Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Chapter 40 - Who Are You Girl?

Thankfully, Kyle made it to his car without further incidences of seeing Jolene's ghost. She was trying to talk to him, but he was doing all he could to find the information without risking a heart attack. He needed to know what Jolene wanted to say but not in the way she was going about it. Kyle's mother used to be connected by the dead as she was a fortune teller. Never once had anyone accused her of being wrong. But he knew there was many nights when sleeping with a light on was necessary. He wished he understood how not to feel afraid of the departed, like his mom could. She used to talk to ghosts as if they were friends. Kyle had never felt comfortable with doing that. His mother made sure he had gone to church throughout his life so he could understand history, and what the departed meant to the living all over the world. Every so often Kyle sees his mother's spirit because she likes to check in on his family since she had passed away ten years before. Though time has passed Kyle wasn't ready to let her go. He missed her and kept thoughts of her in his head, so she would continue to come around. He wasn't sure if that really was how it worked, but it was what worked for him. She was the only one Kyle wasn't afraid of.

It was getting dark and the grey clouds were rolling in like cotton squished into a clear bag. 'The Cloud Angels are getting ready to sweep', Kyle's mother would say right before it snowed. Kyle smiled at the memory.

There was just enough time to run to the Club Magician then back to the office before Jose showed up. By then they should have found Ryan's address. Kyle sat in his truck for a moment. His heart was beating steadily now, and happy he had gotten more information from Jolene's co-workers than he had hoped for.

A picture of Jolene and Ryan rested in his pocket that he had taken out of Jolene's bag for identification purposes. Jolene's parents had already put in a call to the station demanding if they had any answers yet. Kyle wished he could tell them more than they knew already. He had to get to know Jolene through her daily routine first. Kyle made it his business to get personally familiar with victims and their lives. In a way he understood how Jolene's parents felt, for he had seen it time and time again. Everyone wanted justice for senseless murders. He felt it as personally as the families did. He was as human as they were, but law enforcement taught him to control his emotions, so he could gather the information he needed to do his job in finding the answers. It was difficult. This time Kyle was having a hard time getting over the strangest aspect of Jolene's case, which wasn't just the blood in the eyes, or that she was murdered under different circumstances than the others, but that Jolene looked like his daughter. This one felt too personal for someone he had never known.

The distance from the station to Club Magician was about half an hour away, but it took an hour since the colder snowy weather made the roads slick. Snow was dropping light and slow, but by the evening they were due for another fifteen inches which will turn into a thicker pavement of ice. Kyle could already smell the storm getting closer in the air.

Slush filled the parking lot pavement of Club Magician. Kyle looked for a spot that was more wet than white that he could step out onto. Only a few cars sat in the big lot but that still didn't leave him with many options. It was just past four o'clock, so they were setting up for the night. This bar was open on a Sunday because they served hamburgers and wings. For most of the week it was a sports bar. The dance club part of the establishment only opened on Friday and Saturday nights. Kyle ran in and got the information he needed then headed the hour back to the station.

Getting back downtown was a nerve wrecking experience. It took fifteen minutes to find a parking spot for courts were in session and traffic was horrendously slow and congested. Grabbing his files and the box with eight cupcakes left, Kyle carefully made his way into the building trying to keep balance, so he didn't land on his ass. The people walking past him weren't helping.