Shadows in the Night

by J. J. Franck

  Part of it had to do with it being a cloudy overcast day. For some reason, sunny days only brought on pain her since her diagnosis. The sun made the migraines worse than normal, even first thing in the morning before she woke, her brain could detect the sun was rising in the sky. But today gave her the respite she so desperately needed after the turbulent days that had just passed. She quickly got out of bed and walked over to the window, Avery glanced up at the clouds overhead. She knew it would make being in the glass enclosure at the library almost bearable. Avery even enjoyed the rain that would soon follow because afterward, everything smelled so fresh and new. A smile crossed her face listening to the forecast for the week. It looked like this would be the norm for a few days. So Avery’s confidence in making it through the day without any mishaps like yesterday was at an all time high.

  Avery quickly dressed and readied for work. She made herself a light breakfast of oatmeal and toast and almost felt like she could take on the world. Avery just about ignored the Meds on the counter. But Avery knew that if she were to get through the day, it would not be wise to skip them first thing in the morning no matter how good she felt now. She only hoped that there were more days like this in her future.

  Avery quickly walked out of her apartment building. She was looking forward to a busy day at the library. So happy to be alive and thankful for how her life had been so far. Avery cherished every day now, knowing that in all actuality it probably could be her last. But today she would not allow herself to even think about that. When she glanced down the alley, Avery suddenly came to a halt when she first had a glimpse of him leaning up against a lamppost at the end of the lane. Kirt stood with a big Cheshire cat smile on his face. It puzzled Avery. She was curious about what his motives were in seeking her out where she lived. And then wondered if she had been followed the day before, but she hadn’t paid much attention given how she felt yesterday. Avery didn’t remember telling Kirt her name, or for that matter where she lived.

  “Hi,” is all he said as he walked into the alley to meet her.

  “What are you doing here?” Avery asked.

  Avery had thought a lot about Kirt last evening. In the years since her graduation, she hadn’t given much thought to men or the possibility of marriage. But after her mother’s visit last evening and their talk about Avery never having children, Avery couldn’t put Kirt out of her mind. It wasn’t as if she felt there was a future between them now. She was just wondering if maybe there could have been something more if she had the time. Kirt stirred something in her that she had never felt before. It wasn’t as if he had a romantic interest in her, for all she knew he suspected she was part of the drug trade he was investigating.

  “Want to join me for a cup of coffee?”

  Avery glanced at her watch. “I don’t.”

  Kirt took her arm gently and smiled down at her. “There’s time.”

  With that, Avery had no choice but to let Kirt lead her to the coffee shop near the library. In reality, she was going to work early to make up for what she didn’t get done the day before. Avery knew all she would have to do was work through her breaks to make up that time, so she reluctantly agreed to go with Kirt. Besides, she was curious about why he sought her out.

  It troubled Avery a little that he seemed to know she wasn’t needed at the library for another hour. Avery was curious as to what more he would have to say to her after yesterday’s fiasco at the library. As much as she wished the undercover officer on duty yesterday afternoon didn’t tell Kirt about her fainting spell, she realized he must know now. She only hoped Kirt didn’t think it was a ploy to alert the people that he and the other cops were watching.

  They walked over to the café near the library, and it wasn’t long before they had their order. Once, Avery had her hands cupped around the mug of coffee. She looked up at Kirt who hadn’t said anything about his reason for wanting to talk to her. He seemed intent on watching the people on the street.

  “Are you staking out the library today,” Avery finally asked breaking the long silence between the two.

  Finally, once confident they had not been followed and not recognizing anyone on the street or in the café, he turned to Avery. “No, I got park duty.”

  “I can’t believe how openly they make the drug buys,” Avery said, with a look of wonder.

  “You noticed what is going on now?”

  Avery rolled her eyes and then smiled sheepishly. “After you pointed it out, it was evident what was going on. I never paid attention before,” she said and then quickly added. “I guess I was too busy doing my job to notice what was going on around me.”

  “They are putting a lot of drugs on the streets.”

  “Ruining lives in the process,” Avery snapped.

  “I know. Makes you sick, doesn’t it?”

  “It’s such a waste,” Avery added. “These kids are here for an education. They don’t need drugs to ruin their lives.”

  That was the one thing that troubled Avery. She remembered her college days and the kids she knew her freshman year. So many of them got caught up in the latest designer drug that was sold on campus thinking it would enhance their learning skills. She could tell easily those in class who were using, after a while they had a zombie like persona about them, and in time they just stopped showing up for class and eventually dropped out of college altogether. Watching them as she did was enough to keep her on the straight and narrow path. Her parents helped her out with the expenses of college. She didn’t have it in her heart to not take advantage of that opportunity they had given her. Because they even dipped into their retirement saving to provide her with that education.

  Kirt took a sip of the hot liquid and then glanced up at Avery with assurance. “We’ve got enough to put an end to this little operation,” he said and then glanced around the coffee shop before continuing. “We’re holding off for the big kill though. I want the one behind it all. So it never starts up again.”

