a police officer you can trust?” I asked. He looked at the corner of the bar, where there were five police officers in uniforms. “Why?” he asked.
I heard the doors open, and then my fingers tightened on what I held in my hand. Fredrick entered his house and I was hiding in the darkness, the lights came on, and a sound came afterward. Fredrick was able to hear that sound, too; it came from his office. He quickly opened a door which was below the staircase, and he pulled a bolt action Varminter rifle. He ran to where the sounds had come from and he opened the door and saw who it was.
“YOU?!!” he said, not believing who he was looking at.
“NO NO, PLEASE, DON”T SHOOT, I GIVE UP” it was Rico, he begged for his life, Mason saw that he was now lying down, with his face on the floor.
“DON”T SHOOT!” Fredrick looked at him for a second, and then he said one thing.
“You are trespassing” he said.
“But I give up, please don’t shoot”
Fredrick looked at him… and then he squeezed on the trigger… he squeezed again…. still nothing. I took the bullets from every weapon he had in the house after the ghosts had located them for me, including the hand gun he had in his office.
Rico got up, he looked at him. I, on the other hand, was away from sight and only looking at Mason and the shadows of Fredrick and Rico.
“You didn’t hesitate” Rico said. “Why didn’t you?? I was begging for my life”
“You were trespassing… I had the right” came Fredrick’s answer.
“We won’t discuss that, even though I was begging and practically was face down on the floor… it is a weird thing, but it is not stranger than what you had done today” I saw the shadow of Fredrick lower the rifle.
“You were trying to shove us away, even after hearing about how we think your son was the victim of someone else, and it was still a strange thing that you are paying for the lawyer’s expenses”
“I told you everything about it”
“You didn’t tell us about those real estates, and of the businesses you have right now, you are spreading your money everywhere, but to things that would bring more back to you, in another word, you are burying your money so you would dig it up later, am I right?”
“What I do with my money is of no concern of yours… you get out of the house before I call the cops” Fredrick turned away so he can reach the phone.
“Is it your money?” Rico said and Fredrick paused.
“You had lost your wife a long time ago, but your son didn’t lose his mother”
“What do you mean?” Fredrick said. I heard him; he was trying to contain what he already knows.
“Who was his mother, Fredrick? Who was his real mother?” I kept watching the shadow display, Fredrick rubbed his forehead.
“Who was she, the one who died last year?? A week before him”
“Damn you” the man said.
“How would you know?”
It was because of Mason, he watched him as Fredrick was at a meeting with the lawyer and the jail guards Rico had dealt with, they talked about wanting extra payment for what he is paying them for, so they would keep doing their things and “keep our tongues tight about your ex-mistress” Mason read the large man’s lips when he said it to Fredrick. When we looked up the information about his wife, we found out about his ex-wife, too, the real mother of Glenn’s dead boyfriend. He had divorced her a very long time ago, but she agreed for custody to Fredrick senior.
“I have friends I can depend on now, they dug out your secret… she was a very rich woman, wasn’t she?” I saw the shadow of Fredrick starting to get uneasy.
“I know also that she had died last year, a heart attack, natural causes. So she dies, her money must go somewhere, am I right? She was still single, so who do you think the money will go to??” He paused. There was no verbal answer, but I was sure that the reaction that I was not able to see was enough as an answer.
“And who was the person responsible of the inheritance? Our own dear friend, the lawyer you paid, am I also right on this one? Did you promise him some of the money? And did you promise some to some dirty cops?”
“Damn you…” Fredrick said. “You have no proof, this is only speculations. His death points at her… you won’t be able to pin that on me!!” Fredrick shouted.
Come on Rico, come on.
“My friend followed you; he taped what had happened from where you just came. Didn’t you just paid a visit to the prison guard so you would pay him some money? And if my memory served me correctly” the memory of what I had told him, what I had transferred from what Mason had read “he said that he would keep his mouth shut, you will have your money, and the bitch will take the blame?”
He tried to run, towards the door, Rico got to him, cutting his path. He swung his hand, Rico blocked it easily. They were in my line of sight from where I was hiding.
“I will not go to jail for this!!” Fredrick shouted.
He ran the opposite way and to his office. He reached for his gun and he pointed it at Rico.
“I was so close you son of a bitch, I was so close” Rico raised his hands, the position of the shadows were now switched.
“I would have that money and everything would have been done… damn you!” I saw the shadow hesitate to shoot. He may have realized that since the rifle was already tempered with it would be the same for the hand gun he is holding right now for sure. Yet… a clicking sound of an empty gun came.
“Okay… you got me… I did it… so what do you think is better, you getting out of here with me in jail? Or… you getting out of here as a rich man. I only promised them with little money, you however, can get out with the big prize… so what do you think?? You want to go back to that bar life? Or do you want to own your own business, or hell, just live your life” we got him… I placed the call.
“Well… tempting… but I think I would rather like the idea of you being someone else’s bitch in prison”
The sound of a police siren came, we all heard it. I came out from where I was, Fredrick looked at me and said nothing. I handed the audio recorder to Rico, and then got out of the place so he would handle it on his own, without me being involved, and just in case, so I won’t have troubles as a foreigner in this country. I only heard Fredrick scream his lungs out after realizing that his confession was recorded.
Two days later, we stood outside the Prison, waiting. And we saw Chow’s widow, Glenn, coming towards us. She was looking at her daughter. I saw the tears starting to run on their cheeks, and then they came pouring once they were in each others’ embrace.
“Thank you… thank you, you two” she went and hugged both me and Rico at the same time. There were two taxi cabs, one for them and the other was for me, I was still not done with the other messages; two ghosts remained.
“You are leaving?” Glenn asked. My sight went to Chow who was next to her, smiling.
“I’m afraid I have to, I have to finish with those letters before I go back to Liverpool to my university”
“But you have done so much for us, I wish there’s a way we can repay you”
“If you repay me then it won’t be a good deed now, would it?” I said, smiling.
“Well…” Yural said. “I may be able to help with something”
I sent the taxi driver on his way, and then we
nt back home with them. We borrowed Rico’s old car and we drove till we were in Los Angeles.
“I will always be in your debt, Hassan. Thank you, my brother” Chow said to me.
We visited Joseph’s family, and then we delivered them the letter I wrote on Joseph’s behalf. I and Yural shared some hugs with the family; his wife and his twin sons who are now five years older than me.
We saw only Mason’s father, his mother died ten years ago, his father was really proud of his son. He shook my hand and Yural’s, and then we parted our ways.
We went back to the car. “So where next?” and then her cell phone rang, it was her mother.
“Hassan?” Mason came to me, I saw the ghosts smiling at me for some reason, but I had already suspected what the reason was, and I was surprised why they didn’t have brought it already.
“We were waiting for you to realize something… we are only eight ghosts, the ones who are Americans are seven… so… for who is the eighth letter?” I only smiled.
When Yural was done, I pulled a piece of paper that I kept in my wallet; it was an address of a person. The ghosts had read it and they all weren’t sure where we were going.
We reached the location. I got out of the car and walked with Yural to a small house, I pushed the bell button and then we waited, the ghosts were all behind us.
The door opened and a woman in her sixties stood in front of me. Yural had never met her before, but I was able to feel the tension behind me.
“May I help you, young