Chapter 19

For a second, I froze. I didn’t know where the voice was coming from and I was certain the killer wasn’t in the yard with me and Jerry. The thought helped me to calm down and focus. I knelt by Jerry and checked him. He was breathing but unconscious.

“He’s not important, Ral,” said the voice in the same slow, lumber as before.

“He was important enough for you to hurt,” I mumbled to myself.

“Don’t fool yourself, Ral,” the voice said. “No one is that important.”

“I’m not the one living with delusions,” I said and closed my eyes to focus on Jerry.

“Why are you bothering, Ral?”

For a second, I smiled. “If you understood, then you wouldn’t do what you do.” Then I shut out the voice, determined to help Jerry. As I focused, I could see images of his family. He had three kids, two girls and a boy. He was proud of his kids. His daughters were the ‘spitting image’ of their mother, and his son couldn’t wait to hear about his dad’s latest adventure at work. They were loving and ornery, but Jerry would do anything for them, short of spoiling them.

“What is the point, Ral?” asked the voice. It sounded like a whisper from a distance. “He is a small man. His death would be insignificant.”

I shook my head. “Not to his children,” I said and pushed against the voice’s intrusion again.

With my focus back on Jerry, I could see his wife. Through his eyes, she was a beautiful woman. She was loyal, smart, and took good care of him and their children. His love for her was palpable. I could feel how he felt for her and that feeling went deeper than anything I had experienced. It made me wish for a relationship like his.

“You shouldn’t waste your time, Ral,” the voice said, and it sounded like he was whispering directly in my ear. “There is nothing you can do for him.”

“Wrong,” I said under my breath. “Pay attention.” Having that deeper understanding of Jerry’s life at home, and the intense desire to help him make it back to his family, I found his injuries. He was bleeding into his brain and his skull was cracked. I focused on the bleed. I found the veins and repaired them. Then I focused on his skull and properly fused those bones.

I sat back, taking a deep breath as if I had been deep under water.

“Your efforts are wasted, Ral,” said the voice, sounding as if the owner were standing right behind me.

I looked around. No one else was within sight. No one was there other than Jerry, and he was starting to wake up.

“What the hell happened?” he asked as he sat up, rubbing his head. I hadn’t done anything for his pain.

“Something hit you,” I said. I looked around and found a rock with a drop of blood on it. I pointed it out. “Is there anyone else here in the yard?”

“Yeah, but no one here throws rocks,” he said, looking down at the rock. Then he bent over and picked it up. “I don’t recognize the type of stone.” He looked at me. “Where did it come from?”

I heard the voice laughing, and then it said, “If you figure out where the rock came from, Ral, then you’ll know where to find me.”

In a fit of anger, I snatched the rock from Jerry’s hand.

It felt like something hit me and I dropped to one knee. I wasn’t in Jerry’s storage yard anymore. I was standing over in the parking lot of the next business over. I looked around. The sign on the building was Fletcher’s Car Sales. There were over a dozen used cars for sale. The parking lot wasn’t paved. It was gravel, but different from the gravel in Jerry’s storage lot. It looked like the rock that had hit Jerry. I dropped the rock in my hand and then I was looking up at Jerry again.

Jerry studied my face. “You okay?”

“I really need my friend’s car, Jerry,” I said as evenly as I could as I stood up again.

He gave me a look like I might have needed medical help and then nodded, “Okay, it’s over here.”

“Having a car won’t help you, Ral,” the voice said, growling my name as if in warning.

I followed Jerry to Eric’s car. It was in pristine condition. I hadn’t locked it or removed the keys. I left them in the center console. Jerry opened the driver-side door and sat inside. He grabbed my backpack from the back seat and held it out to me. “Is this yours?” he asked.

I nodded and took the bag. I looked inside and pulled out my wallet. I pulled out my ID and handed it to Jerry.

He looked at the card and then looked at me. “Looks like you’ve aged a couple of years since you got this.” He compared me to the photo again and then declared, “Yeah, it’s you alright. Now, we just need that letter from your friend.”

“Don’t bother, Ral,” said the voice. “Nothing you do will save you.”

I ignored the voice. Besides, I didn’t want to spook Jerry. I smiled at him and took my card. I put everything away and asked Jerry about a fax or email address. He pulled out a business card. “Here ya go. It’s got everything you’ll need.”