A Dagger through Dimensions Chapter 41

Adele Needs a New Friend

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Waking up the next morning, I half expected the police to be at my door. Instead, I found the morning newspaper. We had a subscription, which the apartment attendants put in front of our door each morning. So, I discovered that Lloyd Childress didn’t get his revenge after I left. The police found him dead from three bullet wounds. However, his tragedy didn’t even make the top paragraph in the article. Instead, the headline screamed about the death of two hoodlums. According to the newspaper reporter, two known criminals tried to escape from Stull Junction. However, justice came after an anonymous tip gave the police a description of their car and license plate number. I couldn’t help but smirk when I read that.

In a way, I felt I owed the last Lane Dagger something for his work on the little black book. Call it karma, justice, or just old-fashioned vengeance. I didn’t plan on losing sleep over my role in helping put the whole thing to rest. Yeah, I’m a hypocrite if I worry about it. Then again, I survived, and they didn’t.

I didn’t mention anything to Adele. I just sat the paper down by the sofa before we had breakfast. Probably Adele would put the dots together and I wasn’t totally sure of her reaction. Any questions that she might come up with could wait.

“Are you going to the office today?” Adele’s question brought me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, I need to speak with Alice. I haven’t talked with her about me changing careers. Plus, I’ll follow up with Judge Seabury while I’m there. Like I said, he should have some information about Lees and the Elder’s.”

“Alright, since you’re doing that, I’m going back to the library today,” she said. “I was thinking about things and your idea about Cora’s ghost. I think I’ll read more on the subject.”

“So, I’m not a total mental case,” I teased her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” she beamed. “But I thought about the fact that Cora Elder and Robert Lees are both spiritualists. Maybe she’s asking you to do something for her from her grave.”

I rubbed my chin at the idea.

She’s pretty accurate about that!

 “That’s why I married you,” I declared. “You’re beautiful and smart.”

Adele accepted the compliment with a smile.

“I should start telling you that you’re too good with cliches, but I like it when you say those things and you mean it.”

“Can I ask you a serious question?” Looking at her cheerful expression, I dipped my toe into something that I believed might happen. Actually, it remained more of a hope so far.

“Sure,” she said with a puzzled look.

“If I found a way to leave here on a one-way trip, would you go with me?” I interrupted when I saw her already agreeing.

“Hold it. Let me be more specific. Would you go on that one-way trip with me, even if we didn’t have a dime when we reached the destination?”

“What do you mean? Of course I would,” she replied. Her expression turned to concern. “We’re not in financial trouble, are we? I know I haven’t kept...”

I put my hands up in the air as I interrupted.

“No, no, no, nothing like that, I swear. It’s more of a rhetorical question.” I paused, then tried again. “Think of this question more like a science fiction story. Say you and I could go to someplace that you’ve never been to in the future, but we would have to start all over. Would you do something like that?”

Adele leaned forward on her elbows as one eyebrow rose as she considered my question.

“Yes, I would,” she finally said as she turned serious. “You’re not telling me something.”

Shaking my head, I took her hand.

“Please don’t overthink what I’m asking. I really don’t know, and I emphasize this, I really know anything. Sure, after seeing what’s happened to me, I’ve got thoughts, but none of them makes any sense. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking you to help me if I understood this. Sorry that I’m rambling here.”

She seemed to accept what I said.

“You better not run off without me, Lane Dagger. Otherwise, I’ll do the same to you as this ghost,” she said with a wink.

Somehow, I got the impression it wasn’t really a joke.