Echo Book 2

48. Finding Peace

45 minutes later, Zion and I are ready to go again. Malax comes out before we leave on the bikes.

"We found some files about Uhmok. He was born and raised in a town called Emholm. It's about 150 miles in the other direction. But he was raised there 500 years ago. We have no idea if anyone will remember him."

"Do you have a last name?"

"Katah."

Zion gets off the bike. "That's helpful. Load the bikes up again. Faster to use the shuttles at that distance."

Malax gives me a kiss and goes back in. We fly off in the other direction. This town is completely different from the last one. It's deep green everywhere. Even the roads are green. There is an amazing breeze too.

"The whole place is covered in moss of some kind." He points to a house.

"What the hell?"

"It's not abandoned or anything. Just moss everywhere and on everything."

"I think it's keeping the temperature down. It's not near as hot here."

"Could be. Drive slow. This s**t may be slippery."

"Ok." I turn around, and a little kid is looking at my bike. He's probably 7.

"Did you kill my grandpa?"

"No. I'm sorry your grandpa died. What happened?"

"They came out of the sky and killed him."

"I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do it?"

"No. I wasn't part of the throne when that happened. I won't let them do it again. I promise."

He runs and hugs me.

I rub his head. "You're safe with me."

Zion clears his throat. "Have you ever heard the name Katah?"

"No. You can ask my dad." He points to a man standing in his front yard watching us.

"Ok, I will." We go over to the man. "Do you recognize the name Katah?"

"It sounds familiar. Give me a second." He goes in, and a lady comes out.

"You're asking about the Katah's? Why?"

I sigh.

"You give me the truth and I give you the truth."

I rub the boys' hair. "Uhmok Katah was with my sister. She's a queen. Whyther thought he could kill my sister by breaking the bond between her and Uhmok. Whyther killed Uhmok in front of her. She fell when the bond snapped. But she did not die. We are searching for information about him."

"Why?"

"I can't."

"Only one reason I believe you can't go on."

I nod.

"The Katah's were good people. They raised their children here. 2 of them. Uhmok was the oldest. He found his mate young. But they were happy. She was killed in an explosion too soon. The boy had issues after that. It nearly broke him. His mother was one of my best friends. She took him back in and moved to a town called Saltcrest. It's near the ocean on the other side of the continent. We lost contact completely, and I don't know any more than that."

"Do you know Uhmok's sibling's name?"

"Ulmer was killed in a hiking accident when he was 13. Uhmok was all they had left."

My eyes fill up with tears and I shake my head.

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll continue our search in Saltcrest." Zion puts his arm around me and guides me to the shuttle. The brains are putting the bikes back in it.

I sit quietly and try to fight tears. Then we get out again.

"This seems like a normal beach town."

Zion nods. "Never seen 1."

"Neither have I, now that you mention it. But this is what I imagine it would look like."

"I can smell the salt."

"I kind of like it."

"We can ride the bikes here."

We take the coast road and watch people on the beach.

"Is your dragon picking up anything?"

-Dragon?-

-Nothing yet.-

I shake my head. Then I follow him through part of the town. We stop and get some water at a store. This place is hot.

"Are there any dragons around here?"

"You killing them off again?"

"No. We're searching for someone. Last name is Katah."

"There were some Katah's over on the east side. I think they may have moved. Had a big house right by the ocean. I don't think they're dragons though."

I shrug my shoulders. "Still worth checking."

We drive down a road with mansions facing the ocean and my dragon perks up. -Dragon approaching.-

I rev the motor to get his attention. "Dragon close."

He looks around and points at a shuttle. We go over to it and Eriska is staring at the houses. "House shopping?"

"These are gorgeous. The neighbors think we're here to kill everyone though."

"Figuring anything out?" Tobias hands us some lunch.

"Uhmok's younger brother died when he was 13. After his mate died, his parents took him back in and brought him here. The store guy said there were some Katah's that used to live on the east side. We're driving around to see if I sense anything."

Tobias shakes his head. "I don't sense anything. But they were obviously here recently if a human remembered them being here. We'll have to ask more."

Eriska smiles. "They kicked me out. You're riding with Zion now."

"Go get your own bike. This is mine."

"You can share."

"I want to drive."

