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Chapter 57
It was over an hour later when the phone call finally rang, causing me to jump. When I answered, Alice’s voice surprised me.
“You need to come to the office. People are going to Sally’s apartment looking for you. They’re not police so be careful. That outsider who hurt her must have told someone she’s helping Adele. Fortunately, no police are hanging outside this building.”
“Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, stay by the phone and play for time if Lees calls for me. Tell him I’m getting a sandwich or something.”
“What if he doesn’t call? You realize she might be dead.” The woman’s causal tone made me want to slam down the phone.
“Then, you’d know that, wouldn’t you? I’m assuming you haven’t heard that yet. So, if he doesn’t call soon, I’ll go find him and make him cough her up!” I snarled, then slammed down the receiver.
When I got close to my office, my nerves were already on edge. Visions of killing Lees came to me as I parked a couple of blocks away and came into the building from the back. Normally, such a thought would bother me, but I was past such considerations. By the time I got to the door, a sneer remained plastered on my face. Alice patiently looked at me with the news.
“He’ll call back in a few minutes. It’s not Lees on the phone.”
“I guess I’m not surprised. He wants his slaves to do it. Tell me something? You said the guy who kidnapped Adele was an outsider. How did you know that?”
The woman glanced away briefly.
“You know about everything that happened, probably what likely will happen!” My temper flared as I realized the extent of her knowledge.
She nodded.
“Spirits communicate among themselves all the time since we are linked together. That includes Stull Junction.”
My mind spun trying to process this information.
“So, you’re saying more than one elemental is watching over Stull Junction. Somehow, you’re communicating with each other and everything in this place that I can see and touch?”
“In a way, your description matches what you can sense,” she agreed. “Think of it this way, you know about atoms, but you can’t see them with your eyes. Still, everything is made up of atoms. Elemental powers combined will duplicate what you consider reality. Stull Junction exists in your mind and your senses…”
“That’s enough,” I interrupted while putting up my hand. “We’re past what I can handle. Frankly, I don’t give a damn about this fucking place. It doesn’t change the fact that you know everything but you’re not telling me all you know.”
“You forgot I’m an observer. As much as this may pain you, I cannot intercede. If freewill means anything, it’s the requirement of this domain. It’s how everything was established.”
“So what? As far as I’m concerned, you’re acting like a god. Cora does the same thing, manipulating and feeding information to keep control. I’m glad you sleep well at night because you’re shit to me at this point.”
My rage built as I considered the problems I front of me.
“Oh, that’s right, you’re something immortal,” I continued. “So, you won’t even care about my feeling towards you since you can’t understand emotions and feelings.”
Before she could reply, the phone rang. Her frozen stare at me continued as the phone rang, and I grabbed the receiver.
“Is this Dagger?”
“Yeah, let me guess, your Hamm?”
“I’m waiting for you, heretic. The man says I can’t do anything to your wife, but the Lord tells me to clean and absolve her.” His voice faded on the line.
“I’m torn, what should I do?”
I overheard the man ask. Then, I heard Adele cry out in pain.
“Oh, she likes pain. This will be fun!”
Instantly furious, I screamed into the receiver.
“Listen you motherfucker! If you touch her again, I’ll skin you alive and feed you to the dogs!”
The killer chuckled at my rant.
“Come to the Duquesne Steel Works with plenty of cash. You’re buying my way to Mexico. Better hurry, I’m getting hot for this wife of yours.”
The phone line went dead, and I slammed the receiver down. Stomping into my office, I started pacing with a mind filled with various scenarios. None of them worked in my favor.
How the hell do I come up with money?
There’s no ATMs, I thought while desperately trying to come up with a plan.
Wait, he’s an outsider.
He may not realize I can’t come up with money.
No, he’s been here a while!
That means he doesn’t care because it won’t matter. The bastard would have a drop on me if I went there. It’s obviously a set up to get rid of both of us. I’m sure Lees is paying him after the deed and I’m betting cops will be nearby as well just to make sure I don’t make it out alive.
Boiling with anger about the two people caught up in this mess, I threw the files on the desk across the room.
“Are you going?” Alice asked.
“Of course, I’m going. I’m going to kill the bastard, then take Lees out.”
“You’ll die,” my secretary calmly said.
“What the hell do you care? I’m a mortal, not worthy of your status. I’m so damn tired of you and Cor—fuck!
Suddenly, the blinding pain shot through my head. I felt my eyes watering and saw the bloody tears when I wiped my eyes. Despite the pressure in my head, instantly I realized what Cora was doing.
That bitch is going to keep me from helping Adele!
Staggering into my office, the agony nearly made me fold. The familiar tug to unconsciousness came toward me which filled me with rage.
“AAAGGGHH!”
In a desperate bid to break through, I slammed my right fist into the calendar on the wall. The pain in my fist allowed me to keep me awake and softened the agony in my head. The noise brought Alice into my office.
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