Waking up the next morning, I half expected the police to be at my door. Instead, I found the morning newspaper. We had a subscription, which the apartment attendants put in front of our door each morning. So, I discovered that Lloyd Childress didn’t get his revenge after I left. The police found him dead from three bullet wounds. However, his tragedy didn’t even make the top paragraph in the article. Instead, the headline screamed about the death of two hoodlums. According to the newspaper reporter, two known criminals tried to escape from Stull Junction. However, justice came after an anonymous tip gave the police a description of their car and license plate number. I couldn’t help but smirk when I read that.

In a way, I felt I owed the last Lane Dagger something for his work on the little black book. Call it karma, justice, or just old-fashioned vengeance. I didn’t plan on losing sleep over my role in helping put the whole thing to rest. Yeah, I’m a hypocrite if I worry about it. Then again, I survived, and they didn’t.

I didn’t mention anything to Adele. I just sat the paper down by the sofa before we had breakfast. Probably Adele would put the dots together and I wasn’t totally sure of her reaction. Any questions that she might come up with could wait.

“Are you going to the office today?” Adele’s question brought me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, I need to speak with Alice. I haven’t talked with her about me changing careers. Plus, I’ll follow up with Judge Seabury while I’m there. Like I said, he should have some information about Lees and the Elder’s.”

“Alright, since you’re doing that, I’m going back to the library today,” she said. “I was thinking about things and your idea about Cora’s ghost. I think I’ll read more on the subject.”

“So, I’m not a total mental case,” I teased her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” she beamed. “But I thought about the fact that Cora Elder and Robert Lees are both spiritualists. Maybe she’s asking you to do something for her from her grave.”

I rubbed my chin at the idea.

She’s pretty accurate about that!

“That’s why I married you,” I declared. “You’re beautiful and smart.”

Adele accepted the compliment with a smile.

“I should start telling you that you’re too good with cliches, but I like it when you say those things and you mean it.”

“Can I ask you a serious question?” Looking at her cheerful expression, I dipped my toe into something that I believed might happen. Actually, it remained more of a hope so far.

“Sure,” she said with a puzzled look.

“If I found a way to leave here on a one-way trip, would you go with me?” I interrupted when I saw her already agreeing.

“Hold it. Let me be more specific. Would you go on that one-way trip with me, even if we didn’t have a dime when we reached the destination?”

“What do you mean? Of course I would,” she replied. Her expression turned to concern. “We’re not in financial trouble, are we? I know I haven’t kept...”

I put my hands up in the air as I interrupted.

“No, no, no, nothing like that, I swear. It’s more of a rhetorical question.” I paused, then tried again. “Think of this question more like a science fiction story. Say you and I could go to someplace that you’ve never been to in the future, but we would have to start all over. Would you do something like that?”

Adele leaned forward on her elbows as one eyebrow rose as she considered my question.

“Yes, I would,” she finally said as she turned serious. “You’re not telling me something.”

Shaking my head, I took her hand.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Please don’t overthink what I’m asking. I really don’t know, and I emphasize this, I really know anything. Sure, after seeing what’s happened to me, I’ve got thoughts, but none of them makes any sense. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking you to help me if I understood this. Sorry that I’m rambling here.”

She seemed to accept what I said.

“You better not run off without me, Lane Dagger. Otherwise, I’ll do the same to you as this ghost,” she said with a wink.

Somehow, I got the impression it wasn’t really a joke.

~~~

As I left the apartment, I heard Adele pick up the ringing phone. It was Jenny Penske, so I waved at Adele as I closed the door. I overheard her surprised reaction to something Jenny said from the hall, but I continued on my way.

Maybe it was better that Jenny broke the news about the dead lawyer to her. After all, I had little doubt that her friend would throw all sorts of speculation into the mix. When I got into my car to drive away, I realized my thinking sounded a lot like a murderer trying to cover my tracks.

At my office, I found Alice going through a pile of folders on her desk. I asked about them and she explained that the short stack represented various cases of potential clients.

“Wait a minute, are you saying these people want to hire me? When did these people show up?” I looked at my hazy outline of a secretary.

“Well, you’ve not been around a lot over the past month. Most are simple ones that you told me to avoid, remember? You used to take all of them. I don’t know why you stopped.”

Curiosity got the best of me, and I asked to see them.

“Oh, my bad. I guess I didn’t realize you were waiting for me,” I said after I apologized.

“My, you’re changing,” she told me. I’m sure there was a smirk on her face if I could see her. “Do you have something else you want to ask me?”

Since I can only guess that she knows something is up with me, I nodded and told her more about my future plans.

“Well, it’s hardly a surprise since you suddenly wanted me to type out these strange stories for you,” she sighed. “To be honest, I think that would be better for you, anyway. You make me worry.”

“But I’m concerned about you,” I explained, scratching my head at the idea.

How can I be worried about someone who’s not real?

“Anyway, I can’t imagine that I can keep this office open. From what I’ve seen so far, I can’t even keep the lights on with the work I’ve done lately.”

Alice laughed and stood from the chair. I see a pile of folders floating in the air coming towards me.

“Mr. Dagger, take those folders into your office and look them over. I saw the hint of excitement in your face when you saw these. Believe it or not, I think you like the possibility of danger. Besides, nothing says that you can’t do both jobs. Figure out what you’re going to do first before you worry about me.”

I took the pile from her and started toward the door, thinking that her assessment might be accurate.

“Say, can you get me Judge Seabury on the telephone?” I asked as I put the folders on my desk. “I’m still needing to fix another problem.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here for you,” my nearly invisible secretary told me.

~~~

Adele hung up the black handset after the long phone call with Jenny and slumped in the chair next to the wall. Her thoughts went over what her friend told her about Lloyd’s death. According to Jenny, two men that he employed shot Childress last night. How Jenny knew that news Adele couldn’t be sure. She told Adele that she had the inside scoop from another friend.

“But that’s not the most interesting part,” Jenny told her with an air of satisfaction. “I’ve heard that someone saw your husband talking to one man the police killed last night.”

Adele immediately defended her husband and told her friend not to spread such a rumor.

“I swear, Jenny. There won’t be a place for you to hide if you slander Lane with one of your rumors. I’ll make sure of it.”

Her friend turned apologetic, but the woman’s smug tone remained until the end of the phone call.

Adele took a deep breath and shook her head as she cleared her mind. The woman felt confident that she had told her such a thing to twist a knife inside of her. Jenny made up rumors and stories to suit her purposes. Plus, she still wanted Adele to divorce Lane.

While Adele didn’t hold any deep feeling for Lloyd, his violent death shook her. On top of that was Jenny’s claim that he had died behind a building that she and Lane went to check out two days ago. If Jenny’s information was correct, did Lane have something to do with the murder?

It must be a coincidence!

“It has to be,” she stated aloud while getting up from the chair.

Adele knew her friend liked to push her buttons. It had been that way since they met. Despite their differences, Adele found comfort in talking with her during the time of her problems with Lane. Over the past few years, she found the calculating and abrasive woman involving herself in Adele’s affairs. Jenny once told Adele that she thought of her as a younger sister. Adele also only had Jenny to call a friend.

But why do I still call her my friend?

When faced with that fact, the woman suddenly thought of Sally Vaugh. Adele enjoyed the short time they spent together in Sacramento, even as they comforted each other. Sally carried a similar calculating nature as Jenny did. But the small blond woman also appeared to understand the suffering that Adele felt over Lane’s condition. The two women found similar interests when they discussed their backgrounds. After another deep breath, Adele looked at her watch, then headed to the bedroom to get her purse. She decided to invite Sally over for drinks later this week.

I need to find another friend!