Shadows in the Night

by J. J. Franck

Jake entered the library curious about the woman his brother had been with the other day. He knew so little about her. Jake was aware that her name was Avery and she worked at the library, which was about all the information Jake had so far. Whether she knew about Kirt and his undercover work he wasn’t sure but he had to find out all she knew to see if it could lead back to him. Kirt had been very evasive about any information about this woman, and Jake wondered why.

  Jake walked up to the information desk. He wasn’t sure what approach he would use. Time was of the essence now. Jake knew his internal review was coming up soon and this was the only loose end that was left to tie up.

  “Is Avery working today?” Jake asked hoping he would not have to give the last name.

  Jessie glanced up at Jake and stared at him for the longest time. It was as if she wasn’t sure she should give out this information. Avery had always been quite elusive about her personal life, and this was the first time any gentleman friend sought her out at her place of work.

  “I’m a friend,” Jake said hoping it was enough for the woman to break a rule at the library.

  Jessie glanced around hesitating for a moment as Jake just smiled sheepishly while nodding his head. Granted she had known Avery for a few years now, but in all actuality, Jessie didn’t really know that much about Avery. All she knew, was lately things were going on in her life that Avery didn’t seem willing to share with her. After hesitating a moment, Jessie finally replied.

  “She’s up on the sixth-floor stocking shelves.”

  “Thanks,” Jake said as he quickly walked away before Jessie had a chance to question his need to speak to her co-worker.

  Jake hurried to the elevator, not wanting to be further scrutinized by the woman behind the desk. But as the door opened and he was about the get on, Jake was grabbed from behind and shoved into the small enclosure of the elevator. Jake spun around quickly as Carlos pinned him up against the wall. It was Carlos who set up the operation at the library, it was Carlos who was the monkey on Jake’s back.

  There was a lot of money to be had from the young college student crowd at the university. For some, it was the first time being away from home under the protective, watchful eyes of their parents. All it took were a few unsuspected students being on the take to get their fellow classmates to try the highly addictive substances available on campus. Once getting a taste of the new high, word about its availability spread like wildfire. The library was the perfect setting to peddle their wares. All students congregated there for their study material, and it was an ideal cover until now.

  As a male student was about to enter the elevator, Carlos stuck out his hand to stop him. And then Carlos quickly shoved the student back out of the way. The look on the unsuspecting student was not good.

  “What the fuc..!” the student started to say as the elevator door quickly shut.

  Once the door snapped shut and started to ascend, Carlos turned his attention back to Jake.

  “You have something that belongs to me,” Carlos said in a menacingly way tightening his grip on Jake’s collar.

  Jake tried to fight Carlos off, but it was useless as Carlos held him firm, pinning him to the side wall. The two stood there like that for the longest time without either saying a word.

  Carlos quickly reached for the elevator panel and stopped the elevator in between floors, as Jake finally broke free of Carlos’ grip. Jake stepped sideways, but there was no place to hide in that small enclosure. Without much thought to what his actions would bring, Carlos punched Jake in the midsection.

  Jake doubled up in pain, quickly fell to his knees not able to breathe for a moment. When he finally managed to catch his breath and recover Jake struggled to get up. He knew Carlos for what he was and had seen first hand what he did to people who crossed him. Jake was not about to say or do anything to antagonize the situation further. Carlos just stood there glaring at Jake and then pointed an accusing finger at him.

  “You owe me, and I warned you if you ever cross me again, your parents won’t ever have to worry about grandchildren ever again,” Carlos snapped.

  Jake stared at Carlos for the longest time without saying a word. It bothered Jake that to start out with, he thought the money was good. Not thinking about the ramifications of his actions. But he never in his wildest dreams would have taken the money if he had known that it would lead to his brother being killed. If only he could undo it all. But it was too late now to think about getting out of the business. His actions caused the death of Kirt, and now he was faced with disgracing the family name. Jake didn’t think his father would ever get over the betrayal that would soon be known. But time and options were running out for Jake.

  Carlos snarled at Jake and then snapped. “There’s money in higher learning, or haven’t you heard the stats?”

  “Yeah, and everything was going fine until your goons got sloppy,” Jake snapped.

  Jake had warned Carlos about selling drugs at Bobst. It may have looked easy, to begin with, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get caught. Jake had tried early on to put a stop to the undercover operation that was being set up at the library, but given internal affairs started looking into him and some of his actions. Jake feared too many objections by him to stop the undercover operations would only call attention to his hidden agenda. Plus the fact they put Kirt in charge, it seemed imperative that Jake never make an appearance near their undercover operation. Otherwise, feasibly Kirt would put two and two together and only complicate the situation, which in the end happened anyway.

  “You were the one who thought it was a good idea, to begin with,” Carlos snapped.

  “I know, it was a good idea at the time. But then things got complicated. All I wanted was for you to close it down for a while until the heat was off.”

  “There was too much money to be had to close up this operation,” Carlos sneered and then quickly added. “We had to get rid of that cop, he knew too much.”

  “But he was my brother!” Jake argued.

