To Kill a Ghost

Kirkland paced in front of the drawn curtains and lowered blinds. Both of his only team members were out there with those demons lurking. He didn’t have the heart to tell Dedra that he knew the man she described, or at least he knew a man that matched her description. He made Dedra go out with partners like Linox because of what happened to him. Jake saved her once, but she never hit the low that Kirkland or the man following her reached.

“Wes, we can’t. Not this time.” Kirkland growled. He watched the woman leaning over her dead husband. Kirkland and Wesley followed the couple for almost a year. Her husband wasn’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t the target.

“We already killed the wrong guy. This is necessary,” the man’s voice was a cold as ice. No emotions came from him as he lay still beside Kirkland. His long range rifle cocked again as he stared down the scope.

“His partner, James Santos, is coming.” Kirkland growled. “Shoot him before he enters and let’s get out of here.” He moved his eyes out of his scope and watched as Wesley’s finger wrapped around the trigger. His aim was nowhere near James. “Wes!”

The man didn’t move. He never acknowledged Kirkland’s objections although the man argued more than once and almost too loudly. Kirkland grabbed his scope watching, waiting for what was coming next. He wanted to call someone, but there was no one to call now. If he tried to divert the attention to a fake phone call Wes might kill him. The man hadn’t been right lately.

“Please, Wes.” Kirkland whispered.

“Two birds, one stone,” Wesley whispered. The woman opened the door almost as if on cue. Wes’s calloused finger squeezed the trigger and blood splattered the walls and hallway as two people hit the floor.

“What the fuck have you done?”

He didn’t care who died, and Kirkland couldn’t live like that. He still had half a heart and he didn’t want to let it go. His orders were set in stone, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t quit. They could always find another dime a dozen, teenaged idiot to step into his shoes for a few years. They would figure out that this wasn’t some fun video game soon enough.

No, Kirkland did what he had to do. He walked away from the only partner he’d ever had, and started over. His family didn’t trust him because of the lying. He had nowhere to go, but that train was waiting. The train and Jane Callahan were all he needed to forget the past, forget all he’d seen and start over. He lost Jane though, and the train eventually stopped running.

Kirkland settled for a life, but Wesley Morgan still haunted his every thought and nightmare. It wasn’t until Dedra was fifteen that he began suspecting Wesley. He saw his old friend’s face around every corner, and Kirk hated to admit it, she even looked like Wes. Her hair was the same color, they had the same nose, and later, she learned how to shoot like him. No one could fire a long range rifle quite like Wesley. No one until his daughter came along.

“You took the woman I wanted to spend my life with,” Kirkland whispered in the large room, “don’t take my daughter away from me too.”

He could almost hear Wes’s voice in his head as the automatic response popped into his mind. “She’s not yours, Old Kirk. Dedra is my daughter.”

Kirkland had been there for every scrapped knee, every missed shot, every heartbreak. Hell, he’d even saved her life twice. Yes, it was his fault, but still he saved her. She was his… Dedra was all he had left.

Her laugh was musical and it reminded him so much of her mother. He watched her spin in front of the mirror. The eight year old hated the dresses Tanya wanted her to wear, so he bought her a few pair of black jeans and a real leather jacket. It was just like his, midnight blue with black trimming.

“Come here, Sweetheart. Let’s see how this fits.” He helped her put her arms through the heavy sleeves. She frown beneath its way, but smiled at her reflection.

“I love it,” she answered with a sigh. “What do you think?”

Kirkland held up an old picture frame that she’d managed to drag around all these years next to her face. His smile spread wide across his face. “I think you are as beautiful as your mother,” he whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

“Really?” She cried. Tears swelled in her eyes. He nodded. “Go take your new clothes off now and get ready for bath time. Tanya will be there to help you while I clean up the dishes, Okay?”

“I don’t need help,” She whined.

“Just in case,” He laughed.

Dedra followed his orders to a tee while Tanya pouted beside the sink. “Why do you have to do that to me?” She barked. “I try so hard with that girl and then you undermine me!”

“She’s lost so much. Can’t you let her dress the way she wants?” Kirkland sighed as he began running water in the sink. “Would you want some lady dressing you after you lost your mother?”

“It didn’t happen yesterday!” Tanya growled. “And I don’t like you calling that woman beautiful. You didn’t even know her.”

Kirkland shrugged and put his dry hand through his hair. He never said a word to or looked at his wife. “You didn’t know her, did you?” Tanya growled.

“That’s the woman who stood me up the day I met you.” He finally admitted.

“Why would you bring her daughter into my house, Kirkland?!” Tanya hit punched his chest, but he barely felt it. “Tell me why!”

“Because I wanted to have a piece of Jane! Just a little piece of her, because…”

“Why, Kirk?” Tanya cried.

“Because I loved her. I fell in love with her for those two hours on the train.”

Tanya didn’t speak another word as she stormed to the bathroom. Kirkland sighed as he finished washing the dishes. Half an hour later, no noise came from the bathroom. He walked to the door and heard muffled sobbing.

“Tanya,” he called. The door lock clicked into place. “Tanya?”

Dedra screamed once. Kirkland’s foot went through the door. Tanya scurried back away from the little girl who sobbed in a bathtub full of her own blood. Kirkland ran for the phone, dialing 9-1-1 as he tried to stop the bleeding and Dedra’s crying.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetheart. This isn’t your fault. It won’t happen again,” he promised.

“I want her gone now,” Tanya growled.

“You can get the fuck out of my house now.” Kirkland growled at her.

“I should have ended our marriage then.” He whispered to himself. “But I loved her too.”