In despair he drove without a destination cursing his choices in the past few weeks. His, lunatic driving was attracting unnecessary attention. Until he stopped. With Miami beach in front him he just stared at the ocean. Time went by, nightfall crawled in and he did not leave the car. When dawn hit he roamed through the beach.
He realized his plan was compromised, with no money he could not achieve his goal. Even so, he decided to investigate what had happened to John. So, he came up with a plan. He got into the "Prius" and drove all the way to the garage to get his car back. Once in it he searched with the gps for the closest library. It was just a few miles away. He plugged the ipod in the car radio and drove.
He got to the library and felt his stomach roaring, so he decided to have something to eat for he had not eaten anything for a long time. Finally he got to the reception and the librarian greeted him.
- Good morning, may I help you?
- Well, this is a library right?
- Yes!
- So where are all the books?
- Many of the books were substituted for e-books, it's more ecological. And the paper copies we have are stored away so they don't deteriorate.
- E-books?
- Yes, electronic books, that can be consulted on a computer.
- I was hoping this institution kept a record of the news papers. I was searching for an article about, 2 or 3 years old.
- Yes, you may consult it on the computer. Just chose the papers section.
Jack sat down in front of one computer. It was a weird experience. It took some time to get used to using the intranet and Internet. In the middle of the afternoon he had got to know how to work with a computer and the web. He chose the papers section and inserted his query into the search box. "John Meadows 2007 murder"
The hits populated the screen, he chose the first one. It was an article from the Miami Herald, it was dated Wednesday the 23 of July 2007.
"On Monday, the twenty first of July, John Meadows was found dead. His maid found him in bed, at around 10:30 in the morning in his mansion on Hisbiscus Island. The former C.I.A. agent retired early from a brilliant career in the agency. He was living his retirement days alone. He had no family. The coroner arrived and was ready to take the body to the morgue when a couple of F.B.I. agents claimed the case."
Jack clicked on the next article:
"Yesterday, the F.B.I. released a statement referring the cause of death of the former C.I.A. agent as natural causes. "It was a stroke that led John Meadows to his death" said Agent Philip Ralf."
Finally he saw a text referring to the funeral. He clicked on it.
"John Meadows's funeral took place this morning at the Flagler Memorial Park. There were only three people attending the service. His two lawyers and a barmaid where John was a frequent client. His fortune was divided three ways, one third for charity, and the other two thirds divided between the barmaid and his lawyers. There was no Agency or Bureau agent's at the service. The F.B.I.'s confusing statement was not contested by anyone, for he had no family."
Under the text, there was a photo of a rainy day, the cascade was black. Two tall men stood behind it staring at the floor and a woman with a tissue in her hand and swollen eyes. The priest had his hand over the coffin.
- Flagler Memorial Park.
Jack noted down the name and left the library. He set the gps's destination for the cemetery and pulled off. The Flagler Park was a green stain in the city landscape. As soon as he got in, he realized it was a huge cemetery and went to ask for directions. The undertaker had just finished closing up a grave.
- Hi, good afternoon, could you please tell me the resting place of John Meadows.
- Hi, sure, it’s just down this trail. The second to last row.
- Ok thanks.
- Are you family, or are you from the agency.
- Just an old friend, but why?
- Those suits come here often and just stand there because of the code on the tombstone. Don't know why!
Jack thanked him and walked along the trail. Hundreds of graves filled the horizon. He finally got to John's grave. It was a marble black grave. There was nothing odd about it. A normal grave with a tombstone and a photo of John. Jack recognized the photo from when they met each other. In a Texas mission. He was smiling. He then read the writing on the tombstone and a confused felling started rising. "Here lies John Meadows, son of Rupert Meadow and Rosaline Sparks. May he rest in the eternal light." Under the text was John's photo and under that Jack read. "Death is Not The End (KM NC - 2:03)".
- You where never the religious type, and now this!?
Jack though it could have been the barmaid that asked for the tombstone to be placed. But, knowing John as he knew, the meticulous type, nothing would be forgotten. He took a note of the weird phrase and the random letters and numbers.
He left the cemetery unhappy. The money he was counting on had gone, he could not finish his mission.
He checked into a hotel and just skipped dinner. He fell asleep immediately. When he woke up he felt weird like he had not felt in years. He didn't want to get up, like a sort of procrastination had taken control. He tried to counter the feeling and went for some breakfast. After the meal he decided to go out for a run. When he went past the hotel's computer lounge he thought about searching for some more information about his friend’s death. He sat down and spent hours trying to gather some clues about the death. All of them led to the same destination: nowhere. He then remembered the words engraved on the tombstone and inserted them. Nothing relevant appeared. He then took out the brackets, and nothing happened. He finally just wrote "Death Is Not The End" not hoping on anything new. A website called Youtube appeared, with a little image. His jaw fell when he pressed on the image. A music video started, it was sung by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue.
- Shit, their names initial letters are the code. KM and NC.
He then remembered that anyone could discover this, and lost his hopes quickly. He just stared at the selling and listed to the song. It was like a hope song, telling everyone that there is something beyond death... Near the end of the song he jumped so quickly that the chair cracked. He looked at the paper again, and read the numbers. It was the timing. The timing of the song. He replayed various times. With his heart racing he searched online for the lyrics, and at the time marked on his paper the singer was saying: "When storm clouds gather round, and heavy rains descend, just remember that death is not the end." He started repeating storm clouds, heavy rains, not the end. He searched online for the words, but nothing relevant came up until:
" It was 1994, a dusty bar, dozens of beer bottles on the table and John laughing in front of him.
-Ahhh, I fucking love Hawaii. We should get out and find ourselves some chicks. I mean, we are young and one day we are dead, so let's get it on.
- John, you are fucking drunk my friend.
- What about you "Jacky", you’re so hammered that your wallet is on the floor.
They both laughed and decided to go and lay in the Hawaiian beaches. John paid the bill by throwing notes over the counter. And, as soon as they stepped out of the crappy bar still laughing, the blistering sun gave way to black clouds in a matter of seconds, it started pouring like a tropical storm. The heat was still unbearable so they just stood in the rain with their arms wide open, looking at the rain falling down.
- You know Jack, I could die right now, it could be the end for me, but I would go happy."
The hotel manager was staring down at him lying on the floor with his arms spread and laughter in his lips.
- Excuse-me sir, are you OK?
- Yes, I'm fine.
Jack knew exactly where to go...
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