Jamie Garrett - Riley Reid 03 - Ends and Beginnings

by Jamie Garrett

  I’ve never been an inmate at a prison, so I can’t speak to how degrading it must be. Having the guards’ hands on me was pretty bad. They stopped me before I walked through the metal detector and patted me down.

  After being fully evaluated for any contraband, Sam and I were led to another room. It was large and filled with tables that had seats attached. Above the room was a catwalk with patrolling guards armed with rubber slug firing shotguns. That wasn’t where we were going to talk with Pastor Pritchard.

  Off of that main room was a smaller, more private one. A guard led us in there. When we arrived, we saw Pastor Pritchard, who had his ankles and wrists attached to chains latched to the floor. The guard left us in there with the pastor.

  Stress and anxiety had taken their toll on Pastor Pritchard. His hair was now fully grey. There were clearly defined lines on his face. Stubble formed a pseudo beard. His sad eyes didn’t even look at us.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Pritchard,” said Sam. He was pacing around the room. “I suppose you know why we’re here, right?”

  “You want to talk,” answered Pastor Pritchard.

  Sam put his hands on the pastor’s shoulders from behind. “That’s right! I want to talk. Got any idea what I want to talk about?”

  Pastor Pritchard sighed. “If I had to guess, I’d say the fires … again.”

  “Correct! Jeez, you’re on a roll today, Mr. Pritchard.”

  “Like I told you last time you were here and the time before that, I didn’t set them.”

  “Oh, I believe you Mr. Pritchard. The thing is, I know you know who did. And you’re going to tell me.”

  “What’s in for me, Sam? I’m in jail and I’m not getting out in this lifetime. Why should I help you and put my own life at risk?”

  Pastor Pritchard had a good point. It would be dangerous for him to help us. And for him, it would be a needless danger. He would get absolutely nothing out of it. Then Sam pulled out his secret weapon.

  Sam sat down across from Pastor Prichard. “I won’t lie to you and say I can get you out of here. I can’t reduce your sentence. But what I can offer is a chance to be transferred to minimum security, which opens up the possibility of you being able to preach again to your fellow inmates.”

  Pritchard digested what Sam offered. “Minimum security?” I could tell Sam had him. The pastor was going to take the bait.

  “Minimum security,” reiterated Sam.

  “I don’t know who set the fires. But I do have a vague idea who might’ve,” admitted Pastor Pritchard.

  “Go on,” urged Sam.

  I hadn’t brought my notebook into the prison, so I made sure to pay attention. Counting on memory wasn’t the way I preferred to do things, but it was better than having to deal with questions from the prison guards.

  “The group I worked for, they had people everywhere. They paid off politicians, prosecutors, judges, prison guards and even cops. That’s how they get away with it. And in the case of Stone Harbor, they went after the police.”

  I studied Pastor Pritchard’s body language. He gave off no sign that he was lying. No matter how ridiculous I might’ve thought his information was, I had to at least listen.

  “Hold on a second. Are you telling me that this mysterious ‘they’ have Stone Harbor cops one their payroll?” From the tone in Sam’s voice it was clear that he didn’t want to believe Pritchard just as much as I.

  “They have two.”

  “Who? Give me some names.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Sam started laughing. “Of course you don’t. Because you’re talking out of your ass. There aren’t any corrupt police in my station.”

  Pastor Pritchard’s expression never changed. “Believe what you want Sam. Ask yourself, who do you trust in your department? Who is beyond reproach? Some people might’ve said I couldn’t ever kill anyone. But here I am chained to the floor.”

  The conversation with the pastor went on, but we got little else from him. At least the bombshell he dropped was worth the trip. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. And I don’t think Sam did, either.

  Sam and I rode back to Stone Harbor in silence. I was both frustrated and contemplative. As I went over the possibilities of various members of the Stone Harbor Police, no one immediately stood out. They all seemed like decent people. But, like the pastor said, no one thought he’d be capable of murder, either.

