"I don't know you, how do you know about my family or about my country or what it is I am thinking or anything that I believe in?" Ibraham challenged the man.
"You need to believe in yourself, your thoughts. Continue believing and all will be revealed to you," the man replied.
"It all sounds pretty far ̶ " Before he could finish the word, the stranger's eyes lit up briefly and then he vanished.
Calmness came over Ibraham, a feeling that he hadn't felt since before he lost his brother. He liked this new feeling, every muscle, and every thought becoming relaxed.
Something touched him on his shoulder and the sensation flowed through his whole body. His skin flushed slightly and he felt empowered and humbled.
He exclaimed aloud, "I believe."
He knew now who the stranger was, All... before he could finish completely he vanished. His clothing and rifle, landing in a pile on the ground once occupied by Ibraham and everything he stood for left behind.
Chapter 20
Murphy entered Seraphina's room just as the nurse was checking her vital signs. As she wrote something on the chart, she looked up and saw Murphy. She smiled.
"Everything is stable Detective. She had a good day today." She looked back fondly on Seraphina.
"How can you tell?" Murphy asked her.
"Her vitals are staying stable for longer periods of time. Her blood pressure is good and her pulse is steady. I'll just leave you two alone." She smiled and went into the hallway.
Murphy sat in the chair by the bed and quietly read a book while Seraphina slept on.
Hours later, he stretched and stood up. He needed coffee and a bit of a walk.
The hospital seemed quiet tonight as he made his way to the elevator. A young man had already pushed the button and was waiting as well.
Their eyes met and they exchanged the usual greetings casual strangers would make. Murphy noticed the unusually green eyes of the young man.
The elevator arrived and they both reached for the same button.
"I guess you need coffee as well," Murphy commented.
The young man nodded. "I could use a cup of tea, it's been a long night, and I still have much to do."
It was a strange remark but Murphy shrugged, too tired to pursue it.
They made their way to the cafeteria without speaking and Murphy handed the young man a cup and then filled his own from the coffee urn.
"It seems we're the only ones here right now. Would you like to join me?" the young man offered as he added milk and sugar to his tea.
Murphy nodded his acceptance.
"By the way, my name is Jason."
"Murphy."
They shook hands and found a table near the exit.
"So are you visiting anyone in particular?" Murphy asked to fill the silent void that had settled over them.
"Oh, I know a few here, how about you? I noticed you came from a room in the ICU." Jason changed the subject.
Murphy nodded, "My wife Seraphina."
Jason nodded in return. "Pretty name, what happened to her?"
Murphy sipped his coffee. "We were in an accident, and she has been in a coma for a few days now. The doctors don't know if or when she will come out of it."
"That's pretty rough, but sometimes doctors don't always have the answers," Jason responded.
Murphy nodded. "The hardest part is that she is six months pregnant and if she doesn't recover she will never have an opportunity to get to know her little girl."
"Is this your first?" Jason asked.
Murphy nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He studied the coffee cup in his hand. He swallowed another mouthful and stood up.
"Well Murphy don't give up there's always hope. He works in mysterious ways you know," Jason said reassuringly.
Murphy tried to smile. "I don't know what I would do if I lost one or both of them. Seraphina is the one with such a strong faith and without her, I find myself questioning more, I keep praying for help but I don't know if He can hear me."
Jason said, "The irony of prayer is that miracles have been known to happen in spite of them. Believe for now."
Murphy looked down at his coffee cup and nodded.
Then Jason said, "Lei sa".
But just as Jason said this, Murphy's phone began to ring insistently. He grabbed it and said to Jason over his shoulder, “It was nice to have met you but I have to take this call. Sorry." He turned away, listening to the voice on the other end for a moment, and then said, "I'll meet you at the office as soon as I can Jack."
As he hung up, Murphy repeated the words Jason had just mentioned. Did he just say "Lisa"? Is that what he actually said, did he mix up Seraphina's name?
His gut told him that something important had just happened but he couldn't put his finger on it, like a memory that stubbornly refused to reveal itself or a name that rested on the tip of your tongue that you couldn't recall.
When he turned back to ask Jason what he had actually said, he found that Jason had already left the cafeteria.
Murphy grimaced as he swallowed the last of his coffee. He didn't know why he kept drinking the stuff; he didn't like the taste all that much. It was definitely an acquired taste he thought throwing the empty cup in the garbage.
As Murphy went back to the elevators, he thought more about what Jason had said. Something about the word "Lisa" didn't ring true. Did he actually say "Lisa" or did he say something else.
He stood for a moment trying to think of alternate meanings, when suddenly something came to mind. He remembered the Italian language course he had been taking so he could better understand the language of his beloved Seraphina and her parents who could speak very little English. He went back in his mind to some of the words he had learned and a phrase jumped out at him, "Lei sa!"
