Good sleeping weather. The temperature outside hovering just under comfortable. The howl of the wind calling an end to autumn. The winter storm season had begun. There would be snow in the high mountains in a few weeks and many more nights like this. The breezy, blustery rapture of good sleeping weather.

 

            Chanra’s eyes fluttered open. She loved the rumble of winter thunder as it stomped around in the heavens. She slept best with the gentle patter of rain on the soil outside and the breeze kicked up by the storm making the sheer cloth of her curtains dance. It was perfect winter storm. She lay there, drifting in those hours just before dawn, not fully awake, not fully asleep.

 

            Chanra glanced at her clock. Still hours to go before morning. There was another flash of lightning and then the roar of her beloved thunder as it rattled her windows in their frames. She could hear the alarms of the cars parked on the street begin to wail in unison. She smiled to herself. Several dogs down the block began howling in response to the car alarms. She nuzzled deeper into her pillow .

 

            There was another gust of wind and Chanra opened her eyes to watch the wisps of her curtains billow.

 

            When the next flash of lightning came she saw him standing, silhouetted in her window. Chanra sprang up in bed and began to let out a scream. By the time the flashing of the lightning was gone he had leapt across the room and held her still with his hand over her mouth.

 

            “Chanra, my name is Anthony Flair. Shhhhhh. No screaming,” he whispered.

 

            Terrified, Chanra shook under his weight and listened for the inevitable thunder.

 

Big City

BANE

by Eric Schwartz & TooWickedToLove

 

 

            Stack held up his badge and the officer held up the police tape for the detective to move under. Stack nodded.

 

            “It’s nice to have you back, Sarge,” the officer muttered quietly.

 

            The recently reinstated detective simply smiled and patted the kid on the arm. It was a suck up, but it felt good all the same. He stopped and looked up at the house, a brick two flat in a gentrifying area of the city. He shuffled some change in his pocket and moved up the stairs to the first floor apartment. Some of the officers from the crime lab were already starting to look at the front windows and the soil around the house for clues to the assailant’s entrance.

 

            Stack again flashed his badge to the officer watching the front door. He looked around. Single woman. He chuckled to himself. The decorations, no signs of a struggle over the decorating. Hard wood floors. Nearly symmetrical living room and no powerful stereo or home theater system. He chuckled again. Single. Fairly well off. The furniture is a set. No kids, no pets - the cream-olored area rug is spotless.

 

            He looked around again. ‘Everything has its place,’ he thought.

 

            Needless stepped out of the adjacent room and looked up from his notes. He nodded his greeting to Stack. “Morning.”

 

            “Morning,” Stack smiled. “Single human female. Early thirties. Somewhere in or near middle management. No kids and no immediate family near by.”

 

            Needless looked again over the top of his notes. “Stop showing off.”

 

            “It’s good to be back.”

 

            “Chanra Clem.” Needless looked begrudgingly at Stack. “Single human female in her early thirties.” Stack gave a broad smile knowing that it was a twist of the knife. Needless rolled his eyes and went back to his notes.  “She woke up some time after 3:30 during the storm. The next thing she knows some guy is standing in her bedroom. He forcibly stopped her from screaming, said only a few things and then left.”

 

            Stack cocked his head. “He just left?”

 

            “Yep. Didn’t touch her, other than covering her mouth so she wouldn’t scream AND nothing is missing from the apartment.” Needless folded his notebook back up and slipped it into his inside pocket. “He gave her a name.”

 

            “Oh yeah?”

 

            “Yeah, he called himself Anthony Flair. Seems like an alias, we’re running it anyway.”

 

            Stack shook his head. “Did he threaten her?”

 

            “No. He told her not to scream. Sat for about 5 minutes staring at her, said a few words and left.”

 

            “Did she get a description of him?” Stack started to jingle the coins in his pocket .

 

            “No. His face was covered by one of those breath masks. You know, with the rubber bands. She did say that he wasn’t really very muscular. Medium build. Probably not very tall.”

           

            Stack made a little pile of coins in his fist. “I have to ask… other than her word, is there any physical evidence that he was here?”

 

            “Yeah. There’s tracks on the floor and in the mud outside. Just eyeballing it I’d say about an 11 men’s.” Needless rolled his eyes again. “With evidence like that we should nab him by lunch.”

 

            Stack pointed at the door Needless just came out of. “Is she in here?”

 

            “Yeah.”

 

            Stack and Needless moved down the hall and into the kitchen. Chanra sat at the table with a steaming mug of coffee. Two uniformed officers stood nearby. Stack glanced at Needless who nodded. Chanra looked up at the two detectives.

