Chapter 18: Spirit Walking

Next morning, Ed woke up. He showered, dressed, and got a pot of coffee.

He drove to work and arrived at Dysnatech. Everything appeared normal.

Soon, he was at his cubicle, working on software bug fixes again. He was as happy as the proverbial pig in muck.

Later on, Conner arrived. He descended through the ceiling and stopped at Ed’s cubicle.

Ed smiled. He stood and walked to the janitor’s closet and shut the door. Conner arrived soon after.

“Hello, Conner,” said Ed.

“We found the evidence where Cooper told us it was.”

“Good. I’ll call Ellen. You can lead us to the evidence. Then we let the lawyer handle the rest.”

“Excellent. Hopefully, it won’t cost you too much.”

“I don’t know yet.”

“On another topic, you sent a ghost to me the other night?” asked Conner.

“Yes. It was late, and I thought you’d figure out what they wanted.”

“I took care of it.”

“Good. Less work for me.”

Conner shrugged.

“Hey, I was meaning to mention this. I met a ghost at that Italian restaurant. She tracked me down the next day. I didn’t tell her my address,” said Ed.

“That makes sense. In the spirit world, you’re a big blip on the radar.”

“So that explains why I attract so many ghosts.”

“Yes. They’re drawn to you. You’re hard to miss.”

“I’d best call Ellen and check if she has time this evening to go on a treasure hunt.”

“I’ll stick around to get her answer,” said Conner.

Ed called Ellen on his cell phone.

“Hello, Ed.” She said.

“Ellen, I need your help. Are you available this evening?”

“Sure. Will you pick me up at my place?”

“Yes. I’ll be there after I finish work. I’ll bring Conner with me.”

“Okay.”

Ed hung up.

“Okay, it’s set for after work.”

“I’ll meet you at quitting time,” said Conner.

Conner disappeared, and Ed returned to his cubicle.

At quitting time, Ed shut down his computer. Just as he was about to leave the building, Conner arrived.

“Hello, Ed.”

Ed smiled, but said nothing where he might be overheard.

Ed walked outside and Conner floated to Ed’s car. Conner ‘sat’ in the front passenger seat.

“We must fetch Ellen first,” said Ed.

“Understood.”

Ed drove directly to Ellen’s home.

The security guard waved him past the main gate, and he drove up to the front door.

Ellen was waiting for him, together with her security detail in an SUV.

Ed exited the car and opened the rear passenger door for Ellen.

“I’m sorry, but Conner is in the front seat.”

“Oh, no worries. Hi Conner!” she said.

“Hello, Ellen,” said Conner, although Ellen couldn’t see or hear him.

Ed got back into the driver’s seat.

“Ellen, he said hello back.”

“Oh, okay.”

From this point, Conner provided directions and Ed drove.

“So, where are we going?” asked Ellen.

“We’re helping a ghost to prove someone is innocent. We’re off to fetch the evidence.”

“Understood. This is fun!”

Ed followed Conner’s directions. The SUV followed a short distance behind.

An hour later, the two cars pulled up outside a residential/rural location.

The single-story home had no lights on. Out front were several vehicles, mostly pickup trucks, on blocks and in various states of disrepair.

“This is the place. Go to the red pickup truck,” said Conner.

“We’re here.” Ed exited the car and opened Ellen’s door.

“The red pickup truck.”

Ed, Conner, and Ellen walked over to the red pickup truck.

“It’s unlocked, and there’s a large envelope under the front seat,” said Conner.

Ed opened the door and fetched the envelope.

“Let’s take this to your place.”

“Sure, Ed.”

They got back in his car, and the convoy returned to her mansion.

Back at her mansion, the security guard waved them past the main gate, and they drove up to the front door. Ed, Conner, and Ellen exited the car and entered the mansion.

Ellen led them to the family room.

“So, according to the ghost, a woman called Ellie Mae died. A man named Billy was convicted of her murder, although he was innocent. This information is supposed to clear his name,” said Ed.

