Modern Sorcery: A Jonathan Shade Novel by Gary Jonas Page B

riot,” I said.
     
    Kelly looked at the dead warrior.   She frowned.   “Clean up your mess.”
     
    “Hey, some of it’s yours.”
     
    She walked toward the stairs without looking back.   “You can clean that up too.”
     

 

     

     

     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     

     
    Kelly and I stood on the roof and stared into the alley where the Town Car idled.   A large, plastic bag sat at my feet.   The warriors were still in the car.
     
    “If you’re going to be able to follow them, they’ll need a reason to go somewhere,” Kelly said.   “On top of that, in a few minutes, they’re going to want to check on their friend.”
     
    “Maybe their friend can help us out a bit.”   I gave the trash bag a light kick, and the contents shifted.
     
    Kelly smiled.   She opened the bag.   “I love the way you think, but just so you know, they may decide to storm the building rather than retreat.”
     
    “I think they’ll call their boss for instructions.”
     
    “Maybe.”
     
    “You don’t sound convinced.”
     
    “I’m not,” Kelly said.
     
    “You have a better idea?”
     
    “Can’t say as I do.”
     
    “So we go with mine.”
     
    Kelly grinned.   “What it lacks in brilliance, it makes up for in fun.”   She was clearly looking forward to this.
     
    “ Fun isn’t the word I’d choose.”
     
    Kelly shrugged.   “You’d better get moving.   I’ll wait until I see you pull around back.”
     
    “Sounds good.”
     
    I left the roof and went downstairs.
     
    Naomi met me in the stairwell.   “I want to go with you,” she said.
     
    “You’re staying with Kelly.”
     
    She started to protest, but I held up a finger and shook my head.   I moved past her into the dojo where Esther stood glaring at me.
     
    “I hate waiting,” Esther said.
     
    “You sound like Naomi.”
     
    “Hey!”
     
    “Sorry, Esther.   I’m not going to strap a typewriter to my back.   I’ll be back for you soon.”
     
    “Wait here, wait there,” she said.   “Being dead has too many disadvantages.”
     
    I left the dojo and hopped into my car.   When I pulled around to the alley, I looked up at the rooftop through my T-top.   I couldn’t see Kelly from where I sat, but I knew she’d seen me.   I didn’t have to wait long for the package to be delivered.
     
    Kelly tossed the Sekutar’s head out, and I watched it drop and plant facefirst on the Lincoln’s windshield.   It was a perfect shot.   The head bounced off and rolled against a Dumpster.
     
    I expected the car doors to open but they didn’t.
     
    Instead, someone rose up through the roof of the Town Car.
     
    The ghost of a man.
     
    He wore a dark cloak over old-style dress clothes—the sort of thing worn by aristocrats back in the seventeenth century.   He didn’t look back toward where I idled at the entrance to the alley.   Instead, he looked at the rooftop and levitated up to check things out.
     
    I couldn’t believe it.   Ghosts shouldn’t be able to levitate.   In my experience, ghosts felt bound to the same rules of gravity as they were in life.   Sure, Esther could walk through walls, but when she walked, she always remained on the floor.   Maybe it was some sort of sense memory, but this ghost actually floated up to the roof.
     
    Unfortunately Kelly couldn’t see him.   I pulled out my cell and dialed her number.   The ghost reached the roof and stared at her.
     
    “They didn’t move,” Kelly said, answering the phone without any sort of greeting.
     
    “One of them did.   A ghost just soared up to the roof, and he’s looking at you as we speak.   Kelly, meet Blake Ravenwood.”
     
    “I thought they couldn’t fly.”
     
    “Evidently we were wrong.”
     
    “Where is he?”
     
    “He went over the edge, so I can’t see him now, but I’m sure he’s still there.   Go inside.”
     
    “Jonathan, he’s a ghost.   He can’t do anything to—”
     
    Next thing I knew, Kelly sailed off the