The Hidden Lives of Dick & Mary: Two Novellas of Supernatural Suspense

By Xavier Poe Kane

From debut author Xavier Poe Kane comes a paranormal pair of tales surrounding the unusual lives and acquaintances of Dick Fischer and Mary Deacon.

Dick Fisher is a medium, and he and his rookie reality show team of ghost hunters find themselves entrenched in the military history of Jef

• Language: English
• Publisher: C2 Visionary Press
• Release date: May 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781087945309

Xavier Poe Kane

Still not a best-selling author, Xavier Poe Kane is a former door gunner on the International Space Station. When not making the galaxy safe for democracy, he writes whatever weirdness comes to mind. He currently lives in the woods-and in a state of mutual weirdness-with his wife Morticia and their dogs, Chuck Norris and the three-legged Jabba the Hutt. Thanks to the GI Bill, he has an MFA in Popular Fiction Writing & Publishing from Emerson College.

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Kane, Xavier Poe, 1975-

The Hidden Lives of Dick & Mary: Two Novellas of Supernatural Suspense / Xavier

Poe Kane.

1. Paranormal – Fiction. 2. Missouri – Fiction 3. Domestic – Fiction.

Copyright © 2021 Xavier Poe Kane

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-08794514-9

ISBN: 978-1-08794530-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication has been applied for.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. All other names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

Edited by Kayla Randolph

Cover Design by Richard Turylo

Interior Layout by Haley Chung

C2 Visionary Press, LLC

St. Louis, Missouri

For Mom, while not the type of book you would’ve ever read, I could not have written it without your love and support.

NOVELLA ONE

Haunted Houses

Gateway to the West and the Beyond

NOVELLA TWO

The Tale of Mary Deacon

Contents

Novella One: Haunted Houses

Prologue

Season One: Episode 20

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Interlude

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Interlude II

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Six Month Update

Novella Two: The Tale of Mary Deacon

Part One: The Many Abductions of Mary

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Part Two: The Romance of Mary Deacon

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Based on a true story…

Coming May 2023

The Last Bride

Part I: The Three Serpents Pub

Acknowledgments

Haunted Houses

Gateway to the West and the Beyond

Prologue

Second Floor, Building 1

Jefferson Barracks Air National Guard Base, Missouri

Shadows began to darken the office of Lieutenant Colonel Mickey Logan Delaney. He checked his phone: 6:25 p.m. The Missouri Air National Guard officer had put in a long day. He took a minute to finish the last email before standing and stretching his six-foot-two-inch frame, which he frequently insisted was not built to be hunched behind a desk. He unzipped his flight suit and changed into jeans and his leather riding jacket.

Winter was surrendering to spring, and the weather had been beautiful. Today’s high had reached 72°, so he rode his Harley into work. However, the temperature would not cooperate for long after sunset. He grabbed his helmet and stepped out of his office.

Standard operating procedure was for the last one in the building to secure the exterior doors and ensure all the lights are turned off. As he had countless times before, he started with the second-story fire escape. From there, he checked the three doors on the first floor. He pulled out his phone and used its flashlight to navigate to the basement. He could pop out the single subterranean fire escape to complete the security check. As he started down the stairs, he heard a door slam.

Hey, sorry. I thought I was the only one left. His voice carried in the empty hall as he paused to greet the other airman working late. Hello? He shrugged as his second greeting proved fruitless.

He once again started down the short flight of antique stairs. As he stepped onto the basement floor, a stair creaked behind him. He turned to see who was sneaking up on him, but the bright beam from his cell played over an empty staircase. The air took a sudden chill, causing him to shiver.

I’m imagining things, he said out loud, trying to convince himself.

He turned on his heel and started down the hallway that ran the length of the building. He could see the soft, red glow of the flickering EXIT sign that hung above the door. The sound of footfalls on the tile floor echoed behind him. He quickened his pace as the sound grew nearer. He took off running. The sound of his helmet clattering to the floor startled him anew. When Delaney turned to pick it up, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He thought he heard a soft laugh.

Fuck it.

He turned back to the exit door. He extended his hands toward the brushed aluminum push-bar. It made a loud click as he pressed against it, the door giving way. As he pushed through the exit, he felt someone’s breath on the back of his neck.

It was pitch black as he emerged into the chilly air. The door exited to a void under the stairs leading to Building 1’s southern entrance where a set of concrete stairs led to ground level. He took the stairs two at a time, pausing only when he emerged into the silvery light of a full moon. He took a deep breath as he gathered his composure.