"Lei sa!" he spoke aloud. That meant 'she knows' in Italian. Why did Jason say this? I need to find him. I have to know what he meant!
As he frantically pushed at the elevator button to make it come faster, he remembered the phone call; well Jack would have to deal with it for now. Consumed with an overwhelming need to find Jason, he decided he needed to follow his gut instead of his job. Maybe he could find him upstairs. He always seemed to be hanging around the same floor as the ICU. As he waited for the elevator, it occurred to him that Jason never did say whom he was here visiting.
Chapter 21
Murphy exited the elevator to the fourth floor. To his left was the entrance to the paediatric ward and to the right the ICU where Seraphina lay.
He glanced down the long corridor of the ICU ward. It was hard to see through the subdued lighting but nothing seemed out of place and there was no one in the hallway.
He entered the paediatric ward and made his way to the nurse's station, hoping he might see Jason coming from one of the rooms. As he reached the station, he stopped to study the board of patient names. His eyes searched the list until they came to rest on a familiar name. Strickland. That must be the son of the ghost robber, he thought to himself.
A nurse quietly moved beside him. "I'm sorry sir but visiting hours are over. I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow."
He did not reply but reached into his back pocket and pulled out his badge. "I'm Detective Murphy," he introduced himself, "I believe arrangements have been made to have an officer stationed at Cooper Strickland's room, do you know if he has started yet?"
She studied the badge, and then stared at Murphy with a frown of disapproval. "Yes an officer did show up earlier today. He should be sitting in a chair by the doorway, probably getting in the way. Can't you people just leave them alone? They have enough to deal with without you hanging around." She crossed her arms over her large round chest.
"I understand that having a police officer hanging around isn't easy on a family dealing with a sick child, I truly do know what they are feeling. My wife and unborn baby girl are in ICU right now. I'll have the officer dress in plain clothes and maybe that will help lessen the visibility. I'l
l check in with him later, but for now can you tell me if there has been anyone in visiting the Strickland boy?"
Her eyes grew wide. "I did hear about the pregnant woman in ICU, I'm so sorry. We're all praying that they will be all right," she paused, "I don't think I can answer your questions though. It is against hospital policy to give information out on a patient."
"Thank you for your concern," he replied, and then carried on, "I'm not actually looking for personal information on the boy's health, I'm just looking for his father and possibly another young man who may have been here."
The nurse still hesitated, deciding how much she could say without releasing private information.
"His father used to come every day and sit with Cooper but we haven't seen him for a couple of days now. His wife is here every day but she hasn't mentioned anything about the father. As for the other fellow you're looking for, I'll have to check the records to see who has been in to visit Cooper." She moved behind the desk and pulled out the visitor log. Her long red nail slid down the page checking for any visitors for Cooper Strickland. It took a few seconds but finally she closed the book and looked up at him.
She said, "There are no other registered visitors for Cooper."
"Well it was a long shot." He handed her his card. "If you see either the father or a young man called Jason, around thirty-five years old, brown hair, green eyes, maybe 5'8" to 5'10" tall, on the ward, can you give me a call."
She nodded as she took the card, tapping it on her hand absently.
"Come to think of it..." she hesitated, "I think I have seen a man like that on the ward."
"Can you remember who he was visiting?" he asked eagerly.
"Let me think...I saw him outside of room 413...also 425, and... yes, I believe I did see him coming out of Cooper's room once as well. Unfortunately, I don't know who he is or whom he might be actually visiting. Not everyone follows the rules to sign in during visiting hours and we are usually so busy we sometimes don't get a chance to check or ask questions," she responded.
"Too bad, if you do see him again, give me a call. I spend a lot of time here at the hospital. I really would like to talk to him," he asked her.
She nodded. "Should the hospital be worried about this guy?"
Murphy quickly reassured her, "No, no...Just a person of interest I have a few questions for, thank you for your time. I'm just going to check in with the officer and then be on my way. I promise I'll be really quiet."
The young dark skinned nurse smiled at him as she pointed down the hall. "You just go down that corridor and about half way down on the right. I believe your officer may be in the kitchen at the end of the corridor. I saw him a few minutes ago pouring a coffee. He looked a little tired."
She seems to know quite a bit about our officer, he thought to himself. It was probably the uniform. He laughed quietly remembering his early days as a new recruit.
He walked down the quiet, dark corridor to where the shadow of a man sat in front of a doorway.
As he approached, the shadow stood and came into the pale light.
The officer was indeed young, pale skinned with bright blue eyes and red hair. His nose was straight with a slight sprinkling of freckles, his mouth full and his teeth perfect and white, his voice deep with a trace of the Irish accent from his background.
