Bad Places

by Steven Douglas Brown

  John offered an easy smile. “No big deal.”

  “Time to settle in for a long night.”

  “Anyone have a pillow?” Cassandra said with her usual calm tone.

  The trio smiled at each other, but it seemed forced.

  Chris Evergreen walked up to Ziggy’s cubicle. “He’s at that nightclub across the street.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go, then!”

  “Are you sure about this, Ziggy? I mean, breaking into a guy’s house is pretty damn illegal.”

  “I checked his desk here and that notebook he’s been scribbling in the past few days isn’t there anymore. It must be at his house somewhere.”

  “Stealing John Link’s ideas for a new game seems a little... stupid, Ziggy!”

  “All we have to do is change a few things here and there and then present it to Howard first.”

  “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

  “Business is war, Chris!”

  “All right. If you say so.”

  “This has been done before and it will be done again, so stop worrying and think about getting that condo penthouse over on Fifth Avenue after we get our bonus for coming up with the next great game!” Ziggy smiled and got up, both young men walking toward the elevator.

  John, Jason, and Cassandra were still sitting in the booth when Chris Evergreen walked into the club, taking out his phone and dialing Ziggy. “I see him. He’s with some guy and a woman.”

  “Good. I’ll be at his place in about ten minutes. Keep an eye on them.”

  “Just hurry the hell up!” Chris ended the call and walked to the bar, sliding onto a stool and watching John out of the corner of his eye.

  In the booth, John kept checking his watch.

  “It’s two minutes since the last time you checked, John.”

  John nodded at Jason. “I know.”

  “Tell me more about this Howard Mason,” Cassandra asked. “Why would he want to kill you?”

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out for a while now. It just doesn’t make any sense. Howard isn’t the type. People I’ve talked to about him say when he’s angry, he doesn’t even swear, let alone get violent.”

  “You date his wife or kick his dog?” Jason asked.

  “No.”

  “It does seem peculiar,” Cassandra said.

  “I still think we should just go and kick his ass.”

  “What if I’m wrong?” John asked. “Ever think about that?”

  “Not really.”

  “Of course not.”

  “It fits, doesn’t it? Sometimes coincidences are not coincidences.”

  “Even when it comes from a ghost of someone who isn’t dead yet?”

  Jason opened his mouth to respond, thought it over a second, and then shrugged. “That part is a head scratcher, I have to admit.”

  “This is probably just a collision of coincidences and we’ll all laugh at ourselves tomorrow.”

  “I hope so,” Cassandra said softly.

  John looked around the club and spotted Chris Evergreen. “I didn’t even know that guy was old enough to drink, let alone like jazz.”

  “Who?”

  “At the bar, the skinny kid. Chris Evergreen. He’s from work.”

  Jason looked over at Christ with indifference. “Well, it is the closest drinking place from work.”

  “You should invite him over, John. He looks lonely.”

  “I don’t even know the guy. I’ve just seen him around the office.”

  “The first step to getting to know someone is talking to them, John.”

  John nodded and got up out of the booth, walking up to Chris at the bar.

  Jason seemed overwhelmingly uninterested and tilted his head back, closing his eyes. “Wasn’t Hank’s middle name Irving?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Just pondering some more cosmic coincidences.”

  “What do you mean, Jason?”

  “Just thinking outside the box.”

  “Henry is dead, Jason.”

  “But we are talking about ghosts here, aren’t we?”

  “If Henry had anything to do with this, I would have felt something.”

  Jason nodded, but kept his eyes closed.

  “Uh, Jason...?”

  “What?”

  “Where’s John?”

  Jason sat up quickly and looked toward the bar.

  John was nowhere in sight.

  “What the hell!?”

  Jason and Cassandra climbed out of the booth and hurried over to the bar. Jason leaned forward and caught the bartender’s attention. “Tim, did you see where John went?”

  Tim the bartender shrugged his shoulders. “He was here just a minute ago.”

  “Damn it!”

  “Maybe he went to the men’s room,” Cassandra offered.

  “Stay here. I’ll go check.” Jason hurried off toward the men’s room, pushed open the door, and went in.

  The room was small, with nowhere to hide, except the toilet stall. Jason dropped down to peer underneath the closed door.

  HEY!” a surprised voice called out.

  Jason quickly stood. “Sorry!” A few seconds later, Jason exited the men’s room and returned to the bar. “He’s not in there.”

  “Call him.”

  Jason nodded and took out his phone, but shook his head a moment later. “It’s just going to his voice mail!”

  “What do we do now, Jason?”

  “I have no idea!”

  “Think he went back to the office?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Jason walked out of the building toward Cassandra, who was standing near the entrance. “He’s not here. The security guard said the place is cleared out for the night and no one went back in.”

  “This isn’t good, Jason.”

  “I know, Cassandra!”

  “Now what?”

  “The only other place he would go.”

  “He wouldn’t go there, would he?”

  “Things seem to be going very bad very quickly, Cassandra.”

  “How fast can that car of yours go?”

  “Damn it, why did I have to go and keep that stinking car all these years?!”

  John and Chris walked toward the house.

