“What's your novel about?” she asked.
“It's a romantic war story,” Andy explained out of thin air. “A soldier goes AWOL in the desert to protect a civilian he has fallen in love with from a foreign squad. It's a lot of just cheesy, convenient action.”
Her eyes lit up. She believed every word. “I think that sounds wonderful! I would love to read that when you finish it,” she encouraged. Her voice was as beautiful as her face. The slightest thing could scar a face like that, like footprints through virgin snow.
He chuckled, placing his elbows on the table. His posture began to relax. “You're very kind,” he replied. A moment of silence passed as they beamed into each others eyes. “So tell me, what does work bring you here for?”
Haley leaned back. The drinks had come fast. She took a sip from her glass. The hostess took their meal orders before departing again. The young woman seated across from Andy wiped her lips delicately on her napkin. “Have you ever heard of Decree?” she asked.
“Decree?” Andy repeated with confusion.
“Yeah, it's a penitentiary company founded by Michael Kree. They specialize in building brand new privatized prisons in isolated pockets of rural America.”
All of this was alien to Andy. Nothing she said rang a bell. “Privatized prisons?” Andy echoed.
“Since the early eighties. Recently, they've built a new prison about ten miles outside of town. The very first privatized supermax penitentiary. Those are the places where the judicial system stuffs all of the most violent criminals in the U.S. This is where people like Ted Bundy and Charlie Manson go.”
“Ah,” Andy responded, acting like he was starting to understand.
“I'm sorry, I don't mean to bore you with this,” Haley stopped herself. Andy made a shooing gesture at her to signify that it was no bother. “Sometimes when I get started, I can rant about these bastards.”
Andy nodded. “What is exactly so bad about Decree?” he asked. He hoped the question did not offend her.
It didn't. Her intense passion about the subject drove her to want to inform rather than argue. Andy meant not to derail her momentum one bit. She was spilling the secrets he was paid so much to exploit. “This new prison is super hush-hush. They don't like visitors or people snooping about. With some help and a bit of luck, though, I found out that this supermax is housing some pretty average criminals. Drug offenders, thieves, sexual deviants and civil disruptors. Not violent criminals. Decree covers this up by fudging their records and hiring lawyers to overemphasize how dangerous some of the defendants are. There is a rumor that they even stage violent outbreaks in lower-level prisons so that they can come in and say, 'Your jails are unsafe. You need to use ours.'”
Andy thought he was beginning to see. He nodded to indicate that he was paying attention. That he was in fact hanging on her every word.
Haley sipped again from her wine and Andy did the same with his own glass. “It's only rumors at this point. We could have more of a lead if Decree didn't have such a cold method of firing former employees. We've had people turning up dead all over the world before they can testify one word against those monsters.”
St. Petersburg, Andy thought.
“Supposedly, the big bad secret that they have is that they have been performing some pretty advanced medical research. Not normal stuff, either. They are hammering hard at some pretty major cures and inoculations,” Haley explained. Her energy was remarkable and attractive to Andy. His attention was forthright. “The methods they use go against some pretty basic human rights, so that's why they keep it within the unwatched walls of Decree prisons. So no one can look in and see that they are infecting their prisoners with the AIDS virus and exposing them to high levels of carcinogens just so they have plenty of sick people to work on.”
“Wow,” Andy said, relaying only a small amount of his true shock. Could it all really be true? Something must be misinformation, Andy thought. They couldn't hide that much.
“Now if you think about it, you could understand the high mortality rates in their prisons better,” Haley continued. Andy was doing well at appearing appalled. He didn't have to try very hard. “So they have to do something to keep their prisons filled. A lot of the time they will doctor some of the paperwork on lower threat criminals, or even load their trials. Recently, however, I got a very wild lead that they have even begun seizing control of local police departments. That's why I'm here. I believe that the Lumnin PD is the first one they're trying to buy.”
“How could they possibly buy the police?” Andy asked. He was toeing on the line of exposing his professional interest in the subject. Still, he did not falter. She was excited to see his interest.
“Bribe them,” Haley started after a genuine smile. “Have their own employees enter the department, something along those lines. I'm a little vague on all of the details, but you know, that's why I'm here. To find the details.”
So much money, Andy contemplated. Wealth was Graves' greatest weapon and his ammunition was boundless.
“How do you know so much?” Andy was curious. He finished his drink.
Haley smiled, trying to pull off a humble demeanor. “Well, I mean, I am pretty good at my job,” she explained. Andy waited for further elaboration, but she said nothing about her brother in the police department. Good, he thought. Andy had become worried at how much she was willing to reveal to him.
In as much of a joking tone as he could pull off, Andy commented, “I'm surprised they haven't tried to kill you yet.” It tasted bitter on his tongue.
Haley laughed with modest volume in response. “To be honest, so am I,” she joked back. “No, actually I do my best not to tread on any toes. I keep pretty quiet and I'm sure I'll go by unnoticed until I can finish my report and have it published. By then, I'm sure I'll be in a much safer position.”
