Those of the Margin: a Paranormal Suspense Thriller (Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Book 2) (17 page)

"That and a whole lot more. I hope you is sitting down because this is gonna make your head spin around a few times like that girl in that Exorcist movie."

"I'm sitting," Derek said. The split moment between telling Ralph he was ready to hear what information he had and when Ralph starting to talk, was filled with a thousand fears. He feared that Ralph would tell him that Maggie Bryant was complicit in something highly illegal, or that it was Maggie who had somehow masterminded the murder of Ron White and the abduction of her own son. He cringed at the possibility that Jack Bryant was even more dangerous than he had grown to believe. He felt immediate despair when he thought that Jack had already killed Robby and wondered how he could possibly console Maggie.

"Let me start with the simple stuff," Ralph said, his voice cool and low. "Ron White, as you know, is from Canada. Though he lives in Quebec and has lived there for the past 20 or so years, he was born and raised outside of Toronto. His job when he lived in Toronto was a freelance investigative reporter. Now, truth be told, I ain't all that sure that he used the term 'freelance' on his business card, but I figured you'd like to hear that term associated with him. Anyway, he worked on his own and did pretty well, based on the financial records I was privy to. Then back in 1972, he was invited to report on some psychological experiment."

"The Phillip Experiment?"

"Well, I am impressed with you, Derek Cole. Anyway, something happened to dear departed Ron White after that reporting job, because he went dark for plenty of years after. He turned up again outside of Quebec City, working for an English language based newspaper. He covered general stories, nothing remarkable. But he was known to be an amateur ghost hunter around those parts and even published a book about paranormal occurrences and what not.

"Ron had a stroke back in September of last year that left him a bit hobbled. For whatever reason, he chose to pay for his own rehab in the nursing home in Maine, that you are familiar with. Now, I told you two things that are important for you to recall. Number one, I mentioned to you the other day that I was not the only person digging into Jack Bryant's past. Number two, I told you just a minute or two ago that Ron White was an investigative reporter. Now, let's see you put those two gems together."

Derek spoke immediately.
 
"Ron was digging into Jack Bryant's past and may have uncovered something that Jack Bryant didn't want uncovered. So, to silence him, Jack killed him."

"That's why the police are considering Jack Bryant a person of interest in the case. They found a whole bunch of interview and research notes on Ron's computer that he had in the nursing home. Ron interviewed a whole mess of people and was ready to blast out an article that proved Jack Bryant not only killed his own daddy, whom you and I refer to as 'grandpa' if you recall, but that Jack Bryant may have also killed two other people close to the case. The most recent victim was a Henry Turck, who was a retired detective who worked on the Bryant murder case back in 1994. Turck's family chose to keep his possible murder quiet. Seems Henry was killed by falling down a flight of stairs. Problem was, toxicology reports showed that tumbling Henry was juiced up with so many sedatives that they find it highly unlikely that he would have been able to walk, let alone trying to make his way down a flight of stairs.

"No one knows what the article said precisely because the article was not on the computer, just interview notes and a few very rough drafts. Police are thinking that Jack Bryant may have found the article and taken it with him so that it never saw the black ink of a newspaper printer."

"Did you find anything out about Maggie Bryant, Jack's wife?" Derek asked.

"Not sure why you'd ask about her, but she's a clean as a red-haired, Irish girl's whistle."

"Good to hear, but that analogy makes no sense," Derek said, fully relieved.

"Then I am safe to assume that you've never been to Ireland."

"True. But, still, doesn't make sense," Derek quipped. "Anything else?"

"Police have a very bad feeling about what Jack may do with his son."

"I'm worried about the same thing."

"That you may, but you don't know why the police are so worried."

"What did he do?"

"Now this hasn't been made public yet but it's about to. Old Jack Bryant didn't just kidnap his son Robby, but it looks like he took another young boy, named Matthew Jones, from up in Portland as well. Busted up this kid's mother pretty bad in the process, or at least the police believe it was him. Ain't got enough evidence to confirm what I am about to say, but I have to believe that the woman he busted up is Jack Bryant's mistress and the boy he abducted is his other son."

