As the sound of footsteps faded away, I went back to my flashlight and picked it up. Heading back to the front of the building, I turned off the light and watched through the front door window as the gray car sped away. Still, I can’t relax.

After grabbing my sandwich bag, I hurried through the building and to the back door again. When I exited the building, my flashlight beam found Lloyd Childress lying on the dock. He’s gasping for air, and I see blood covering his chest in three spots. Honestly, I didn’t expect the men to shoot so accurately into the darkness where he stood by the door.

Well, they are killers!

For the first time, I felt sorry for him. Even though he got shot by his own hired guns, I don’t like the idea he’s suffering.

“You’re a son of a bitch,” he wheezed out, then groaned.

I stared at him, wondering if I should care or not. I’ve already decided this place is not a game. Convinced that I’m saving myself, and probably Adele, I still can’t help but wonder. Since I set this scenario up knowing the possibility of his death.

Am I truly this fucked in the head now?

“Maybe you shouldn’t screw with the wrong people,” I finally told him. “I’ll call the cops to get your friends.”

As I walked down the steps from the dock, I heard him cough.

“I’ll stay alive long enough to tell them you did this to me,” he sputtered. “Then, I’ll see you in Hell!”

“Probably so, but you can appreciate the irony of this anyway,” I agreed as I slid my .45 into the holster. Then, I entered the alley to get into my car.

~~~

I drove down 14th Street to a gas station. The attendant in his white uniform came out to greet me with a smile. When I asked for a phone, his smile waned.

“I guess I can get a dollar’s worth of gas,” I sighed as I went into the small building. Yeah, a couple of dollars will fill a tank when it’s 18 cents a gallon.

Picking up the handset from the phone on the counter, I suddenly realized there’s no 911 in this time period. Instead, I dialed zero like I remembered from a movie. A couple of rings later, I spoke with an operator, asking her for the police station. A gruff voice came on the line next, and I told the man I heard shots and saw two men running away from the Potter building. Of course, I was nice enough to give the desk sergeant the license plate number as well. Plus, I told the desk Sargent they might need an ambulance. I figured those two who shot their boss and killed one of the Lane Dagger’s deserved a bit of payback.

After hanging up without leaving my name, the question of the other Lane Dagger’s death left me wondering. I considered the ideas of who killed my predecessors while I watched the man finish cleaning my windshields. The guy also checked my tire pressure. When I drove away, I wondered how my world lost all those interesting perks as part of the normal service.

Lloyd’s statement about hell came to mind as I drove away. Yes, I instigated the whole thing. Still, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. And I know an honest district attorney might decide to put me into jail for a while. Guessing the police could take Lloyd’s word for what happened, I changed my route back to the office. There is no reason to make it easy. I intended to make it difficult to pin things on me. A few phone calls might help me out.

When I got there, I parked in the back and took the back stairs in the building to my office floor. Noticing the lights were off, I pulled out my keys and turned on the light when I entered.

I looked at Alice’s desk, half expecting she was there. My action shows how much I consider her nothing more than a part of this domain, an NPC made up for Cora Elder’s world. It’s kind of creepy if I really thought about it.

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Going into my office, I picked up the phone and gave Adele a call. She picked up on the first ring.

“Lane, is that you?”

“Of course. Who else is calling you at night?” I said playfully.

The worry in her voice made me frown. After a pause, she told me she was concerned.

“No need to feel that way. I’m on my way home soon. Did you get Alice’s call? I’m cleaning up some stuff at the office.”

“Yes, she told me you’d be late. I’ll have something for you to eat when you get home.”

I thanked her, then we said our goodbyes, and I hung up. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back in the chair as it squeaked. Pushing back my fedora, I looked at my unsteady hands with a surreal feeling washing over me. Feeling like a murderer will do that to you.

After taking another deep breath, I called Sally Vaugh.

