Dead Sure?: A Paranormal Mystery (41 page)

“Sure, you’re the shrink; let’s get this thing over with.”  Jack reached down, touching the utility knife case still strapped to his right side from work.
I may just need this if things turn ugly.

The car slowed just slightly before taking the corner from Hennepin Ave onto West River Parkway and then accelerated rapidly, the old Washburn grain elevator looming in the distance.

Neither Jack nor Shelby noticed the old wreck of a car that had been tailing them for some time. Ron was pleased with himself for doing a superb job of keeping a discreet distance.  He was loath to admit to himself that most of that distance was accidental, based on his car’s inability to keep up. The engine continued to voice its protest as he turned onto the parkway, where he quickly noticed his target pulling away at an alarming rate.

“We’re almost there now, remember Jack, just follow my lead and play along, everything is going to turn out fine.” Shelby hazarded Jack a quick glance with a small smile meant to be reassuring.

As her gaze returned to the road in front of her, a woman appeared out of nowhere not more than twenty-five feet in front of the car. Shelby didn’t have time to comprehend that something about the figure wasn’t quite right, as she planted her foot to the brake, cranking the wheel hard left in an attempt to avoid running the specter down.

Jack couldn’t help but think he’d seen the visage before. She was strikingly beautiful and bore a strong resemblance to Shelby. The woman seemed to have an almost luminous quality about her.

The car lurched left, the tires losing their bite on the roadway. Shelby frantically tried to counter-steer, however, the car just got more rambunctious before careening off the road past the point of no return.

Jack watched in horror as the side of the car slid directly for the spot where the woman had been standing before starting its journey to the river.

The black Cobra sailed over an embankment, metal axles snapping like toothpicks as the car leapt into the air and was reintroduced to the ground. From there the vehicle hit some other obstruction, causing the momentum to carry the machine further down the hill sideways before melding the driver’s side into a u shape around a large oak tree.

Jack sat there bewildered, his body aching. Before his recent move to Minnesota, he had never been in a car crash and now within a month he’d been involved in two serious crashes. His brain was moving in and out of a fog as he tried to piece together what had just happened and where he was.

Glancing to the right up the hill, he saw the mysterious woman again. The apparition was just standing there looking down at them. A cruel smile crossed her face before the image disappeared. Jack could swear he saw his boss Ron standing in its place.

Ron was coming down towards the car now. He was yelling something. It sounded like, “Are you okay?” Jack’s ears were still ringing from the deafening noise the vehicle had made on the way to its final resting place.

More of his senses flooding back, Jack reeled to view Shelby slumped over the mahogany steering wheel. Blood was matted and caking in her shiny black hair, and abrasions were evident on the side of her face and arms. “Shelby, can you hear me?” he yelled, unable to hear himself properly.

There was no response to his query. Gently, he pulled her back away from the wheel. Her forehead was split wide open; a large gash with blood continuing to poor out of the cut ran across her brow, and the crimson liquid spilled down her face. There was so much blood it was unclear if it was all from the forehead wound or actually coming out of her eye sockets.

Jack began to reach for his cell phone, when he felt a firm grip around his wrist. Turning his attention away from Shelby and looking up, he saw Ron glaring down at him.

Jack tried to pull his wrist away, causing the vise-like grip to tighten to the point that he could feel the bones grinding together.

“That really won’t be necessary,” Ron said sternly. “She’ll be just fine, and if she isn’t, oh well. You should be more concerned about your smart ass,” he finished, leveling a gun at Jack with his free hand.

Still shouting, Jack answered back, “Ron, I know we’ve had some differences but what’s going on here?”

“I don’t know nor do I care to know. Mr. Yates wants to see you, and apparently you have been disregarding his request. Now get out of the fucking car slowly!”

Jack observed that Ron’s disposition seemed to be going from bad to worse. He sat there stunned for the time being, trying to figure out what the best course of action was. Slowly, he began to speak, “Ron, I really think that…” before he could say another word, Jack was shocked into silence. Up the ravine behind Ron, the specter of the woman he had seen early had just reappeared, the intensity of her luminescence growing by the second, her form becoming more solid yet still glowing. Gaping wide mouthed at her for what seemed like an eternity, Jack watched as she slowly put her pointer finger up to her ruby red lips in a shushing motion.

Ron growled at Jack again, “I don’t have all night, get your ass…” before he could finish his sentence the warm night air turned into a bitter cold wind that came whipping down the embankment with a sudden intense fury.

The power hit Ron full force in the back like a freight train, lifting him up and knocking him forward into the car, his legs splayed across Jack’s lap and his chest hit Shelby’s head, driving the wind out of his lungs. Ron’s arms, outstretched in a last ditch effort to protect himself, slammed against the top of the driver’s door. The fingers in his right hand slackened, losing the grip on his gun. The firearm went clattering down against the door panel before bouncing off into the darkness.

Jack was confused but his brain registered that this was exactly the break he needed. Without thinking, Jack twisted towards Ron, grabbing the thinning hair on the back of his head. With several solid banging motions, he slammed Ron’s forehead repeatedly against the top lip of the driver’s door.  There was only the slightest resistance before Ron’s body went limp.

In a daze Jack climbed out of the car and started to walk up the hill. He felt like he was in a fog, even though his mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute.
Do I get help, no, that would mean police and Yates might kill Rene; I’m close to the meeting spot, Shelby looks seriously hurt.

Upon cresting the top of the hill his thoughts began to slow. His ears had finally stopped ringing, and he stood there breathing deeply, trying to assess the situation.
This whole crazy set of events doesn’t even seem real. If my body didn’t ache so badly from the crash, I could write this off as a bad dream. That lady has to be a ghost and a large part of this whole crazy mixed up mess.

