Undetected

Chapter 8

As Ace's engines roared, I stayed far enough behind him, not to be noticed, but unfortunately, close enough to hear his ego drive through the streets of downtown. Did it make him feel like King of The Hill, I wondered, as his car approached the 5 North Freeway. I'd dealt with his type before, and realized some things never change.

The downtown skyline with its glistening bay, offered bobbing boats and a sleek background of tall, mirrored buildings that weren't so densely populated years ago. When I arrived in San Diego in the early nineties there wasn't much of a downtown. Now, downtown expanded into East Village, which crept into Golden Hills.

As the White Mustang was moving quickly onto the Pacific Highway, I left the city skyline and its thoughts behind, and merged into the same lane as Ace. His quick right onto Midway drive made me think of the strip clubs in the area.

My thought wasn't without merit, as Ace turned into The Kitty Corral's Strip Club parking lot, without a blinker, of course.

"These premonitions, the moment right before," I muttered. What was happening to me in this situation was similar to what Mediums go through. People request info about their dead loved ones, and the Medium gets the messages from the deceased in the presence of the family.

Not to be seen, I turned right into an empty parking lot close by. It was empty enough for me to angle my car so that it faced the entrance of the club.

Ace drove past the empty valet stand. It was still a little too early for the valet boys to hustle and make money. The passenger door of Ace's car opened, and the anonymous figure pushed the seat forward, and got out of the car, so Katie could get into the passenger seat. As she made her way into the club, I was able to use my 210 degree field of view to get a closeup side view of the face. The small delicate curve of the nose and a strand of long, jet black hair peaked out from the hoodie.

"Female." I affirmed, as I realized my earlier hunch that the person in question was a female seemed correct. Dancer too? Something inside said no.

"If not a dancer, then what was her connection to the strip club?" Talking to myself felt weird at times, but it helped me solve the mysteries that I chased.

While Ace was driving off, I knew that I needed to learn more about her, because whatever she was doing inside the club was a clue to this whole situation.

Ace's fast left turn into the street reminded me that my goal was to get to his weapons and have them destroyed, so I pulled my car out of the parking lot to follow him. I would get back to the strip club when there was time.

Keeping up with Ace's driving took a little effort because he was weaving in and out of traffic at different speeds in his White Knight. He was showing Katie how much control he had. I bet she was impressed by this. I knew better, and I needed to show her that she knew better before it was too late.

His blinker singled he was getting off on 28th Street. Luckily, so were a few other people, which allowed me to make the turn, without being noticed. A right turn on B Street and another quick right, as a garage door, to a mid-sized gray stone house opened to shelter his noisy car.

I drove past the house and parked a little further down the street on the opposite side. I'd sit tight for a few minutes to make sure they were comfortable inside, before snooping around like a ghost.

A burst of brightness in the living room window revealed that someone turned the lights on. Katie's tiny frame walked over and closed the curtains to hide their secrets from the world.

I closed my eyes and within a minute I shape shifted into vapor. I exited through the crack of the driver's side window and whisked through the air in an effortless motion. The slight wind released a sweet-musky smell of rustling leaves that were moving on the street below.