by Dan O'Brien
As they reached the end of the alley, a cab stopped and the door flew open.
“Boss, get in,” a voice called from inside.
Ava let Derrick push her in; he jumped in after her and pulled the door closed as the cab shot forward.
She looked at him with fire in her eyes. “Why are they after you?”
Derrick ignored her and leaned forward. “Tommy, waterfront.”
As he leaned back, Ava belted him across the chest. “Answer me, Diamond.”
“The Fat Man had me pick up an object. I’m guessing the scale squad back there was after it, too.”
“What is the object?”
Derrick looked out at the city as it passed by. “I don’t know, but I need to find it…soon.”
Ava looked like she wanted to say more, but she huffed and sat on the far side of the seat and looked out the opposite window.
Tommy watched them through the rearview mirror and smirked.
As the cab faded into the distance and the serpents disappeared into the shadows, the Fat Man and the Nazi commander, Der Deutsch, watched them from across the street––stepping beneath a hanging light to see one another better. Der Deutsch’s bald dome shone as if recently waxed and his perfectly pressed uniform rustled as he tucked his hat under his arm.
“I see that you have him on the case. This is good,” spoke Der Deutsch in clipped English.
“As you have requested, Derrick Diamond will hunt down the object for you.”
“Good. There is little time to waste. The device is incomplete without it.”
“And payment?” asked the Fat Man with a waggle of his tentacles.
“Upon receipt, mein Freund.”
And with that, he stepped back into the darkness and left the Fat Man alone in the night, wondering what kind of device the Nazis had created.