  “Thanks for telling me, Chris.”

  “Ziggy has always been a friend, but this has debacle written all over it and I just can’t go along with him. It’s insane. I mean, I think he was going to actually kill you over this stuff!”

  “We’ll try to keep the police from getting involved, but if Ziggy puts up a fight...”

  “Ziggy isn’t the fighting type, Mr. Link. He’s, like one hundred and twenty pounds. I don’t think he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag!”

  John pulled his keys out and unlocked the front door. “I didn’t think he was the felony type, either.” John opened the door and peered inside.

  Suddenly, Chris shoved John into the house, while Ziggy appeared and whacked John over the head with a baseball bat.

  “You’re wrong, Mr. Link,” Ziggy said, as he and Chris stood over John’s prone figure. “Could fight my way out of a wet paper bag, huh?”

  Chris winced. “Oh, you heard that.”

  “Yes, I did, and don’t think I’m going to forget it, Chris.”

  “Did you find the notebook?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Not yet?! What the hell have you been doing?”

  “Hey, I haven’t been sitting around here with my thumb up my butt! We’ll find it! First, let’s drag him down to the basement.”

  “Why?”

  “Even if that hit to the head doesn’t kill him, I don’t want to take the risk of someone coming along and seeing him sprawled out on the floor here!”

  “You think he’s going to die?”

  “He will before we get out of here.”

  Ziggy and Chris grabbed John by his feet and drag
ged him off, dumping him on the basement floor a few minutes later.

  “It’s dark down here,” Chris said.

  “It’s a basement.”

  “How long before someone finds him?”

  “More like what’s left of him!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As soon as we find that notebook, we’re going to torch the place.”

  Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

  “No more extreme than killing a guy for ideas for a new game”

  “You’re right.”

  “You go take another quick look around, while I get things ready down here.”

  “Are you going to kill him?”

  “The fire should take care of that for me. Now get going!”

  Chris hurried up the stairs.

  Ziggy glanced down at John, a sneer of contempt on his face. “You got greedy, Link.” Ziggy looked around for something to light on fire, when the overhead light went out. “Aw, what the hell?”

  Chris saw movement outside the house and ducked down as he peered out one of the windows. He saw Howard Mason walking toward the front door. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  Jason parked behind Howard Mason’s car and Jason and Cassandra got out of the small vehicle quickly at seeing Howard Mason walking toward the front door. “Who are you?” Jason shouted.

  Howard stopped and turned around. “Who are you?”

  Jason and Cassandra stopped a few feet away from Howard, Cassandra placing a hand on Jason’s arm, hoping Jason would not rush the older man.

  “I’m John’s best friend.”

  “I’m John’s boss.”

  Jason’s mouth dropped open. “HIM?”

  “What?”

  “You’re Howard Mason?”

  “That’s right.”

  Jason glanced at Cassandra, took a deep breath, and then rushed Howard, Cassandra unable to hold him back, and tackled Howard to the ground, sitting on top of the man, punching wildly and missing wildly.

  Chris was watching with astonishment. “What the-?”

  A voice was heard behind Chris. “Chris...”

  Chris turned around, expecting to see Ziggy. “What are you doing back up-?” But Chris did not see anyone. He spotted a shadow moving off into the kitchen. “Mr. Link?” Chris suddenly sounded very nervous. Chris moved toward the kitchen.

  Howard pushed Jason off of him easily and stood, looking down at Jason in bewilderment.

  Jason got up and rushed Howard again, but Howard easily side-stepped Jason, who fell to the ground. “Jump him, Cassandra!”

  Howard looked at Jason and then looked at Cassandra. “Do you want to tell me what is going on?”

  “I don’t think he’s here to kill John.”

  Howard looked surprised at Cassandra’s statement. “Kill John? The guy who is going to make me rich? Are you kidding? You two drunk, or something?”

  Jason looked up at Howard. “Why are you here, then?”

  “I’m here to finalize the pitch to corporate headquarters with John. Why are you here?”

  Jason got up slowly. “We’re here to keep John alive.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Hey, I pulled a lot of strings, called in tons of favors, and cut a check for the largest sign-up bonus in company history... if John Link is in danger, I need to make sure he makes it to work tomorrow!”

  “What do you think, Cassandra?”

  “I think we were wrong about HIM, Jason.”

  Jason turned toward the dark house. “We better get in there!”

  Chris moved into the kitchen. “Ziggy? Don’t mess around, dude!” He reached out to turn on the lights, but the switch only clicked. Shadows seemed to dance and move and Chris started to back up slowly, but then froze when he heard the voice again.

  “Chris...”

  “Halloween was yesterday!”

  This only seemed to cause a laugh from somewhere in the kitchen and Chris now looked terrified. He backed out of the kitchen and rushed toward the basement door. Chris opened the door.

  “Chris...”

  Chris turned and saw a dark figure standing directly behind him. Chris let out a startled scream and lost his footing, falling down the steps.

