Secret Hollows (24 page)

Towards the end of the day, Mary was sitting in her office at her desk. Her laptop was open and she was typing notes from the case file with one hand while she munched on some almonds with the other. The phone rang and she reached over and picked it up. “O’Reilly,” she answered absently, still reading the file.

“Mary, is that you?” the male voice on the other side asked. “This is Harold, Harold Weller.”

Mary shook her head, remembering the young man from DCFS in Chicago who she called to ask for information about Bradley’s missing daughter. “Harold. Oh! Hi! How are you?”

“I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to get back to you,” he said. “We had a hard time finding the file.”

“Harold, before you say anything,” Mary interrupted, remembering Ian’s words. “I don’t want you to tell me anything or say anything that would jeopardize your job.”

“No, no,” he said. “I
wouldn’t… couldn’t
do that. It could get both of us in trouble. But, this is something I can tell you, and I thought it was pretty interesting. The reason I couldn’t find the file was because it wasn’t in the archives. Someone pulled it out last year, requesting that the information to be unsealed.”

“What?
Who?”
Mary asked.

“Okay, well, I’m really not supposed to tell you this,” he said. “But considering the child was not his birth daughter, I think I have a case for divulging his information. He’s a dentist from Sycamore, Dr. Gary Copper.”

For a moment, Mary couldn’t breathe. She felt her office closing in around her and felt her heart begin to race.

“Mary. Mary, are you there?” Harold called into the phone.

Mary took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “Yes, I’m here,” she stammered. “Thank you so much for the information, Harold. You don’t know how important this is.”

“Well, Mary I’m glad I could help,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Harold,” she said, cutting him off. “But I have to go. Good-bye.”

She hung up the phone, wrapped her arms around herself and rocked slowly back and forth in her chair, forcing herself to take deep calming breaths. She still felt like the walls were closing in around her, so she grabbed her coat and hurried out of the office.

The cool air hit her face like a splash of cold water and she inhaled sharply. Picking up her pace, she kept her eyes down, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. She hurried to the end of the block and turned right, walking down a less traveled side street. Her pace increased and she was nearly running when she finally found herself in front of the abandoned gym. She grabbed the door knob, rattling it in her hands as she slipped the key Ernie had given her into the lock. Finally, it opened and she hurried inside, closing herself in and the outside world away.

She backed away from the door slowly, her breathing becoming less agitated. Her high heels clicked against the wooden floor and echoed throughout the big room. She made her way over to the boxing ring and climbed through the ropes. In the far corner was a foldable round metal stool. She made her way over to it and sat down. From this vantage point, she could see the entire gym, every entrance, every window and, for a moment, she felt secure.

“Hey, sister, what’s wrong?” Ernie appeared next to her.

Mary cried out and covered her face defensively. “No, please,” she whimpered.

Ernie bent down next to her chair. “Hey, take it easy. I
ain’t
gonna
hurt you,” he said softly. “Remember, it’s Ernie.”

She lowered her arms and took a deep breath. “Ernie,” she said. “Sorry, I guess you startled me.”

“Like hell I did,” he said a little louder, standing up next to her and folding his arms across his barrel chest. “What happened to you, sister? What’s got you so tied up?”

She reached up and pushed her hair back, her hand shaking in the process. “Nothing,” she lied, quickly clasping her hands together on her lap.

“I may be dead, but I
ain’t
blind or stupid,” he said. “You
gonna
tell old Ernie, or am I going have to go get the crazy Scotsman to come over here?”

“No, no, don’t get Ian,” she said, “
he’s
got enough to do.”

“Okay, then spill the beans.”

She looked up to the ceiling and stared at the old skylight. The glass looked like it had been covered with tar paper, but there were still a few places where the sunlight had been able to penetrate and beams shone down into the dim building. For some reason, those narrow beams of light gave her hope.

“Last month I was working on a case,” she said, turning to Ernie, “with a ghost who had been murdered.”

“You got a thing about dead people?” he asked.

She was surprised to feel the edges of her mouth turn up. “Yeah, I guess I do,” she replied. “Anyway, this woman was held as a prisoner, raped a number of times and finally died. But she couldn’t remember anything about the man or the circumstances surrounding the incident. She’d blocked it out.”

“Yeah, I heard about guys coming back from the war that did that,” he said. “It was still part of them, but somehow their minds locked it away somewhere.”

She nodded.
“Exactly.
And the only way to get that information from her was to hypnotize her and have her live through it again.”

“How the hell do you hypnotize a ghost?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “You find a human who’s willing to let the ghost borrow her body for a little while,” she said.

“So, while she was in your body, she relived what happened to her,” he said. “And you got to live through it for the first time.”

Mary nodded. “It’s weird; I’m a rape victim who’s never been raped. But, I still have some of the same reactions they would have after they have become victims.”

“Yeah, and there’s the difference, sister,” he said.

“What difference?”

“Sister, you
ain’t
a victim. You’re a warrior,” he said. “You just need to remember that.”

“But…”

“Listen, I’ve been in and around the boxing ring all my life,” he said, gazing around. “I’ve seen losers, I’ve seen weaklings, I’ve seen winners and I’ve seen warriors. You got the heart of a warrior. You just have to remember that all over again. You have to remember that you were experiencing another person’s reaction to a situation, not your own.”

Mary realized her heart wasn’t racing anymore and her breathing was back to normal. She extended her hand and saw it was steady. Ernie watched her and grinned. “What did I tell you?” he said. “Ernie is never wrong.”

