GHOST CHILD-work in progress

GHOST CHILD



Chapter 1



Mica had worked for the Lovett Police Department for 28 years.  He started as a part-time switchboard clerk and moved up to the Lovett Detective Division as a data analyst and researcher. 



He sat at an old military style desk that at one time had been neat and clean.  Now it had all sorts of marks and doodles on the desktop.  He spends a large amount of his spare time trying to erase the doodles.  He wants to leave the desk cleaner than when he got it. With all the cutbacks in the department, it had been suggested that he might want to retire.  Mica had never married. He had always lived at home with his parents. He had no idea what he would do next.



He was the youngest child of Marjorie and William Hunt.  His Dad pasted away back in 2005 and his mother had just past away three weeks before.  Joe, Barbara, and Allen decided to allow Mica to keep the house instead of selling and the return split between them. Joe was the oldest.  Barbara and Allen were twins.  Their Dad had been the chief of detectives for 35 years and his mom had never worked.



Sitting at his desk, Mica tried to decide what should be his next move.  While attempting to clean up his desk area, he noticed that those two words “Ghost Child” would always come back no matter how hard he scrubbed.  He knew it was time to look into the mystery of the Ghost Child.



Joe, sat on the corner of Mica’s desk watching him with interest.



“You still can’t get rid of those two words? I remember Dad had said something about the doodles on the desk.  I have to admit I was not really listening.  I can’t recall the exact way he put it. You do know that this used to be his desk?” 



“Nope”, Mica had looked up showing surprise. This was definitely new information. He had never been able to see the top of his Dad’s desk. It had always been cluttered.  Now he knew why. He had gotten the desk right after moving up here, which was shortly after his Dad’s death.  “You do know those two words are going to be the death of me.”



Barbara walking up “hey you guys want some lunch?  I get a break in 20 minutes.”  Barbara worked for the police department as the physiologist. Joe was with the local FBI and was a profiler.



“Nah”, claimed Mica, “I’ve got to get busy. I need time to think about retiring.  Don’t have a clue what will be next in my life.  You two go on.”



“Well suit yourself, I think  Barb said she would buy, I am taking her up on lunch.” winking at Mica he heading toward Barb’s office. 



“I may come up here this weekend to go through my desk and files. I want to get it together for the next person.” Mica commented” Hopefully they will not have the problems I had.  I just hate that the desk will look no better. But it is what it is; I will see you guys later, go on and meet Barb.” Mica kept his eye on the two words on his desk that refused to leave. It dawned on Mica with all the cleaning and organizing that somewhere in all activity he had decided to retire without realizing it.



Removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the clock.  It was 5:30 pm.  He thought the day sure did pass fast.  Mica was the only one left upstairs in the division.  The day shift was either gone for the day or out on a calls.  There were only two detectives at night.  One of them was a special friend of his.  He was a Native American Indian. His grandfather had raised him on the reservation.  Mica fondly referred to him as Lobo.  His real name was Brad Walker. 



Lobo has mentioned several times over the years that he had felt very uncomfortable upstairs in the detective division late at night.  He could not explain why, he said it was probably just a silly childish response to things as he grew up at the reservation.  His grandfather was the tribes most honored medicine man.



Mica, glanced around before walking out thought maybe tonight I will call Lobo to see if he will help me over the weekend.  I sure need to get the files and my desk in tidy in the event someone replaces me.











Chapter 2





Morning came early, seemed like Mica had just shut his eyes and now it is time to get up. The night just flew by.  Mornings was when Mica missed his Mom.  He was always happy to wake up to the smell of coffee and those famous cinnamon buns she made from scratch. He wrapped his belt around his robe. While the coffee brewed, he went to the front door to get this mornings newspaper. 



Outside on the front lawn was the newspaper and along with it was a strange colored yellow cat with the greenest eyes.



“Hey little feller”, Mica looked around to see if he could see the owner. “Where did you come from?” 



All Mica heard was a little meow and the cat followed him to the front porch.  Odd, wonder where he lives Mica thought I have never seen him around here before.



Hmm, this coffee is good not bad for a single person.  Walking over to the refrigerator, he grabbed the bottles of orange juice and milk.  Opening the cereal and pouring into a bowl, Mica felt the need to decide what he was going to do today. It was unusual for him to have a complete day to himself.  His brothers and sister had felt to need to entertain him every weekend since their mom has past away.



