Drt (19 page)

Through the thin, milky curtains the shape of a car pulled up, a late model Charger.
 
The car stopped in a spot near the window. The taillights went off.

The door opened and the slender frame with shoulder length hair emerged. Dravin rounded the back of the car and crouched for a moment.
 
He rose and motioned a car door closed. That’s when I saw Hayleigh. She was dressed in a white, oversized men’s undershirt. Her hair still hung in tangles that partially hid her face. She looked so pale and small.

Dravin approached the motel door with Hayleigh at his side, a smile on his face. I stood at the door, waiting. Finally the knock, my hand hesitated as I extended it toward the handle, but I steeled my new-found courage and twisted the knob.
 

The door opened a crack and then wider. I decided it best to act timid. It was a role that I knew well. I peeked out the door and Dravin’s eyes met mine. A broad smile of recognition spread over Dravin’s face.
 

“Greg!”

I jerked the door closed, recoiling at the sound of my name. All part of the act.
 

Dravin addressed the door. “Whoa, hey Greg, no problems here. I am not judging, buddy.”

I kept the door shut.
 

Dravin continued to converse with the closed door. “Hey, just let us in. We’re your…appointment.”
 

I opened the door. Hayleigh’s eyes recognized me but she did not react. There was no look of extra sadness, it wasn’t possible. The despair in Hayleigh’s eyes was already an endless ocean.
 

They entered the room and Hayleigh walked toward the bed with her eyes locked on the ground as if by remote control. She sat on the bed. I stood with my back against the door, rubbing my mouth in nervous habit. I felt like this was the right way to act. I needed to be nervous and anxious. That would let Dravin’s guard down. I looked over at Hayleigh. She was still looking down at the red carpet, whose fabric was worn to the black in various places around the room. She said nothing and sat motionless.
 

Dravin grabbed the chair in the corner of the hotel room. He sat down, smiling, all his attention for the moment was locked on me as he made himself at home. “Greg I have to say that I am surprised to see you here. I mean, it’s a cool surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.”
 

Dravin fished into his pants pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and exhaled relief. He looked up at me. “You never know how these things are gonna go. I am happy to see you, I am.”
 

“You are?”

“Hey, there is no reason to-,” he held out his cigarette “You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Great. Now as I was saying, there is no reason for you to be nervous or ashamed, man. You are a man who appreciates the finer things in life. Some of those things may be frowned upon by other people, but that’s not the case in here, not today.”

“Okay.”
 

“And you know what Greg? Fuck those people who look down on you for liking what you like. I mean, have they tried it? Fuck no! But here’s the best part Greg. Right now, they don’t know anything about this. No one is going to judge you in here.”
 

“Thank you”
 

“The only ugly thing we have to take care of is the financial part. Good taste comes at a price, I am afraid.”
 

“How much?”
 

“Five thousand and believe me she is worth it.”
 

“How does this work?”

“Well, you put your money on the table there. I take it on my way out the door. You get an hour to…enjoy yourself. Then I come back and I retrieve our talented young lady and you are on your way. Satisfied customer, satisfied provider of services.”
 

“Okay,” I walked to the dresser and pulled out the stacks of money. I put them on the table near Dravin. The trap was set.
 

Dravin smiled wide. “Great, great,” he said, walking toward the stack. “Now forgive me but this needs to be said. I am going to leave you alone with her but I am asking you real nice…nothing too violent. If you make marks, make sure we can cover them up and make sure you don’t get too excited, if you know what I mean. If the really bad happens, I will be very upset, and you better have a whole lot of money.”
 

“I’ll be careful.”

“Okay, well I’ll leave you to it then. Hayleigh, no crying. Unless you like that, do you like that Greg?”

“No.”
 

“Okay. No crying, okay? I am going to go-”

The door to the adjacent room burst open. I couldn’t believe it took so long.
 

Dravin reached into his waistband and pulled out a gun with amazing speed. He fired into the still swinging door. The first shot caught Sergeant Conroy in the neck. He dropped his gun and grabbed the wound with both hands. I screamed but it was drowned out by Dravin’s second shot which caught Federal in the forehead. He fell to the floor, his eyes wide with shock. The third shot caught Conroy in the chest and he crumpled to the ground next to Federal.
 

Dravin lowered his steady hand and shot at the fleeing form of Sylvia Barrio. I saw the shot pop through her chest and she fell out of sight.
 

Another scream lodged in my throat.
 

I grabbed Hayleigh and ran into the bathroom, looking for a window or any other way out. I slammed the door, locking it behind us. We sat on the floor with our backs to the wall.
 

From outside the bathroom, we heard Dravin. “Oh man, wow! I killed the hell out of them. That’s a first,” I could hear him kick the guns away from the men’s still twitching hands.
 

Dravin’s footsteps moved toward the bathroom. He shattered the bathroom door with a kick and stood in the splintered frame, breathing heavy.

 
“Well, this…I guess this could have gone worse. Not a great day but it’s not the worst case scenario either. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for.”

Dravin steadied the gun, aimed at my head, and fired.
 

The world went black. When I opened my eyes the motel was gone, but Dravin still stood in front of me, a confused look on his face. His eyebrows narrowed and he looked at the gun in his hand.
 

Then I saw it. The bullet that had just been fired from the gun in Dravin’s hand floated as if suspended in the air between us. To my right I could see Sylvia sitting far away from us on the floor. Her eyes were terrified and her shoulder was bleeding all over the tile.
 

A yellow light was flashing behind Dravin, bright as headlights. I smelled exhaust.

Dravin turned around and saw the form of Jerry Morris. The ghost was floating off the ground and staring directly at him. High-pitched screams escaped Dravin as he dropped to his knees.
 

