by Kline, Sandy
“Wouldn’t the superheated gasses and flames inside the barrel burn away any…germs or whatever?”
I seriously doubt anyone’s wiping shit on their bullets.
“You may be right, but we can’t take any chances.” He replies.
I thank him and crawl back into my car. I can’t believe what’s happening tonight. And what the hell is up about the phone on the roof and which roof is it on I wonder? I look around the giant crime scene. The phone could be on the roof of one of three or four houses; maybe five. Seth or another biker must have chucked the phone onto the roof after taking video of something they can use as evidence to get them out of trouble. I’m guessing it’ll show the cops doing something they won’t want shown. Maybe it will prove that either Seth or my brother is innocent or that the cops used unnecessary force. It could be anything actually, but if it’ll help my brother I’m going to find that phone. Oh shit! I forgot, they have my phone now. I can’t remember if Seth was in on the attack on the fake biker or not. He was there I’m pretty sure, but I can’t remember if he was one of the guys who staked the poor guy who was pretending to be a Soul Eater or not. I’m guessing the cops want my phone to prove how violent the club is and how they are brazen enough to attack an innocent man in front of witnesses. I’m not sure that I really care about what’s in my phone’s video except that it could get me into trouble for keeping it away from the police. I just have to hope that Marc will leave that bit out and tell them that I willingly brought it to him tonight. Hopefully his partner will go along with the story otherwise I may see the inside of a cell before long. How weird would that be if not only my father and my brother spent time in jail but I’m forced to as well? Now we just need my mom to get busted shoplifting or something and they can get us with that RICO law pertaining to a criminal organization; or whatever it is. I almost have to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
There’s no way I can search the houses tonight so I may as well go home and wait for the heat to die down. I’ll just have to trust Seth that my brother is well and not locked up somewhere. I’ll give it a day or two then…then I don’t know what. How the hell am I supposed to climb onto someone’s roof and search for a phone that I’m not even sure is there? Suddenly I have an idea. After everyone leaves I’ll just drive by here with the windows down and call Seth’s number. I’ll just park and make calls until I hear the phone ringing. He better not have it off or the ringer on vibrate only. I don’t relish the thought of climbing on all four nearby houses looking for the phone. Maybe I can pose as a jogger with a…wait I’ve got it. I’ll get one of those remote control helicopters I saw in Toys R Us and fly it up over the houses. The new ones come with cameras that you can watch live on your phone or laptop. When I see which house the phone is on I’ll know which roof I have to access. Then I can land the chopper on the roof and I’ll just ask the homeowner to use a ladder to get the helicopter and the phone.
On the way home I get an even better, less hair-brained idea. I stop at the first 7-11 I can find that sells burner phones. I buy one and go home to plug it in and charge it. I remember writing Seth’s number on a Target receipt that should be somewhere on my dresser.
When I get home I plug in my new phone to charge it up and look for the receipt with Seth’s number. An hour later I find it in my sock drawer. I have to wait until the crime scene dies down so I decide to take a nap so to speak and set my alarm for three in the morning. I would have returned to the scene hours earlier but I remembered something I saw on some cop show where they said like 90% of the time criminals will return to the scene of their crime. So thanks TV for making me stay up all night long!
At three in the morning I get back up and sit on the edge of my bed rubbing my eyes and trying to wake up. This is a huge risk I’m taking here and I hope it’s worth it. I decide to just drive by slowly and call the number. If it rings at least I’ll know that it’s not turned off nor has a dead battery. Once I discover that then I’m going to have to stop and make the call with the windows down so I can pinpoint which roof the phone is on.
