NYC Midnight Creative Writing entry - round 1

My assigned genre was ghost story.
My location was a lawyer's office.
My object was a crowbar.



Haunted.
When a young man is called back to his hometown, he discovers the bonds of family are hard to break.



Uncle Lloyd’s office looked like a wild animal had ravaged it. The sheriff sat on the corner of the desk. I wasn’t sure if he would recognize or remember me, but he did. I dipped under the yellow tape carefully, as he motioned me in.

“It’s good to see you again, son.”

“Thank you. I don’t make it back often.”

“I can understand that. You didn’t exactly have the Norman Rockwell childhood.”

It was true. My parents’ fights were legendary. It rarely got physical, but the sheriff had visited our house on many occasions to break up the shouting matches.

“Do you know what happened?”

“Well, seems pretty straightforward. No sign of forced entry. I think somebody Lloyd knew wanted something in that safe. He wouldn’t open it, so they went to town on him. With that.

A technician was dropping a dark, thick crowbar into a zip lock bag. The carpet below was smeared with blood.

“They really tore the place apart. Looks more like someone venting some pent-up rage than a real search.”

The detective looked at me.

“You wouldn’t happen to have the combo to Lloyd’s safe, would you?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve barely kept in touch.”

“Yes, how is it that you’re back here now?”

“Lloyd called me last week. Left a message. He sounded anxious to see me, but he didn’t say why. I tried to reach him, with no luck. Finally, I just decided to come out and see him in person. I still don’t know what he wanted. Tell me you’ll find the man who did this.”

“Or woman. We’re still waiting to speak with his assistant. She hasn’t turned up. Her folks said she was planning to go to the lake today.”

“You think she could do this?”

“It’s possible, I suppose. We want to talk to her. At the very least, she’ll be able to open the safe. She’ll also know what Lloyd’s been working on. Maybe she’ll know why he contacted you.”

“Right.”

“Well, no need for you to stick around. We’ll ring you at the inn if we find anything.

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

--


The moonlight gave Lloyd’s office an eerie glow.

She spun around in his swivel chair like a kid.

“Country lawyer.” She laughed. “Pompous bastard, that’s what Lloyd was. Just like your father.”

The dial of the safe clicked softly under my fingers. The door made a slight creak as it opened.

“Is it there?” Her chatter was making me nervous.

My father’s will. It left all assets to the young woman he had planned to marry.

“Go on, tear it up. Lloyd should have done it himself. You deserve whatever he had. Not her.”

“Mother…”

“Don’t lose your nerve now.”

“I know. I’m just…”

Suddenly, the door swung open and fluorescent light flooded the room. The sheriff didn’t seem surprised to see me.

“I didn’t realize anyone was here. Were you just talking to someone, son?”

I moved closer to the door.

“Just myself. And to Lloyd, I guess. I wish he could tell us what happened.”

Was my voice shaking? I saw the detective glance over my shoulder, to the open safe. Then his eyes locked back on me.

“I think you’re lying, son.”

My stomach tightened.

“I don’t think Lloyd ever called you.”

I began to shut down. Don’t say anything, I told myself.

“Tell you what. I’ll make this easy for you. I know about your Mom. Her death was not an accident. She was murdered after all, but not by your father. I know that now. Even after that woman gave him an alibi, we thought she was lying. It’s my own fault for not looking harder to find you. I guess I figured you had suffered enough, and you wanted to put this town behind you. But that’s not true, is it? You came back.”

“No.”

My voice sounded unconvincing, like it belonged to someone else.

“Where’s your father?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you’re not alone there. I just got off the phone with the police in Abilene. He and his fiancé have been missing for three days. Where is he, son?

I looked up then, and there he was. Standing behind the sheriff.

“He’s going to put you away like he tried to do to me.”

“Shut up.”

The sheriff was on his feet and in my face.

“There’s no reason not to be civilized, son.”

I took a long, deep breath.

“You’re right. They’re in the back of my truck. My father. His girlfriend. Lloyd’s secretary. I’m sorry, sheriff.”

Before he could react, I sunk the letter opener deep into his neck. He staggered back and tried to reach for it, but the blood poured fast. He gasped, and fell back.

--

The sun was starting to come up.

“They’re gonna find you.“

Mother piped up.

“Leave him alone.”

“He murdered us, sweetheart. Did you forget that?”

“He’s my son. I don’t abandon family. That’s the difference between you and me.”

“I understand why you killed your Mother. She wanted you to be me. She was killing you slowly. Hell, she’s still killing you. I can even understand why you’d killed me. But you had no business….”

He trailed off.

“Lloyd pegged you years ago. I wouldn’t listen. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“He did what he had to do.”

“Who’s talking to you?”

The tears came faster now. He was right. I would eventually be caught. But wasn’t I already?

“Sweetheart, you need to wash that sheriff’s blood off of you. And you’re gonna need money.”

“I know.”

I took the next exit, and found an all night truck stop. I parked in the back. There was an old box of tools up against the side of the garage. Inside, I found a crowbar. It was shorter and fatter than the other, but it would work. I slipped it into my sleeve, and made my way toward the diner.