Ghost of a Chance

“As I tried to explain, Leslie told me where to find you,” Danny said. “I was wondering if you could help me with all these thefts. The Captain is leaning on Callahan and he’s leaning on me and I don’t have any idea where to look next.”

“Join the club,” Alex said.

“What?”

“I don’t know if I can help,” Alex said. “I’ve been officially forbidden from helping the police.”

Danny gave him a steady look.

“When has that ever stopped you before?” he asked. “Besides, I really need your help.”

Alex rubbed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on.

“All right,” he said after a long minute. “Come by the brownstone tonight and bring your case file. We’ll go through it and see if there’s anything you missed.”

Danny slapped him on the back and Alex winced. The spots where the bullets hit him were still bruised and tender.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Danny said, oblivious to Alex’s discomfort.

Alex nodded and stood.

“Where you off to now?” Danny asked.

“I’ve got a lead on your ghost killer,” Alex said, heading for the phone. “Need to run it down.”

Alex called Hannah one more time with the same result. As he hung up, her absence bothered him. Why would a woman whose husband was missing leaver her phone unattended? He should have thought of that before. It didn’t feel right.

Dropping the nickel back in the phone, he called Leslie.

“Did Hannah Cunningham call you recently?” he asked once Leslie picked up.

“No, but I was out most of yesterday and all of this morning, remember?”

“I’ve tried her twice with no answer.”

Leslie started to respond but stopped, picking up on Alex’s tone.

“You think something’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he said, surer now that there was. “I’ll be by as soon as I can, but I’m going to go by Hannah’s apartment first.”

“Be careful,” she said. “Remember somebody out there took a shot at you.”

“You’ve been talking to Iggy,” Alex accused.

“Just be careful,” she said with a sigh. “It’s starting to look like you might actually get paid soon.”

“You’re all heart,” Alex chuckled.

12 The Tail

Hannah and Leroy Cunningham lived in a six-story apartment building of stained, brown brick on the Outer-Ring side of Alphabet City. Alex left the crawler station two blocks away and turned south. The streets were lined with beggars and the lucky few who had boxes of apples or newspapers to sell. Since the market crash large parts of the city were overrun with the desperate, the drunk, and the vagrant.

Alex felt for them as he passed, ignoring their entreaties for money. He had a roof over his head and enough to stay fed, but he couldn’t even buy his own cigarettes. He chuckled humorlessly at the thought that he was only about a week away from joining these ragged souls.

When Alex reached Hannah’s building, he checked the address written in his notebook. The building wasn’t very far into the outer ring, but no outer ring building would have an elevator, so of course, Hannah’s apartment number was sixty-four.

A few minutes later, Alex reached the sixth-floor landing, sweating in the sweltering August heat. He pushed for a moment to catch his breath, then moved down to door sixty-four and knocked.

No sound came from inside, so he knocked again.

This time, a door across the hall opened and a middle-aged woman with a plump face, black hair, and too much perfume peered out.

“Do you know if Mrs. Cunningham is home?” Alex asked, putting on his friendly smile.

“You get out of here,” the woman hissed, closing her door so that only her eyes were visible. “I’ll call the cops this time.”

Alex held up his hands in a gesture of peace.

“Easy there,” he said. “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m a private detective. Mrs. Cunningham hired me to look for her husband.”

“Well she don’t want to talk to anybody,” the woman growled. “Not after last time. You better get lost.”

With that, she slammed the door and Alex could see her setting the bolt on the other side.

He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it wasn’t nothing. Concerned, he pounded on the door again.

“Hannah,” he called. “It’s me, Alex.”

“Go away,” a ragged voice came from inside. Alex barely recognized it as Hannah’s. She was hoarse and clearly scared.

“I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me,” Alex said, firmly. “Now open up before I get the superintendent.”

A long pause followed and then he heard the bolt on the door being drawn back and the lock clicked. The door opened and Hannah stood inside, huddled as if she were cold. Alex could see that she had a black eye and a bruise on her cheek.

“Please,” she gasped. “They said they’d kill him if I talked to anyone.”

The apartment beyond the door was disheveled, with a broken chair leaning against the dining table and a trash can overflowing with shards of broken dishware. Alex pushed the door open and Hannah shuffled back.

“Please,” she said, holding out her arm. “They’ll know.”