Just then the food arrived, a good excuse for them to turn merry instead of worrying about such evil things. It was a delicious, meal, during which Andy learned about Haley's brother, Jacob, from her own lips. Andy could focus more on the date after getting so overcome by crucial information. His mind grinded its gears in thought as he contemplated it all. It became hard to focus, but he managed. She explained her love of her bicycle and how she used to want to be a long distance cyclist. Her bike was named Douglas after her favorite writer. It had been a gift to her from her now dead uncle who she spoke fondly about.
With the meal depleted, they left the restaurant and stepped outside in the cool Lumnin air. It had chilled a lot while they were inside.
“You're not ready to go back home, are you?” Haley asked Andy. She noticed him checking his watch.
With a startled look, Andy replied, “No.”
“Good,” she grinned. Her eyes squinted from the upward motion of her cheek muscles. “I'm having too good of a time to end it now.”
Andy looked down the street, circles of light burning down from the lamps to break the monotonous dark. “How about a walk?” he suggested. Haley nodded with her enthusiastic, childish manner.
They talked about so much as they strolled down the sidewalk. They laughed about an Italian couple who emerged from a cafe shouting at each other in their native language. Together, they bought a homeless man a sandwich and some soup and left him twenty dollars. It was something Andy knew he should do every time, something to make a habit of, but it just never crossed his mind until Haley bent down and started speaking to the homeless man. A light drizzle of rain began once they passed a drunk falling over his friends, and Andy made the offer to take her home.
“You afraid of a little rain, Andy?” she asked with a smart tone.
“No, just, you know,” Andy said, not sure if he knew what his point was. “If it's gonna rain.”
“If it's gonna rain, then I guess we're gonna get wet,” Haley said. “Come on.”
She grabbed onto the front of his jacket and pulled him across the street to a little park. It had a tiny c
reek somewhere along the edge of it and trees of all sorts. The little lamps staked into the grass looked like warm beacons in a dark black sea. Haley kicked off her shoes and carried them as they walked.
“You're not gonna wear your shoes?” Andy asked.
“No,” Haley answered. “The wet grass, the little pitter patter of rain on the top of your feet. It's all kind of like being free, you know?”
Andy perked his head up a bit. He felt like he was having Déjà vu. “Free?” he echoed.
“Yeah,” Haley said. “Kind of like walking around naked in the sun. Or making a fool of yourself and not giving a damn. Freedom.”
Andy supposed he never really thought about freedom and where it comes from. Haley seemed to suggest that it was something we all were born with, and even in the worst of oppression, there were ways to express it. Like with bare feet. Is that what this is? Andy wondered. Is being with Haley my freedom? Can I have this forever?
The look Haley gave him set his heart aflutter. In all his life, he couldn't recall anyone looking at him that way, with daring, squinted eyes that gleamed like the pearl white smile below. That loving gaze. He could feel it warming in his chest. Why was she so beautiful?
When they finally emerged from the trees, Haley supported her head on Andy's shoulder, and he rested his on top of hers. It was almost like hugging and walking at the same time, knotted up together in impractical style. He held onto her hand and she squeezed it like a pulse. When Steven's car came into view, the two of them sighed. They stopped and stared deep into each other's eyes in silence. Minutes bled on.
Haley offered, “Would you want to come to my place?”
More than anything in the world, Andy thought. But reluctantly, he said, “I can't.” He couldn't endure anymore of this feeling he had. Of wanting to stay with her and run away from the rest of the world. To ignore death knocking on the door. She looked disappointed. “I'm sorry.”
“It's okay,” she said with genuine warmth. She looked up at him with her crystalline eyes, stepping close. “Call me.”
“I will,” Andy promised.
She kissed him.
-Chapter Eight-
Lumnin's Finest
Dreams swam through Andy's mind as he lay asleep, disheartened. This time Andy was on stage, playing guitar and singing Baba O'Rielly to a crowd of featureless faces. He wasn't doing too bad. Once the song concluded, he stepped off of the wooden platform and headed through the club rather than back through the bowels of the backstage labyrinth. Many people congratulated him on his performance, some requesting signatures and photographs, others throwing out their affection for him. He must have been a big deal.
You must be a big deal, Andy thought to himself, in order to wear an overzealous red suit like he did. His custom made black leather cowboy boots were the only thing breaking his entire red attire. He looked and felt like hot shit. That was only reinforced by the multitudes of unfamiliar faces appreciating him aloud.
He walked past them all and stepped outside into the empty streets, eager to leave his fans behind and get on with his night. He wanted to be alone. His performance had lacked in his opinion despite what anyone else told him. He hated doing covers.
“Hi,” a fragile voice came from the side of the door. Andy was surprised by it and turned fast to see a small nine-year-old girl sitting passively on a green metal bench.
“Hello there,” he said in hope that that was going to be the end of the conversation. It wasn't.
“I'm your biggest fan,” she told him. Her tone, however, seemed unexcited upon meeting him.
“Oh really?” he said, sounding interested. “Well, what's your name?”
“Haley Flynn,” she told him with apathy.
“Well, Haley,” Andy started, walking over to her and getting down on one knee so that his gaze was level with hers. “I'm your biggest fan.”
She smiled, overjoyed. Andy felt proud of himself as he patted her head and turned away. He started to walk to the park across the street.