I turned my head to look at Hayleigh. She was looking right back at me, her eyes beaming as bright as the sun, an enormous smile on her face.
 

“You can see him, too?” she said.
 

The ghost floated to his daughter.
 
He looked like the man in the picture, no wounds on him at all. He was in front of her like a bright mist, covered in white light. He waved a hand near her. Her eyes grew heavy and she drifted into sleep. She fell softly onto the ground and looking as safe and peaceful as if she was in her own bedroom at home. Jerry hovered for a moment, looking at his sleeping daughter. He didn’t look sad anymore.

In a blink the ghost was again in front of Dravin. It grew to a massive size in the middle of the void that had moments before been a motel bathroom. There was a giant red glow like the sun, eminating as beams from Jerry’s eyes. The beams locked on Dravin and he began to float, twisting in the air, helpless.
 

Dravin was choking. His throat made sounds of panic and squeals. He struggled desperately for breath. His hands waved wildly at his neck as he turned in the air.
 

The ghost was now enormous with red light and shadow. The sounds of Dravin’s struggling breath were amplified. The noise made me recoil in horror.
 

Dravin took a sudden, deep, painful breath. It sounded like his lungs were popping from the force. A thin stream of blood arced out of him. It hit the ground and spread. He shook and screamed as all the blood was drained from his body.
 

Underneath Dravin and the ghost, the black void began to turn; it spun like a sink full of water after the drain plug is pulled. The void twisted, sucked, and pulled every bit of atmosphere in the room as a cyclone appeared, growing larger and more powerful with every second.

I tried to push away but I couldn’t. I braced myself. The exhaust in the air was getting sucked out of the void, too. The only things that seemed to be undisturbed by this terrible force were the forms of Sylvia, Hayleigh, and myself.

Dravin’s body continued to twist and turn as it was bled. Then, in an instant, it was crushed like a paper cup. The bones fractured and split the skin in hundreds of places. Dravin looked like a branch of thorns, skinny and slender with the shards poking out at impossible angles. A terrible scream amplified through the space. I covered my ears and looked away.
 

The void began to drain out of the room. In a pulling motion, all of the blood on the floor was gone, then Dravin, and finally the Ghost all exited through the cyclone of black. They disappeared into this dark expanse and in a flash they were gone from the motel.
 

I inhaled. No exhaust, no flashing lights, everything was normal. We were in the bathroom again. Hayleigh still slept silently as I tried to both calm myself and scan the room for signs of Sylvia.

“Sylvia? Are you okay?”

From the other room I heard her, “Yeah, I’m hurt but I’ll be all right.”

I sat on the tile of the bathroom and tried to catch my breath. In the distance, I heard the door kicked down as police rushed in. There was shouting. I lay down on the tile, the coolness on my cheek felt good.

26

“Greg?”

I was at my work terminal. I raised my hands to my ears, found the headphones, and looked into the microphone that hung in my face like a piece of furniture. This black thing of metal and plastic covered in the spit of other people.
 

“Greg, are you there?”

The room was the same as I left it. The floor was filthy from countless spills and dirty shoes. The monitors glowed green in rows along the walls. But the terminals were all populated by people, looking at me with smiles on their faces.
 

I leaned forward and pushed the microphone button, “Sorry, I’m used to hearing the traffic tones before I start talking.”
 

The anchor laughed. “Well, it’s been over a month since the last time you did traffic for us. We invited you into the main studio but you said you would be more comfortable in this setting.”
 

“Old habits die hard.”
 

“Well, Greg Harris, our former traffic reporter, it seems like the whole world knows your story now. Are we going to be able to say we knew you when?”
 

“You can, you can.”
 

“Thank you, now just in case people tuning in don’t know, you saved a little nine year old girl from a child prostitution ring.”
 

“Yes.”
 

“The end of it actually involved a shootout with the police?”

“Well, I was in the crossfire. I wasn’t armed. I was just there wearing a wire for the sting operation.”
 

“Can you fill in for us what happened?”
 

“We got all the evidence that we needed and set up the guy, Dravin. Sergeant Conroy and a federal agent whose name is still classified, unfortunately came into the room at the wrong time. Dravin overwhelmed them. I grabbed…the little girl…and dove for safety.”

“I just want to say that you are being careful because her name has not been released.”
 

“That’s right.”

“Okay, so then what happened?”
 

“We ran into the bathroom and barred the door until the police showed up.”

“That is an incredible story, Greg. It’s like a movie. Is there any word about selling the rights?”

“I’ve already donated the rights to a nonprofit that helps children around the world who are victims of child prostitution. If someone would like to make a movie, they will have to buy it from them.”

“Well Greg, you have exposed a big problem here and due to your heroic efforts we are all aware of it now. How good does it feel that you are using your story to get the word out?”

“It feels good but there are still so many children who are victims of this terrible crime around the world. The fact that it happens at all is a tragedy.”
 

“So true. Thank you so much for joining us today. That’s Greg Harris, should I say in the traffic studio at least one more time?”

“That’s fine.”

“Well, Greg Harris in the traffic studio, thank you so much for all the important work you are doing out there to protect children.”
 

“Thanks.”
 

“Money news is next.”
 

A producer clicked into my right ear. “That was great, Greg.”
 

I thanked him and pushed the chair away from the table. Bob Creasy was standing next to me. I looped the cord of the headphones around the speakers and handed them back to Bob.
 

“Thanks for letting me borrow those.”
 

“It’s not a problem. I gotta say that I’m really proud of you. The fact you used your only day off to go do that…”

“Don’t mention it. I am glad you gave me that day off.” I held my hand out to Bob with a smile.

Bob reached out and shook my hand. “Miss the hell out of you working here, Greg.”