  Dining with the Dead

  I found myself in a dark dining room. It looked familiar. One just like it could be found at the Greyson residence. Except the one I was in was a little off. The walls were too far away and draped in shadow. In front of me, the table was old and rotting. Water dripped from a leak in the ceiling.

  There were others around the table. I wasn’t alone. A row of candles on the table revealed the dimly-lit visages of my adoptive family. And at the opposite end was another, completely hidden in black.

  When I looked over at Sam the first time, he looked like he always did. I turned away for a second, then looked back. That time, Sam was a kid, maybe ten years old. I never knew him as a child, but I’d seen pictures around the Greyson’s house. My dreaming mind filled in the rest.

  I noticed that Sam wasn’t the only one whose age had regressed. Richard was as old as he was when I first met him. He and his son looked so similar at that age. And, as far as I knew, I was still an adult.

  Richard and Sam were talking to each other. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Instead, my focus shifted to what was on the table itself. There was a platter with a domed cover over it. Next to the platter was fruit infected with mold.

  I leaned over and reached for the handle on top of the platter’s dome cover. When I took it off, I revealed a white rabbit underneath. The rabbit had on a tiny white plastic rabbit mask. It hopped off the table and disappeared into the darkness.

  “Hope you’re hungry,” I heard a familiar voice say. Out of the black came Molly Greyson. It creeped me out a little due to the fact she’s long been dead. But in the dream, she looked exactly how I remembered her.

  Molly had a large, dead bird in her hand. She was holding it by the throat. It burst into flames and she didn’t even seem to notice. In fact, she vanished altogether. Sam started playing with action figures at the table. Richard smoked a cigarette and stared off at nothing.

  An invisible force made me focus on the unknown person at the end of the table. There was a growing swarm of flies all around the mystery diner. Then, one of their hands came into the light. It was covered in blood.

  It’s hard to really describe what exactly I felt when I saw the hand. I was dreaming, so it’s hard to say for sure that I actually felt anything. But it reminded me of dread. You get the same feeling while walking through a haunted house. Something bad was going to happen. I just didn’t know what.

  When the mystery diner came out the shadows, I saw it was Jimmy Alvarez. He was dead, like Molly, but unlike my adopted mother, Jimmy didn’t look healthy. There was a chunk missing out of his head from where I had shot him. Blood and brain dripped out onto his shoulder and down his back and chest. One of his previously-gorgeous big brown eyes was pointing northwest while the other went southeast.

  Jimmy opened his mouth and bullets started to fall out. They piled up on the table. A little smoke rose up out of his gaping, cranial gunshot wound. He slowly stood up.

  Looking at Jimmy, all I could think about was zombies. That must’ve had some effect, because he got on all fours and crawled across the table towards me. I wanted to move out of the way, but I couldn’t move fast enough. He fell on top of me.

  Jimmy held me down and inched his undead face towards mine. The blood and brain matter started dripping on my face. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t get free. All I could do was turn my head and hope for an end.

  Suddenly, I heard a gunshot, and Jimmy exploded into thousands of shards of broken glass. Behind him, I saw Richard standing with a revolver in his hand. My adoptive f
ather sat back down.

  When I got up, I looked down the table at Jimmy as he sat back at the end of the table in the shadows. I could see his head slumped over. He was lifeless, dead. On the table, I noticed there was something spray painted. It was the silhouette of a purple jester.

  The dining room around me disintegrated into burning embers. It revealed dark woods and the drug den that was the Branches’ home. I heard the sound of twigs and leaves being stepped upon. Out of the woods came dozens of people. They were all people that I knew. The Greysons were there: Lisa, Amy, Loretta, Chief Owens and even every kid in my third grade class.

  All the people who stepped out of the woods were armed. Some had guns, others had knives. A few of them even had spiked baseball bats. They gave off a vibe that they were going to use their weapons on me.

  The group closed in on me. Some of them talked gibberish. Others laughed at me. I found the quiet ones scariest.

