The Real by James Cole

Author:James Cole [Cole, James]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: NightTime Press
Published: 2010-08-08T04:30:00+00:00

*****

“If it really was an inside job, who might the killer be?” asked Tavalin, as he and Jeremy began the trek to the Chevron station. They wisely decided against driving after all the beer they had just drunk.

“Dr. Sloan and Dr. Cain have keys, but if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Grady.”

Jeremy aired his theories to his friend, the same theories he had refrained from revealing to Lieutenant Sykes. Were it not for the lubricating effects of the beer, he might have abstained from telling Tavalin as well.

“Who?” asked Tavalin.

“Grady.”

“Who’s Grady?”

“The janitor.”

“The one with the dark sunglasses?” asked Tavalin.

“Yes, him.”

“What makes you think he might be involved?”

Jeremy recounted the details of the day he met Grady broken down on the side of the road, how he cooked the meal for the two of them, and finally how he warned Jeremy to never go past the break in the road, “Or people might get hurt.”

“That’s it?” asked Tavalin skeptically. “You think he killed June just because you disregarded the Keep Out sign?”

“No, there’s more to it than that,” replied Jeremy defensively. “He said some other things that didn’t exactly make sense.”

Such as…?” Tavalin performed an out-with-it, rolling-wheel motion with his hand.

“He told me the old hippie queen ghost story,” said Jeremy, “only his version was a little different from the one I had heard before. It’s funny how that story seems to follow me around. Anyway, soon after that, he started working at the Facility.”

“And you think he did that on account of you?”

“It seems too big a coincidence to think otherwise,” replied Jeremy.

“What could he hope to accomplish by working in the same building as you?”

“That, I don’t know for sure,” Jeremy said. “But he is always giving me all this lofty-sounding advice and popping up in strange places, like he’s watching me.”

“He is odd,” agreed Tavalin, “what with those dark, wrap-around sunglasses he wears 24-7.”

“You know why he wears them?” asked Jeremy.

“Nope.” Tavalin gave his friend a querulous look. “Why?”

“It’s to hide – get this – his ultra-blue eyes.”

“Blue eyes?” asked Tavalin. “You don’t see that every day with a person of his coloring.”

“I am aware. He also said it was very important that I didn’t tell anyone.”

As soon as the words escaped Jeremy’s mouth, he felt bad for telling. He always strived to keep his word, even for something as trivial as this. Even though it shouldn’t matter that people learned of Grady’s blue eyes, Grady seemed to think it very important that no one find out. Regardless, Jeremy had promised not to tell.

“You know it’s curious that his eyes are blue,” began Tavalin, “but why go to all that trouble to conceal them?”

“That I don’t know,” replied Jeremy, “but it is another example, I think, of his unconventional behavior.”

The Chevron station sat on a prominent corner in the small town. Instead of walking the extra half-block to the crosswalk at the light, they choose instead to jaywalk. As they began a quick

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