Mirrors

Draft

Chapter One

There are two cemeteries in the US that are not designated as such. There are no headstones and few know exactly where the deceased are buried.

One is the desert outside Las Vegas and the other, the hills to the east of Los Angeles.

Challis had been closing in on the LA from the east, having taken the tortuous route through the Angeles Forest. There were reasons for that route and why it was important to him. Stopping before the City and just outside the Forest Park, Challis decided to stretch his legs after the long slow drive from the other side of the Rockies. He had headed out of Phoenix three days ago after receiving a phone call.

Ahead of him, Challis thought about how long it would take him to battle through LA's streets to the meeting. Longer than he would wish, but he was in good time and would grab some lunch beforehand. He wandered off road through the pines and away from the traffic which was light, but still there. He headed into a clearing, covered in grass and a few wild flowers. Peaceful enough he thought, found a fallen tree and seated himself. Taking in the forest, the birdsong and the lack of traffic noise was good for the soul. It also cleared his head for the meet.

Straight ahead of him was a stand of pines growing close together. To his left a rocky outcrop. To his right, the LA side and a steep drop. He wandered over to get his first view of the City spread before him. He gazed over in the direction he was going to be headed. Then he looked down the slope.

There just six feet down, but not six feet under, was the body of a man laying face down.

Challis scrabbled carefully down the slope, digging his feet in to prevent him sliding further. The dead guy was in a blazer and tan pants, no shoes. Challis checked his neck for a pulse - none. The rest of his head was surrounded by brush, which covered the reason for a lack of vital signs. Rolling him over two things became apparent very quickly. One shocked him the other didn't.

The guy had a neat hole in his forehead surrounded by gunshot residue. However, the matter that shocked him was that the body he was looking at was John Forder, the man he was meant to meet. Clawing his way back up the sharp incline, Challis stood and brushed himself off. Then he swiftly contemplated what to do next. One thing he had done while examining Forder's body was to remove his wallet and cell phone from his pockets.. There was nothing else of importance.

He made several decisions in a matter of minutes. The first of which was to change cars as soon as possible. It was a hire, so that would be easy and it had been rented under one of Challis's aliases. Second, he would call in the location of the body using a burner phone, of which he carried several. After those two actions. He would set up his base in LA and decide his next course of action. 

The first two went fine, but his course of action was about to be taken out of his hands in a manner he hadn't anticipated...

Further west  a man was in his office anticipating Challis's visit. His name was John Forder.