by K C Gillis
The driveway was paved, so Jordan didn’t have to worry about tripping on any rocks. But her sandals weren’t the best footwear for the task at hand. Every step she took made a small clap, each sandal slapping the bottom of a foot. Jordan opted for bare feet, leaving her sandals near the top of the driveway, just off the pavement.
Three vehicles were parked near the house. Derek’s pickup and the chief’s Explorer were side by side in front of the garage, while the third vehicle was off to the right side of the garage. There were two garage doors. Derek had left the one on the right open. But there was no light, giving the garage the appearance of a dark cave. Jordan approached the garage, going to the short section of wall between the two doors. With her back to the wall, she craned her head to her left to look inside the garage.
Her eyes had largely adjusted to the dark by the time she got to the garage. The right side of the garage was mostly open space. There was some equipment hanging on the wall, and she could see some shelving units at the rear of the garage. In the back corner, on the left wall, was the door heading into the house.
Jordan slowly stepped around the corner and into the garage. The silence of her steps reinforced the good decision to abandon her sandals. She glided toward the door in the rear left corner of the garage, then gently leaned the left side of her head against the door, listening for any sign of Derek or the chief. There was only the faintest trace of voices, so faint they must have been nowhere close to the door Jordan was about to pass through.
After what seemed like forever, Jordan concluded it was time to move. Her palms were sweaty. She could feel perspiration forming on the back of her neck. She grabbed the doorknob with her left hand and turned it. It gave just the smallest squeak. She edged the door open, peering to the left as the interior of the house became more visible. The door opened close to the kitchen.
Jordan stepped up through the doorway, carefully closing the door behind her. Now she could hear voices. Derek and the chief. They were definitely talking about Derek giving Jordan one of the dead fish. Jordan had no intention of hanging around to hear the entire conversation.
She turned to her right and slowly started moving, being careful not to make the slightest sound. There were two doors. The first was open and went to a laundry room. The second was closed. Jordan assumed and hoped it went to the basement. She grabbed the handle and gently turned it. No sound. She slowly pulled the door open. It began to creak when it was halfway open, and Jordan stopped, frozen with her hand still on the door, listening for any sign that someone had heard. The creaking sound wasn’t loud, but it was noticeable.
Jordan took a deep breath and slipped through the open space. She saw a light switch and flipped it up. A single light at the base of the stairs illuminated. She made her way down.
She needed to find the freezer. The staircase was at one end of the basement, with most of the unfinished space lying in front of her. The one light sufficed to allow her to make out the main features, which, as far as Jordan could tell, were a collection of shelves, some boxes packed along the wall to her left, and what looked like a large workbench. There was no freezer in sight. Jordan moved forward, careful not to bang into anything.
From the middle of the floor, she looked along the walls but couldn’t see anything that looked like a freezer. Panic started to set in. The safest play was to get the hell out before the chief discovered her. Derek would have to find a way to get the fish out of the house himself. But she was so close. She couldn’t just bail out.
You can do this. Just focus, and you’ll find the freezer. If Derek said it was here, then it’s here.
She walked toward the workbench and looked underneath. Nothing. She continued around the far wall, which was covered in shelves, leaving no room for a freezer. The wall layered with boxes similarly didn’t have space for a freezer. It baffled Jordan. The freezer had to be there somewhere.
Jordan was now facing the staircase she’d come down. The stairs were not fully enclosed, only the step surfaces finished. She could see through the back of each step. Behind and underneath the stairs was a large trunk freezer. Jordan was both relieved and annoyed. She could have been out of there already if she had just looked under the stairs first.
Jordan moved quickly to the freezer and pulled up the lid. Escaping cold air quickly created a cloud of moisture above the frozen contents in the freezer. Jordan waved her arms to dissipate the mist. As she began to make out details of the freezer’s contents, she didn’t see what she was looking for immediately.
She moved the items on top, hoping to see a package wrapped in newsprint. The sound of voices distracted her. They were closer than when she’d entered the house. She could feel her adrenaline begin to flow in her veins, her heart rate accelerating. If Derek and the chief went to the kitchen, she wouldn’t be able to get out.
Jordan forced herself to focus on the immediate task: getting the fish. On the left side of the freezer, just below what seemed to be large pieces of meat, was a package wrapped in newsprint. It was also partially inside a plastic shopping bag. Jordan didn’t have time to enjoy her small victory.
She could hear footsteps on the floor above her.
Derek and the chief were in the kitchen, moving toward the basement door.
Jordan’s panic evolved into a state of pure reaction. There was no time to think. No time to analyze. She used the few seconds she had to grab the fish and dash to the large workbench, folding herself underneath, getting as close to the wall as she could.
At about the same time as she tucked her feet under her butt, she heard Derek and the chief coming down the stairs.
“Did you leave the light on?” the chief said.
“I must have,” Derek said. “I needed to charge the power drill.”
“You still act like a teenager. Now let’s see if you kept more than one fish.”
“I told you, Dad,” she heard Derek say. “I only had one fish. This is a waste of time.”