"You like riding with him. It's only 1 village. I want to see more of it anyway. I am in love with the place."

A man comes out of his house. "Why are you in my driveway?"

"They parked here."

"Do you remember anyone with the last name Katah? They would have lived near here fairly recently. Maybe 20 years or so."

The man chuckles. "They sold the house and moved back to the city 3 years ago. Their boy was something else. Every town has a town drunk but he was next level. Always in trouble for something. Check the police station. I imagine they have the address of where he went. Wanted to make damn sure he didn't come back here."

"What did he do?"

"Always scamming people out of money. Robbing people. Stealing. Breaking into houses and businesses. He would sleep wherever he would pass out. He would do anything to get the money for his next drink or whatever drug he was on at the time. He beat a couple of people to death one night. His parents paid for that to go away. He was a dragon as well. They don't die. I don't know how long he wreaked havoc on this coast. He probably has a record down the whole thing."

"Wonderful."

Tobias nods. "Can we leave the shuttle parked here for a couple of hours? We're going to check a couple of police stations."

"Yea, that's no problem."

"Thank you, sir."

I move over to Zion's bike and put my arms around him. Then we take off again. I rub his shoulders at the stop lights and he relaxes. I do feel safe with him. I just have to keep watch for rogue females trying to take my head off.

We go into the police station. "Welcome, I'm Captain Dan. How can I help you?"

"We're looking for any information you have on the Katah's or specifically Uhmok Katah."

"I have nothing. I've never heard that name." He said it so fast. "Inid, you ever heard the name Katah?"

"Nope." A woman shakes her head and runs away.

"Sorry, we can't help you."

Zion pulls me out. "This might be a challenge."

Eriska nods. "Somebody has paid them off or something."

Tobias sits on the bike. "If Uhmok succeeded in seducing the queen and marked her. Whyther was supposed to make his record go away. It was something like that. That could be what we're looking at. Let's search some other police stations."

We check 2 more with the same outcome. Then we get into a tiny town and pass a building with a cop car parked outside. We circle around and stop.

A bell dings as we walk in. A cop is sitting at a desk with another man sitting across from him. "We wondered when you would get here. Have a seat."

The man stands up. "I'm the retired chief of the Saltcrest police department."

The cop smiles. "And I'm the only officer in this small building. I can't get any wire transfers. I'm not that advanced. So, any wires that went out telling me to delete files, I never received."

The other one nods. "I may have misplaced a few things here. There was a young couple. Young as you kids. Walking down the beach. Uhmok needed money for his drugs. He robbed them. But they didn't have enough money. He beat them to death because of it. Sadly, there wasn't enough evidence against him. Now, I don't know what he did to have Whyther tell us to destroy everything about him. But I couldn't let their memories die like that. Those kids don't deserve to be forgotten."

I lay my head on Zion's shoulder and a tear falls out of my eye.

The cop smiles at me. "I'm on the other side of that. While I agree, those children deserve justice. I see Uhmok as a person. I talked to him many times. Once, I had him locked up here for 2 days. People showed up demanding he be killed for raping a girl." He shakes his head. "The girl was raped while he was here. It was not him. All the bad things were blamed on him. You can't believe them all."

"Do you think he killed those kids?"

"I have no idea. He wasn't here when it happened. That's all I can say about that. But he would talk to me while he was here. He was 17 when he skipped out on a family holiday. He was busy chasing pretty girls. Pretended to be sick, so his parents wouldn't complain. His little brother died on that trip. He blamed himself. He always said he should have been there. Then he lost his mate. He blamed himself for that too. That man had a hell of a story. And so much guilt. I don't doubt why he drank or did the drugs. It would have been hard for anyone. And he was starting to clean up. He quit the drugs. Drinking was another story, but he did slow down. His parents wanted him to get a job and try to be productive."

The other guy nods. "They moved here because of the peace. The ocean. The breeze. They thought he would do well here. He was here a long time before he acted like he was finding peace."

"Nobody around here would hire him though. Too much of a past." The cop hands Tobias a paper. "I think that's what you're searching for."

"Yes, it is, sir. Thank you."

"My pleasure. Good luck on your search. I hope you find what you need."

We get back on the bikes and Tobias shows us the paper.

Utsui and Taika Katah

1982 Garden Lane, Blursall.