Dead Sure?: A Paranormal Mystery (9 page)

“I know what you did, and Angela suspects it too.”

Feeling a slight sensation of dread beginning to come over him Charles asked, “What is it you think I did?”

“You skimmed a large amount of sugar off the top from the last robbery, and I’m not talkin’ small potatoes. A little might go unnoticed, but enough spinach to buy a Duesenberg—not even a common flivver.”

“Why are you telling me this Max? I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you would like a share. Better yet, perhaps you would like to blackmail me for a while. Well, am I right, or am I right?” he said with a sarcastic smile.

“You know you’re right. You usually are, Charles. However, this time you went too far. If I share this information with Angela she’ll have you wearing cement shoes.” A bead of sweat was now working its way down the side of Max’s forehead.

Charles got up and walked over to where Max was sitting and waived his pointer finger in Max’s face. “Let me tell you this, no low life loser like you is going to tell me what to do, ever!”

Max reached for his gun and Charles made a play to stop him.

Chapter 11
Friday July 20
th
, 2007
             

The journal

Friday July 20
th
, 2007

It was a muggy Friday morning as Rene parked her car and walked the last several blocks to Mickey’s diner. Mickey’s was a popular place, and getting a close parking space was near to impossible.

She had agreed, although reluctantly, to meet Jack for breakfast. He was so handsome and charming, but it was apparent that all he was looking for was the next score (at least that’s what her woman’s intuition was telling her).

Well, what can it hurt to go and flirt a little? I’ll just take it slow and keep things really light. It figures I go from no boyfriends to having two, and of course they happen to be friends with each other.
Before she could fret anymore, her thoughts returned to another nagging question.
When did my shoes get so dirty?
As she went to put her favorite tennis shoes on earlier that morning, she discovered they were caked in mud. Yet, she had worn them only the day before and hadn’t been anywhere near anything muddy. This in itself might not have been so upsetting; except she also discovered that her car, which she had filled up the night before, was down a quarter tank of gasoline.  It just didn’t make sense.

*    *    *

Walking into the small greasy diner, she spotted Jack sitting at one of the booths. He immediately stood up and walked over to greet her, flashing one of his big charming smiles, the type she knew got him so many girls.
Not this one sister, unuh not that easy.

“Rene, I am so glad to see you. You look like you’re feeling much better.” He leaned in to give her a little kiss on the cheek.

She coyly stepped to the right causing him to come up short. “I am glad to see you too, if you are not going to crash into me or throw things at me,” she said with a laugh.

“Now wait one minute, that’s not fair. We’ve gone out several times with no incidents.”

That was true. They had gone out once to celebrate him getting his new apartment and one other time for coffee. “All right, I guess that’s true enough. So what was so urgent that you had to see me this morning for breakfast? Aren’t you more of a “take a girl to dinner and get lucky ‘kinda guy’?”

“Well, you just think you’re so clever and that you have me all figured out, don’t you?”
Wow, she really does have my number. I am going to have to come up with some new stuff. I love a challenge.
“Look Rene, all kidding aside, I wanted to speak with you this morning about what happened on Wednesday.”

“Why? Was there more to the ghost story than I read in the paper?” she exclaimed excitedly.

“Shh, Rene, please, keep your voice down a little. Yes, there is more to the story. There really was no ghost. Sam and I were just goofing around and things got out of control. I threw the paperweight at him to be funny. Only, I misjudged the throw and it went out the window. Well, the rest you know.”

“Jack, I don’t believe you. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you are lying to me. Besides, why would you make up some crazy ghost story?”

“Sam and I were worried about getting fired for acting so juvenile and injuring someone,” Jack said in a very unconvincing tone. 
I am going to have to rehearse this story more to make people believe it. It just doesn’t sound like something I’d say.

Rene was starting to raise her voice now, and some of the nearby patrons were starting to take notice. “Jack, you strike me as many things, not all good, but a liar is not one of them. Let’s have the truth.”

