Shade of Pale
Page 23
“Human beings live lives of interlocking destinies. One person touches another, who touches another, who affects the fate of still another. We’re all wrapped up in it, the tangled web of fate, and none can escape.
“The Banshee isn’t so much a master of fate, because I don’t think she can change destiny, but she can manipulate it and place herself at crucial junctures, like waters flowing in a stream that forks, carrying some one way and some the other. She knows what will happen, and she appears at the precise moment that will affect destiny the most.”
Fiona pointed at George. “What were the odds of you stumbling onto the one clue to Bobby’s whereabouts? Then equally improbable was the fact that Bobby would be in the theater when you went to look.”
“A series of unlikely coincidences,” Jukes said. “That’s what O’Malley said.”
Fiona shook her head. “It was more than coincidence; it was fate—fate carefully manipulated by the Banshee, don’t you see? Bobby would be in that theater at some point, and George would have gone in at some point, and at some point Panelli would have been shot, but only the Banshee knew when and how. She simply tipped the first domino over and caused events to fire off at intervals that best suited her plan.
“You could say the series of unlikely coincidences was nothing more than the Banshee’s carefully choreographed dance of destinies.”
George smiled. “I think you guys are cracked.”
“But you saw it with your own eyes.”
George shrugged. “My eyes ain’t that great.”
“George will never admit that anything supernatural exists; it’s not his nature,” Jukes said.
“Damn right it’s not. Everybody thinks I’m a psychic now; it’s terrible. I do good police work, that’s all. Nothing spooky about that. You’d think the newspapers never heard of a successful investigation. If I get hunches, I play ’em. Sometimes it pans out; sometimes it doesn’t. You never hear from those jokers then.”
“Was Bobby the strangler?” Jukes asked.
George nodded. “We had some experts go over his computer, and they turned up some very grisly evidence. Bobby had an extensive business going on the Web, selling digital photos of murder victims. The FBI’s got it now. The trail leads all over the world. There’s no shortage of sickos these days.
“And the guy you thought was Charlie O’Malley was really a terrorist with an outlaw group called the Black Rain. His real name was Padraic O’Connor.
“I got this thing pretty much nailed down, except for everybody thinkin’ I’m a damn soothsayer.”
Jukes said, “Well, George, that’s your fate.”
George nodded. “Yeah, I guess so, but all this supernatural crap is outta my league. Speaking of fate, what does the future hold for you?”
Jukes looked at Fiona. “Fiona and I are getting married. Cathy’s going to be in therapy for a long time. When she’s finished, we’ll take care of her until she’s back on her feet.”
Jukes paused and smiled as if enjoying some private joke. “And then, I’m gonna take some time off and learn to play the drums.”
“The drums?”
“Well, George, you never know.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As usual, there are numerous individuals who aided me, comforted me, guided me, inspired me, taught me, and suckled me in the writing of this novel: Lori Perkins, Natalia Aponte, Peter Rubie, Joel Turtle, Kirk Iventosch, Jay Arafiles, Tananarive Due, Mike Marano, Tina Jens, Barbara Shelley, Ry Kihn, Steve Wright, Alexis Kihn, and the guys at KFOX. God bless ’em all.
About the Author
NBC called Greg Kihn “Rock’s True Renaissance Man.” His career stretches from the dawn of punk and indie rock to the discos of the 1980s to the glory days of MTV. As a pioneer with the legendary Beserkley Records, he helped write the book on revolutionary West Coast rock ’n’ roll.
In the 1990s Greg turned his attention to writing fiction. He published four novels and a handful of short stories in various anthologies, and edited a compilation of original fiction by famous musicians. Horror Show was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1997 by Greg Kihn
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1861-6
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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