Mica’s house was large enough to put his whole office section of the police department on the first floor.  Mica decided it would be a good time to open his Dad’s study and clean it up a little since he might be using it for his own office.  He noticed that some of the papers had fell onto the floor from the top of his Dad’s high book shelve.  Mica  picked up the paper. It was a ruled piece of a legal pad badly worn and dusty.  Dusting off the paper, he read the remarks at the top of the page “ghost child”.  Wow! His Dad never mentioned this. What was going on?  There was a date on the paper, January 6, 1971.  That was before he was born.  Way before. Maybe the local newspaper office would have something on that date that he could look at. 



Placing the yellowed sheet down on the desk, he went back to going through his father’s desk when another breeze came along and once again, another piece of paper fell from the bookshelf.  Okay that is it, Mica thought I am going to clean off the top shelf and that will not happen again.  Pulling the chair over and standing on its arms, he reached for the top shelf.  Loosing his balance he began to fall and the papers on that shelf followed him down.



Sitting in the middle of the floor felt a little silly for a grown man, but this was the best place to sort and stack the group of papers that fell.  Reading and sorting these papers, he found that they were all about the death of a little boy. Each page was entitled Ghost Child. This means Mica would be visiting the local newspaper early in the morning.  After each section of comments the initials “CB” that indicates the information had been transferred to the crime book.  Therefore, Dad put these notes in the crime book and kept his notes here at the house.  Mica was now hooked on finding out what was going on.



Mica went into the hall and placed a call to his Captain leaving a voice mail that he would be in late Monday morning.  He had some things he had to do.  That should do it he thought I have spent most of the day in this dusty room.  Taking a shower and hitting the bed seemed like a good plan at the time.



Grabbing a book on the nightstand, turning on the lamp he snuggled in to read a little and then go to sleep.  Just about the time he was getting comfortable, he felt the end of the bed move.  Turning the light back on he saw the little cat again. 



“Okay, if you insist, but first things in the morning out you go.  You need to go home; if you continue to stay here I am going to have to give you a name.” 



Turning the light back off, Mica rolled over and feel asleep while listening to the purr of the yellow cat.  His last thought was if I keep him,  he had to have a name.



CHAPTER THREE





Monday morning came early, getting up at 3 am was an experience Mica would not make a habit of this.  After getting dressed, he decided he would grab a cup of coffee on the go and get to the newspaper earlier than he had originally planned. 



Parking in front, he found the place closed tight, so he walked around to the back and saw trucks loading for the morning paper. “Are you the night guard?” as he was sprinting up the steps onto the dock. 



“Yep, Yes sir I am” replied the night watchman. “What can I do for you sir?”



“I am doing research on a child that possibly was killed sometime back in the 70’s. I really don’t know if the data would be on microfiche or the actual paper. Do you have any idea?”



No sir I don’t but the guy at the window inside might know, he has been here for over 30 years, I just started a month ago.  Go in and ask him, right thru the doors and to the left.”



Walking thru the door, he saw a vending machine that served coffee.  Therefore, he grabbed another cup of coffee, not the best but it will have to do. 



“Hello sir, maybe you could help me.  The guard on the dock said you might be able to assist me.”  Mica, standing at the window with a broad smile, when the glass window opened the cool air hit him in the face fogging up his glasses. 



“Yes I might, my name is Thomas, what exactly do you need?” replied the elderly man cleaning off his glass and handing a paper towel to Mica to clean his off.



“I need to be able to get some data on a child that was killed probably back in the 70’s. I don’t know the child’s name or any other info.  I am going to have to start from scratch”.  Mica looked apprehensively at Thomas hoping that he would agree to let him look.



“Well, sir I can tell you what year it was and the month other than that you will have to go through stacks of papers to find it. Back in them days we didn’t have any fancy ways of keeping up with the newspapers.” Thomas was reaching for a set of keys on the hook beside the window.  “If you will come this way sir, the old papers are in the basement and it is really dark down there, I can only tell you that the stacks you need are in the middle about 12 rows down.”



“Thomas, how is it that you know the year and the month?”  Mica was now really getting antsy. 



“Well it caused quite a stir.  The little child had been discovered in the middle of the park, near the water fountain. I had heard no one claimed him.  The child according to the papers at that time appeared to have a head injury.  We published his info hoping someone would come forward to claim him, but no one ever did at least to my knowledge.  What is your name sir?”



Mica seemed to be thinking deeply about something, “I’m sorry but my name is Mica Hunt, I work at the police department as a researcher.  My Dad used to be the chief investigator of this case before his death.”



Thomas smiled and nodded “yes, I remember him.  He should have an extensive file on the child. You should be able to find that file at the station.”



“Well do you mind if I still look?  I have not been able to go over my father’s papers and I had never heard of this case until just recently.”



