’s
keep this between us for now."

"You don’t want me to
mention it to the others?"

"I’d prefer you didn’t.
It’s not a matter of trust. It’s... I’m not sure what it is. But I
feel it’s better to keep the truth about me as quiet as
possible."

Eun frowned, not liking the
idea of keeping secrets from his friends. But he felt honored that
Gray had shared this with him and so he simply nodded, agreeing to
the request.

Together, the two men
exited the vehicle and approached the gate. Before they reached it,
a broad-shouldered man in a dark suit appeared on the other side. A
bulge in his jacket made it clear that he was armed and something
about his manner indicated he wouldn’t hesitate to use his
weapon.

"Can I help you gentlemen?"
he asked, in a voice that was a little higher than would have been
expected.

"My name’s Lazarus Gray. I
need to speak to Mr. Nero."

"About what?"

"That’s private business
between he and I."

"Mr. Nero’s not seeing
anybody today." The man adjusted his coat and seemed disturbed by
something. "You can leave your card if you want."

Gray’s eyes narrowed,
watching the man closely. He was an expert at analyzing body
language and he was picking up telltale signs that this brute was
not only hiding something, he was afraid. The rapid blinking, the
slight hint of perspiration on the upper lip and the fidgeting with
his coat all added together as evidence. "Mr. Nero is here, isn’t
he?"

"Yeah but like I said, he’s
not seeing anyone." The front door of the house opened then and a
second man emerged. He was slender and sported a blond moustache.
In his left hand, he was clutching a black medical bag.

"Louie!" the doctor yelled.
"We need to talk."

"Wait here," Louie said,
turning his back on Gray so he could find out what the second man
wanted.

Lazarus sprang into action.
He took one step back and then flung himself at the gate, latching
on with a steely grip. He pulled himself up and over quickly,
dropping to his feet before the men on the other side of the gate
had even realized what was happening. Louie spun about and muttered
a curse, raising a fist. Gray caught it in midair and, in an
amazing display of strength, applied so much pressure that the big
man fell to one knee, groaning.