caught once was all it really took.
He was tired of prison. Of being
haunted with his past. He needed to get it
all out of his head before he did what he
had traveled to Munich to do. And that
meant calling her.
Wade looked up and eyed a payphone
standing on the other side of the park
way. He took one last drink and made his
way towards it.
Time to get it over with. It's the last thing you'll have to worry about, Wade told himself as he picked up the phone. He put his hand in his front pocket and wrestled around to find some coins. He pulled out a quarter and a single penny.
He had given the rest of his change for the liquor. Wade stared at the bottle that he had set on top of the payphone in disgust. It stared back, laughing at his pathetic predicament.
Frustrated, Wade punched in a few numbers that corresponded with a sticker plastered beside the keypad.
“ Collect call for...?” came the automatic voice.
Wade punched in a few more numbers and prepared himself.
“...Connecting.”
The phone line began to ring. Wade swallowed, looking around the park as if searching for a nearby exit…looking for a reason to be able to hang up the phone. Another ring. Wade looked up at the payphone’s sign while the line rang twice more.
He couldn't do it.
Wade slammed the phone down on the receiver and hung up. He rubbed his head in shame, and then shoved it into the payphone, hard. Why was he such an idiot? Why couldn't he work up the guts for a single phone call?
Was he afraid? She hadn't visited him during his entire stint. Three years. They had been so close, and yet three years passed without a word. No letter. No call. Nothing. Had she found someone else? Of course she did. There's not a single reason she would wait for you.
Disheartened, Wade left the park and walked down the street, crossing into an empty alley. He staggered a bit as he finished the bottle. This was all pointless. If he couldn't get up the nerve, then he was just wasting time. Wade chucked the bottle against the brick wall, sending glass everywhere. Sitting down on the pavement, he ran his hand through his hair. Tears were coming from his eyes, and he made no effort to stop them. It didn't matter now.
None of it mattered.
Harmony kicked her wheels up as fast as possible, finally arriving at the restaurant. She gave a wave to several customers eating outside as she rode by them. Swinging her bike around to the back, she parked and hopped off, racing inside.
Harmony walked into the restaurant's kitchen through the back door, breathing heavily from pedaling so much. She threw her bag on the ground and hung her jacket up.
A voice came from the adjacent room. “You're late, girl!”
Steven, a young man in his early
twenties peeked through the doorway at Harmony. He was tall, and sported a purple hairnet, which kept his curly red hair pulled behind him.
Harmony looked at him.
“I know, I know! I got out of class late.
It won't happen again!” she said.
“Whatever! I can't keep covering for
you all the time!”
“I got it, I got it,” came Harmony's reply.
Steven was the closest thing to a
brother that Harmony had in the past
year. He was always dependable and easy
to rely on. Cool and collected, he was a
nice breath of fresh air from Harmony's
routinely busy schedule.
Harmony crossed into the main kitchen where Steven was slicing bread. She
headed to a nearby cabinet and pulled out
an apron and a hat. She put them on while smiling to him, and crossed over to
the sink to wash her hands.
“How's your dad doing, by the way?”
Steven asked as she scrubbed in.
“He's fine,” Harmony replied. “He's got
a doctor's appointment in about a month. “Any change?” Steven questioned. “Not really.”
“Well, I'll keep praying.”
“Thanks,” said Harmony. “I really appreciate it.”
Steven was that kind of good-natured
soul that always made you feel better
when you were down. Ever since her father had been diagnosed, she found it
hard to talk to people about the possibility of slowly losing her father over time.
Steven, for all Harmony could tell, was
pretty religious, and devout in his faith.
He always had the right thing to say to
cheer her up, or even just to make her
laugh.
“Cheer up, Harmony,” he said
brightly. “You've got that gloomy look on
your face. It's going to be a beautiful day
tomorrow. Get ready for it!”
Harmony laughed to herself. Okay,
maybe sometimes he was a little too cheerful. But Harmony didn't mind. It was a
nice break from the people she attended college with. Most of them seemed like the type of people that only knew how to function while being unhappy, and she didn't want to become like that. Besides, Steven was fun and easy to work with during the afternoon, and Harmony wasn't sure if she'd give it up for any
thing.
“Did I ever tell you that you're too
happy all the time, Steven?” Harmony
said, grinning.
“Yep! But I ignored it.” Steven responded with a cheesy smile. He passed
her a pair of disposable gloves, which she
put on.
“Whatever. Hey, did you hear about an
opening down at the bookstore?” she said
while looking at him.
Steven grunted and peeked over at
her, speculating.
“An opening? Don't you have three or
four jobs already?”
“I just need to get a little bit of cash
together,” Harmony returned.
“Apparently a lot more than 'a little
bit'! When are you gonna start slowing
down?”
Harmony pulled down a loaf of bread
and began slicing it.
“When I kick the bucket, most likely,”
half talking to herself.