“I don’t give a shit what you say. You didn’t tell me that you kept any of the fish after I told you to leave this whole incident alone. Now I have to know for sure.”
Jordan couldn’t see the men, but she heard them as they went to the freezer.
“Let’s take a look,” the chief said, opening the freezer lid.
“Go ahead.”
Jordan could hear the sound of items being moved around in the freezer. After a couple of minutes, the sounds stopped. “All right, then. It looks like you were telling the truth.”
“I told you. I only kept one.”
“Good. Next time I tell you to leave something alone, do what I say. It’s for your own good.”
“Fine. I will.”
The men headed back up the stairs, turned out the light, and closed the door behind them.
Jordan waited at least five minutes before moving, not sure if she should try to leave or if she should wait in case Derek came down. That the light was on when he and the chief had come down may have told Derek she was still there. Or it may have meant that she had been in a hurry and forgot. It soon became clear that Derek either wasn’t coming to check if she was there—or he couldn’t check.
Jordan extended her legs out from under the workbench and inched out backward. She stood up and was about to move toward the stairs when she remembered that she needed to bring the fish with her. It was now dark. Dangerously so. Jordan used the light on her phone to make sure she didn’t trip or walk into anything. She grabbed the fish by the loops of the plastic bag and went to the stairs, listening for any sign of Derek or the chief. After maybe thirty seconds of silence, she slowly climbed the stairs, taking care not to let the paper-wrapped fish in a plastic bag make any unnecessary noise.
At the top of the stairs, she paused again, putting an ear to the door. Still no sound. Jordan put her left hand on the door handle, slowly turned it, and eased the door open. She peeked inside, looking toward the kitchen to her right. There was no one in her field of view, and she
couldn’t hear anything. She made her move.
It was no more than five steps to get to the door to the garage. She walked so carefully, her feet almost slid along the floor. As she reached for the door handle, she heard footsteps. Someone was approaching the kitchen. Fifty-fifty it was Derek. Horrible odds. Jordan threw caution to the wind. She grabbed the door handle and opened the door in one swift movement, stepping through as quickly as she could. Forgetting about the single step down, she stumbled, causing her to close the door harder than she would have liked.
Jordan wasn’t sure if whoever was heading to the kitchen heard the sound, but she didn’t wait to find out. She sprinted for her car, tucking the frozen fish package under her left arm like a running back would carry a football. Her brain wanted her to look back, but she forced herself to focus on getting to her car. With the adrenaline-induced kick she was on, she couldn’t hear if anyone came out behind her.
Keep running, Jordan. Don’t look back. Don’t stop.
Jordan knew she had to grab her sandals on the way back to the car. She thought she remembered where she had put them, but as she reached that spot, she didn’t see them. Her fear of being chased pushed her onward, and she didn’t stop to look. She could get them the next day.
She sprinted right to the driver’s door, yanked it open, and sat down, passing the frozen fish to Rachel.
“What the hell?” she said.
“Sorry. I can’t drive and hold the fish.”
“Yeah, but it’s gross. Why didn’t you put it in the trunk?”
“No time. Gotta go.” Jordan already had the car in gear by the time her exchange with Rachel was done. Rachel was thrown back in her seat as Jordan accelerated.
“Weren’t you wearing sandals?” Rachel said.
“I was, but I took them off because they made too much noise. I didn’t see them when I came out.”
“Do you want to go back?”
“Better not. I had a close call and don’t want to press my luck.”
“A close call? What does that mean?”
Jordan gave Rachel a quick play-by-play of her adventure in the Foster house, downplaying how close she’d come to being seen by the chief. As she went through the events with Rachel, Jordan realized that she maybe had two seconds to spare as the chief came down the stairs. Maybe less.
“Well, I think we’re good. I don’t see anyone following you.”
“Good. I need to get this fish to my friend Charlie. But I can’t risk a courier this time, just in case the chief figures out what happened. I need to take it to him myself.”
“Really? Where does this guy live?”
“Burlington. Vermont.”
“Shit, Jordan. That’s not exactly the next town over. When do you propose to go there?”
Jordan hadn’t thought about when, other than that it had to be soon. She had barely just decided to take it herself. “I’m still considering. But I’m thinking of going now. Or at least after I drop you back at the hotel.”
“Bad idea. It’s late, and you’ve had more than a few drinks today. For sure, you’ll fall asleep on the drive. At least wait until tomorrow.”
“But Travis is coming up tomorrow morning. I should be here.”
“What time do you think he’ll get here?”
“Late morning, maybe noon.”
“Look, why don’t you just go up there first thing in the morning? Let Travis know what you’re doing and that I’ll be here to meet him. Hell, I haven’t seen him in years. It will be good to catch up with my almost brother-in-law.”
“Enough of that shit. I don’t want any dredging up of the past. We both got past it and are good with where our friendship is.”
“Fine, fine. But what do you think? At least get some sleep.”
“You win. I’ll go up in the morning.”
“Good girl.”
23
Jordan hit the outskirts of Burlington around 9:30 a.m. after a drive of nearly three hours. With only five hours of sleep under her belt, staying awake turned out to be harder than she had anticipated. But she made it in one piece, her precious cargo safely in the trunk, in a garbage bag filled with ice.