“Sure”, Thomas said, “suit yourself, just watch was spiders and it is really dusty.”



Mica went down thru the basement to the storage room door for the papers.  Yep it was dusty and looked like no one had been there in quite awhile.  Walking thru the maze toward the center and going back to the twelfth row, he started to sort through the old papers glancing at the headlines.  There was a strange sound like a low whistle and cold air blew ruffling the page he was reading.  He put the paper down and noticed that an older paper near the bottom of the stack was poking out. Mica did not remember the stack being out of alignment. Reaching down he noticed this was the date he was looking for, how strange. Reading quickly through it he decided this would help and needed to get copies to take with him.  Heading up to Thomas’s office, he met a young woman that informed him that he could use the copier at the top of the stairs.  He was pleased he didn’t have so far to walk.



After making copies, he went by Thomas and told him thank you and the young woman told him where he could copy what he needed.



Thomas gave him a wide-eyed look “What lady, they ain’t no lady in here now.”



Mica “I just talked to her, she had long blonde hair and a pink skirt with a while blouse.”



“Like I said before, there ain’t anyone here this time of the morning and we only have four women here and they are not young and no one has blonde hair”.



“Okay” commented Mica, “I guess I was mistaken, thank you for all your help.  I have put the newspaper back in the stack where it came.”



While in his car and backing out Mica’s mind was wondering all over the place, Mica was positive that woman showed him where the copier was.  Am I loosing my mind he thought?  Need to get to work and do something normal today.



When he got to work, he saw stacks and stacks of files on his desk.  He had not left his desk like that.  Roland Warren, now chief of detective division was walking toward him. “Mica, I heard you were organizing the files. I found these on the floor in the closet.  They appear to be your fathers.  They were in a box marked with the date 1971.  You can file them where you think they need to go if you need any help let me know”



Mica saw the name “John Doe Baby” on the title of one of the file folders. He was pleased they had fallen in his lap, but also wondered at the timing.



Roland, “By the way I got an email saying if I found these you might be interested.  This is what prompted me to look for them.”



“Thank you sir, I appreciate it and yes I was looking for information.  Dad had never solved this case and I thought before I retire I would give it a look.  You know back in those days it was harder to research that it is now with computers.”



Now that everything was quiet in the office and he was able to do a quick look through his Dad’s files.  They were not in very good order, so he decided to take them home. He would be better able to put them in chronological order and read the file in its entirety.  While reading over the files, he decided he would eventually put them in the new computer system at the police department.  That is if he stays here that long.



CHAPTER FOUR



Afternoon generally drags by, before he knew it was time to go home.  He picked up the stack of files on the ghost child and put them in his car.  He knew he would get something to eat before going home and diving into the files.



Pulling up to McDonalds, he ordered a combo to take home.  Looking forward to parking his worn out self in the recliner eating and starting to read the files.



Pulling up in the driveway, he scanned the yard for signs of the cat and did not see him.  Well maybe he went home.  That is good.  Once on the porch he thought he noticed movement within the foyer of the house.    With the door ajar and files in my arms, he found the girl he saw at the newspaper standing in the foyer along with the cat. Now how did that happen? 



“What are you doing in my house and how did you get in here, not to mention the cat as well?”  Mica was very flustered.



“I just popped here,” commented the girl.



“Who are you?” Mica responded in kind.



“My name was Mary Beth Coleman.” She replied.



“What do you mean was and who are you now?”  Geese, he thought what is going on?



“Well when I was alive that was me, I guess it is still me.”  Mary Beth gently smiled waiting for the breakdown of Mica.



“Whoa now, you are not starting that with me!  There is no such thing as ghost or spirits.  I just won’t believe this.  You can leave now and don’t bother me.  I have enough on my mind now.  I don’t need anymore drama.”



“Not yet”, replied Mary Beth, “not until I find out what I want to know.”



“Well what the hell is it, I don’t have all night.”  Taking a closer look at her, he noticed she appeared a little transparent. If she turned a certain way and the lighting was right he swore he could almost see through her. Right now, he could not decided if he needed his eyes checked or a Psychiatrist. He took his glasses off the clean them in case that was the problem. 



“I need to find my son, Daniel Coleman.” Hands now on her hips with her glaring eyes staring at him and he was glaring back at her.



“I don’t know a Daniel Coleman.” Mica replies with a questionable look.



“No, I don’t guess you have ever met him, but you have his files with you now. I was trying to find out where he was this morning when you showed up at the newspaper. I was trying to figure out a way to get that paper out of the stack and you reached down when you saw it and pulled it out.”