Steven had a point. She had been
working herself to death, but she couldn't
take a break right now. There was too
much left to do. Once she got enough
money together, and finished school, she
would be free to do anything she wanted.
She just hoped her life would still be
worth living by then.
Harmony passed the rest of the loaf to
Steven at the sound of the door chime.
She walked through the swinging doors
out to the front counter, where a man and
his child were waiting to order their meal.
Harmony looked at them and smiled politely, pushing the thoughts to the back of
her mind.
“Hi. Can I take your order?”
CHAPTER 6
Palmer cut across the street and ran full pace. He heard a horn honk, and witnessed Morgan swerving the police van sharply into a parked position on the side of the road as a group of old men sitting at a nearby barber shop's front porch looked on.
Morgan and Franks jumped out of the van, both drawing their weapons.
“…You see him?” Palmer asked frantically, finally meeting up with them. He took this opportunity to take a short breath.
“No, we didn't see him!” Franks shouted, disgusted. “What happened? Someone tip him off?”
“What? No – he...” Palmer fumbled around with his words. How could he explain himself?
“Did he cut across an alley?” Morgan interjected.
Frustrated, Palmer
pointed at both of them.
“I told you two to cut him off!”
“Cut him off from where?” Franks shot back loudly. “You never gave us a location!”
“I gave you West Street!”
“West Street and what? You gave us nothing!”
Palmer pushed passed Franks and scanned the horizon. Franks turned around and advanced towards Palmer.
“What kind of performance is this from my senior detective?” he roared.
“Shut up, Franks!” Palmer cut in, making a move towards him as well.
Morgan stepped between them and held both of them apart.
“Hey, look! We're not getting anywhere standing around arguing like this!” he said.
Palmer backed away from Franks slowly, eyes hot with frustration.
“Did you get a positive I.D.?” Morgan asked Palmer as calmly as possible.
“Yes, it's the guy!” Palmer shouted.
“I'll call it in,” Morgan said while pulling out his radio.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” came the put-out voice of Franks.
Palmer ran his hands through his hair and craned his neck over towards the adjacent street.
“Alright, look! We'll split up.” he called. “I'll take west. Morgan, you go south, and Franks can take east.”
Franks holstered his sidearm and shot his hands into the air, looking at Palmer.
“And what if he's decided to double back?” he complained.
Palmer put his firearm away and prepared himself for another run. He looked over, giving one last glance to Franks.
“Three out of four's better than nothing at all; even you ought to know that. Now, let's go!”
Franks looked at Morgan, who ducked into the police van.
“Call it in. Go south,” he commanded roughly.
“Yes, sir!”
Palmer turned around and broke into a full sprint, determined to fix his mistake.
Wade stood next to the payphone, listening to endless rings. He had finally worked up the nerve to call again, and he promised himself he wouldn't hang up this time.
“ Hi, you've reached Katherine. I can't get to the phone right now, so leave me a message!”
Wade opened his mouth to speak. What would he say? How would he say it?
He hung the phone back up and stepped away from it. There was nothing to say. Nothing that would matter, anyway.
He and Katherine might have been dating at the time, but three years had gone by. She had moved on, and found someone else. She wasn't interested in him anymore. Why would she be? What did a lowlife like him have to offer her?
Wade staggered back over to the park bench and plopped himself down. He ran his hands through his greasy hair and hung his head low.
That was the end of it. There was no one left to look up...no one who he cared to speak with, at least. He was alone. There was nothing more for him to do. Wade slowly lifted himself from the bench and made for the exit.
With a thud, he accidentally ran into a man walking by him.
“Hey, watch where you're going, kid!” the man shouted.
“...Sorry,” Wade mumbled, meekly.
As Wade walked away, he heard the man shouting to thin air angrily.
“...This is Franks; I'm getting nothing on my end. The guy probably doubled back.”
Harmony stood at the front counter, twirling her hair lazily. It was a slow afternoon at the restaurant. She leaned against the cash register and peered out to the parking lot, wondering if any cars were in the process of pulling in. Nothing.
Suddenly, she heard her cell phone beep.
Placing her hand in her pocket, she punched a button down to shut the sound off and pulled it out to see who was calling.
The day care.
Harmony looked around the restaurant, and, feeling satisfied that everything would go smoothly while she was gone, made her way into the employee restroom in the back.
“Hello?” she spoke into the phone upon locking the door.
“Harmony, are you coming in to work today?”
It was Lacey: one of Harmony's coworkers at the day care.
“Yeah, but my shift isn't until four o'clock,” Harmony responded.
There was a pause on the other end.
“Would you mind coming in a little early? The school just called and told me that my brother's sick, so I need to go pick him up.”
Harmony tilted her head back. There was always something.
“I – I'm in the middle of class right now, I don't think I can make it,” Harmony lied. “Did you call Karen?”
“She said to call you.”