“Thanks, Ernie,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, you show me how much you appreciate it when you show up tomorrow morning.”

“Really?
On the weekend?”

He laughed deeply and shook his head. “Okay, I’ll see you on Monday, sister.”

“Thanks Ernie, see you then.”

He faded away. Mary stood up and looked around the ring. Walking to the middle, she lifted her arms into a fighting stance and danced around in her high heels, jabbing and feinting, as she moved in a small circle.

“Hey, no heels on the canvas, sister,” Ernie’s voice echoed through the gym. “If you want to go a few rounds, slip those shoes off.”

“Sorry, Ernie,” Mary called, tiptoeing to the edge of the ring and climbing out. “See you Monday.”

She let herself out of the gym and walked back towards her office, a bounce in her step. The first stop, when she got back to her desk, was her computer’s media player. She found the selection she wanted, increased the volume to ten and played Survivor’s
Eye of The Tiger
. She sat at her desk, moving to the beat of the song. Soon, the toe tapping became choreography and she was moving around the desk doing her best impression of 80’s dance moves. Finally, she couldn’t resist. Grabbing a Sharpie from her desktop for a microphone, she belted out her version of the lyrics,
“
Risin
' up, straight to the top. Had the guts, got the glory. Went the
distance,
now I'm not
gonna
stop. Just a woman and
her
will to survive.”

She held the final note, feeling pretty good about her vocal abilities, but went silent when she heard a crash behind her office in the alley.

“Damn cats,” she heard Stanley yell out. “I don’t know where you are, but keep
yer
caterwauling away from the back of my building.”

Ian had finished speaking with the fourth person of interest and was driving across town when he saw the flashing lights of a squad car pull up behind him.

“Caught you,” Mike said, as Ian pulled the car to the curb.

“Aye,” he said. “I suppose I should make my one phone call now.”

He dialed Bradley’s number and put the phone on speaker.

“Chief Alden,” Bradley said into the phone.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Ian said. “I’ve just been pulled over by a very angry-looking Lena Police Chief. I thought it would be wise to have you on the phone with me. Do you ken?”

“Yes, I understand,” he said. “Thanks for calling me.”

Chief Richards tapped on the driver’s window and Ian rolled it down. “Good afternoon, Chief,” he said. “How are you today?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Richards asked.

“I beg your pardon, Chief,” Ian replied, “
are
you meaning right now or do you mean something else?”

“You get smart with me, boy, and I’ll pull you out of this car and show you what I mean,” he threatened.

“And Ian will have to kick your fat butt, Uncle Chuck,” Mike added.

“Ach, well, before you say another word, I should be telling you that Chief Alden is on me speaker phone listening to our conversation,” Ian said with a pleasant smile. “I wouldn’t want you to think I entrapped you or anything like that.”

“Good afternoon, Chief Richards,” Bradley said. “Is there a problem?”

“You can keep your people out of my jurisdiction,” he said. “You want my help, fine, I’d be happy to work with you. But, I’m not going to stand for you freelancing in my town.”

“All right,” Bradley said. “I’ll take you up on your offer. I didn’t find any of the original interviews with the persons of interest in the files you gave me. Would you be willing to share those files with me?”

Richards looked at Ian and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll share them,” he said. “Your man can follow me back to the station and I’ll have them all copied. I’m not against you working your leads and I want this solved just as badly as the next man, but I don’t like being left out of the loop.”

“That’s understandable,
Chief
,” Bradley admitted. “We were initially concerned there was a leak in your office, which is why we circumvented you.”

“Yeah, well, there’s not a leak,” he said. “Folks around here are just protective of the families that got hurt. They don’t want to see old wounds opened up. And, they see me as the person who can keep a lid on things like that.”

“Thanks for shedding a light on the situation, Chief,” Bradley said. “I’ll put together the things I’m working on and send you a report early next week.”

“Thank you, Alden, I’d appreciate it,” he said and then he turned to Ian. “If you’d be willing to follow me, I’ll get you the information.”

Ian smiled. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”

An hour later, Ian walked out of the Lena Police Station with a large file and no more information than he had when he stepped in. He got into his car and pulled away from the station. He drove several blocks away to the city cemetery and pulled in.

“Drive over there,” Mike said, pointing to a large monument. “Timmy’s marker is right near that one.”

Ian drove over to the site, parked the car and got out. He and Mike walked over to the marker and just looked at it for a few moments without speaking.

“I’m glad I got to meet him,” Ian said. “He’s a great kid.”

Mike nodded. “Yeah, this piece of stone isn’t really a great representation of him.”

“What would you put here instead?” Ian asked.

Shrugging, Mike thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said. “But something that reminded me of his laughter, his sense of humor. This is just too sad.”

“Well, the end of his life was sad,” Ian replied.

“But that was just a little part of the life he lived and the person he was,” he said. “How someone lived, that’s how he should be remembered. Not how he died.”

Ian nodded, “Aye, you’re right,” he said. “We forget that when we’re planning a funeral. We’re so focused on death, we forget about life.”

“Yeah, and when you’re dead, that’s all you think about,” Mike said, “your life, your family and your friends. It’s all about who you loved. You figure out pretty fast what really mattered.”

“I think I need to call me ma in the morning,” Ian said. “You have me longing for her voice.”

Mike smiled. “And there’s one place I want us to stop before we go back to Mary’s. They might be able to help. But even if they don’t, I’d like you to meet my parents.”