"Son of a bitch," Derek said.

"If you have any influence over Margaret Bryant, you should make sure that she doesn't go running off and go all freelancing to try to save her son. If I was a betting man, I'd say Jack Bryant is man on the edge. If he beat up his girlfriend and put her near death, there ain't no telling what he'd do to his wife."

"Ralph," Derek said, "I wish you had some good news for me."

"Afraid I'm fresh out of good news. Now, I know you well enough to know that you ain't gonna heed the advice I'm about to toss your way, but I feel compelled to offer it anyway: Don't go running into any situation that you can't run away from."

"I think I'm already running, Ralph."

It was no more than five minutes after ending the call with Ralph that Derek's iPhone vibrated again. This time, is was John Flannigan calling.

"Derek," he said, "we have a serious issue."

"Father, we have more serious issues than you may be aware of."

"Listen to me," John demanded, his tone cut with urgency. "After Maggie and I left the police station and got back to the rectory, she told me she was tired and needed to rest for a bit."

"Father, where is Maggie?"

"She told me she was going to lie down for a bit."

"Father, where the hell is Maggie?"

"She left five minutes ago."

#####

Derek wanted to run but didn't know in which direction to head. He wanted to scream but could find no words that needed to be heard by others. He stood, pacing the floor of his hotel room, his hands clenched in fists against his temples, desperately trying to search his mind for any clue that he missed. Anything that would tell him what to do to save Maggie. To save Robby. To solve the mysteries.

As if a sign from an outside agency, the notebook that Ron White wanted Derek to have, fell from the bed and onto the floor in front of Derek's feet. Seeing the notebook sitting on the floor provided an instant calming feeling to wash over Derek. He bent over, grabbed the book, and opened the cover. A folded up sheet of paper fell out of the book. Written on the outside of the sheet of paper was Derek's name.

"Derek Cole, I hope this letter finds you. Of course, if it does find you it probably means that I am dead, which is rather unfortunate (at least from my point of view). Getting directly to the point, Jack Bryant killed me. The method of his murder is, obviously, unknown to me, but as I write this letter to you, I am hoping that he at least killed me quickly.

"The police are certain to find all the evidence they need to at least charge Jack for my death on my laptop computer, kept in my lovely room. If they are not yet suspecting Jack, please ensure that they either recover my laptop or, failing that, are given this notebook.

"I won't bore you with the details of how I know Jack is my murderer. Suffice to say that he killed his father back in 1994 as well as two other people associated with the original case. One of the murders is listed as a missing person's case. Have the Portland Police investigate a missing person's case under the name 'Linda Shepherdson.' She is tied to the Bryant family in too many ways to detail in this letter, but she isn't missing, she was murdered due to her knowledge of the Luke Bryant case.
 

"The second murder was of Henry Turck. Obit says that Henry died suddenly, which is true. What it doesn't say is that Henry Turck was investigating Luke Bryant's murder and was getting close to finding something before he was thrown down a flight of stairs in an apartment building. He was visiting a Vanessa Jones who is, according to what Henry told me in confidence, also tied to the Bryant family.

"Contained in the hidden files labeled "JB Case" on my laptop, is all the proof needed to finally convict him. I've also saved a copy of the files on a Dropbox folder, the username and password to which appear at the bottom of this letter. Again, please make the police aware of these files.

"You may be wondering why I wrote this letter to you, having only met you once and having only spoken to you for less than 15 minutes. The topic of our one conversation is the reason your name appears on this letter. I hope that you have used your investigative skills and have learned the significance of the name 'Phillip,' the name of the ghost visiting Robby.

"I was an investigative reporter during my early and late careers and was one of the reporters asked to witness the séance which took place during the Phillip Experiment. What I experienced during that event altered the course of my life. I became obsessed with finding out the truth about ghosts and ghostly encounters: to either prove or to disprove the existence of ghosts. And, I am glad to say, that I have finally completed my investigation and have proven my theory.