“You mean the child that could not be indentified is your child?  Where have you been all these years?  You should be older.”  Now Mica is really confused and intrigued at the same time.



“I have already told you that I am dead.  What more to you want?”



“Okay, Okay, prove it.” He had to admit what he just said was a dumb idea. He thought he was going to regret this.



“Alright, go into your living room and sit down” Mary Beth continued with a sheepish grin.



“Alright, but make it quick I need to eat my cold supper. No thanks to you!” Mica, headed for the nearest chair. 



“Okay, look beside the big mirror” Mary Beth chuckled; this ought to do the trick.



Popping through the wall with her head, she hollered, “BOO!”



Mica, dropped his supper, and stood up.  “Gottcha” she giggles. Wagging her tongue at him she burst out with a laugh that would curl your toes.



Mica thought this ought to be good, how do you explain that your home is now haunted without being toted off to the nut house.



Picking the fries up off the carpet, Mica was trying to finish the hamburger, “You want something to eat?”



“Now you know ghost don’t eat.” Mary Beth grinned from ear to ear.  She really needs to get him comfortable with the situation.  “I just need to find my son?”



“Why don’t you know where he is to start with?  What kind of mom would loose their child?”  Mica remarked with a little bit more viciousness than he really wanted to and immediately regretted saying it at all.



“We were traveling home from my mom’s.  My husband was over seas.  He was in the army.  We stopped just outside of this town and two guys started picking on us and making advances toward me.”  Mary Beth looked as those she was remembering something painful.  “One of the guys shoved me into my car and left my son in the parking lot. I don’t know what happened afterwards to him.”



Shifting in his chair said well you might as well tell me the rest.  Don’t worry about me telling anyone else because they wouldn’t believe where I got the story anyway.” Mica was reaching for his pencil and pad to take notes as she began to tell her tale.



“The other guy hollered I will meet you over there and I will get rid of the child.”



Looking at Mica, she could tell that he was alarmed with what he heard.

At least she was getting some sort of reaction from him besides being so skeptical.  “Well that was all that I heard from that point on everything seems to be a blur until the car came to a stop. I remember that I kept asking him about my son and he told me several times to shut up for my own good.  I then turned to him and started to scream. I cannot really remember after that. There was just nothing like I just went blank.  When I came to, I felt weird and I was floating above my body and the man that had me in the car.  My body was on the ground and he was panicking.  Then the other man showed up showed up without my son and I could do nothing.  They did not see or hear me.  I remember the other man asking what happened to me. The man that was with me said something about slapping me, my head hitting the corner part of the windshield and then the door.  At first, he thought I was unconscious but he could not find a heartbeat.”



Mica noticed the tearing up asked softly, “Did you hear anymore?  Do you think you could indentify them?”



“That was a long time ago, I could try but they would be much older.  They could have been not more than 20 to 25 years old.  Now they would look much different.”



Mary Beth appeared to be sitting on the couch.  “I feel that the man did not want to really hurt me.  I think it might have been an accident since he was so upset and I remember them talking about what they were going to do with me and how they would have to do something with Daniel also.  I never saw Daniel again after they took him from me.”



Mica looked up at the clock and noticed it was almost time for the local new on TV. He looked at her, “I have get to get some shut eye.  What do you intend to do where do people like you sleep?”



Oh, I think I will just hang around if it is okay with you.  I need to do some deep thinking to see if there is something, I have not told you.  Maybe I have left something out.”



“Okay”, Mica replied, “I can’t really keep a ghost out of my house since you are able to go through walls.  By the way is that your cat?”



“Yes, I guess you could say that.”



All right, I am going up stairs and get some sleep, watch that he doesn’t tear up anything. I will see you in the morning.  Oh by the way, if you do sleep please do not do it upside down.  I have had all the drama I need for a while.”



Mary Beth gave him a cute smile wondering what he would think if she really did that.  She thought, I‘d just levitate.





CHAPTER FIVE



Morning came too early.  Rolling over in his bed, scratching, he felt that he was not alone.  Sitting up he saw he had company.  There on the edge of the bed sat the yellow cat, and floating around the room was Mary Beth.  This just will not work.  Damn, how did I get into this?



“Morning Mica isn’t it a wonderful day?” Mary Beth beamed, “What are we going to do today?”



“I am going to shower, dress, get my coffee and go into work.  You I hope will stay put for a while and let me get used to all the changes that I have endured these past 24 hours.”  Mica looked not too happy and was very grumpy.