  Ziggy heard Chris tumbling down the steps and heard him land at the bottom of the stairs. “Chris? What’s going on? Chris!” Ziggy moved blindly toward the basement steps, arms outstretched. His right foot touched Chris’ head, which was at a weird angle, obviously that Chris broke his neck during the fall down the stairs. Ziggy took out his phone and used it to light Chris at the bottom of the steps. “Oh, shit! Screw this!” Ziggy stepped over Chris and moved up the stairs.

  The basement door slammed shut before Ziggy reached the top of the stairs. He threw himself at the door, pounded on it.

  “Let me out!”

  Then Ziggy’s phone died.

  Jason, Cassandra, and Howard entered the house and immediately heard Ziggy.

  “Who the hell is that?” Jason asked.

  “It sounds like Ziggy Large.”

  “Watch HIM actually did mean watch him!” Cassandra said. “Watch Ziggy!”

  “Will someone tell me what is happening around here?” Howard pleaded.

  Jason and Cassandra hurried toward the basement door, Howard close behind, still looking befuddled.

  “Is someone there?” Ziggy asked through the door.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Jason demanded.

  “Get me out of here!”

  “I said what are you doing here?!”

  “I followed Chris Evergreen here from work!” Ziggy lied. “Saw him sneak into Mr. Link’s house!”

  “Who is this Chris Evergreen dude?” Jason asked Howard.

  “He’s new at the company. Entry level.”

  “OPEN THE DOOR!”

  “I’m trying,” Jason said. “It won’t open.”

  “I think there’s something down here! I can’t see it, but I can hear it moving around!”

  “He hurt John,” Cassandra said softly to Jason. “I can tell.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dude,” Jason shouted through the door. “If you hurt John, you better pray that I don’t get this door open!”

  Hearing this, Ziggy took a step down from the shut door. He looked down into the basement and thought he saw movement. “Link? That you?”

  Jason had his ear pressed against the door. “He’s talking to someone.”

  “John?” Howard asked.

  “No.”

  “Who, then?”

  “What time is it, Jason?”

  Jason checked his watch. “12:45.”

  “It’s going to happen, one way or another, right now.”

  “What are you people talking about?!”

  Ziggy was moving down the steps, felt Chris with his foot and then moved across the basement floor to make sure John was still down. “Don’t move!” he shouted at John. Ziggy grinned to himself and stepped over John, looking around in the dark. “There has to be a window, or something.” Ziggy brushed up against something and knocked it to the ground. He reached down and picked up a dusty, cobweb-festooned Christmas wreath. “Merry Christmas-” Ziggy tossed the wreath aside.

  The ghost appeared directly in front of Ziggy, rising, mouth opening impossibly wide. Ziggy screamed and stumbled backward, tripping on one of Chris’ legs. The back of Ziggy’s head was impaled on the large nail the wreath had been hanging on earlier. Ziggy was killed instantly, the nail in his skull keeping him upright.

  The ghost moved toward Ziggy.

  And then slowly faded.

  The basement door was busted down and light spilled into the basement, as a firefighter stepped aside as Jason, Cassandra, and Howard moved quickly down the steps. The single lightbulb was lit, revealing the three bodies in the basement. Jason hopped over Chris and hurried to John, kneeling and checking.

 
“Is he all right?” Cassandra asked.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh, no...”

  Paramedics moved down the stairs and pushed Jason aside after glancing at Chris and Ziggy. “Move aside, please!” The paramedics checked John and after trying to resuscitate, moved back, one of the paramedics shaking his head. “I’m sorry...”

  Jason moved to Cassandra, who wrapped her arms around him and started crying. Jason glanced at Ziggy’s still-suspended corpse. “You got what you deserved!” he growled at the dead Ziggy and then spit at the corpse.

  The bodies were removed from the house, Jason and Cassandra standing together on the sidewalk in front of the house.

  “We blew it,” Jason said sadly.

  “No, Jason. It was inevitable. I think even John knew that.”

  “At least he didn’t let the two bastards who did this to him get away with it.”

  “I only knew John a short time, but I miss him already.”

  “Yeah, he was that kind of guy.” Jason turned away from Cassandra, feeling himself on the verge of crying, when both heard heard a car horn sound. Jason and Cassandra turned around to see a Lamborghini park just up the street.

  “Is that a...?”

  Jason nodded. “Sure looks like it to me.”

  They walked up to the vehicle as the driver climbed out of the expensive car.

  “Are you Jason?”

  “Yes.”

  The driver handed Jason the keys to the car, along with an envelope, and then walked away without another word.

  Jason turned to Cassandra.

  “Open it,” she told him.

  Jason tore open the sealed envelope and took out several pieces of paper, one a handwritten note, the other the pink slip to the car. Jason read the note and could feel himself choke up. “It’s from John” he managed to say.

  “What does it say?”

  Jason took a deep breath and Cassandra could see his eyes welling up. “Just in case.” Jason turned toward the house slowly. In an upper window, Jason thought he saw a figure, and he almost smiled, thinking he had seen John’s ghost, but then his eyes shifted to another upstairs window and saw two additional figures.

  Ziggy and Chris.

  They stared out at Jason with furious expressions.

  Then the two figures darted away from the window.

  Jason frowned.

  “What?” Cassandra asked him, seeing his expression.