Mokoto blinked, and then she stirred into action. She rolled her body against the wall of the apartment building. She looked at the grass where she had landed, but she didn’t see any blood. She felt a sharp pain in her back, and one of her legs didn’t feel quite right, but she was alive. The last thing she remembered was leaping for a tree, and choosing a branch to grab onto. Her choice of branches had left a bit to be desired.
***
Justin looked at Mike. “Why do you think there’s part of a leather coat in the tree?”
“Maybe our bandit made a jump for it?”
“You’d think they would have just lowered themselves and risked it. The tree was a gusty but stupid idea.”
“Ms. Gravley, do you know why there’s a leather jacket in the tree.”
Mabel got up from the sofa and saw the leather flowing in the night air. She recognized it almost instantly and began shaking and crying again. “Please PLEASE PLEASE get me to the police station. I need protection!”
Mike walked over to her. “Ma’am, what do you mean?”
“They’ll kill me, they’ll kill me. The two men who were here earlier. That jacket looks just like the one they had on.”
Justin walked over. “Ma’am, did you say there were two men here earlier?”
***
Mokoto looked up. The lights were gone, and she was waiting for the window to open. After ten seconds of it not opening, she sat up and surveyed the damage. All she had left of her jacket was her right sleeve and maybe a fourth of the back. Her skirt was torn on the side, and her sleeveless shirt was ripped in a few spots. Her shoulder holster was twisted around, and quickly Mokoto realized that she’d have a gun-sized bruise on her back. After adjusting her holster and standing up, she looked up. There were still no lights shining out the window. She walked forward and saw an envelope and her cell phone on the ground. She bent down to pick them up, and she noticed the letter was the one she took from Phil and Bob’s apartment. She quickened her pace and started walking towards her motorcycle, which she’d parked in an adjoining parking lot. She reached up to climb the fence between lots, and saw blood on her left hand. A quick check revealed that she had a pretty nasty scrape on her left arm that was dripping a small amount of blood down her arm. She paused and stared at the cut. It was almost in the same spot as the gash in her dream. The dream…it was different this time she thought to herself as she checked her holster. The picture of Sakura was still inside it.
***
Ruth flipped another page of Soap Opera Digest. The hospital was unusually quiet for a Friday, and there were no complaints from Ruth. She glanced up, and two large African-American men were walking up to the counter.
“Can I help you two?”
Jeremiah leaned over the counter and looked her over. “Ruth is it? Yes Ruth. We need to see someone in the morgue.” Ruth’s neck twisted slightly as she looked at Jebediah. He said nothing.
“I’ll have to call Darlene up.”
“Why don’t you take us there Ruth? We won’t be long.”
“I…I shouldn’t leave the desk. Besides, you haven’t given me a reason to take you there.”
Jebediah walked up to the counter, and rested his hands on the Formica. One of his hands held a gun, and he spoke in a low, quiet voice. “Take us there. Now. Or would you rather go alone?”