Once in the office, things seem unusually quiet.  Mica, felt as those there were things going on behind his back, maybe he was just be a little too paranoid. Going into the Chief’s office, he found everyone in the office and it appeared everyone was waiting on him.  “What’s up Chief?” 



“Mica, did you arrange the files on that little boy like this?” 



“Yes Sir, I also added some more info that I found in my Dad’s office while cleaning it out over the weekend.  Did I do something wrong?”  Mica was more or less holding his breath.



“No, what you have done has re-emphasized the case and put it more into perspective and over the night I thought we ought to start what is called a cold case investigation.  What do you think; want to help us with this?  I also, thought that since your oldest brother was with the FBI as a profiler, you might get him to help us but with authorization from his superiors.”



Mica smiling, “I will call him immediately and start the research.  Is there any particular point you want me to start?



“Well one point is who is or was the Mother of the child.  It may come to a point where we will have to see if there is DNA on the child in order to find that information.  We would have to have him exhumed for that.”



“Okay, Chief I am on it, anything else?” Mica was heading for the door.



No, Mica, I will assign each of the officers here to a specific duty and we can work from there.  You go ahead and start your digging.”  Chief Warren responded. “By the way, all of you, while I am think of this, lets keep this quiet as we can.  I don’t want the reporters and local busybodies on this.”



Mica wanders back to his desk, how is he going to explain the things that Mary Beth will tell him and what he has already learned. Speaking of learning, there were others things he also wanted to know about ghost, sort of like how do they pee and where.  Grinning from ear to ear, he makes a plan to ask Mary Beth tonight when he gets home.



“Mica!”  Mary Beth looks at him curiously, “Why on earth are you grinning?”



“Damn!”  Why don’t you just pop right on in and scare the heck out of me?



“I told you to stay at the house.  Someone might see you.”  Mica looked around to see if anyone would notice him talking.  He immediately started working on his keyboard so if anyone saw anything they would think he was typing while talking to himself.



Mary Beth frowned.  Had her feelings been hurt?  He did not know, but he knew that she had to leave. 



“Okay, Mica, I can read the handwriting on the wall.  I will go.  See you later.”



“No one can see me.  I’m a ghost remember?  Besides, it is boring floating around a house.  They are only so many walls to go through.

I know, I will go float around town.”  Mary Beth gives her best smile and giggles.



Night shift is getting ready to start and there will be another meeting of the night officers like there was this morning.  Mica knew he would need to stay for that.



Mica knew that Lobo, one of the detectives  hated to come up stairs.  He decided to be a little late leaving in order to catch him downstairs. He really needed to talk to him alone.







Chapter Six



On the way home, Mica decided to stop and see one of the twins.  His sister worked at the department with him but his brother who was her twin worked for a detective agency that mostly did workmen’s compensation, lawsuits, and domestic relations investigations.  They did very little criminal investigations.



When Mica walked in, Allen was sitting with his feet propped on his desk.  “Boy, I can’t get away with that.  Doesn’t your boss get on you?”



Allen returned his feet to the floor, sat up in his chair, “No, he is hardly ever here anymore.  Last week he mentioned he wanted to sell the agency or close it completely.  I have been mulling it over in my head that since you are getting ready to retire we could handle this together.  It’s not that hard.  Mostly sitting around with a camera in your hand to snoop and watch people.”



This was definitely news to Mica.  He never had given much thought to doing private work.  Mica smiled at this brother, “Do you think the two of us could get along better now?  Do you remember how we scrapped and fought when we were young?”



Allen looked very innocent when his comment came out. “Look Bud, you were picking on Barb.  You know how I felt about her.  We always have been close. That is how twins are. You were just a slow learner and the baby of the family.”



“Allen?”  Mica gave him a steady gaze, “Are you serious about this?  Do you really think we could make a go of it?  It would be the answer to some of my concerns.”



Allen smiled and said “To be honest with you I signed the papers today and the business will be mine the first of the month.  You can come on board and we will work out an adequate pay scale for both of us.  Then you will probably need someone to assist you and I still have the three investigators that will stay on with me.  I assume that you will be handling most of the criminal investigations and we will continue like we always did.”



“Okay, bro, where do I sign on the doted line?” Mica was grinning from ear to ear.  He felt a load fall away from him.  A new experience is happening and he now had something to look forward.  Mica continued,

“By the way, is it okay if I tell my supervisor now?  This deal is firm and I won’t be shooting myself in the foot.  I am also going to work on investigating the John Doe case that Dad never solved.”



“Of course, that would be good to start.  Of course there probably won’t be any money coming in on it.  But you and I can handle that as long as we keep our priorities straight.”