You’re being ridiculous, he chided himself. He started fumbling with his keys and turned to go back in and retrieve the abandoned helmet.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and his skin goose-pimpled at a puff of cool air that kissed the back of his neck. He thought he heard something, but it was too soft and quiet. He moved toward the steps into the void. The puff of air caressed his neck again and tickled his ear; this time the voice was louder.

That wouldn’t be a good idea.

He closed his eyes as fear gripped his heart, no longer worried about riding without his brain bucket. He sprinted to his Harley and frantically started it and roared off. He didn’t care that in just over 12 hours he would have to explain why he sped through the main gate on a motorcycle without a helmet.

Season One: Episode 20

Gateway to the West and the Beyond

"When I was 10, I started hearing voices. My parents thought I was crazy, so they took me to a psychologist. I told him I was speaking to my grandfather who was telling me about fighting in the Vietnam War. I was talking about things that no one else in the family knew about. When my grandmother reached out to one of his friends, he confirmed everything I was saying was true. I was not crazy. I have a gift, and I use that gift to help people, living and dead, find closure. My name is Dick Fisher, and I am a medium who, with the help of my wife Mary, helps dead people."

"I retired from the FBI where I investigated some of the biggest financial crimes in our nation’s recent history. Places, institutions, families, and people have history buried in their closets that they do not want uncovered. I was a skeptic, thinking that mediums were con men. Then I worked with Dick as a crime victim on a case where a pyramid scheme cost him his 401(k). He knew things about the case that the FBI was not releasing to the public. Now we team up helping people across the country find closure for whatever haunts them. My name is Special Agent, Retired, Jackie Bierman, and I investigate the hidden histories of haunted houses."

- Intro to Haunted Houses

Chapter One

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent (retired) Jacquelyn Bierman recorded part of her voiceover for a television show she was doing with Dick and Mary Fisher. The recording equipment was operated by Dan Uebel, who doubled as sound recorder and cameraman. Her words would be dubbed over video of her driving down I-270, turning onto Telegraph Road, and passing through the somber beauty of the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and St. Louis County Park.

Today we are visiting St. Louis, Missouri, home of Jefferson Barracks, the oldest U.S. military installation west of the Mississippi. The airmen and soldiers stationed there lovingly refer to it as ‘JB.’ It was established in 1826 and named after President and Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. We were called in by Lieutenant Colonel Mickey ‘Logan’ Delaney, a high-ranking officer in the Missouri Air National Guard. Over the course of his 15 years of service at the base, he reports having experienced several encounters with the paranormal.

The next scene was of her shaking hands with a tall officer in a flight suit standing by a naval gun captured off the Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo during the Spanish-American War. The mighty Mississippi River rushed through the background, heading south toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Lieutenant Colonel Delaney, it’s a pleasure meeting you. It’s always an honor speaking to our country’s best and bravest.

Thank you for your support and your service, Delaney replied.

"Before we get started, military and first responder nicknames have always fascinated me. How did you get the nickname Logan?"

Delaney smiled and gave a soft chuckle. Well, it is a comic book reference for a football reference.

Jackie cocked her head questioningly.

Delaney continued. "I used to play college ball for the best state school in the country: The Ohio State University. We had a rivalry with the state school to our north. I won’t even mention the state’s name, but their mascot is the wolverine. Since Logan is the alter-ego of the superhero Wolverine, people thought it would be funny to make that my callsign."

All right, Jackie said, now you said that you have experienced some supernatural occurrences on base?

Yes, ma’am. I was single and just started working at the unit full-time, hired directly from active duty. I did not have a place to stay just yet, so I had a cot set up in my office. The sound of these heavy doors opening and closing over by the breakroom would wake me up. The first couple of times I went to go check and no one was there. What’s more, the lights were off when I got near them.

Did someone not turn on the hall lights as they snuck around?

Nope. The lights are motion-activated, so if someone had opened them, the lights would have been on.

Anything else?

"I would hear people walking around when I knew I was the only person in the building. Needless to say, I decided to speed up my house hunting."

Are you the only one in your unit to experience anything paranormal?

The officer laughed. Oh no. I have a sergeant who once was sitting at his corner computer station, the only person in the room. He said he heard the sound of a cubicle’s overhead bin door being opened and then clattering closed as if dropped. He turned to see who else was in the room with him when he heard his CAC card being lifted— Logan paused before continuing. "Oh, sorry, I mean our ID cards that we use to log into our computers. Sometimes I forget to translate into civilian! Anyway, it sounded as if it were lifted out of the reader and reinserted. He swung back to his screen and saw that he had been logged out