"At the very end of this journal, you will find the article that I was preparing to publish. Since I am dead, please see to it that the article is sent to the list of publishers that appear on the final page.

"Since my time is short, I will get directly to the main point of this letter. Ghosts exist, Mr. Cole. They are the wandering dead of the earth. My theory is that ghosts were once human beings who, upon their death, chose to remain on earth instead of advancing to the next realm of existence. Millions of them walk the earth, unrecognized as being what they are. Once they are seen by someone who knew them while they were alive, they are returned to the other realm, forever banished from existence.

"I, myself, have recognized someone who I knew and who I knew had died. I saw him through my telescope and watched him when the realization of being recognized flashed terror across his face, and I watched him fade into nothingness.

"The vast majority of these walking departed spend their existence hiding on the margins of society. I imagine that they spend their time in fear of being banished and regretting their decision to walk the earth. Their existence is one of solitude, vacancy, and of all-consuming paranoia. Visit any large city and look at the faces of those we often call 'bums' or 'vagrants.' Those who shy away from eye contact, who hide in places that no man would ever wish to call home, are often these wandering dead.

"Be wary of approaching them for they know what being recognized would result in for them. If you do not recognize them, they may have built enough strength to prevent you from every becoming a threat to their pitiful existence.

"The ghost that visits Robby is real, Mr. Cole, and is becoming stronger with each visit. He is becoming very dangerous and must be recognized and returned before Robby is injured or forever damaged. I cannot tell you, with any certainty, who he was in life, but I am certain of three things:

1- His name is not Phillip.

2- He is visiting Robby for a specific reason.

3- He is attached to the Bryant family.

"Find out who he is, Cole, and return him before something terrible happens.

"Lastly, if my theory is correct, and I am given the choice to either advance or to continue walking the earth, I may choose the latter. Please do not look for me.

Ron White."

Derek held the two-page note in his hands for several seconds, both digesting its contents and desperately trying to determine his course of action. He realized that trying to find Maggie, Robby, and Jack Bryant was better left to the police. They had the resources and the manpower that he lacked. While he set his mind on letting the police search for them, he also committed that he would not allow any police procedure or protocol to get in the way and allow Jack to harm Maggie, Robby, or Jack's other, unknown son. He had let protocol take precedence over action once before, and doing so resulted in the death of his wife.

Derek sat on his bed and skimmed the rest of Ron's notebook, hoping that it contained something that would tell him what his next step should be. The first page was filled with short notes, some circled, and some crossed off with an "X." Before reading any of the notes, Derek skimmed through the pages, finding that page after page followed the same theme as the first. When he reached the final page of the notebook, Derek read several of Ron's notes.

"Spirits use any means of entrance. Deception is their ally."

"Phillip is not his name."

"Jack Bryant's father was an amateur ghost hunter. Knew a lot about paranormal research and history."

"Spirits gain strength over time. Return as soon as possible!!!"

"Robby's ghost is much too powerful. Robby/Maggie are in danger. Need to identify and return."

"Derek Cole has a spirit protecting him. Cole will play a critical role soon."

It hit him after reading the final note. Derek knew what he had to do. Though he didn't know how to proceed or if his intended action would help prevent Jack Bryant from harming Maggie and his two captives, he knew what he had to do.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Father, I need you to get me into Maggie's house."

When Derek walked into his den without notice, John Flannigan stopped pacing, an activity he had been engaged in for well over an hour. When John discovered that Maggie had not gone to the rectory's guest room to take a nap, but had instead snuck out of the rectory, taken his car, and headed to wherever it was that she went to, John placed the full burden of what may happen to her on his own shoulders.

"What are you talking about?" John said. "Maggie didn't go back to her home. She's out...there...somewhere," John said, with an exaggerated wave of his arm towards the general vicinity of everywhere. "We need to figure out where she is."