  Avery was about to take a sip of her coffee, but for some reason, she could not swallow, and the smell of the hot liquid made her stomach turn. She took a few quick breaths to regain her composure. It angered her that all of a sudden that queasy feeling was back. After a few intense moments, it passed, and she was able to reply to Kirt, thankful she hadn’t lost her train of thought.

  “I hope you get your wish,” she said as she winced in pain but then quickly recovered.

  “You okay,” Kirt asked as he reached for Avery’s hand.

  “Yes, it will pass.”

  Avery reached in her purse that was hidden by the table. She quickly reached for the prescription bottle she carried and opened it. All the while she did that Kirt was busy trying to get the waitresses attention. Once Avery had the pill in hand she pretended to cough and put the pill in her mouth. Avery reached for the glass of water and quickly swallowed.

  “You sure?” Kirt asked finally giving up on the waitress and then turned back to Avery.

  Avery forced a smile. She was used to putting people off and hiding the seriousness of her illness. Most people never pursued it further as Kirt had just done. It amazed her how easy it was to dupe people into a false sense that everything was okay.

  “A migraine, not anything serious,” Avery said glancing at her watch and then quickly added. “I better get going.”

  Avery attempted to get up, but the room took a quick spin. She sat back down quickly and then put her head in her hands. Her forehead perspired as her hands shook. She took a few quick breaths and then tried focusing her eyes, but for some reason, she saw double which never happened before. Avery tried focusing on the salt and pepper shakers that sat at the end of the table. She didn’t stop looking at them until there was only one of each again.

  All the while this was happening, Kirt watched Avery intently knowing full well there was something not right with the woman sitting across from him. He sensed it yesterday, but couldn’t put his finger on it. Now it was evident there was a serious medical con
dition that Avery was keeping from him.

  He touched her hand and then whispered. “You had better stay sitting until you feel better.”

  “Boy that was weird,” Avery said.

  There was something different about what she was feeling along with the room taking a spin, her stomach took a turn, and she could feel a cold sweat overtake her. It angered Avery how she had a false sense of feeling good that morning, and now her symptoms were coming on with a vengeance. And right then, it embarrassed her to have Kirt see her in this condition.

  “What happened?” Kirt asked.

  Avery held up her hand for Kirt to stop. For some reason, sounds suddenly got amplified, and his voice sounded like thunder. She actually couldn’t make out his words. Avery swallowed hard while trying to take a few quick breaths. Normally that was enough to ease her pain, but nothing was helping. The pill she took would take a good fifteen minutes to take effect. Avery didn’t know if she could tolerate what she was going through for too much longer.

  “Just let me get my bearings,” Avery said trying to focus her eyes while she held up her hand for him to stop talking. She grabbed hold of the table to fight the pain.

  It was something she had never experienced before. She wondered if it had to do with the location of her tumor where it pushed up on her auditory portion of her brain. What ever it was, she wished it would stop but knew, in fact, it would probably only get worse in the long run. Cold sweat built around her temples but all she could focus on was the worried look on Kirt’s face as he just stared at her.

  “Do you want me to take you to the ER?” Kirt asked. He wasn’t sure just how involved he should get with this woman given the situation at the library.,

  Avery just shook her head no as she rubbed her temple and strained to focus her vision. The pain was more intense than she ever experienced and she didn’t think it would ever pass. Then as suddenly as it hit her, it stopped. Her eyes watered, her hands shook uncontrollably. All she could do was take deep breaths until the pain was gone, the after effect was still troubling. She knew it would be a few minutes before she would be able to function again and only hoped Kirt would not over react.

  Kirt sat and watched Avery for the longest time without actually saying anything for fear of causing Avery more discomfort. As much as he wanted to press her for what was wrong, it wasn’t any of his business. If she wanted to share it with him, he was open to listening to her.

  Once Avery felt better, Kirt wouldn’t let her walk alone to the library. He wanted to walk her back home, but Avery wouldn’t hear of it. All she wanted was to get to work and immerse herself in the routine of the day. It was the only thing Avery had left to take her mind off her troubles. Avery was afraid if she allowed herself to wallow in her illness and self-pity at home, that it would overtake her faster. It was her only way of fighting it off.

  As they walked out of the café and were about to cross the street to the park, Avery stood there for a moment and just stared at all the students busy walking to their first class of the day. Kirt was sensing Avery’s reluctance to step off the curb, so he took hold of her arm and walked with her across the street and then through the park. Kirt feared she would have another one of her spells and didn’t want Avery to fall or hurt herself. For some reason, he felt personally responsible for her but didn’t know why he should even care.

  Avery didn’t know why she let Kirt take so much control, but she didn’t have it in her to turn him away. She liked the young undercover officer, most of all she enjoyed how he took control. She so wished she had met him years earlier when life for her was simpler, rather than now when she was at the end of her days.