Harmony sighed to herself and rubbed her forehead, thinking. The day care didn't know that she had a different job. They had simply assumed she was a student, and Harmony hadn't bothered to correct them. If she didn't handle this situation properly, they could find out about her job at the restaurant.
She wouldn't risk it.
“What time do you need me there?” Harmony asked, annoyed.
“Can you get here by one?”
That could be a problem, Harmony thought to herself.
“Hold on a minute, I'll check,” she told Lacey.
Harmony set her phone down and stepped out of the restroom. She would need to make some quick decisions to pull this off. She crossed into the kitchen and found Steven mixing some ingredients in a bowl, humming 'Amazing Grace' to himself.
“Hey, Steven?” Harmony called, innocently.
“Hey, yeah?” he replied cheekily.
“Listen, I know it's short notice, and all…” she began. “But, would you mind watching the rest of my shift?”
Steven stopped stirring and spun around, facing her.
“Are you serious?”
“I'm really sorry!” said Harmony. “Something came up at work, and they need my ”
“This is your work, girl!” Steven pointed out.
Harmony stepped toward him. She would need to bargain. She wrapped herself around him in a bear hug, causing his cheeks to turn as red as his hair.
“Pretty please? I'll-buy-you-lunch-forthe-whole-week pretty please?” she pleaded sweetly.
Steven stared at her for a moment, and then smiled.
“Lunch and breakfast, you mean.”
“I'm not exactly made of money, you know,” Harmony returned.
“Whatever. Lunch is fine.”
Harmony smiled, her mission a success.
“Thanks!” she said, hurrying towards the restroom.
“I'll clock you out!” Steven called.
Harmony nodded.
“Bye!”
Harmony returned to the restroom and picked up her phone. Checking her watch, she figured she'd be able to make it there in time if she cut across a few alleys.
“Hey...you still there?” she asked Lacey.
“...Yeah.”
“I'll be there at one, okay?”
“Thanks a lot, Harmony.”
“No problem.”
Harmony hung up the phone and placed it in her pocket. Heading out the restroom door, she took off her hat and apron, placing them quickly in a nearby basket. She headed towards the back door and retrieved her book bag and jacket.
Once out the door, she swung herself over her bike and smacked her heel against the kick-stand. Setting one foot solidly on the ground, she pivoted the bike and turned it around, taking off towards the day care as fast as possible.
CHAPTER 7
Throwing himself over the fence, Palmer hit the ground with a start. He searched the street top to bottom, coming out empty-handed.
Where was this guy at?
He couldn't have gotten too far away. Palmer anticipated that at most the dealer had managed to get a minute’s worth of a head start. Palmer jogged around to the front of a local building, trying to catch his breath as best he could.
The guy must have been cutting corners constantly, Palmer thought.
“Come on!” Palmer said out loud to himself
in frustration. “He's gotta be around here some”
Palmer froze. Off to his left, he caught sight of him. The dealer was hunched over, his upper-body stuck inside a car he seemed to be hotwiring.
Palmer raised his weapon and took aim.
“Freeze!” he shouted.
The dealer looked up surprised, and in one swift motion, pointed a revolver towards Palmer and fired off several shots.
Dirt kicked up around Palmer's heels as he fired back once, and the front windshield of the car shattered. The dealer forcibly threw himself to the ground behind the car and fired back blindly.
As the sound of bullets flew past him, Palmer took cover behind a nearby wall and pulled out his radio.
“This is Detective Palmer,” he said, trying to keep calm. “I need backup on South and Main; suspect is armed and taking fire.”
Palmer pocketed the radio and pulled himself out from the cover of the wall into a firing position. The dealer took off down an alley and Palmer rose to his feet, grabbing the radio once more.
“Suspect is on foot and heading south. I’m in pursuit.”
Keeping his weapon close, Palmer ran after him.
Wade traipsed around the outskirts of the town, slowly walking over a bridge. His eyes were damp, and his head was throbbing with pain. He knew what he needed to do next, but he hadn't worked up the nerve.
Lifting himself up with the steel railing, he looked down the river several yards below him. Jagged rocks outstretched the body of water, and Wade swallowed. He looked over the horizon.
Should he jump?
It might not work. What if the fall alone didn't kill him? It would be painful beyond belief, and he would lay there for several days before he either bled out, or someone found him. And if the latter happened, he would be sent back to jail, and that was torture enough.
He needed a better plan. Lowering himself from the railing, he scanned the town. If he was going to do this, he needed to go out in a way that would be the least agonizing. Something quick. Something simple. Something final.
Walking down the road, now across from the grocery store, Wade saw it. A small building with a large yellow sign that stretched forth to the sky. The answer to all of his problems. The solution to everything.
'Munich Pawn & Gun'.
She might actually make it there on time.
Harmony glided along the road towards the day care, skating over a small puddle. A car passed by on the opposite end of the street, and she waved politely, smiling.
Fallen Angels - Book 1: Welcome To Munich Page 3