my BMW into a parking spot three spaces back from Alex’s car when he suddenly shoots out of the glass door of the clinic. My intuition could be leading me astray, but considering the bank of buildings across from the clinic are the first you stumble on when you enter Hopeton, I’m willing to give my intuition a little bit of leeway. Furthermore, Hopeton only has one entry and exit point, so this is the ideal place for me to commence my stakeout.
A wish to have an ability to plead to Melody over the phone smacks into me when Alex yanks his cell phone out of his pocket. I’ve spilled my guts electronically many times the past almost seven years. All but two were deleted before I hit send. The first one was the email Melody never acknowledged. The second was a text message I sent after reading the transcript from Agent Russell’s interview with her. Even believing I’m no longer the boy she once knew, she defended me. That deserved some type of acknowledgment. Did she reply to that text? Yeah, she did. It was a simple ‘you’re welcome,’ but it was better than the response I was anticipating.
I can’t hear much of the message Alex leaves on Regan’s voicemail, but his facial expression exposes how awkward he feels. For the first time since I’ve known him, his features aren’t hardened with aggression. He almost seems remorseful, but before I can work out why he’d ever feel regret, a group of men entering a restaurant on my left captures my attention. The fact they enter the restaurant from the servers’ entrance while wearing suits that cost more than I make per month exposes they’re not Hopeton locals, much less the fact mobsters never travel anywhere without their favorite whores. The brunette in the skintight fluorescent pink dress being ushered in by a man with biceps bigger than my head is the equivalent of a neon sign. Her outfit screams, ‘The mob is in town. Come get ‘em if you dare.’
Never one to back down when dared, I slip out of my driver’s seat. It occurs at the same time Alex glances up from his phone. Since his eyes are directed to the front of the restaurant, I make it across the double highway without him spotting me. My speed is so quick, my arm darts into the minute gap between the rapidly closing door left behind from the gang’s entrance.
With my gun high, and my steps soundless, I quickly make my way down a corridor lined with tins of soups and other condiments I can’t read since the labels are in Chinese. When I reach the end of the corridor, I’m confronted with a dead end. Since the sound of cutlery projects from my left, I head right. The scent of liquor and cigars grows the further I silently tiptoe down the isolated corridor. My cover is almost blown when a swinging door suddenly shoots open, but thankfully, not being the biggest guy in the room works to my advantage again today. By plastering my back to the wall, the waiter carrying a stack of dirty dishes on a black tray fails to notice me hiding behind the door.
I dash past the door, taking advantage of the gap of its swing. This restaurant won’t be rated as a top server any time soon. The roof is stained with soot from the number of cigars its patrons smoke while waiting for below-par food. Think of an old western movie with dirt for floors and unbathed patrons. Now jump that image into the 21st century, and you’ll have an idea of what I’m seeing.
I scan the area when a deep voice says, “Serve it to him raw. That will shut him up on it being overcooked.”
Just before the owner of the voice bursts into the corridor, I pop out the lock of the manager’s office at the end. There’s nothing fancy about this office. A desk coated in papers that appear legitimate and a cracked leather chair take up most of the space, but it is the flooring I’m paying the most attention to. The desk was recently moved. The heavy indents in the carpet reveal this fact.
After failing to find any slits in the carpet that may indicate an in-floor safe, I raise my eyes to the ceiling. It’s a relatively clean drop ceiling that a normal agent wouldn’t look at twice. It’s a pity for whoever dragged over the