Murphy's eyebrows rose slightly. He could see why the nurse knew so much about the young officer.
Murphy nodded to the young man, "How's it going Sean?" he whispered.
"Fine sir, the only visitors have been the mother and the doctor. It's been quiet," Sean replied.
"That's good. Are you on all night?" Murphy asked.
The officer responded, "Yes sir."
Murphy said, "Let the station know that I want you to be in plain clothes while you are here in the hospital. Let's not draw any more attention to us that we have to. If you need me I'll be across the hall in the ICU ward."
He added, "Oh, by the way, can you keep your eyes out for a young man around thirty-five years old, brown hair, green eyes, maybe 5'8" to 5'10" tall, goes by the name Jason. This person has been seen entering some of the rooms without signing in so we're not sure if he is connected to this case or not but we are considering him a person of interest right now and I would like to talk to him. Just let me know if you see anyone answering that description."
The young officer nodded. "I haven't seen anyone like that yet. Did you want me to detain him and call you?"
Murphy handed him a couple of his cards and responded, "Check his ID and find out who he is actually visiting, then give him my card and ask him to call me."
"What if he asks why I need his ID?" asked Sean.
Murphy replied, "Because he hasn't been signing in and he seems to be going into a lot of these rooms including Cooper Strickland's and we are interested in anyone who may have knowledge of the Strickland family."
"Yes sir. By the way, we were all really sorry to hear about your wife, I'm sure she will be okay sir." Sean smiled at Murphy.
Murphy gave a half-hearted smile in return. "Thanks Sean. Have a good night."
He made his way back to the nurse's station and headed for the exit.
The young nurse called out to him as he turned to leave. "I hope your wife get's better."
He looked over his shoulder. "Thank you. I hope so too." He moved out of the doorway and looked longingly towards the ICU and Seraphina, and with a sigh, he pushed the elevator button.
It was time to see what Jack wanted back at the office.
********
"Okay, what was so important that it couldn't wait till morning?" he asked Jack when he entered the quiet squad room.
"There was a fight in the alley off 15th Street earlier. Looks like its gang related. Crime boys are on scene now. Of course, none of the actual participants was around when our boys got there. They’re canvassing the neighbours right now and gathering what evidence they can find," Jack relayed this information as they climbed into the car.
He continued, "There was a young Latina girl at the scene, a Sylvia Alvarez; they had to take her to the hospital. She kept repeating 'he killed him' but there wasn't any body and they couldn't get anything else from her, shock I guess."
Murphy responded, "We'll have to go see her at the hospital tomorrow. Maybe she can tell us what happened then. Who's point man right now?"
Jack replied, "Porter is there. He's handling the technical side. We can touch base with him when we get there."
Murphy nodded, "Porter's a good man. He should have everything in place by the time we get there."
Stepping from the car, Porter met them, "Evening fellas."
Murphy nodded to Porter. "What've we got?"
"Definitely a fight took place. Pretty bloody, all the signs of a gang dispute." Porter hesitated, and then gestured to the alley where the police were still searching. He continued, "You boys are too young to probably remember, but back when I was a beat cop we got lots of calls to gang fights and they were usually pretty messy. In those days, guns weren't quite so easy to get and they were usually too expensive for local street gangs to afford so they used bats, knives, whatever was easy to handle. Now days, anything this big would have been handled with guns, but there are no shell casings and none of the witnesses or residents heard any shots. It makes no sense.
"I got hold of Sergeant Kowalski in the gang unit and he said a gang called the Razors ran this area. Rumours around the streets are that a rival gang, the Scorpions are making moves on the territory. He confirmed that his team have arrested members of both gangs on several occasions on minor charges and they are known to carry guns, so why didn't they use them for this?"
Murphy and Jack followed Porter into the alley to see the scene for themselves. There did seem to be a fair amount of blood concentrated in numerous puddles, probably where bodies had fallen and lain until moved from the location. He stared down at the pile of clothes, gun, and knife, the only real evidence left behind at the scene
.
Murphy moved to a doorway in the shadows trying to visualize the fight in his mind.
He tried many scenarios but kept coming back to why were there no guns involved? The evidence led him to believe it was an intense fight with many players and yet no one had used a gun even though there was one found with the abandoned clothes. It just made no sense at all and what's with the clothes and no bodies?
Why are people leaving their clothes behind? This was now the second call where the suspect or victim left their clothes behind, as if they had just stepped out of them and walked away naked, leaving everything behind. More ghosts, it didn’t make any sense.
Jack joined him and they both shook their heads.
"Porter's having the local hospitals checked for anyone showing up with injuries consistent with a fight," Jack told Murphy.
"He can give us an update tomorrow. This whole thing just keeps getting spookier. Let's go home, there's nothing more to do right now," Murphy sighed.