Jack, noticing other people starting to look their way, began to squirm a little in his seat. Quickly hatching up a new plan, he started to slide out of the booth. “Rene, let’s skip the breakfast and I’ll get us a couple of coffees to go. We can walk and talk someplace more private.”

Rene nodded in agreement as Jack continued his movement towards the front counter.

*    *    *

A few minutes later the two of them were a couple of blocks away. Getting out in the fresh air and sunshine had lightened the mood considerably.

Jack couldn’t help but notice how pretty Rene was, the sunshine highlighting her beautiful blonde hair, which framed a face with a fantastic smile. He really felt a strong connection to her and didn’t want to ruin it by lying.

“Look Rene, I am going to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anyone. You’re right about me lying. It’s not one of my strong suits, nor do I want it to be. I was confronted yesterday by the owner of the company I work for, Steve Yates. He is exceptionally angry about the whole ghost incident. The thing has gotten into the papers and on the nightly news, and caused unwanted attention. All that coverage has resulted in a court order delaying the demolition of the building. He wants things cleared up quickly.”

Jack took a nervous glance around, while continuing to tell his story as the couple walked along.

“I was told point blank to recant my police statement and make this problem go away. Otherwise, Mr. Yates is going to fire me. I can’t afford to lose another job at this point in my career.”

Rene stopped walking, briefly stunned by the revelation. “Why, that slimy bastard, I always knew I didn’t like him, but this really takes the cake. Are you sure you really want to work for him anyway?” She said changing her tone to a softer pitch.

“Want to and need to are two different things entirely. Anyway, I wanted you to hear it from me in case anything about it ends up in the paper.”

Rene looked deeply into Jack’s green eyes, an intensity coming over her face that Jack had not seen before. Usually Rene was all smiles or just calmly laid back. “Jack, what really did happen up in that office?”

Jack grabbed Rene’s elbow gently and urged her to start walking again. It was probably paranoia, but he felt that standing still might allow someone else to hear what was being said. “It’s hard to believe even for me, and I was there. It’s true that at first we were just goofing around. Sam had discovered an old office that was still furnished. He was much more interested in it than I was. He was very serious about looking everything over, including this old painting of a mansion. So, I decided to lighten things up a little and picked up a marble paperweight shaped like a softball to toss at him for a good scare. I got him to jump pretty high,” Jack uttered with a little chuckle. “Only the irony of it all was that I was going to get a big scare too.” Jack jumped slightly as a car horn blasted on the nearby street corner. He looked around anxiously, but saw nothing to raise his suspicions.  As the intensity of his story picked up, so did the pace of their walk.

“Well, anyway, after that I turned to look out the window. The next thing I knew it felt like the room had heated up to a hundred degrees or more. I could feel myself start to sweat almost instantly. I turned back from the windows to look at Sam. The paperweight was floating in the middle of this… I guess you could say there was a black cloud-like apparition. It was almost as if somebody or something was inspecting it. The paperweight was being turned over and over. Sam and I stood riveted in place as much by fear as by curiosity. Suddenly my peripheral vision started to go black. It was like I was looking down a tunnel right at this thing.”

Their walk was clipping along at a fairly wild pace now, and Jack was beginning to sweat. He was telling the story in such detail. Rene felt as if she was living it too; her blue eyes watching his face, hanging on every word that he said.

“Then I am not sure if I heard it or felt it, but I clearly got the message: “Get out now!”  The paperweight came flying at me. Quickly I snapped out of this strange trance, and ducked. It missed me and crashed through the window. At that point Sam and I just ran. It was time to get the hell out of there.”

Jack felt his heart rate race as he finished the last sentence. He stared at Rene, waiting to see what her final reaction to his story would be. He could swear her eyes appeared dark brown and angry, very angry for a moment. Looking again in disbelief, he saw nothing but a wide-eyed expression cross her blue eyes which fixated on him.

“Jack Weston, that is one heck of a stor…”  Before she could finish uttering her sentence the screeching of brakes and the smell of fresh rubber came slicing right at them through the muggy July air. A big red Duesenberg had come to a rather abrupt stop banging the edge of the curb right next to them. The engine of the fabulous convertible rumbled ominously. The morning sun was glinting off the car’s array of shiny chrome accoutrements, most noticeably the spider-like side pipes that crept from under the hood and shook as the car idled powerfully. 