Twenty minutes later I’m dialing Seth’s number, while looking at the houses. I don’t see any cops but that doesn’t mean they aren’t staking the area out from somewhere. I scan the darkness thankful for the recent weather front. There is no moon to speak of tonight. If I get caught driving around here I’d better have an excuse. As long as whoever stops me doesn’t connect me with the crime scene earlier I’ll probably be okay. My heart hammers in my chest as my phone rings in my ear. On about the third ring I actually strike gold! Since there are a lot of clouds out right now the moon is totally obscured. But on that third ring I see this mysterious glow coming from the roof of the house I’m right in front of. I pound my steering wheel in delight but my sudden exuberance causes me to swerve crazily into the car on my left. I jam on the brakes and come to a screeching halt just inches from the car door of a brand new Mustang. Oh man, if I would have hit that car I’d be in deep shit! I commit the address of the house to memory and head on home. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a sleepless night though. I cannot wait to see what is on that phone. Whatever it is, I’m sure it must clear the club from wrongdoings otherwise Seth wouldn’t have taken that risk to tell me about it.
When I finally fall into bed it’s almost 3:30 in the morning and despite my earlier prediction that I won’t sleep I actually do get a few hours. I’m not really sure when I fell asleep, but the next time I open my eyes it’s almost nine in the morning. As I get out of bed I am overwhelmed by this feeling of dread. I know I’ve had another nightmare and the leftover emotions I’m experiencing must be from whatever it was I dreamed about. I get up and turn on the shower and sit on the toilet to wait for the hot water to kick in. Five minutes later as I step into the steamy goodness of my morning shower the contents of my nightmare assaults my senses!
Chapter Eight
The Dream
It’s a miserable fucking day! It’s literally raining like…not even cats and dogs but more like tigers and wolves. From out of nowhere near gale force winds are blowing great drops of water sideways and with such force each drop stings the skin and soaks to the bone. One more time I fight with my own umbrella trying to position it to block out the latest torrent from the west. Every so often I see a runaway umbrella that’s been ripped from someone’s fingers and taken flight. But it’s not the unholy weather front that’s set the black tone for the day. I’m at a funeral. Trouble is, I rack my brain and I can’t recall who is being lowered into the ground. I scan my surroundings and notice that I am at a place of honor in the proceedings. Flanking me are a sea of bikers sporting black leather cuts with the three part patch belonging to the ever powerful Soul Eaters MC. Judging from the MC royalty on display this afternoon I’m guessing that someone high up in the club has died. I look around and judging by the various patches, I find the Sergeant at Arms, Vice President, Treasurer, and after a bit more snooping I finally locate Blackie, the outlaw biker club’s President. If all the brass is here, who the hell is being lowered into the grave?
A hand takes me by the elbow; it’s Molly. There are tears streaking down her face and for the first time I am really alarmed! There’s only one person I know that could bring not only tears to my best friend’s face, but outlaw biker royalty as well. Suddenly I feel like a hot dagger has been plunged into my breast. The agony of the fiery blade causes my knees to buckle and I would have gone to the ground had it not been for Molly on my right and now Seth on my left. Together they both support me and lead me in the last direction I want to go; towards the sleek black coffin waiting to be lowered into the muddy pool of a gravesite. My feet catch and drag on the soggy turf but my escorts support me and drag me along. Draped over the upper third of the coffin is a single Soul Eaters cut. Seth relinquishes his hold on my arm and steps up to the sarcophagus. He leans over and takes the cut and turns and extends it to me. It takes me a minute to understand his gesture and when I do my brain just shuts out real
ity. I cannot believe that the man in that shiny black box is my little brother! With that abrupt knowledge a scream that is a long time coming finally bursts from my chest! This time when my knees fail me my escorts allow me to collapse to the ground where I bury my face in my brothers cut and scream until my throat cannot make another sound. I should have known this day would come. The night he was awarded membership and his cut I should have known it would end like today but I just didn’t see it. I tried to get my brother to quit the club and I should have tried harder. If I’d only put just a little more effort, pushed him a little harder this day wouldn’t have come. I failed him as his big sister and it’s my fault he’s soon to be six feet under. The guilt weighs so heavy on my head I feel like I’ll never be able to get to my feet much less hold my head up high ever again. It doesn’t even occur to me that my parents have a major role in shaping him. I am the last to drop the ball on him and it cost him his life. I’m allowed to wallow in my misery for a few minutes before Seth and Molly decide it’s time to move the service along and get me to my feet to lead the line of well-wishers with hands full of flowers and other mementos they have brought to leave at his coffin.