~~~

Opening the apartment door about a quarter before nine, I found Adele sitting on the couch, listening to the radio. The music filling the room had men and women singing in harmony. I hadn’t heard the song before, but that’s not unusual.

“Did you accomplish what you wanted?” She rose from the sofa.

I nodded and gave her a hug when she came up to me.

“You seem tired,” she told me. “Dinner is warming in the oven.”

“I’m fine, but I’m not really hungry,” I said. “You haven’t been bored, have you?”

Adele sensed a problem; I could tell it in her expression. However, she patted my chest lightly before she wrapped her arms around me.

“Well, it’s been quiet. I missed you.”

“Same here. How did your day go?”

Adele’s face lit up, and she started telling me about her experiences while leading me into the kitchen.

“I called Sally and spoke to her directly. She wants to meet tomorrow, so we’re meeting her for lunch,” she said as she pulled open the oven door. “Oh, I called your office and Alice will remind you to meet us at Michel’s. They have the best French food in the city.”

I nodded, already knowing about the conversation. When I called Sally to let me know if she spotted anyone still following her, she explained about her phone call with Adele.

“Did you get a hold of Lees?” I sensed a need to walk that path very soon.

Frowning, Adele shook her head.

“I’m afraid his servant is quite rude. I barely told him my name, and he said Mr. Lees has no intention of speaking with me.”

The reaction caught my attention.

“Did you mention my name?”

“No, I only told him my name and that I’d like to talk to Mr. Lees about Cora Elder.”

Her expression told me the quick dismissal bothered her. It grated at me as well. When I double checked my little black book, there wasn’t a single reference about Robert Lees or Cora Elder. To me, that showed the author of the black book didn’t know about them or he didn’t want to leave evidence of what he knew.

If he was brought in like me, wouldn’t he mention Cora?

Adele offered me the plate as I considered the question. I shook my head. With a disappointed frown, she covered a metal top before putting it in the refrigerator.

“Say, I have an idea. Why don’t we talk with Judge Seabury? He might give us some ideas.” I said while I enjoyed the view of her bending over at the refrigerator.

“Do you think that he’d be interested?”

“Well, I say we go with the idea that you’re writing a script for a radio program about the city’s history and the Elders,” I continued. “Heck, with the Seabury being friends with the mayor, I’m sure he’ll be fine with opening doors for us.”

Adele nodded at the idea, but instead of excitement, her expression grew serious.

“Why won’t you explain more about why you think it’s Cora Elder’s ghost? I feel you’re not telling me everything.”

As much as I wanted to avoid details, I decided to give her some of the truth. Providing a brief account of my experience in the hospital with Miss Wonderful, I watched her reaction. Obviously, my version came without the demons. I had to admit she took it well. Adele regarded the evidence thoughtfully before reminding me I was on painkillers at the time. While I agreed with her, I brought up my two painful bleeding experiences that she witnessed.

“Something supernatural happened,” I said. “So, unless we’re all mental cases, something strange involving Cora Elder is going on, which involves me bleeding when I try to leave.”

I just can’t tell you everything!

“Heck, if you can tell me she’s not a ghost, I’m willing to listen. I just don’t have another answer,” I lied.

She got a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water as I watched her mulling over my experience. My wife pulled a bottle of aspirin from the drawer, spilling out two pills. She downed them with the water.

“This whole thing is so frustrating. I can’t understand why this is happening to you.”

Her frustrated tone made me happy even if it sounds crappy. It’s nice to have someone who cares. I came up behind Adele and wrapped my arms around her.

“Who knows? But don’t keep worrying yourself over it. We’ll figure it out.”

That’s when we heard a news broadcast on the radio about a shooting down on 14th Street. According to the announcer, the police are looking for a gray car with two men.

“Oh, that’s near where we went yesterday.” Adele commented on the news.

“It sounds like that area is too dangerous for us to rent that building,” I said without a trace of irony.

Yeah, I’m going to hell!