Ghost Skills

Ghost Skills Chapter 9

 Driving to a suburb on the south side of Chicago aptly named Justice, I followed my GPS until I wound up in a middle class residential neighborhood with houses lining the streets. White picket fences, brick two story houses, and the whole white suburbia shebang, it was a far cry from the neighborhood I lived in, with drug dealers and prostitutes on every corner after dark. Finding the address I was looking for, I parked across the street, making sure I wasn't in the range of a street lamp. Reclining the seat in my truck, I couldn't be seen unless you came right up to my truck and looked in. All night I stayed there, watching the house of the sex offender named Peter Mitchell. Just after daybreak with no action from the house I began to get sleepy and was dozing off when I saw lights turn on in the house. Snapping back to full awareness, I sat a little higher in my seat and tried getting a glimpse into the home. Not being able to see anything, I quietly exited my truck, making sure not to shut the door hard enough to make noise, and sneaked toward the first floor windows.

Passing through the bushes that underlined the large bay window, I peered in and saw a man somewhere in his mid-forties in the kitchen making coffee. I watched for awhile, hoping he would give me some clue as to whether he was the one who had abducted the girl, but I was rewarded with nothing. He seemed like a normal man making breakfast before work. After he ate he cleaned his dish and cup, and disappeared upstairs. Reappearing ten minutes later in a somewhat casual looking suit, he grabbed his wallet and keys from the kitchen counter and turned toward the door. Thinking it would be better for me to stay behind hidden in the bushes then to make a mad dash for my truck, I crouched lower till I could not be seen. When he did not leave right away I was confused, and rose a bit to look through the window. He was back in the kitchen, going for a door off past the dining table. He opened it, flipped a switch and passed through the threshold.

I thought it led to the basement and I realized I could make it to my truck before he came back, so I turned quickly and jogged for my vehicle. Around fifteen minutes later, the garage door opened and a Toyota Camry backed out, and drove down the street. Starting my truck, and making a quick U-Turn I followed him to the gas station about a mile away, pulled in right behind him at the pump and swiped my card. Eying him up and down from the corner of my vision, I realized he was well built under the business suit he wore. He finished pumping, so I hung up my own nozzle and re-entered my truck. He got back into his car and drove, and of course I followed him.

All the way downtown, to an high-rise office building. He pulled into a parking lot and I noticed it had a booth with a man checking parking permits.

"Great, just great," I groaned, going straight instead of turning in the parking lot after him.

Circling around the block and parking at a meter, I settled in for a long wait. After four hours I saw him exit the front door of the building and start walking toward me. Checking my watch I realized it was lunchtime, waited till he passed me and I followed him on foot. After a few blocks he entered a restaurant, and I looked around at the other stores around me and noticed a Barnes & Noble. Score! Running across the street and grabbing a book I had already read once titled Amber Eyes by Jolyn Palliata. Thinking it was good enough to re-read, I paid and loitered by the front windows, waiting for Mr. Mitchell to exit the restaurant. Following him back to the offices, I fed the meter and waited again, this time not so bored thanks to my book.

Around four pm. I saw his car leave the parking lot and I again followed him back to his home. For awhile he just puttered around, not doing much of anything. Just before seven pm he went to the kitchen and made dinner. After he ate, he cleaned up, then he went into his basement and stayed there for just under two hours. We followed this cycle for three days, I only went home after he fell asleep, ate and got some sleep myself. On the fourth day I was losing hope as I followed him to work, then back home, watched him cook his supper, eat and then clean the kitchen. Knowing from his routine that he would go into his basement for a few hours then finish the night off with some TV. This is it, after tonight I'm going back to Ms. Dejesus and tell her it wasn't him. That's when things began to get weird. He finished eating, then filled another plate and strode towards the basement. He turned on the light and went down the stairs. I was confused for a moment.