A Dagger through Dimensions Chapter 40

Aftermath

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As the sound of footsteps faded away, I went back to my flashlight and picked it up. Heading back to the front of the building, I turned off the light and watched through the front door window as the gray car sped away. Still, I can’t relax.

After grabbing my sandwich bag, I hurried through the building and to the back door again. When I exited the building, my flashlight beam found Lloyd Childress lying on the dock. He’s gasping for air, and I see blood covering his chest in three spots. Honestly, I didn’t expect the men to shoot so accurately into the darkness where he stood by the door.

Well, they are killers!

For the first time, I felt sorry for him. Even though he got shot by his own hired guns, I don’t like the idea he’s suffering.

“You’re a son of a bitch,” he wheezed out, then groaned.

I stared at him, wondering if I should care or not. I’ve already decided this place is not a game. Convinced that I’m saving myself, and probably Adele, I still can’t help but wonder. Since I set this scenario up knowing the possibility of his death.

Am I truly this fucked in the head now?

“Maybe you shouldn’t screw with the wrong people,” I finally told him. “I’ll call the cops to get your friends.”

As I walked down the steps from the dock, I heard him cough.

“I’ll stay alive long enough to tell them you did this to me,” he sputtered. “Then, I’ll see you in Hell!”

“Probably so, but you can appreciate the irony of this anyway,” I agreed as I slid my .45 into the holster. Then, I entered the alley to get into my car.

~~~

I drove down 14^th Street to a gas station. The attendant in his white uniform came out to greet me with a smile. When I asked for a phone, his smile waned.

“I guess I can get a dollar’s worth of gas,” I sighed as I went into the small building. Yeah, a couple of dollars will fill a tank when it’s 18 cents a gallon.

Picking up the handset from the phone on the counter, I suddenly realized there’s no 911 in this time period. Instead, I dialed zero like I remembered from a movie. A couple of rings later, I spoke with an operator, asking her for the police station. A gruff voice came on the line next, and I told the man I heard shots and saw two men running away from the Potter building. Of course, I was nice enough to give the desk sergeant the license plate number as well. Plus, I told the desk Sargent they might need an ambulance. I figured those two who shot their boss and killed one of the Lane Dagger’s deserved a bit of payback.

After hanging up without leaving my name, the question of the other Lane Dagger’s death left me wondering. I considered the ideas of who killed my predecessors while I watched the man finish cleaning my windshields. The guy also checked my tire pressure. When I drove away, I wondered how my world lost all those interesting perks as part of the normal service.

Lloyd’s statement about hell came to mind as I drove away. Yes, I instigated the whole thing. Still, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. And I know an honest district attorney might decide to put me into jail for a while. Guessing the police could take Lloyd’s word for what happened, I changed my route back to the office. There is no reason to make it easy. I intended to make it difficult to pin things on me. A few phone calls might help me out.

When I got there, I parked in the back and took the back stairs in the building to my office floor. Noticing the lights were off, I pulled out my keys and turned on the light when I entered.

I looked at Alice’s desk, half expecting she was there. My action shows how much I consider her nothing more than a part of this domain, an NPC made up for Cora Elder’s world. It’s kind of creepy if I really thought about it.

Going into my office, I picked up the phone and gave Adele a call. She picked up on the first ring.

“Lane, is that you?”