Clack...clack...clack...clack...clack...
Echoed behind me as I walked down the stairs and into the expensive looking car parked outside of my office.
The SUV looked like a shiny oversized box with round edges on the back and a regular front. It had the capacity to sit five people, four comfortably.
"So does she expect us to roll over and die? Suv's are known for rolling over." The walking sound beacon behind me said.
"Yes, mom." I added.
"It's true..." She replied.
"Why did you have to get them loud shoes?" I complained while walking around and hit the button that unlocked the car.
"Women, Richard, wear heels. Just like we wear dresses and blouses."
"Penny... couldn't you just have bought some regular shoes? Something that doesn't let everyone in the nearest block and a half know we're coming?"
"Boss... this is about me forgetting to have them take off the onions on your burger isn't it?"
"...I hate those little bastards..." I replied in a child like voice.
"I know boss... want a shake on the way? We could pass by that one small time place with the girl with the big tits that you like. Would you like that?"
"Maybe..."
-0-
Two shakes and one very impressive rack later, we drove out of the bussiness distric out of the crappy Arizona town and into one of the many housing districts of the neighboring city. By neighboring city, I don't mean that you enter it imidiately after exiting a different town. Most town in Arizona, except for Phoenix and other adjacent cities, are a while alart from each other.
Meaning that it took about 45 minutes of trailors and dirt and cows and mountains and, yes, cacti before we started seeing signs of life again.
"But what if you're skydiving and just happen to fall on a cactus? Would you get stuck on it then?" Penny asked me.
"Remember that mountain lion that got stuck on top of a saguado years ago?"
"Yeah."
"Enough said."
"Where are we going?"
"To see Murphy"
"Why? You don't trust Man-Ass?"
"Nope..."
Penny adjusted the heater on her side of the car as it wasn't warm enough for her. Personally I would have cracked the window open slightly.
"Wanna stop and get coffee?" I asked.
"Yes..."
We pulled into the nearest gas station and stretched then walked in slowly. A school bus in sweats stood at the counter and complained about how her hot dog was slightly colder than it should have been, while a very uninterested young man listened to her in a very uninterested way.
"A cold...hot dog...could...be harmful...to...my diabetes..." The woman puffed between breathes.
"Ma'am, the hot dogs started getting cold because you pulled them out and walked around the store before getting back to them."
"Is your manager...around?"
"She stepped out, she will return in about 45 minutes maybe...an hour..."
"Forget it..." The woman said then turned around and waddled passed us.
Penny held her hand over her mouth and nose.
"Someone needs an adult diaper change?" I suggested.
She nodded quickly then gasped through her hand.
The young man, behind the counter, sighed and pulled out a small bottle of perfume from his pocket and spraged the air around him then Pennys hands when she held them out.
"Thanks." Penny said and breathe deeply while her hands covered her face.
"That's Lara... she either complains about the hot dogs being too hot or cold or the drinks containing too much ice. Once she complained about how her lottery ticket should have been the winner since she dreamt she had won. Just the two coffees?"
"And a doughnut!" Penny yelled as she click-clacked her way to the pastry wall.
"Clack-clack-clack-clack." I echoed.
"Shut it..." Penny replied.
"Five-eighteen."
I handed him the master card and signed the receipt as Penny came back with half a doughnut in her mouth and the other in the bag that was pointed at me.
We walked out, side by side, as I put the doughnut in my mouth.
"Galk-galk-galk..." I tried saying with doughnut in my mouth.
"What?" Penny asked.
"Glack..." I drank slme coffee so the doughnut would go down. "I said 'clack-clack-clack.'"
"Shut up, boss." Penny complained and punched me on the arm.
I turned the car on and began to pull up when I saw a familiar blue pickup truck pull up to pump 6.
"Lucky..." I mumbled and put the car in park and walked out.
A car's breaks squeeled as I walked passed pump 3 and 4 so I held my hand out so he'd stop. No I couldn't have made the car stop magically, it was a reflexive reaction.
Murphy looked up then sighed when he saw me and continued pumping the gas.
"Morris..." Murphy began with a slight base in his voice. He stood about two inches shorter than me but he had more muscle than I did.
"Murphy..." I said and sipped my coffee.
"Did you like my gift?"
"Penny labeled her 'Man-Ass'."
"Because of her ass or is it some woman thing?"
"Both? Either? Who knows..."
"Is she joining you on this one too?"
"She'll be clack-clack-clacking all the way."
"You do know why women tend to wear heels right?"
"Bill... if I knew anything about women, then I'd get some more often..."
"True... what's it been, two, three years?"
I glared at him, or at least tried to. It had been about three and a half year since I was in a relationship. Kinda hard to get back on the horse when your fiancee gets eaten by group of scarlet vampires in front of you, its especially harder when you know that it was your fault...
"Fire clenses all, Richard." Murphy said as the nozzle finished.
"We never found her body, Bill." I whined.
"Fire, Dick. Fire kinda has the tendacy to destroy... plus the building burned down over the bodies. We didn't find your girl's remains or half of the people there... the other half were either barely recognizable or worse..."
"Exposition much?"
"Dick..."
"Cop."
"Say did you ever get a permit for that gun of yours, as a cop, I'm dying to know."