  The elevator door suddenly opened, but before Jake could walk out of the small enclosure, Carlos pulled Jake back and pressed the close door button. Before Jake knew what happened, Carlos had him pinned up against the wall again, but this time a knife was to his throat. Carlos pressed the button for the fourth floor, and then the elevator slowly rose, he quickly pressed the stop button again. The elevator stopped between floors. This time Carlos glared at Jake.

  “You ever screw with me like that again, and I’ll have your balls!” he snapped.

  “You shouldn’t have killed him.”

  “You should have called him off like I told you too.”

  “He wouldn’t back off.”

  “Then it’s your loss, and on your head,” Carlos said with a sinister smile on his face as he pressed the knife tighter to Jake’s throat. Beads of blood dripped down Jake’s neck.

  “I want my money, and I want it now!”

  “I put it in a safe place. I just misplaced the key.”

  “Well find it. If I don’t have it in twenty-four hours your parents will be arranging another funeral, only this one won’t have a body to bury.

  Carlos quickly let Jake go and then put his knife back in his pocket. He then pressed the start button and stepped back as the elevator made its ascent to the fourth floor. Carlos finally turned back to Jake and pointed an accusing finger.

  “Do you understand?”

  Jake swallowed hard as he put his hand to where the knife had been and then wiped away the trickles of blood. He stared at Carlos for the longest time before answering.

  “I got the message.”

  As the door opened, Carlos quickly walked out, and a few kids got into the elevator. They look curiously at Jake who appeared quite shaken by that time. But Jake ignored them and just pressed the button for the sixth floor.

  CHAPTER 16

  It had been a cloudy overcast day, which made stocking books almost a pleasure as Avery went about the business of stocking t
he shelves. It had been a busy morning giving her plenty to do and no time to dwell on the last week or the illness that had been taking a toll on her body. But today was one of those days that she was able to stay on task. She was thankful that she was so engrossed in her work that she forgot about Kirt and his troubles. It was almost like the days before her diagnosis. The doctor had told her there would be days like this, especially before she entered the final stages. So she decided to just enjoy the little respite she had no matter how short lived it could be.

  Avery shoved the empty book cart toward the employee only door and was about to enter when Nathaniel stepped in front of the cart halting her departure from that floor. This startled her because she hadn’t really thought about him since that night in the park and feared he was traumatized by Kirt’s death. In her mind, she doubted it was him at Penn Station the other night.

  Nathaniel grabbed Avery’s arm quickly, startling her for a moment because he had never gotten physical with her before. Normally he had been very passive in nature.

  Avery yanked her arm free and then snapped. “Nathaniel, you scared me!”

  “Gemini is here with his followers.”

  “Who is Gemini?”

  Typically Avery understood Nathaniel’s rants, but she was having a hard time understanding the hidden meaning behind what he was trying to tell her. She hated hidden riddles, and his reference to Gemini had no meaning to her whatsoever.

  Nathaniel glanced around at all the young people hovering over their books and then spread out his arms like a bird of prey, which only made his rants sound like it was coming from a lunatic. It was evident to Avery that Nathaniel was off his Meds.

  Avery wondered if Nathaniel was into a new phase of his manic depression that possibly his parents were unaware of. There were hints that in time Nathaniel would have to be institutionalized for his own good, but it wasn’t a decision well received by his parents. And up until now he faithfully maintained an even keel if he did falter with the medication he was on.

  “The world as we know it is no more. We have to escape.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you about your gravatron machine.”

  “It’s your only escape,” Nathaniel says as he leaned into Avery to get closer to her before continuing. “It was Gemini who struck down his kin, and now he’s after you. He fears the knowledge you possess.”

  “But I know nothing,” Avery argued.

  Avery rubbed her arm where Nathaniel grabbed her, trying desperately to rub away the pain. She wondered now if the other night sent Nathaniel off the deep end because he was apparently incoherent and not talking rationally.

  “The key to knowledge is the answer to all the questions.”

  Avery reached for a book on the shelf nearby and quickly shoved it at Nathaniel in the hopes of distracting him. She was able to do this in the past to get his mind off his present actions.

  “Take this and read it!” is all Avery said in a commanding tone.

  Nathaniel reluctantly accepted the book from Avery. He stared at the cover for the longest time and then started flipping through the pages until he came to chapter one and started reading its contents. Slowly Nathaniel dropped down to the floor and sat Indian style with a book in hand. It didn’t take long before he was totally engrossed in the contents of the book.

  Avery quickly grabbed hold of the cart and pushed it away from Nathaniel and walked through the ‘Employee Only’ door. Once in the hallway, Avery took the freight elevator up to the sixth floor to finish shelving books. As the door opened she quickly stepped out of the elevator, Jake stepped in front of her startling her for a moment.

  Jake just smiled at Avery. “I was looking for you,” was all he said trying to put Avery at ease.

  It bothered Avery because this was an area only employees were allowed into. But she didn’t have it in her to question Jake about being in an unauthorized area given he may still be grieving his brother's death. All she did was look at him curiously.

