To Kill a Ghost

“I need info on Eli Jones, ASAP, Hacker.” Dedra said as she exited her room. Kirkland stood by her window. She knew what he was looking for, and she knew why. However, if she let the same ideas consumer her, none of her work would ever get finished.

“She’s gone.” Linox stated. His hands rubbed his temples as he paced in front of the door. The blinds were raised now. People walked passed the windows as if nothing happened in the past hour to make Dedra have a breakdown or to cause their client to run. “The Wilson woman bolted when I announced that guy was across the street.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t a smart move.” Dedra laughed. Her laugh sounded more strained than usual. “His name is Eli Jones. Sam gave me that info. Find out everything you can.” She took off the sports jacket she wore and donned an old t-shirt.

“You look like you need a shower.” Linox said before moving toward his computer room. “Eli Jones. We got images?”

Dedra threw the sports coat at him and smiled. “If you can stand my stench, there’s an old war photo in the pocket. Also Sam’s. Did you tell him I wasn’t coming to see him again.”

“Nope.” Linox rolled his eyes. “Have fun with your stalker.”

Chills ran down Dedra’s spine. Linox disappeared into his room before Dedra opened the door. She wanted to feel the air on her skin. She reached for her back pocket, but something wasn’t right.

“Hey,” Linox shouted as she reentered the room. “Why did you call me when you were in there with Kirk?”

“I didn’t.” She retorted as she glanced around the room.

“Yes, you did. See…” he trailed off as he pulled out his flip phone and showed her the call.

Her mind whirled with horrors. Who grabbed her phone? Did Sam manage to take it when she led him to the camera for Linox? Had the man in the bomber jacket gotten his hands on it at the bar? Or maybe when she shoved him in the street? Dedra forced herself to calm down. She probably dropped it when she was running, it wasn’t a big deal.

“Can I?” She asked. Linox nodded. Dedra pressed the redial button and the phone rang.

After three rings she heard her own voice say, “Can’t talk now. Leave your order and I’ll get too it.”

She hung up the phone and tried again. Two rings and the same message. Someone was sending her calls to voice mail. “Something is wrong,” she said as she dialed the phone again.

On the first ring a smooth male voice whispered, “I know who you are.” The phone clicked, and Linox’s screen read ‘call ended’.

Dedra’s blood turned to ice in her veins. Her fingers began twitching again. She looked at her partner with wide eyes. “I don’t know who has my phone,” Dedra stated, “but he knows me.”

“He’s obviously too smart to let us trace the call, but maybe I can track your phone?” Linox offered. Dedra nodded.

Someone working for the man has it. Her phone is in the hands of a madman, but Luckily, she kept no identifying information on the device. She went back into her office. Kirkland still stood at her window. The bullet cartridge slid easily into the hilt as she tapped the safety button, and tucked the weapon in the back of her pants. She pulled the t-shirt over the gun before she looked at Kirkland.

“Someone stole my phone.” She stated. Her mind pictured the man in the bomber jacket again. His cold eyes, void of all the emotions she felt, staring at her. He held her captive in more ways than one, and now he held part of her lifeline.

“There is a disposable phone in my office.” Kirkland finally turned away from the window. “You need to keep in touch. I don’t like this Eli guy being around at the same time your man shows up. This isn’t some coincidence, Dedra.”

“I know.” She thought about Sam holding the note to the camera. The new client claimed Eli stalked her, and he showed up/ It wasn’t a coincidence that Eli appeared the same day, almost the same hour, as the man who killed Dedra’s family. “I think Eli is working for him. We need to solve this, but I need a shower and some sleep.” She could feel the dark circles under her eyes deepening.

Kirkland walked to his office, she followed suit. “Take this.” He handed her a touch screen phone. “It’s a track phone, keep in touch, get Skype if you need too. Make sure you are safe.” Kirkland hugged her tightly before he let her go nodding.. “Get some rest, Sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Kirk..” She offered an expression that was supposed to be confident, but it looked more like she was constipated. “I’ll be fine, but can I borrow the bike? Walking alone with those freaks lurking around out there doesn’t seem like a great idea. The bike will get me home faster and safer.”

Kirkland frowned. He never let anyone touch his vintage motorcycle even though Dedra begged more than enough times. The key slid off his key ring easily. “Don’t ruin the one thing I care about more than you,” he said with a serious look. The corners of his mouth turned up in a sheepish grin.

Dedra took the key with a smile of her own. “I’m not making any promises, but it will be a fun afternoon.”

“Are you sure you want to go to your home?” Kirkland asked as he walked her out of his office. “I can give you security access to the house. There’s a gun vault incase anything goes wrong.”

Dedra imagined playing in the vault. She didn’t have to try to hard though. He kept a vault in every apartment they rented. She would never forget the day he put her first gun into her hands.

“Where are we?” Dedra questioned She looked around at the towering cement walls. Glass patricians separated rows of people from targets.

“This is a shooting range. It’s time you learn to fire on something a little harder to hit than the windows of the abandoned building next door.” Kirkland smiled and pulled a solid black gun from his coat pocket. It was smaller than the gun she used at home, but it was just as perfect.

“What do you want me to do?” she questioned. Her eyes lingered on the metal, but she refrained from touching it.

“I want you to hit the red dot as many times as you can. Pretend you’re Robin Hood, Sweetheart, and try to split your arrows in half.” Kirkland took her hand, turned it palm up, and placed the gun there. He closed her fingers around the cool metal before putting headphones over her ears to muffle the sound.

She held the gun like he showed her at home. The gun faced the target. She slowly pulled the trigger. Her bullet hole was four inches off.

“Fix the problem, Sweetheart.” Kirkland stood behind her, a gun of his own in hand, and fired. Dedra watched as he pulled the trigger three times and the bullet went through the center of the target each time.