  My eyes flew open and I found myself once again staring at my ceiling fan, instead of an angry mob. The fan wasn’t on. Instead, it sat idle, collecting dust at an alarming rate.

  There was something heavy in my hand. My heart nearly jumped out through my rib cage when I saw what I was holding. It was my .38.

  Waking up from a nightmare with a loaded gun in your hand is a scary experience. And it was one I didn’t ever want to repeat. I needed to get out of town. I needed to take a break from investigating the drug ring. It was starting to get to me.

  I’m not the type of person to take vacations. If I was going to get out of Stone Harbor for a little awhile, it should be for a purpose. I dragged myself out of bed, knowing I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. Several expletives grumbled out of my mouth as I looked at the time on my phone and saw it was only three in the morning.

  Without turning on any lights, I made my way to the bathroom. Half awake, I thought about where I’d go. The sound of the toilet flushing was accompanied by an idea. I’d find my father. And according to the address I got from Richard several months earlier, the trail started just outside Richmond.

  Planning

  I met Lisa at the Side Car Diner the next afternoon. We were going to have lunch, and I was going to let her know I was leaving town.

  The night before, after waking up, I had spent the rest of the morning on my laptop. I looked up the address that Richard had given me. It was 1324 Cumberland Lane, Richmond, Virginia.

  According to the internet, the address was located in a trailer park. I wasn’t able to bring up any satellite pictures of the specific trailer, but it did produce a picture of the outside of the park. As far as trailer parks went, it looked nice. Still, I’d take my gun with me.

  When I arrived at the Side Car, I scanned the restaurant from left to right. There were several diners. At the counter, I saw the ample backs of a couple truckers. Near the end was an old man, who I saw eating there almost every time I went.

  The Side Car was pretty full. It never was that crowded in the morning. A family was in my favorite booth. Since I didn’t see Lisa anywhere, I decided to wait for her to arrive before finding a seat.

  I went back outside. The scenery couldn’t have been nicer. Behind the liquor store across the street, I could see trees with leaves in different shades of orange and brown. Virginia in the fall; it was a lovely sight.

  The air smelled like burning leaves. All the birds still hadn’t left for the winter but had gathered in large flocks. You’d hear not a sound, then they’d fly overhead in loud, unsynchronized wing flaps. I could pick up the noise made by squirrels scurrying about the forest floor.

  I was so entranced by the natural beauty outside that I didn’t notice Lisa pulling up. She was driving her aged sports car. Once an impressive, modern beast of automotive technology; it had turned into a relic that barely ran. But new cars are expensive. Used ones aren’t exactly cheap, either.

  The first thing I noticed when Lisa got out of her car was her hair. For years, Lisa Williams got the same haircut. Or she got a variation of it. Her signature haircut was long, tightly curled hair that went down to her shoulders and behaved like long springs.

  Lisa’s new haircut consisted of the two sides of her head cut short with clippers. The top was styled in a wavy fashion with some sort of gel. It was the type of haircut someone ten years younger might’ve had. Despite my reservation, I complimented her on the new look.

  “Hey, girl,” said Lisa, as she walked up to me and gave me a hug.

  “Did you get a new haircut?” I asked, knowing full well that she had.

  “Yeah, I got it for my new job. You like it?” Lisa modeled in front of nonexistent cameras.

  “It’s nice.” Lisa and I made our way inside. “New job, huh? You finally quit the makeup counter?”

  “Yep, finally. I got a job down at a bar in Norfolk.”

  Lisa and I chose the only open booth in the Side Car. It wasn’t our favorite or usual, but it worked. Carol quickly arrived to take our orders.

  “Good afternoon, Riley, Lisa,” greeted Carol. She took out the little notepad she used to write down orders out of her lightly-stained apron. “What can I get you two lovely ladies?”

  “I’ll have a burger, medium rare, with lettuce and tomatoes,” I replied.

  Lisa didn’t even look at her menu. “That sounds good. I’ll have the same.”