Mica, could not remember when he was so excited.  Walking to his car, he felt like he should be skipping. That would be a silly thing for a grown man. Anyway, soon as he got in the car, he dialed the Chief and told him what just happened.  The chief told him he was happy for him.  He would have his retirement to fall back on and that if he wanted the papers for his release would be completed to be effective the first of next month.  At the same time, he asked the Chief if he could continue working on the Ghost Child case and was assured that he had full range.



He was all smiles on the way home.  Then a thought came to him.  Do I have to get cat food?



Well Mica thought he would just have to see when he gets home.



The word home took on a new meaning for him.  He was on his way home.  He had a new career starting.  He was looking forward to the changes.  His mind filled with all the possible ways he could do the job that he had just accepted.  He wanted to leave the police department with good feelings and with grace. One of the memories he had of his mom was to do everything with good feelings and grace.  She would always say that when she was upset about something and worked hard and doing just that.











Chapter Seven



When Mica pulled up into the driveway, he noticed that the lights in the living room were on.  He parked his car in the rear and entered through the back door. Sitting at the kitchen table, he found Mary Beth going through the local school year books as far back as 1957.  Mica had asked one of the officers to try locating the yearbooks between 1957 and 1971 for him to look at.  He did not go into much detail regarding who would actually be doing the search and exactly why he wanted the yearbooks.



Mary Beth looked up “Mica, the officer left these.  There was a note attached that the library did not have any books for the year of 1967.  I find that strange.  These are reference books and should not have been removed without permission.”



“Mary Beth, I need to tell you what happened today.  I will be leaving the police department.  I am retiring.  I will be working in a detective agency with my brother.  The first case I will have is helping you.  I need you to be patient and work with me so that I can do this for you.  That means no surprises, no sneaking in when I am working. I really don’t know what I am trying to explain to you.”  Mica stopped and looked at her for her reaction.



Oh, don’t worry Mica, I know what you mean.  You certainly don’t want to appear that you are talking to ghost.  I will keep myself under raps.  That is how you say that?” Mary Beth winked at him and then laughed.



Tomorrow will be the day. Mica would go into his office.  Signed the necessary papers and see how the day would fall.  He really wanted to leave the department with good feeling by him, his superiors, and the rest of the police officers.  He wanted to be able to come back and ask for help. He also wanted them to feel they could ask him as well.  Communications was the name of the game and swapping information freely would work for both parties advantage.  He did not care who got credit for solving the mystery just as long as there was a solution to the case.



Okay, today is the day.  Mica had no idea if this would be his last day, or he would have to work out a notice.  Being a simply dressed person, he really did not have an idea what he should wear.  Pulling on a pair of jeans, he selected his corduroy jacket that would blend well with his jeans and shirt.  He really wished he could be taller.  He was the shortest in his family and had the least amount of hair.  Yep, he was getting balder by the hour. 



The kitchen had a smell filled with an awesome spicy scent.  It was almost like Mom’s old smell. Hmmm, coffee and cinnamon rolls.

Barb, his sister stood in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand and cinnamon rolls on the table.  “Good morning, brother dear. You finally woke up.”



Mica reached for his cup.  Turned his back to his sister in the appearance of fixing his coffee he looked around the kitchen for signs of Mary Beth.  He found none.  He didn’t know if this was a good sign or a bad sign.  “This will probably be my first last day or I may have to work out a notice.  I don’t know if they will hire someone to replace me at a lower rate of pay or just do away with the position.”



“Spoke with the Chief last night.”  Barb commented, “It appeared that they are doing away with the position. I will be doing some of the research.  He had told me he would talk to you today to get your thoughts.”



Mica, “I barely could contain myself last night.  I really want to get on with the new job.  Need to start working on the ghost child and find what happened and who did it.  I guess you could say my first client is dead.  What a way to start a new job.”



“That is one reason I came by this morning.” Barb giving him the once over noticed that he had after shave on. “I thought we could ride into work together and if things progressed I would be able to help you move your things out.”



“Thanks I feel like I need the support.” Mica hugged his big sister.



“Let’s get going, you can finish the coffe and roll on the way”

Barb hurriedly remarked.







Chapter Eight



The walk up the stairs to the Detective Division seemed to have more steps than usual.  Mica thought he would never get to the top.  The anticipation of what will or won’t happen was getting the best of him.  He had made a decision that would change his life in many ways.  He deeply felt this and could not understand why.



