The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Read Free

morning and it was expected to be
another wet day in the city. It had rained off and on for nearly
six days in a row and the weathermen were predicting a lot more of
the wet stuff before the city could dry itself off.
    Lazarus was reading about a
series of brutal slayings that took place in the downtown area,
several of which had been attributed to men working in the service
to The Monster. The so-called Monster was someone that had yet to
cross paths with Lazarus but from all that he’d heard, The Monster
was an increasingly powerful figure in the Sovereign
underworld.
    "Good morning, Samantha. Is
there trouble?" Lazarus said these things without looking up from
his paper and he stopped the pretty young Miss Grace in her
tracks.
    Regaining her composure,
Samantha smoothed out her skirt and stepped up close to her
employer. "It always throws me for a loop how you do that. I was
trying to be quiet that time."
    "You would have
successfully snuck up on almost anyone on earth," Lazarus said,
folding up the newspaper and tossing it onto a nearby
tabletop.
    "But not you."
    A faint ghost of a smile
appeared on Gray’s lips but it vanished so quickly that Samantha
wasn’t sure it had really been there at all. "You were coming to
tell me about the gentleman in the rain slicker."
    Samantha crossed her arms
and tilted her head slightly. "How in the world did you know
that?"
    "The window. I was standing
in front of it and saw a man approaching our building before I
started reading the paper. He looked appropriately dressed for the
weather."
    "His name is Peter Scanlon
and he says it’s urgent. Something about a missing
girl."
    "Has he tried the
police?"
    "Yes. But they think he
should be sent to the loony bin, apparently."
    "And why is
that?"
    "The girl he’s looking for
– she has glowing eyes."
     
    ***
     
    Peter Scanlon was on the
first floor, in a small room set aside for potential clients. Its
walls were painted a soothing shade of blue and a fresh arrangement
of flowers was in a vase by the door. Morgan Watts was keeping
Scanlon company, leaning against one of the walls and watching the
little man fidget nervously. Scanlon had refused to give up his
rain slicker upon entering, preferring to keep it on. He was
slightly paunchy in the way that middle-aged men tend to get and
his head was covered by a few thin wisps of hair, combed over in a
vain attempt at maintaining the semblance of youth. He wore thick
glasses and was constantly pushing them up the bridge of his
nose.
    "Sure you don’t want some
coffee, buddy?"
    Scanlon frowned and shook
his head. "I told you I didn’t. Why do you keep asking me
that?"
    "You’re acting more nervous
than a bride on her wedding night. If the coffee won’t settle you,
I have some stronger stuff in the back."
    Scanlon seemed to be
considering the offer when the door opened and Gray stepped in.
Samantha was right behind him and she glanced quickly at Morgan,
shaking her head. Morgan smirked, knowing what it meant: she’d bet
him three dollars that she’d be able to sneak up on Gray this
time.
    Gray pulled up a chair and
sat down across from Scanlon, ignoring the slightly fearful look
that he received. Gray’s eyes were mismatched: one was emerald
green, the other dusky brown. They seemed to burn with some sort of
awful inner fire, as if there was a bottomless well of fury lurking
within his placid expression. "Tell me why you’re here, Mr.
Scanlon."
    "Didn’t the girl tell
you?"
    "Miss Grace told me some of
it but I’d like to hear it from you, in your own words."
    "I have money," Scanlon
began but he stopped when Gray’s eyes narrowed ever so
slightly.
    "We can discuss my fee at a
later time. Right now, I’m concerned only with the reasons behind
your visit."
    Scanlon nodded, looking
away. Without having the full force of Gray’s stare on him, he
seemed to relax. After taking a deep breath, he pushed his glasses
up the bridge of his nose and began speaking in low and