  “Two burgers, coming right up,” said Carol with a smile. She started to walk away in order to deliver our orders to the kitchen. After a couple of steps she stopped and turned around. “I almost forgot. There was someone here asking about you.”

  “For me? Who?”

  “He didn’t give me a name, but something about him … he gave me the willies. So I told him that I don’t know you. He described you to me in detail. And I told him that I’d never seen you before. I told him that he must’ve been mistaken.” Carol seemed proud of herself. She should’ve been.

  “Thanks, Carol.”

  “No problem, sweetie. Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.”

  I mimicked a cross across the left side of my chest. “Cross my heart.”

  Carol left and headed towards the kitchen.

  “So, you said in your text that you wanted to tell me something?” asked Lisa.

  “That I did.” I removed the paper wrapping from my straw. I then stuck the straw in the complimentary glass of ice water that was in front of me. “I’m leaving town for a couple of days.”

  “Okay.” Lisa seemed intrigued, but with her it was impossible to tell. “Where you going? I hope it’s a vacation. Lord knows you need one.”

  I didn’t answer right away.

  “It’s not a vacation, is it?” asked Lisa with a tilted head. “Of course it isn’t. So … are you going to at least tell me where you’re going?”

  “Richmond. That’s my first stop, at least.” I took a sip of my water.

  “Richmond? That’s where Richard said your dad’s car was, right?”

  “That’s where it’s registered to. I figure it’s time to start really looking for my dad. No more browsing for clues online. If I want to find him, I’m going to have to leave Stone Harbor to do it.”

  Lisa took in what I said. Then Carol came back with our food. It looked as good as it smelled. And it tasted as good as both. Once we had both made some headway into our meals, we continued our conversation.

  “I think it’s great you’re going to go find your dad. Frankly I’m surprised it took you this long,” said Lisa in between bites. “How long are you going to be gone?”

  Lisa asked a good question. And the fact of the matter was, I didn’t know. I didn’t know where the path I’d chosen would take me. Maybe it would end in Richmond. Perhaps I’d find myself on the other end of the country. However long it took, I wouldn’t come home until I discovered what I was looking for.

  “However long it takes,” I answered.

  “Well, don’t take too long. A woman can get bored in a town like this without her best friend,
” said Lisa with a straight face. The tone of her voice betrayed her intended seriousness and delved into playfulness.

  “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

  “See that you do.”

  Lisa and I finished our meals. We got up from our booth, leaving a generous tip behind for Carol. Then we went to the register and paid our checks.

  When we got outside, there was that awkward time between leaving the restaurant and going our separate ways. We didn’t look at each other, but instead at our surroundings.

  “So, where are you off to?” asked Lisa.

  “Probably to the office. Tonight I’m supposed to have dinner over at Richard’s. You?”

  “I got physical therapy. Then I got work.”

  Lisa was referring to the physical therapy required for her rehabilitation. The previous spring, we both were attacked in my offices. A loser by the name of Martin Goldberg led a small group of thugs into Reid Private Investigators. They intended on killing us.

  Martin’s thugs weren’t very good at being bad. They tried to get to Lisa and I but failed. We got away. The rooftops of the other abandoned buildings around us were our escape route.

  Running across rotting rooftops was dangerous, but we had no other choice. Unfortunately, not all of them were capable of holding weight. Lisa had the bad luck to step in the wrong place. She fell straight through.

  Lisa hit a glass jewelry display case before hitting the ground. The result was a spinal injury. It wasn’t too serious, otherwise she’d wouldn’t have been standing next to me outside the Side Car. She had spent a month in the hospital, though. Physical rehabilitation was the last thing she had to do before getting a clean bull of health.

  “Well…”

  “Well…”

  Lisa and I stared at each other for a few seconds. Then she gave me another hug. “Be careful, Riley.”

  “Aren’t I always?”

  Lisa laughed. As she walked to her car she said, “See ya when I see ya.”