Entering the squad room, he found everyone there.  Even the night detectives were sitting at their desk.  Everyone stood up and clapped.  Patting him on the back they all were wishing him the best.  The Chief came up to him and shook his hand.  “Mica, I have appreciated all of your help.  I want you to know that we all look forward to working with you and your new job.  We will continue our relationship, but in a different manner.  You have done an excellent job. Your retirement was approved by the board to be effective today.”



Everyone clapped again, Mica with tears in his eye, trying not to show them, thanks everyone.  He emphasized that he will always cooperate with the police force.



“Well, guys, I guess this is it.” Mica leaning against the pillar support, “I guess I can go ahead and bite the bullet and get my personal belongs.  I hope you all know I will miss all of you.”



Mica noticed that both his brothers were there to help him.  Allen looked at him and smiled. “How were your cinnamon rolls this morning?  Barb made them especially for you.”



Mica loaded his car.  He could barely see through his rear view mirror.  Allen walked up to the passenger side window and leaned over, “Mica, bring you stuff to the office.  Leave what you want there and tomorrow we get things set up tomorrow.”



“That will work!” Mica nodding his head, “Be there in a few minutes.”



Tomorrow, Mica’s life will take a change.







Chapter Eight



Geneva could not believe it.  Here she was the newest employee with the Hunt Detective Agency. They have already decided exactly what position and to whom she would start to work with.  She will be the executive assistant to Mica Hunter, newly retired from the Lovett Police Department.  This is also his first day on the job.

This was a big change from what she used to do.  Moving back to her hometown had been a big change.  Her recent divorce had left her skittish.  She felt a little lost.  At the age of 40, she had to start over.  She moved back into her Mothers home. Geneva missed her two children.  They were already out of the house and living on their own.  The divorce had not been a good one.  Her ex-husband had waiting until the children were of age before he filed for divorce. 



Mica looked like he could be a nice person.  The only thing she sees that might be a problem was the fact he never married.  He always lived at home with his parents who are now both deceased.  There seems to be a wry sense of humor with him.  He smiles and looks off as if he is thinking of something.  At times, it appeared he was talking to himself.



Mr. Hunt stopped at her desk, “Come on Geneva, I will introduce you to Mica.  I think the two of you will work well together By the way Geneva, from now on just call me Allen.  We try to be as informal as possible in the office.” 



“Mica” Allen interrupted “I would like you to meet your assistant.  This is Geneva Douglas.  She has just received her degree and graduated in criminal justice.  Her skills are excellent in computer research and she helped solve a cold case while in her last year of school.”



Mica looked up from his computer, “Hello, Geneva, nice to meet you.  I know you will be a big help to me on a cold case I am working.  I am excited that Allen is allowing me to be with his firm. You do realize that Allen is my brother.  That should not create any problems.  We will be working in a different part of the agency.  I really did not know what I would do when I retired from the police force.”



“Nice to meet you”, commented Geneva. “Where exactly should I sit?”



Pulling off his glasses to clean them, Mica smiled, “I understand your desk will be moved in front of mine and to face me.  That will help the flow of communications between you and me.  For right now, would you like to go over the file that I am working on?  It will help to bring you up to speed. I am sure we will be able to find a chair.  You can pull it up beside my desk.”



Geneva picks up the file from his desk and pull up a chair.  She flopped into the big chair near the window and proceeded to read the file.  It seemed quite dense and she notice that the dates for the little boy’s death was in February 2-5 in 1971.  This really was a very old cold case and it would be extremely hard to find data since in 1971 computers were not that plentiful.  She had the feeling there would be a lot of leg work in this case. 



With a curious glance, Mica gives Geneva a look that says more than the actual words.  “Geneva, I thought after you get through reading that file, there will be questions that you will need to ask.  I would prefer that we discuss these in privacy.”



“Well”, Geneva answered, “I guess that would be okay, I do have about four that I read the answers here but no explanation as to how these facts were discovered.”



“Geneva, would you like to go grab some lunch with me?”  Mica ask



“Sure, where would you like to go?  I am somewhat parked and need to move my car. I can meet you.”  Geneva did have her car sitting in a parking zone that required feeding the meter.  She had no idea she would show up and go right to work.



“I can meet you around back.  Just move your car to the back of the building.  There will be extra spaces for you to park.  We will be able to make better time in discussions if we go in the same vehicle.”  Should I tell her the whole story today? Mica wondered.



“That would be great, my funds are solely depleting because I have been out of work so long.”  Geneva thought, this had better be legit.  I do not need any more personal relationships right now since recently getting over a difficult divorce.



Climbing into Mica’s car, she smiles and asks where they would be going for lunch.



