Redemption

Jay McCall took out the little black notebook from the glove compartment glad that he was done the last visit on his ‘apology tour’. The wind outside had picked up and was rocking the car back and forth. Jay opened the book and used the streetlight to see as he wrote in the journal, documenting the outcome of his final apology.

He completed his notes and put the little black book back into the glove compartment. He reclined the drivers seat a little and leaned back deciding to let the rocking of the car relax him. It had been a long week and he was glad it was over.

As he sat there, eyes closed, he hoped that the efforts he had put in would reveal some results soon. Jay just wanted to make amends and give back. He wanted to make things right. Up until a short time ago Jay McCall was not the guy you wanted coming for a visit. He thought about the fishing trip he had planned for the weekend and fell asleep as the wind pushed the car from side to side.

******

Normally when Jay was jerked awake it was because of his own snoring. His snoring wasn’t the culprit this time. He scanned the scene outside the car. It was quiet – eerily quiet. As he looked around at the leaves and debris strewn all over the street, it hit him. The wind that was verging on violent had stopped so suddenly that the car was still rocking from its force as everything around him lay quiet and still. Jay had awakened because he sensed the sudden end to the windstorm and the deafening silence that had resulted.

He had an uneasy feeling and decided it was time to go home for the night. Jay started the car and slowly started driving away. He didn’t want to upset the forces he sensed around him or draw any unwanted attention to himself.

He hadn’t gotten more than half a block away when the first ball of hail hit the street in front of him taking out a piece of pavement. Then a second hit the asphalt, this one noticeably larger than the last. Before he knew it there was a wall of hail coming down in front of him. Jay slammed on the brakes and sat there in awe, watching the hail come down.

After a while Jay realized that none of the hail had damaged the surrounding buildings, streetlights, or storefronts. And, not once had his car been touched by the hail. On a hunch he crawled the car back to the curb and shut off the engine. After only seconds the hail stopped completely. Jay scratched his head.

Jay loved the supernatural and was an avid reader of ghost stories, mediums, and hauntings – but he had never experienced anything himself. But tonight – tonight something or someone was screaming for Jay’s attention. Screaming about what he didn’t know, but he sure wished they’d find another way to speak to him.

“What? What do you want from me? Do you need help? Did I do something to piss you off?”, Jay asked out loud hoping that they heard him and would give a more direct answer.

He held his breath and waited Jay took out a digital audio recorder he used for work and pressed record hoping it may catch something. Looking up Jay realized that he couldn’t see outside the car anymore. All the windows had fogged up. He wiped the driver’s side window and it fogged up again before he was done wiping it. A mixture of excitement, apprehension, and fear swam within his chest.

A movement caught his eye on his right. Something was writing on the passenger window.

255 Hollingsworth Dr Apt. 326

“Okay,” Jay said. “I’ll go take a look.” At that moment, the windows instantly cleared.

He got out of his car at the surrounding street addresses. The building was across from his last stop half a block behind him. He ran across the street and jogged to the front of the building. As he arrived a couple walking their dog exited the building giving Jay the opportunity to slip inside. He took the stairs and felt an invisible force pulling him towards the apartment.

He open the door to the third floor cautiously and looked out into the hallway. Finding it empty he stepped into the hallway guided it shut. His phone vibrated in his jacket pocket and he looked to see who was calling. It was his son. He desperately wanted to answer. Jay had just gotten that kid back into his life and was working hard to regain his trust. But something told him taking the call would be a mistake. He let it go to voicemail and prayed that he didn’t regret it later.

Jay walked down the hall watching the apartment numbers climb as he moved closer to apartment 326. Once there he listened at the door for any movement inside. He could tell someone was in there moving a lot of things around and trying hard to do it quietly. Do I really want to get involved, he wondered to himself?

The doorknob turned and the door opened silently answering the question for him. Whoever was asking for his help was persistent. Jay opened the door a little further and listened some more. The sounds of a search had moved to the back of the apartment, so he pushed it open and entered the home.

Once inside the entranceway he closed his eyes and brought back a part of himself he never wanted to see again. He opened his eyes and walked quietly and confidently down the hall and into the main room of the home.

Looking around he quickly took in the furnishings, pictures and books lying around the ransacked room. One of the pictures lying on the back of an upturned end table caught his eye. It was a picture of Dawn Marie Ross, one of the world’s premier mediums. She had helped solve more crimes than Jay had committed in his former life.

Most of the crimes she solved were ones he would never commit. Child abduction. Awe and wonder filled him as he realized he was standing in the home of a woman he admired greatly. Then he realized if the ghost was bringing him here it meant she was the one in trouble.

Anger and worry filled him now was he made his way to the back of the apartment. He grabbed a signed baseball that was on a pedestal showcase on the fireplace mantel as he walked by. He quickly checked the first room on his right for any surprises. What he saw broke his heart.

Dawn was lying on the floor of a room that appeared to be her office. She was staring up at the ceiling motionless. He walked over and shut her eyes gently and said a quiet prayer. Looking closer he saw that she had been strangled and had put up quite a fight. He also noticed a tie pin stuck into her left palm. Using a facial tissue, he wiped the blood off the pin and recognized it right away. It was a custom pin of the Cuban flag in the shape of a donkey. His previous bosses’ son, Chuck Cortez, had it made special.

A rustling sound to his left grabbed his attention and he quickly turned toward the sound ready for a fight. What he saw was an incredibly old and large Bible lying open, the top pages shaking like someone was trying to decide whether to turn the page. He went over to the book and the passage. It was the story about Mary Magdalene and Jesus saving her from being stoned. Looking over the Bible he noticed a page different than the others.

He turned to the page and found a page of notes Dawn had written. She had solved another case, Chuck had been smuggling abducted children across the border from Cuba for his friend Chris Lemon. The paper had the location where the truck was being stored until they auctioned off the children.

Rage filled Jay as he stood up and walked over to the bedroom where Chuck was ripping pillow apart.

“Hey, Chuck!”, Jay yelled with mock surprise.

Chuck jumped, startled by Jay’s loud and unexpected entrance. “Jay, what are you doing…”

Before Chuck could finish his sentence, Jay threw the baseball and hit him square between the eyes – right on the bridge of his nose. Chuck went down quick and hard. Jay was about to walk over and kick him for good measure when a painting flew off a wall and landed just shy of the body. Jay looked over and noticed a wall safe had been revealed. He walked over to the safe as an invisible force entered the combination to the safe and swung it open.

Jay viewed the contents – there was some cash, photo’s, a small pistol, and some jewelry. He was at a loss of what to do. He felt his jacket pocket get tugged. He put his hand in and found the recorder he had brought with him.

“What do I do?”, he asked. After waiting a few moments, he stopped the recording, backed it up, and pressed play.

“Take money. Son’s college.” Chills ran through Jay. It was her; it was Dawn’s voice.

“Thank you,” he said to her as he tears of gratitude slid down his cheeks.

“Thank you,” he heard whispered in his left ear. Then the bedroom windows flew open and all was quiet.

Jay reached in and hesitantly took the money. He counted $20,000 for his son’s tuition. Fighting back tears he pocked it. He then picked up the phone on the bedside table and dialed 911. He then putting the receiver down on the table ignoring the operator. He went over to Chuck and picked up the baseball from beside him and wiped it clean before letting it drop down beside the body once more. Finally, Jay took the piece of paper with the details about the truck with the smuggled children and left it lying on Chuck’s motionless chest.

Then Jay left the apartment filled with hope for the future and feeling good about helping someone he admired.