  Once they crossed the street to the entrance to the library, Kirt opened the door for Avery and to his surprise was faced with his brother Jake. Avery looked at Jake and then at Kirt. She was surprised because the two looked so much alike that the two could have passed for twins.

  Jake looked at his brother. “Bro! What brings you to the institute of higher learning?”

  Kirt quickly turned to Avery, for some reason he appeared embarrassed at running into his brother. His nervousness showed.

  Avery didn’t know why he should feel that way given this was his brother. But then she didn’t know the dynamics of their relationship.

  “I was just walking Avery to work.”

  Jake glanced at Avery and then back at Kirt. Finally, he gave Kirt a wink. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” Jake said with a smirk that across his face.

  This conversation made Avery uncomfortable. She could tell the two were bantering. Avery just didn’t like being drawn into the mix. She could also sense that Kirt was uncomfortable in the presence of his brother and wondered if it had anything to do with her. Granted this was all innocent enough, but she got a sense Jake was making it more than it was and Kirt had a hard time trying to make light of them being together.

  Avery quickly cut in to set the record straight. “We just met yesterday while Kirt was working undercover here.”

  “At the library?” Jake asked with a surprised look on his face as he quickly turned to Kirt.

  Avery turned to Kirt and was surprised at how uncomfortable he was with her telling his brother that he was undercover at the library.

  “Yeah, kids cheating on exams, big money in that,” was all Kirt mustered up in his defense.

  Avery turned to Kirk with a puzzled look on her face. “But I thought,” she started to say.

  Kirt quickly cut her off. “I figured you were late for work,” he snapped.

  Avery just stared at Kirt and in how he said those words while rolling his eyes at her, Avery knew enough not to continue correcting him about the actual reason for him being at the library. All she did was glanced at her watch and then turned back to Kirt.

  “You are right.” Avery said as she looked a Kirt for the longest time. Her jaw muscles tensed for a moment, but then she relaxed.

  It bothered her Kirt was so up front with her about why he was undercover, but with his brother, he was hiding that fact. It just didn’t make sense, but then it wasn’t her place to question his reasoning. And maybe he would explain it to her, but then she didn’t have any expectation of seeing him again.

  Kirt looked at her in a way that seemed to apologize for what had just happened. “How about dinner tonight?” Kirt asked.

  Avery’s heart skipped a beat at hearing those words. Her face flushed but then reality hit home.

  “I have to close, maybe some other time,” she said with a tone of regret.

  “If I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll walk you home.”

  Avery just shrugged her shoulders as she turned and hurried into the library. She sensed he wanted to explain why he purposely lied to his brother. In all actuality, Avery didn’t need an explanation. She didn’t like being dragged into this mess at the library. She almost wanted to go to her supervisor to see if the officials at the library or university knew there was an undercover sting operation going on to catch drug dealers using the library to sell their illegal wares. Avery decided against that. It was not her place to talk to anyone about what was going on. For all she knew, everyone was aware of this and everybody at the library, students and employees alike were all under suspicion of being a part of it.

  Once the door closed behind Avery, Kirt turned and started walking down the street followed by Jake. Kirt had not been happy to see his brother, and it irritated him that he saw him with Avery.

  “So what’s this really about?” Jake asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  Jake grabbed hold of Kirt’s arm and pulled him to a stop. They stood face-to-face for the longest time without either speaking.

  Kirt’s jaw muscles tensed given the fact it bothered him to see Jake at a location where he was working undercover. Being at the library puzzled Kirt even more because Jake was not an avid reading and if he did read it was usually one of those smut magazines his mother kept finding and throwing out in the trash.


  “Level with me. Why are you here?” Jake asked in a way that demanded an answer.

  “Drugs, why else.”

  “But here?”

  “Yeah, the institute of higher learning has a drug problem, can you beat that,” Kirt snapped mockingly.

  Kirt knew it was not wise to broadcast the fact about the drugs, but Jake was his brother, and they were both cops, at least for the time being. But given the trouble that Jake had been in recently, Kirt was uncomfortable relaying what his current assignment was all about.

  “But why you?”

  “Why not?”

  Kirt was uncomfortable for an instant with the line of questioning. Normally Jake and he never talked much about their work. Jake knew Kirt was in the narcotics unit at the 6th Precinct. They hadn’t talked much since Jake was put on administrative leave following the charges brought against him. Kirt didn’t want to hear Jake’s explanation, so it was a subject that was never discussed and avoided altogether. Kirt was always the good son while Jake was the screw-up and if there was any trouble in the neighborhood to get into, he was in the center of the mix.

  It was a surprise to everyone when Jake signed up for the police academy, and even more surprised when he got high marks and was accepted. Kirt felt their father had a lot to do with that. Which in the end was detrimental to the relationships of a lot of the officers that their father served with. When you ask for favors of friends and fellow commanders, and in the end, your son rubs their noses in that favor. People tend to distance themselves from you. And that is what had happened with their father and the people he once called his brothers.