Mica responded, “I thought we would go to my home for lunch.  We can make us a sandwich and chips.  I only have diet drinks though, hope that will be okay.  No one will interrupt us. In addition, I want you to know this is on the up and up.  There will not be any funny business.  You can relax.”





CHAPTER NINE





When they arrived at his home, she was surprised to find that this was an old home, actually a huge old home.  A porch wraps around the front and the sides.  One side of the house the porch is screened the rest of the porch has been left open.

His home was two stories that appeared to have huge attic in the center.  She looked at him with eyes full of questions.



Mica smiles at her curiosity and explains. “I have always lived at home. I grew up in this house, or rather I should say home.  My mom and Dad lived here until their passing.  It has so much space, some rooms I have not looked in for years.  One day I will have to develop the courage to go through these rooms.  I still sleep in my own room.”



“Wow!” Geneva exclaims, “A person could get lost in that house!  I grew up in a mobile home park.  After my Dad died, my mom just kept living there.  She wanted me to go to college and that was the only way she could afford to help me. But I guess you need to know now, I am divorced, have two grown children.  I recently moved back here to live in my Mom’s home.”



Geneva continues, “We have grown up very different.  You with your Dad in police enforcement and I am a military brat.  Do you really think we will be able to get along?”



“You will like the inside of the house; at least I hope you do.  I only use a small part of the house for myself.  Plus I am not here a much as I used to be.”



Parking in the rear of the house, he opened his trunk and got out a box. “Please go on an open the door.  It isn’t locked.”



After they were inside, he started preparing their lunch.  He had decided earlier that soup and grill cheese might be best in order to eliminate the mess. 



“Do you mind eating a grill cheese and a bowl of soup?”



“No that is great.  Actually, it has been a long time since I have had a grill cheese.  Do you make yours with mayo or butter on the outside?”



“I use mayo.” Mica glances toward Geneva to get her reaction.



“My Mom always used mayo.  I can remember she would have it fixed when I came in from school.  We ate a lot of grill cheese and also macaroni and cheese.



“You want a glass of Milk or will tea work?” Mica asked.



“Milk will be fine”



“After we eat I will show you my office here at home.  This is where we will do most of our work.  I have put another desk for you. The computers will be networked to the office.”



Geneva smiled and glanced at the back door.  “Do you have a cat?  There is a yellow cat at the door wanting to come in.”



“Well that is one of the little items I wanted to talk to go over with you when we get into the office. I might as well start this discussion now. Do you mind me starting as we eat?”



Geneva, “Do I need to take notes?  Why don’t we just go ahead and eat and wait until we go into your office.”



He sure did want an easier way to tell her the hold story.  He wished she might believe him and not go running to the phone requesting a need for a straight jacket.



Both of them moved into his office.  He assigned her the desk in front of the window where she could look out.  The paneling was a dark color and at times could be depressing. His desk remained in the center of the room.  That desk faced the television and between them was an enormous fireplace.



“Geneva, you can settle into your desk.  You may want to adjust the height of your chair plus where you would like your monitor and keyboard to be.  If there are to be any other adjustments, we can deal with that later.  Now that we have come this far, I believe I can go over the case with you and give you more explanations.  Please keep and open mind.”









Chapter Ten





“As you know, I am retired from the local police department.  My father was at one time the criminal division commander.  I worked in his department as a researcher and analyst.  My oldest brother is with the FBI and he is a profiler.  During the time my Dad was working, he had a case that was never been solved.  This all happened about the first week in February of 1971.  A child believed to be the age of three years old was discovered in the center park frozen to death. At that time, they could not find the parents of the child.  This case had always bothered my Dad. To date, this case has not been solved.”



“But, But”, Geneva totally confused, “You know the mom’s name and the child’s name according to your files.”



“Okay, now Geneva, this is where you need to keep an open mind. I was using my Dad’s old desk at the department.  It has all kinds of doodles on the surface.  I tried before leaving to clean the desk and make it look at lot better for the next person. “Ghost Child” was the doodle that I had tried to remove from the desk. It would not go away.”



Geneva decided either he was nuts or she was going to be.

Why drag this all out.  There is nothing here for him to worry about me having an open mind.



“Okay now I think I need to get down to the topic and hand that you need to know to be informed.  Please let me stress that all of this can’t be proven.  I intend to prove it.  Mary Beth is Daniel’s mother.  How do I know this?  Because she told me, where is she now?  She is also dead, but is not sure where her body is located.  This is why I wanted you to join me an assist me to find where she might be, and who destroyed a young lady and her son’s lives.”