“Okay.”

They opened the envelope and examined the documents.

“This looks like something my lawyer would be more qualified to examine. I can call him tomorrow,” said Ellen.

“I was thinking we could use some funds from our charitable trust to cover this.”

“That’s an option. I’ll talk to my lawyer. He owes me some favors. Perhaps I can talk him into lowering his fees for this.”

“Excellent! I’m glad of whatever you can do, partner.”

Ellen and Ed grinned at each other.

“Ed, I’ll leave you with this and tell Cooper you’re working on it,” said Conner.

“Okay, Conner. See you later.”

Conner floated out through a nearby wall. Ellen looked at Ed.

“He’s gone.”

“Thank you for including me in this. I enjoy working with you,” said Ellen.

“This job has been successful. No danger involved.”

“Would you stay for coffee, or perhaps dinner?”

“Sure. Thank you, Ellen.”

Ellen picked up a phone and called to arrange dinner while Ed sat back and relaxed.

“Some jobs won’t be so easy,” said Ed.

Ellen sat close and put her hand on Ed’s arm.

“That’s okay. We’ll handle them one at a time. No sense getting stressed out.”

Ellen’s words were just right. They calmed his worries about future unknown work.

“Tell me about your day?” asked Ellen.

Next morning, Ed woke up in bed. He showered, dressed, and got himself a pot of coffee.

Ed sat on the sofa and sipped his coffee. He picked up his book and read a few pages. Something was different this morning.

He drove to work and pulled up outside Dysnatech. He noticed Blake wasn’t waiting outside.

Ed entered the building and walked to his cubicle.

With nothing to disturb him, Ed worked on software bug fixes. He worked until about noon, when he received a phone call on his cell.

“Hello, Ellen,” he said.

“Hello, Ed. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

“My lawyer came over this morning. He has taken the case on. He should update me soon.”

“Fantastic.”

“I really enjoyed spending time with you last night, and I can’t wait for our next job.”

“I’ll contact you as soon as I get something new.”

“You’re welcome to visit me anytime. I enjoy your company.”

“Okay. I’m tired and must rest this evening. I won’t be good company tonight. In a few days, I was thinking of taking you to an Italian restaurant.”

“Oh?”

“It’s quite haunted. But the ghosts said I was welcome to bring a guest with me.”

“Cool! Well, now I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’d better get back to work. Thank you for the update,” said Ed.

The call ended. Ed resumed his work on software bug fixes.

At quitting time, Ed shut down his computer. He looked for signs of Conner, but found none. Perhaps Conner was handling all the requests today. It was like Conner provided primary support, while Ed intervened in severe cases.

Ed walked to his car and drove home.

In his apartment, Ed sat on the sofa and read from his book.

After a while, he went to bed. Soon, he was deep asleep.

Later, Ed awoke to see his bedroom. He was floating above his bed.

“What the...” he said to himself.

Ed rolled over and attempted to return to sleep. Instead, he was looking down at his body. He was also not feeling sleepy.

“Woah! Is this a dream?”

It didn’t take long for Ed to realize this wasn’t a dream. This was an out-of-body experience.

Ed tried to reach out with his arms and legs, with little success. He was weightless.

Ed thought “down.”

Immediately, he floated down, through his body, the bed and the floor. He stopped a floor below the one his apartment was on. He was in a neighbor’s bedroom.

“Up,” he thought.

His spectral form floated up through the ceiling and the floor of his bedroom. He floated up through his body and was back where he’d started.

“This is ridiculous!”

Ed needed help. Perhaps he could find Conner? Conner could help.

Ed thought, “Take me to police headquarters to find Conner.”

Immediately, he floated up and out through the exterior wall. He flew up and over the rooftops.

After a short while, Ed arrived at police headquarters.

He saw another ghost floating above the building, so he thought his way in that direction.

It wasn’t Conner.