When she and Rachel had returned to the hotel after securing the fish, Jordan had sent a flurry of texts. The first went to Derek, telling him she got the fish out of his house and was going to take it to her friend personally. He confirmed his dad seemed convinced there wasn’t another fish. He also told her she’d forgotten to turn off the basement light but that it wasn’t a big deal. Jordan didn’t get into the details.
She then texted Charlie to tell him about the change in plans, that she’d bring the fish directly to his office. Charlie didn’t respond, but given the late hour, Jordan hadn’t expected one until the morning.
Travis got the next text. Jordan told him she had to go to Vermont in the morning but that Rachel would be at the marina when he got there. Jordan gave him Rachel’s mobile number. He’d be cleared to get through the gate and could hang out with Rachel until Jordan returned. He replied that as long as there was a bar, he’d hang out there all day.
Jordan had never actually been to Charlie’s office before. The site was just south of the city in a somewhat industrial zone that had several large office buildings that looked like they held many clients. According to the sign in the lobby, the local CDC office occupied the bottom two floors in a six-story building. There was no restriction to enter the office, but there was immediately a reception desk that made sure everyone got cleared before proceeding.
The woman at the desk eyed Jordan curiously, no doubt because of the plastic bag she was carrying. “Can I help you?” she said.
“You bet. I’m here to see Charlie Choi.”
The woman looked hard at the plastic bag, as if staring at it would help her see through it.
“Really?” she said. “And what’s in the bag?”
Decision time. Truth, lie, or hybrid? Truth. “It’s actually a dead fish I’m bringing in for testing.”
The woman’s face soured. “You know that’s not how the CDC typically accepts samples. We prefer a secure carrier.”
“Trust me, I prefer that too. Let’s just say I had some shipping challenges and opted for a personal delivery. Charlie’s expecting me.”
The woman’s intense stare told Jordan that people didn’t normally challenge her. “Let me see if Dr. Choi listed you as a visitor. Name, please?”
“Jordan Reed.”
The woman took her time perusing some list. Or pretended to. After about a minute, she gave up her obvious delay tactic. “Here you are. I’ll call Dr. Choi for you. Please have a seat.”
Jordan went to the meager seating area with four very ragged chairs. She elected to stand, continuing to hold the garbage bag. It didn’t feel right to set it on the floor. After a minute, Charlie emerged from behind the wall of cubicles.
“Jordan, you got here fast. It’s great to see you.” Charlie opened the small gate that was more decoration than barrier.
“It’s good to see you too. Sorry about the circumstances.”
“No problem. Any reason is a good one. Go straight ahead and then turn right at the end of the cubicles. I have a small office at the back.”
“Small” wasn’t an exaggeration. Jordan estimated the office was at most twelve square feet, maybe less. All the furniture looked to be out of the ’60s or ’70s, not that Jordan had much personal experience on that front.
“What should I do with this?” Jordan said, holding up the bag.
“Put it in here,” Charlie said, setting a plastic bin on one of the office chairs.
Charlie sat down at his desk and motioned for Jordan to sit on the other unoccupied chair.
“Why did you bring this yourself? I thought you sent one by UPS?”
“It’s a bit of a long story. The short version is the local police chief wanted nothing about the dead fish to get out.”
“Seriously? Is that a fact or your hypothesis?”
“Fact.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Sure. I sent one of the dead fish via UPS. Got it all packaged up nicely and dropped it off for overnight delivery. The police chief followed me, but he probably didn’t know what I was doing at first. Later, the UPS Store called to tell me that the chief confiscated my package.”
“Damn. That sounds serious. How did you get a second fish? I thought you said someone got rid of the rest?”
Jordan squirmed a bit in her seat. “Also interesting. It turns out the chief’s son, the guy who found the dead fish and gave me the first one, had kept two of them. I got the second one.” Jordan patted the garbage bag to her left.
“I get the feeling I don’t want to know more,” Charlie said with a smile. “But you’re sure this police chief is against finding out what happened to the fish?”
“No doubt at all. The guy is a piece of work. He calls the shots in town, and everyone seems to go along without much of a fight.”
“He is the police chief. So why do you think he’s against this getting out?”
“It could be something simple, like trying to protect the town’s reputation. But it doesn’t feel right. If the cause is potentially dangerous, he’s doing more harm than good by keeping it quiet. I think he might know the cause and doesn’t want anyone to find out.”
“Small-town conspiracy theory. You have a gift.”
“Don’t patronize me. The chief is against this information getting out. There must be a reason. Look at the fish and tell me what the reason could be.”
“Sure, sure. Let’s go upstairs. We have a small lab where I can examine it. I can get it out locally if we need specific tests. Are you able to stay?”
Jordan had planned to drop the fish off and hustle back to Copper Lake. But she couldn’t say no to Charlie’s request. Setting aside that he still had feelings for her, it would have been inconsiderate to just leave. He was doing her a favor.
“Yeah, I’ll stay. You can let me take you to lunch.”
“Deal.” Charlie led the way up a set of stairs.