Contact Us by Al Macy

Author:Al Macy
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thrillers & Suspense, Alien Invasion, Technothrillers, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Teen & Young Adult, Thrillers, First Contact
Published: 2015-03-24T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Okay, spill it, Charli. What’s in the note?” Jake crossed his arms. It didn’t take a genius to know there was something in there that concerned him.

The grandfather clock ticked off several seconds. “Jake, I’m sorry. Your brother is dead.”

“Who, Louis?” Well, duh, who else? He’s my only brother.

“Do you have any other brothers?” Charli put her hand back on his knee.

“No.” Jake looked at the floor.

“Were you close?”

“No, not at all. Well, yes, when we were young.” Jake continued looking down and pictured his time with his brother. His earliest memory was of playing with Louis at the beach.

“Do you want to talk about it, Jake?”

“No. Well, yes, but there isn’t much to talk about. I don’t mind talking about it. I haven’t seen him or thought about him for … twenty years.” He stopped talking and Charli waited.

“When we were kids, we were always together. We were just one year apart, and most people thought we were twins. Like the Carter twins, only younger. We were a comedy team.”

Jake sat quietly as memories flooded back. “Anyway, things were fine until Louis started hearing voices. I was the only one who knew about it for awhile. I told my dad, but he didn’t believe me. Then it got worse. We all thought we could deal with it—my dad didn’t trust shrinks—until Louis burned the house down. They took him away, and I never saw him again. When I grew up, I tried to locate him, but he was lost in the system.”

The old ache for his brother’s comradeship returned. Could he have tried harder to locate him? Jake didn’t try to find the tears he had to be holding back. Charli’s hand on his grounded him, and he looked up into her concerned gaze. “Did he die in an institution?”

“Ah, no.” Charli stopped and stared toward the window. She still had her hand on Jake’s.

“What?”

She turned back to him. “Remember I mentioned a drug kingpin who caused mayhem in Kansas City?”

“Yeah, so?”

“That was—”

“That was Louis?” Jake asked.

She nodded.

“Man.” Jake took a deep breath. “Well, it’s not surprising really. I could picture him as a CEO. We all knew he would be a smart guy someday. That is, until the voices started. He was smarter than I was.”

“Are you okay with it? Do you want to be alone?”

Jake shook his head. “No, stay. It’s been years since I heard anything about him. I can’t really picture him as an adult. How did he die?”

“He jumped off a building, but a helicopter pilot who watched it happen didn’t think it was suicide.”

“But he jumped? He wasn’t pushed?”

“The pilot …” Charli checked the note again. “The pilot said he looked like he was struggling with someone or something that wasn’t there, and then he just fell. As if he were pulled off.”

Charli sat with Jake while he recounted stories of his exploits with his brother. Stories that had them both laughing and crying.

* * *

July 1, 2018

Marie Keller dragged herself into the town council meeting just as Mayor Myer pounded his gavel.

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