“Please don't kill me,” she said.
He stopped for a moment and looked back at her. Nothing came to mind when he searched for a response. She just stared at him indifferently as if nothing had happened, and after a moment, he turned away and continued his stroll.
Nothing gave peace to his darkened heart quite like the park at night. It seemed empty, almost as if it only existed for him at that moment, waiting for him to visit and welcoming him with warmth when he did. The trees assembled in gnarled attention for him. He almost wanted to offer them to be at ease, but he knew nothing could change their respect for him. It was returned.
But it wasn't the trees he came to see. There was a small pond hidden off of a trail near a tiny pedestrian bridge that was his favorite place to slip away from the world and reflect on himself as a human being. And finally he had found it.
As he slipped off his boots, he stared into the water's surface. He saw stars in the reflection. He watched the moon dance in the delicate waves. Only here could he see all of the universe and feel like the only one in it. Like he was lost to the rest of existence and no one could come find him, even if they wanted to. He was glad no one wanted to. It gave him comfort rather than made he feel lonely. It rebalanced him so that he could eventually go back out into the sea of gibbering idiots.
He dipped a toe in and was shot in the back. He witnessed the bullet exit his chest in horror. There was nothing that he could do now except fall into the water, never to resurface.
Steven had drunken himself into a minor coma by the time Andy had awoken in the late afternoon. Andy did nothing to wake him and instead left with his car. The keys were in their usual spot.
He pulled up in the alley beside Jacob Flynn's house and shut off the engine. He sat, pondering in the dull silence of the driver's seat, wondering why he had come here. He had all of the information he could get at surface value. Anything that could be inferred from observation, from lurking in the shadows like he did now. It was all at his disposal. All he had to do now was call her. No, he admitted, he knew he wasn't taking notes while he was here. There was nothing he wanted other than to see Haley Flynn. All he needed was to know what she was still okay.
It was a while before he saw her in the bedroom with the large, exposed windows. She was wearing a girlish blue collar shirt over a pink tank top, carrying a suitcase that she tossed out of view. She then disappeared behind the wall after it, leaving Andy by himself.
He pulled out his cellphone and dialed her number by memory. It rang twice before he could see her pop back into view with her phone to her head. Her lips moved out of sync with the words, off by just a fraction of a second. “Andy! How are you?” she greeted.
“I'm good, how are you?” he replied. He kept an eye on her just as she slipped back out of view from the window.
“Great,” she breathed. “I've made such a breakthrough with work. Do you want to go out tonight?”
“I'd love to,” Andy said quite honestly, “but I have work to do.” He wasn't lying.
“Oh, man,” Haley groaned. “Because I'm flying out to deliver my report in like literally a few hours.”
Andy could feel the warmth in his flesh decrease. Raising an eyebrow, he began to feel dread. “Really?” he said.
“Yeah, Andy, I'm so sorry,” she answered. “I was able to finish up my report and I need to bring along some of the evidence I've gathered. I won't be coming back.”
Then he felt it. Crushed into the corner he felt he could not escape from. The light of hope had ceased even being small beams that broke the darkness. There was nothing but fear now as his realization carved into his brain. It etched like the chiseling of a tombstone. Either he or Haley Flynn's fate will be sealed tonight. One of them must die. There were no words, nothing he could manage to say, nothing that could blink onto his consciousness so he hung up the phone and then turned it off. He pulled out of the alley and fled, scaring himself hal
f to death when he accidentally cut off a police cruiser.
He sped up to give it room when the siren flared up and the lights started flashing. Andy pulled over to the right in front of someone's yard. The cop car pulled in behind him and then sat there. It laid still for quite a while, its siren silent but the lights loudly danced through his back window. Finally, an officer stepped out.
He rapped on the driver side window. Andy let it down.
“Officer, I'm sorry for cutting – ” Andy began.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” the officer interrupted. He was a strong-jawed white man with a furry black caterpillar asleep above his lips. Or so it looked.
“When? When I sped up so we didn't collide or the rest of the time?” Andy let slip out.
“Do you want trouble?”
“No, sir.”
“Then watch your mouth. Don't get smart with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please step out of the vehicle,” the officer ordered. He seemed to be chewing on a piece of gum or something.
Andy obeyed with reluctance, moving so that he wouldn't upset this volatile representation of the law. He was instructed to close his door behind him, which he did.
“Sir, please turn around and place your hands on the hood of your car,” the officer instructed.
“Why?” Andy asked.
“Sir, please do as you're – ”
“Am I being arrested?” Andy asked, gesturing to the car. “For cutting you off?”
“Do not interrupt me!” the police officer bellowed at him, drawing his handgun and pointing it at the hitman. “Hands on the hood!”
Fine, Andy thought sourly as he did what he was told. The anger was clear upon his brow. He jumped when he began getting frisked. “Hey!” he wormed around. “What the hell?”
“Shut up!” the officer shouted in his ear. He rested the barrel of his gun on the back of Andy's head. “No sudden movements.”
“It's pretty messed up to go around finding attractive males like myself and trying to shove your hand down their pants,” Andy breathed.
A Guardian Angel Page 6