Gradually I allow them to bring me to my feet and lead me to the edge of the black box. I drop the flowers, what’s left of them, onto the casket and walk away. I take a few steps towards my seat and stop again. The sea of faces around me is stunning. I had no idea just how popular my brother and his club are in this town; it’s absolutely overwhelming! Finally I reach my seat as the fireworks begin. I look out into the darkening sky expecting to see red, white, and blue sparks showering the sky, but instead I see nothing. It takes only a split second for Seth to realize what is really going on here and with one sweep of his arms, he takes both Molly and me to the muddy earth. My first impulse is to start swearing as I struggle to my feet. I get to my knees despite Seth’s efforts, then half way to my feet when I hear another sharp report of a bullet by my ear and a hot spray of bright red blood splatters across my mouth and eyes, then the bodies begin to fall and back into the mud I go. I try to push with my hands, but the collective weight of the fallen continues to push me back into the drenched soil. I can feel my face getting closer and closer to the dark brownish red water. As the strength in my arms fail my lips tough the cold bloody water, then my face sinks in deep. I can’t believe this. I am going to drown on the day my brother is buried!
Thankfully that’s the point I wake up. The memory of my dream is so intense my first thought is to turn off the shower and call to make sure my brother is actually alive. Problem is I just don’t know who to call. Seth’s phone is on the roof of someone’s house and I don’t have my brother’s phone number.
I look around the bathroom. The whole area is full of hot steam. I don’t know how long I was standing here lost in my dream but I think I’d better get in before I run out of hot water. My priority for today; get that damn phone! I have this idea to get Molly to come jogging with me and we’ll take a Frisbee with us. When we get to the house we’ll start tossing it around and I’ll toss it up on the roof. Last night of all things, I noticed there was a ladder leaning up against the side of the house. I’m pretty sure it’s tall enough to give me access to the roof from the front. I realize it’s crazy to just climb onto someone’s rooftop but I don’t have anything else. I really don’t care how crazy people will think I am as long as I get that phone. Then I’ll apologize my way off the roof and into my car.
Two hours later Molly and I are in place. The house in question is up ahead about a half block away. Prior to us taking the jog we had both driven by the house looking for signs of cops watching the place but neither of us saw anybody. We’re both hoping that our little jogging/Frisbee act will seem so normal that it won’t matter if the police see a crazy lady using a ladder to retrieve a favorite toy. Things almost go as planned; almost. We get in front of the house and like planned Molly hurls the plastic toy in the direction of the roof. She has a strong arm and gets more than a little carried away. The pink breast cancer support disc sales straight into the home’s front living room window. I cringe holding my head in my hands as the window shatters with a boom! We both freeze for about three seconds, before simultaneously bolting for our car which is about five blocks down the street and around the corner.
I reach the car just ahead of Molly and unlock the door as we both dive in. I slam my door and start the car. I peel out down the road while laughing my head off. It takes a full minute before I can talk again.
“Oh my god!” I howl. “What were you thinking, baseball? Cause that looked like a pitch. Jeeze you exploded their window!”
“I am so sorry!” She begins. “I guess I just got too excited!”
“Well don’t ever ask me to take you on another secret illegal mission to trespass on someone else’s property and find evidence against the police and the man I’m dating all for the benefit of an illegal biker gang.”
As we laugh reality slowly begins to set in again. How can I go back to that house to retrieve that phone? I can’t use the Frisbee ruse again. No one will believe that. And, if the police are watching they’ll never believe any excuse I make if I get caught making a second attempt to gain access to the house. In the end I decide to be sneaky about it and do it in the middle of the night.