"So why did you send me whatshername?" I replied, changing the subject.
"You didn't get her name?"
"Of course I know her name..." I replied and pulled out my wallet with the credit card. "Mary Kay bussiness card. Eh..."
"This is why I told you to get an assistant..."
"I have assistant... she's just about 15 clacks that way."
"Mary Kay is a make-up company..."
"I thought they sold perfume and crap."
"Do I look like I wear a dress, Morris?"
"Eww... thanks for that image, jerk."
"Maria DeWitts, is her name. Married to Gene DeWitts... children are Erika DeWitts and Marco DeWitts, her lost son..."
"I know that..." I complained.
"Really because the son is actually called Phillip."
"Ass."
"Some detective you are... what did you look for me for?"
"Why did you send her to me? Sounds like a simple crime to me... maybe you should have called national security since they crossed to another state..."
"Something seemed weird to me... my wife buys things from her, once in a while, but she looks different, Richard."
"She lost her kid, Bill... I think that you'd be freaking out if Diana or Wanda were to just dissapear all of a sudden."
"No... something is off... just a hunch, how much did she offer you?"
"Enough."
"Just a guess... ten grand, maybe 15?"
I didn't reply.
"Let's say 15." He continued, as if I didn't ignore him. "How is a Mary Kay shop owner able to throw that kind of money around?
"You're thinking that her shop is just a front for something? Drugs?" I wondered.
"Maybe... I mean that crap is expensive, I know, but I doubt it makes that well... it's normally empty every time Lana drags in there..."
"They're piramid schemes; one smart man makes a product for women and hires a woman to sell it to bored housewives who in turn hires other bored housewives, who in turn hire other bored house wives... maybe it makes more money than we think it does...unless you're the lowest bored housewife..."
"Still... I think that it's a front for something... is that all you needed? I am off duty, you know."
"Yeah, we're good. I'd better go, Penny is already playing with the dash lights."
"Hey can you do me one favor?"
"Sure."
He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me. I had a black and white picture of a man with a 'HAVE YOU SEEN ME?' tag underneath.
"Regular fee?" I said.
"I'll make sure that the impound fee for your car is paid for." He replied.
"Impound?"
"Your car was illigally parked between two handicap parking spaces when it got damaged."
"While doing a case for you."
"Which is why I'm getting department budget to pay for the damage."
I sighed. "Whatever. Make sure it gets one of those little tree things that smell like vanilla."
"Sure."
I closed my eyes then felt lightheadedness take over me. When I opened my eyes I looked around. Everyone was frozen. Well not really, my mind was just working too quick for time to matter. My hands out stretched towards the bigger street so I concentrated.
My gift was weird. I was able to do many things but one was the ability to look through other peoples eyes. Not nececerally through anyone's eyes but anyone eyes that I could see.
It's an odd gift, something that I recieved instead lf being born with it, at least thats what my parents told me, growing up. Up until the age of 6 I was perfectly normal until this group kidnapped me and two other boys. From what I understand, they experimented with us, the oldest, Sam something, first since he was the oldest, 10. He died and they went with Joshua, 9, and, from what I read in the case file, they suceeded to give the child some sort of telekinesis like powers but they accidently killed him with further experimentation. I was last. I don't remembet what happenef but the report says that one of the people experimented on us betrayed the group and called the cops, in excange for immunity, and they got there before the experiment on me got convoluted. When I woke up I went on normally but slowly discovered that I could do what I do. I call it sight seeing... but it's more than that.
I looked around at all the people around me. My gift is hard to explain; think of a picture... now merge the picture with a second pucture until you have a combination of both pictures, as if you were looking at a different thing with each eye... now merge more pictures. My gift is kind of like that. I generally use my gift to see what everyone around me is seeing, and in turn what everyone around them is seeing and what everyone else around them is seeing. It's convoluted at brst but at this point I was seeing the equivalent of 638 pictures merged together until I saw the man I was searching for, so I narrowed my sight to the man walking down the street who happrned to be looking towards a man in a car who happened to be looking at the man in front of him, and so on and so on until I had turned the corner a mile down and saw the man.
I rode the current of sights I had stolen until I wound up back to my body and pulled the pen out of Murphy's pocket and wrote the address and plate number on Murphy's frying pan, which he called his hand.
I concentrated and time returned to normal.
"So get to already..." Murphy said.
"I get no fees or you don't get the info."
"You already did it?"
"Yup. I'll have my assistant text you the info once I get my car back. Goodnight Murph." I said while walking back to my car.
"The hell? Morris we need to get this guy off the streets..."
I got back in my car and began to drive off.
"Morris. I'm serious. What did you find? Did you even do it?"
"You really need a RIGHT HAND man, Murphy. Goodnight." I said and drove off. Through the mirror I saw Murphy staring at me then scratch his head with his right hand then stopped to look at it.
Three minutes later I got a phone call from Murphy.
I answered it and put it on speaker. "Hi sweety, how are you?" I said.
"You're a son of a bitch, you know that don't you?" Murphy said.
"Love you too, baby. Bye." I hung out and laughed out.
"You're so mean to him." Penny said.
I smiled back and drove towards the I-10.
