To Kill a Ghost

Kirkland was prepared to lock the office after Linox took his leave, but he couldn’t let Linox walk out the door. His buzzing phone alarmed Kirkland. Every half hour the thing went off. He knew it wasn’t an alarm, so who was calling his employee so often.

“Do I need to be worried about that?” Kirkland asked, nodding toward Linox’s pocket.

“I didn’t want to say anything but…” Linox trailed off as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and placed it in Kirkland’s hand. The phone read ‘Dedra’ in all capital letters.

“Who is this?” Kirkland questioned. Linox shrugged his shoulders, and Kirk pressed the answer key.

No one spoke, and for a long moment, no one breathed. White noise drifted in the background on the phone. Kirkland waited thirty seconds before he slammed the phone shut. Within five minutes the phone buzzed again.

How in the world did you get them to call back, Linox thought as he watched his boss hit the answer key again. He watched his boss’s face as he listened to the phone again. The conversation quickly escalated into a one sided argument.

“You know who I am? Really,” Kirkland said with a chuckle.

“She has a father. Dedra has a family,” he growled into the phone.

“That woman has nothing to do with her mother!” His fists balled at his sides.

“Stop calling my associate, and stop looking for my daughter.” His eyes turned into stone. “If you don’t stop, I promise you, I will come after you myself. You should know, that’s a lot more dangerous than you think.” Kirkland slammed the phone shut and rushed to his office.

“Boss, that’s my um…” Linox trailed off as he stood in the doorway. Kirkland threw a disposable phone at him.

“Set it up and call when you get to your mother’s house. I’m keeping this in case they call back.” Kirkland’s knuckles were white, and his cheeks were flushed.

“Is everything all right?” Linox asked. Kirkland shook his head and gripped the phone so tightly; it should have broken in his hands.

“No. No, it is not okay.” He growled his answer as he paced back and forth.

“What’s going…?” Linox started but Kirkland’s icy glared stopped him mid-sentence.

“Don’t! This is not a story for you, just go take care of your business, and get back here as soon as you can.” He ordered. “No one is safe right now.”



Dedra shoved Sam against the wall near his bed. She pressed her body against his. Warmth radiated from him, as did his excitement. “I am eager for,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear, “answers.”

“Roll playing, huh?” Sam breathed into her neck. “I like it.”

“Tell me how he knew where I was, Sammy?” She shoved her fist into his ribs. He groaned.

“I like the abuse too, Love.” He chuckled through the pain.

“Jennings, I am not joking here!” She pushed herself away from his body. “Please, tell me, how he knew where to find me! All I’m asking is how, Sam. I don’t care where he is, I can solve that later, but this is important.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Sam whined.

“Eli Jones. You gave me his photo.” Dedra crossed her arms over her chest. “Does he have eyes on you now? Did he threaten you? What does he want from me?”

“Stop throwing questions at me,” Sam grumbled as he made his way off the wall. He sauntered toward Dedra, but she turned her back on him. “The only think I know about Eli is that he is after some woman. She’s the sister in law of some insane merc. The woman is smart though. She changed her name three or four times, got married and divorced, even caught on a time or two.”

“What’s her name?” Dedra demanded.

“Sarah. Sarah Wilson.” He spun her around by her shoulders. “Why did you really come back here?”

“I told you,” she said as she squirmed under his touch. “I wanted answers.”

“No you didn’t. You came here for something else.” His grin was seductive and she couldn’t stop looking at his lips.

“Don’t do that,” she whispered as he leaned closer.

“Why not?” His lips were almost on hers now.

“Tell me one thing first. Why does your boy want Sarah?” Dedra asked. Her eyes locked onto Sam’s.

“He’s looking for his daughter,” Sam answered before he pressed his mouth against hers.