  “Were you on the fourth floor?” Avery asked finally.

  Jake continued to smile but didn’t answer. Avery just wheeled the book cart across the room with Jake following close behind.

  “What are you doing tonight?” Jake asked.

  Avery turned to Jake and just stared at him with a curious grin. For a fleeting moment she saw Kirt’s smile, but then it was gone, and she realized it wasn’t Kirt but his brother who stood before her. This irritated her not knowing why she couldn’t stop thinking about Kirt. And wondered possibly if he was a figment of her imagination rather than a specter haunting her. But then she thought about the key Kirt gave her that night and the locker it unopened, not to mention the briefcase full of money that was still in her apartment. She knew he was not a figment of her imaginations. Avery didn’t know what Kirt was, but knew he was not going any place anytime soon until they figured out all that was going on.

  “I really don’t feel up to it,” she argued.

  “We could catch a movie,”

  “Maybe some other time.”

  Avery stared at Jake for the longest time before she could speak. It surprised her that he could be so willing to go out on a date after burying his brother yesterday. She thought maybe he should be trying to find his brothers killer, not trying to pick up a girl friend of his brothers.

  “I thought we could talk about him.”

  Avery continued staring at Jake, not sure what to say and then she replied. “About what,” she finally said. “I’ve pretty much said all there was to say.”

  “They still don’t have any leads as to who shot him.”

  “Maybe they’re looking in the wrong place.”

  Jake appeared somewhat puzzled by her remark. “What do you mean by that?” he asked in a way that startled Avery.

  Avery stepped back from Jake. She wanted distance between them. But all he did was a step closer to her making her feel somewhat uncomfortable by the nearness of him. He may have been Kirt’s brother, but that was where the similarity ended. Avery never felt uneasy being near Kirt, but Jake, on the other hand, gave her an ill at ease feeling.

  “It’s clear if they were moving in the right direction they would have leads,” is all she could think of to say hoping it was enough for Jake to just let well enough alone for now.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Jake said and then hesitated a moment before continuing. “I thought maybe you knew something you weren’t telling the police.”

  This puzzled Avery for a moment as she feared maybe Jake suspected Kirt gave her the key. But that would mean he was in the park the night Kirt was shot. And why wouldn’t he have made his presence known, especially if he wasn’t involved in the shooting?

  “What gives you that idea?” Avery asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess it was in the way you acted after his death.”

  This put Avery on the defensive. She didn’t know if Jake was interrogating her. She wondered how he perceived her actions given he knew nothing about her. Avery had only met him the one time, and that was purely by accident and lasted but a few minutes.

  “I don’t understand what you mean. I only knew your brother a short time.”

  “But you were with him when he died.”

  “That was purely by accident. I was just walking home through the park.”

  “I thought you guys were meeting up that night.”

  “No,” Avery said sharply.

  “So you think it was a random act?” Jake asked.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Then what do you think?”

  “It had to be involved with his undercover work here at the library?”

  “Why do you say that?” Jake snapped.

  Avery was uncomfortable with this line of questions. Somehow she didn’t think Captain Elliott sent him to interrogate her. It was in the way he was asking questions. Plus she didn’t believe that it was kosher for him to do this outside the station house or the fact he was related to the victim. But t
hen she wasn’t sure how the police actually handled investigations. Given it was his brother, who was killed maybe this was Jake’s way of handling it.

  “No one will say for sure.”

  Avery parked the cart up against the wall. She looked up and saw Nathaniel slowly walked down the stairs. He never took the elevator for fear he would be abducted and transported to another dimension. It was another one of his hypostasis about time continuum. Nathaniel hurried over to Avery and then with a strange look on his face, turned to Jake.

  “Gemini is not to be trusted.” Nathaniel said menacingly.

  This remark startled Avert as she glanced at the book he still had in his hand and then turned to Jake. She was not prepared for the look on Jake’s face. It actually scared her thinking maybe he would attack Nathaniel for his comment.

  “Nathaniel did you finish your book?” she quickly cut in hoping to get him off the subject of Gemini.

  “Books are our salvation. When the talking picture is silenced, the world will seek out the knowledge of the written word.”

  Jake was puzzled by Nathaniel and quickly turned to Avery.

  “What’s his problem””

  Avery ignored Jake’s remark as she did with Kirt earlier in the week. It was none of his business what Jake’s problem was. Avery had known Nathaniel for almost six years now and witnessed his decline into mental instability. He was actually a testament to someone too focused on excelling to the point of sending his mind over the edge.

  “Nathaniel, do you want me to find you more books to read?”

  “Gemini will lead you down the path of false beliefs.”

  Avery ignored Nathaniel and Jake. She just walked over to the shelf of books. Without seeing what she pulled off the shelf, she just handed it to Nathaniel as she did earlier.

  “Here, you check this book out and go to the park and read it. It’s a beautiful day out today,” she said while putting her hand on his shoulder as if to reassure him it was the right thing to do.

  Nathaniel just stared at Avery for the longest time without speaking and then looked down at the book in his hand and finally smiled as he turned to Jake.