 

            “Miss Clem,” Stack said, easing himself into the chair across from her. “My name is Detective Sergeant Adam Forray. I know you have spent a good deal of time already answering Sgt. D’yen’s questions. I don’t want go back over the same stuff with you. I’m sure you don’t want to repeat it.”

 

            “Thank you.”

 

            “Miss Clem? Is there anyone you can think of that would do this? Ex lover? Anybody?”

 

            Chanra stared deeper into her coffee. “No one. I don’t know anybody that would do this.”

 

            “A brother? Some sort of prank?”

 

            “No one!” She looked at the two detectives. “You think I’m making this up, don’t you?”

 

            Stack smiled as comfortingly as he could. “Unfortunately, no. We know he was here. We just don’t know why.”  Stack realized that he was piling up different objects from her table. “How about your job? Any reason that some one from work would want to do this.”

 

            Chanra gave off a hollow laugh. “Well, I’m not real popular there.”

 

            “No?”

 

            “No, but not to this degree. I don’t have enemies, if that’s what you mean. At least I can’t magine I would.”

 

            “What do you do Miss Clem?”

 

            “I do customer phone consultations. I talk to customers who are using our products and help them.”

 

            “You’re a customer service person.”

 

            “There’s a little more to it, but that’s basically it. I work for Bandelburg Films. We supply educational films to schools.”

 

            “So there’s not much chance of this being the act of a disgruntled customer? “ Stack smiled again.

 

            Chanra finally let out a laugh. “No! There’s not much to get disgruntled about. I mean, they get a little pissy when videos they’ve ordered don’t arrive on time. But they don’t threaten me.”

 

            Stack glanced at Needless and smirked. “Miss Clem, are you in a managerial position with Bandelburg?”

 

            “Sort of. I’m a regional supervisor. I have about 3 people as direct reports.”

 

            Stack could hear Needless’ eyes roll. “Any of your reports you think could be behind this?”

 

            “No. All three of the people under me are women.”

 

            Stack sat back. The most non-threatening woman in the greater Big City area is non-attacked and nothing much to go on. He looked over at Needless. “So what did this guy say to you?”

 

            Chanra took a deep breath. “He knew my name and introduced himself as Anthony Flair. Then he said,‘no screaming’ and then didn’t say anything for a long time. He just stared at me. Just before he left he said. ‘I’m away Sugarlips, don’t stay up too late.’  I have no idea what it meant.”

 

            “Do you have someplace to go for a couple of days? Until we get a better handle on this and we can be certain it won’t happen again,“ Needless said, standing up.

 

            “My sister lives in Marrsfield.”

 

            “I would suggest staying there for a few days. Would need any help getting there? Bus ticket? The department could help.”

 

            “I’d rather not. I really should be at work today.”

 

            “Ma’am. Until we can start investigating this, we need to assume …”  Needless was cut off by Stack raising his hand.

 

            “Why today?” Stack slowly stood.

 

            “They’re doing a round of internal interviews today. They are looking for a new office VP. I’m supposed to get interviewed.”

 

            “Big jump in pay? Better benefits?”  Chanra nodded her head. Stack looked at Needless. “Well, that’s more motive than anything else we’ve heard. Miss Clem, we will let your employer know what happened. I would suggest going to stay with your sister. At least for the time being.”

 

            Needless spoke to the uniform officers about making sure that Chanra got off all right. Stack checked with some of the crime lab officers. Twenty minutes later Stack and Needless made their way to their cars, parked on the street.

 

            Stack pulled out his keys. “I have to drop this off at the station.”

 

            “You really think it’s somebody at her job? That’s pretty flimsy.”

 

            Stack shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just the closest thing we have to a lead. Let’s look into it and see what we turn up.”

 

            A few moments later the two pulled away and headed to the station.

 

*

            As always Dr. Glau’s office was dimly lit. Dr. Glau himself was blind, his dark glasses ever present. His short cropped white hair added some illumination to the room which always made Charlie chuckle. Though he couldn’t see a thing, he glittered like a light bulb. Glau had a genuine smile and a gentle voice that always made Charlie feel at ease. It had been years since he’d seen the orphanage’s overwork, under-qualified counselor and Charlie’s resistance to such situations was an obstacle but Glau won out in the end.

 

            After orderlies had found Charlie on the bathroom floor in the hospital, both his blindness and his madness gone and the strange discoloration of his eyes having vanished miraculously, doctors felt it best that Charlie start a regular therapy session. The only reason they could find for any of Charlie’s problems was stress. He always found it funny that stress always got such a bad rap. Stress needed a better press agent.

 

            This was nearly his fourth month with Glau. The sessions had dwindled to once a week from the original three weekly visits. The more intense therapy had turned into a weekly chat. Charlie had started to look forward to them. He sipped the soda that Dr. Glau always offered him and sank back into the leather of the chair across the desk from the counselor.