Jack looked left up the long street towards the grain mill still looming in the distance. An unexpected diminutive noise caught his attention, and he jerked his head around, startled. There, standing next to Ron’s old car which was still running, was the mysterious woman again. 

She was barely visible, but she was clearly pointing at the car. Jack could just scarcely make out the stern look on her face. He began to approach her; with every step her form grew more and more transparent. By the time Jack reached the car, she was completely gone as if she had never existed. Jack wanted to doubt his senses, write the whole thing off to being clunked in the head possibly during the crash, but he knew better. This woman was as real as he was. There was no room left for uncertainty. He had seen a true ghost, and more than once. A thought went racing through his mind, could this entity have possessed Rene on and off again? Perhaps that would account for the various times she behaved so strangely.
It has to be!
The thought boomed over and over in his mind.
I’m going to put an end to this.

He threw open the door of Ron’s rusty car and leaped in, stepping down heavy on the gas the car lurched forward and down the street.

The decrepit vehicle accelerated slowly with several jerks as the old automatic transmission reluctantly popped from one gear to the next. Smoke was pouring from the overworked engine as the car ate up the last mile to his destination. Almost as if on cue, the car stalled as Jack pulled up. The power steering and brakes disappeared, causing Jack to stomp down heavily as he brought it to a final stop.

He swallowed hard.
This is the real deal; Shelby saying it was fake was bullshit.
He took the journal from his shirt pocket and slid the precious book down the side of his work boot, tucking it tightly between his sock and the side of his leg. The worn leather cover resting snuggly against his leg. He had a pretty strong hunch that if he just handed it over neither himself or Rene would be walking out of this place alive.

Getting out of the car, Jack started walking towards the tall daunting structure, his eyes darting suspiciously around for any sign of danger as he proceeded forward.

The sun was continuing its inevitable descent and dusk was quickly turning into darkness. The closer Jack moved towards the big building’s shadow the more on edge he felt.
In a few more minutes, I’m not going to be able to see much of anything coming at me. Then again, that’s a two way street.

Cautiously he moved forward until he was alongside the building. Walking along the perimeter, Jack began looking for a way in. The first door he tried was locked and he decided to move on. Coming around the corner, he encountered another door. The old-rusty metal entry was standing open a crack and Jack nudged it tentatively with his foot. It moved freely with a loud groan.

Cringing, Jack stood frozen waiting to see what would happen next. No response ensued, so gently he pushed the door open the rest of the way in an effort to be as silent as possible.

Entering the building, Jack paused just inside the threshold waiting for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. After what seemed like an eternity, he was able to make out the rundown building’s interior. The middle appeared to be large warehouse area with multiple offices running along the side. The structure was in a state of massive disrepair; looking upwards Jack could see through several stories where the center flooring had just collapsed in on itself.

This building is as unstable as Steve. More of it could probably come down at anytime.
Jack proceeded, staying close to the outside wall, moving towards the office area. Various bits of debris and rubble littered the floor, forcing Jack to divert part of his focus on watching where he was stepping. The process wasn’t near as silent as he would have liked either.

“Jack, come on up,” boomed a loud unwelcoming voice from above.

He recognized the voice immediately.
Well, that rules out any thoughts I had about surprising the nut.
“Steve, why don’t you come down here, it’s much safer. This building seems like a real rat trap,”
and unfortunately I’m playing the part of the rat.

“I don’t think so. We’re going to do things one way, my way. Now follow that corridor over to the stairs pronto.”

Jack could see Steve’s darkened silhouette leering down at him from four stories above. Steve was standing on the edge of the precipice where the floors had collapsed inwards creating almost a central courtyard going straight up to the top. “Fine, I’m on my way up,” Jack replied with a deliberate touch of resignation to his voice.

              Trudging up the concrete stairs flight after flight, Jack carefully surveyed the place through the gloom. Shortly, he fished a keychain out of his pocket, which had a small flashlight on the end. Without the small beam’s illumination, he wasn’t sure if there would have been enough light to proceed.

              Jack’s mind flooded with trepidation upon approaching the top.

              “Hurry up for Christ’s sake!” Steve bellowed.

Jack rounded the final corner of the stairwell with no real plan in mind. His sole thought was on saving Rene and self-preservation, two goals that seemed to be in direct conflict with each other. As Jack reached the final floor the last remaining rays of sunlight seeped through the broken-out windows running along the room’s perimeter. He could see Steve still standing next to the edge where the floor dropped away.

“Jack, this all could have been avoided if you had just brought me that lousy journal this afternoon. Be that as it may, we’re here now and things are going to get resolved.”

Jack noticed Steve’s demeanor had slipped into a cool confidence. This gave him a small ray of hope that Steve had let his guard down, and he began to walk towards him.

Steve pulled out a gun. Pointing it at Jack, he stated, “That’s far enough, let’s see the journal.”

Hastily glancing around out of the corners of his eyes, Jack was trying to take in the whole situation without being obvious. Along that line of thought, he decided to try and stall things a bit. “Why do you want an old journal so badly, anyway?”

A slight change came over Steve’s countenance. “That’s really none of your concern. Just hand it over and we can forget about this whole incident.”

“Where’s Rene, Shelby informed me that you are holding her until you got the journal?” Jack deliberately avoided using the word kidnapping in hopes of diffusing the whole situation as no big deal.

“Shelby said that did, she? Well, it’s not true. She must have jumped to that conclusion inaccurately. By the way, where is she? I thought she was going to accompany you.”