To Jack’s horror, the driver of the car was his boss, Mr. Yates. Jack tried his best to put on a poker face and smile pleasantly.

“Good morning, Jack,” Mr. Yates said with a smile. Then he looked directly at Rene. “Although we have never met, I am assuming you are Rene. You are much prettier in person; the news photos don’t do you justice,” he said smoothly, flashing a large handsome smile.

Jack thought to himself,
this guy can sure play charming when he wants to. I sure am glad his car is so loud. I doubt he heard even the last bit of our conversation. At least I hope not, he’s still smiling.

“Rene, this is my employer, Steve Yates. Steve, you are correct, this is the lady from the news. Rene and I seem to have a habit of bumping into each other, today being no exception,” Jack said, a little too earnestly.

I sure hope he buys that just bumped into each other bullshit. It’s a pretty good lie…there’s a lot of truth to the bumping into each other part.

“Well, I won’t hold you two up any longer. I know Jack has places to be and so do I,” he said casting a serious look in Jack’s direction. “Rene, it was a pleasure to meet you. Somehow I’m sure our paths will cross again.” And with that, the enormous engine of the Duesenberg roared to life as Steve sped off, leaving the smell of raw gasoline hanging in the air.

“Well, he sure seemed to be in a hurry. I don’t think I got to utter a single word during the conversation,” Rene said, feeling a little put off.

“That’s Steve for you.  He has a overwhelming personality.”

“You could say that again, but don’t,” she replied playfully. “That’s quite a unique-looking car he has. You’re a car nut, what kind of car is it?”

“I’m not positive, but I believe it’s a 1929 Duesenberg. The thing is worth a small fortune... not that he can’t afford it. I saw a picture of it in his office the other day.”

“I have seen it around before too. It has been in the parking garage at my workplace several times. I remember because nothing looks quite like it.”

“Yeah, that car inspired that old saying: “it’s a Doozie.” 

“Let’s change directions and start walking that way.” Rene pointed to their left and down a smaller street. “I just realized how close we have walked to the office building I work at, and honestly I am milking another day out of this injury thing. I called in sick today, but I could have gone to work. Aside from getting hit, this has been a nice couple of days off.”

The pair started walking again, slowly now, in the direction Rene had pointed.

A serious look came back over Rene’s face. “So as I was saying before we were interrupted, that was some story you told Jack Weston. I have always believed in things that are not mainstream or can’t be explained, and this is definitely one of the most interesting experiences I have heard. Can you tell me more about what happened once you and Sam began to run?”

Jack thought for a moment, “Well, I could, but as Steve said, I have places to be. So I’ll tell you the rest of the story over dinner tonight. What time should I pick you up?”
Oh that was smooth man, very smooth.
He thought to himself.

“That would be great, except that I already have plans for this evening. Let’s make it Saturday night,” she said with a slight hesitation.
This dating two guys thing could be fun or maybe just a pain.

Jack was dying to know what her plans were. Was it a girl’s night out or was she seeing another guy? But he didn’t dare ask. It was way too early in the relationship. What did he care anyway, it wasn’t like he didn’t see multiple ladies at the same time. Yet there was something special about Rene, something that did leave him feeling some pangs of jealousy.

“All right, Saturday night it is. I sure hope I can still remember the rest of the story by then,” he said teasingly.

*    *    *

Rene was in her apartment getting ready for her date with Sam when the phone rang. She was in the second bedroom trying to find just the right clothes. She turned and walked over to pick it up. The telephone was sitting on a beautiful old desk made of solid cherry. Sure, the desk had some nicks in it, but Rene thought that gave it all the more character. It looked like a dresser with three long drawers running across its width. At the top it had a cover that slanted in. Opening that cover created the desk top and revealed several tiny drawers, and cubby holes for all sorts of small office supplies. The desk had been handed down through her family for generations. Each of the previous owners, including her, had signed the bottom of the desk and dated it.