“Why do you even have to do it?” Molly asks. “They have hundreds of bikers that can retrieve the phone. Why does it have to be you?”
“I don’t know if the police are watching the house or not but one thing I am sure is that the police are watching the club. No way in hell can they get close to the house. If they’re caught with the phone it’ll just get destroyed and so will any chance of exonerating Seth and my brother. Or if it shows Seth or my brother as the shooters the police will use it against the club. I get the feeling that since Seth wants it so bad, it probably shows the Sheriff’s department doing something wrong and Sheriffs will do just about anything to get rid of it.
After parting company with Molly I go back home to see if I have been assigned any new articles for the website. This afternoon I’ll work on any assignments I have and prepare for tonight. First on the agenda, find that damn cell phone! Then I have to see if Caleb is alright or if he’s locked up in some jail.
Amazingly I have been assigned three articles! I work on them for as long as I can stay focused but too many other things are on my brain right now. I decide to wait until it’s almost three in the morning. It should be completely quiet in that neighborhood now. I park in the alley behind the street, about a half block away from the house. I’m dressed in black skinny jeans, a black turtleneck and black tennis shoes. I realize this makes me look like a cat burglar but if I’m caught at this time at night it won’t matter what I’m wearing.
I park my car and start walking. By the time I get to the house my heart is pounding and I’m practically sweating. I’m in pretty good shape so I think it’s just the fear and adrenaline that’s having this effect on me. There’s a dirt path about four feet wide that separates the house I’ll be climbing on and the other house. Fortunately the ladder is still leaning up against the side. I glance around me quickly making sure no one is around. I appear to be alone. I carry it around to the front of the house and lean it up against the gutter in front. Even though it’s totally dark out I feel completely exposed. Suddenly I wish I had a drink. I could do with some liquid courage right about now. I take a deep breath and start to climb. The first step makes this ungodly squeak and I freeze in fear. The whole neighborhood had to have heard that.
“Hey lady!”
I whip my head around, lose my balance and fall to the ground with a thud. All the air comes whooshing out of my lungs leaving me gasping for breath. Suddenly a face appears over me looking down at me. It’s a kid. He must be maybe fifteen or so and he’s got a joint in his hand. When I finally get my breath back I ask him what he’s doing out so late at night.
“I could ask you the same.” He says, blowing a cloud of sm
oke in my face.
I wrinkle my nose up and do my best not to inhale. “Now I understand why you’re not inside.” I say to him.
“Are you a thief?” He asks.
“Are you a drug addict?” I counter.
“You really gonna break into that house?” He asks me.
When I don’t immediately answer he continues his train of thought.
“Cause if you are…no one’s home so you can just go around to the back and reach in through the doggie door and unlock the back door.”
“What?” That got my attention. “How do you know nobodies home?” I ask. Then it hits me. “You’re planning on robbing the place aren’t you?”
“Nooooo…” He says. “I just notice things. Anyway, judging by what’s left of the front window someone already has tried to break in, but it wasn’t me.”
“Yeah I’m sure you’re totally innocent.” I reply blandly.
“Hey if you aren’t here to rob them why you want to get on their roof so bad?”
“I left my cell phone up there.” I reply. No point in getting into why I need it. I just want to get it and get out of here.
“Hey you can be honest.” He says. “If you’re trying to rob the place just admit it. I’ll help you and we can split whatever we find.” Then he holds out his hand. “Deal?” He asks.
I start to reach for his hand automatically before catching myself. “No way! I’m telling you, I’m not robbing these people and neither are you.”
“What you gonna call the police on me now?” He asks after a long pull on his joint.
I get a sudden brainstorm. “I’ll make you a deal.” I begin. “If you help me get my phone and you promise not to rob these people I’ll give you fifty bucks.”
“You mean you really are going up there after your phone?” He asks incredulously.