 

            “It’s been a busy few weeks for you.” Glau chuckled. “How are you feeling?”

 

            “Fine. Great. I’m glad Smiles is back. I missed him a lot.”

 

            “It’s an amazing story. The adjustment for both of you must be stressful.”

 

            Charlie shrugged. “Well… he’s getting used to the fact that he missed three months in the blink of an eye and I’m getting used to the fact that he’s not dead.”

 

            Glau smiled that comforting smile that Charlie hated because it was insightful. “Things back to the way they were before?”

 

            Charlie nodded. “Yes.”

 

            “Are you happy about that?”

 

            “I’m ecstatic that he’s back and alive. I couldn’t be happier.”

 

            “But…”

 

            Charlie hesitated. The feeling was like looking a gift horse in the mouth. Like he was about to speak ill of the recently not dead. “I don’t really want to go back to being the sidekick. I spent the last three months running that business. I was getting good at it. I… liked it. I guess I’m not real happy having to give it up. I know that makes me selfish and an asshole…”

 

            Glau sipped the tea that was steaming on his desk. “Why? Because you found that you are qualified to do more than you are being allowed to do? That’s not selfish. Have you said anything to Smiles?”

 

            “No.”

 

            “Don’t you think he would see things the same way?”

 

            Before Charlie could answer his phone vibrated. “Sorry Dr. Glau. One sec.” He pulled the phone up and looked at the caller ID.

 

            Glau smiled knowingly again. “Smiles?”

 

            Charlie cocked his head. “No.”

 

*

            Charlie slipped into the semi-circular Gobblin’ Goblin booth across from Stack and Needless.

 

            “That took long enough,” Needless said, checking his watch.

 

            “Sorry. I had to finish my session.”

 

            “Shrinkage?” Stack nodded.

 

            Charlie motioned to the waitress for one coffee. “So what’s up?”

 

            Needless glanced over at Stack. “Well, kid, you’re going undercover for us.”

 

            “What?”

 

            “We’ve already cleared it with Smiles. We need you to pose as a mailroom guy for a few days. We need you to keep an eye on an office building for a while.” Needless leaned forward and sipped his coffee.

 

            Charlie chuckled to himself. Cleared with Smiles. “What’s going on?”

 

            Stack shrugged. “We don’t really know. Early this morning some guy waltzes into a woman’s bedroom, freaks her out and leaves everything the way it is. The only thing we have so far is that she’s in the running for some big job.”

 

            The waitress planted the coffee in front of Charlie. “Okay. So what should I do?”

 

            “We’ll talk to the office managers. They will know who you are, but everybody else will think you’re another temp, in for a few days. Needless and I are going to go in and conduct some interviews. Now, everybody will be on their best behavior in front of us. We need you to keep an eye on things… NOT around us.” Stack placed another sugar packet on top of a creamer.

 

            “How long?”

 

            Needless sopped up a small spill with his napkin. “Two or three days. Tops.”

 

            Charlie sighed. “Am I going to have to…you know…”

 

            Stack nodded. “Wear a costume? Yeah. I was hoping for the taped-glasses-pocket-protector-nerd-character but it’s your call.”

 

            “Just be unobtrusive. I wouldn’t even ask any questions.  Just watch for anything that might raise a red flag and let us know.” Needless interjected, ignoring Stack.

 

            Don’t ask any questions? This was a jerk off assignment. Charlie stared into his coffee for a moment. “Why are you guys handing this off to me? I’m sure there’s two dozen beat cops who would jump at the chance to go plain clothes for a few days.”

 

            Stack flipped over the bill and reached for his wallet. “Because we don’t trust their judgment the way we trust yours.”  He pulled out a few bucks and a slip of paper with the address of the office. “Meet us at this address in two hours. Sorry but we have to get back to the station. This should be enough for the coffees.”

 

            Needless slapped Charlie’s arm. “Thanks man, we appreciate it.”

 

            Charlie watched the two leave. He felt winded. That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. He looked back at his coffee and swirled the spoon again for good measure. Nope. Not the answer at all.

 

*

Anthony Flair dropped his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. The deep red of Salia’s lips against her porcelain white skin gave him shivers. Her clear blue eyes looked deep into him as her long lashes did their dance for him. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth which drove her crazy.

 

Salia slipped her arms through the spaces created by Anthony stuffing his hands in his pockets.

 

“Mr. Flair, is there any way I can repay you?”

 

Like a gunslinger, Flair’s hands were out of his pockets and clasped on her wrists, lifting them away from his body.

 

“Believe me, Salia, I would like nothing more that to spend hours with you in a bed. But unfortunately I don’t mix with business associates.”

 

“Then I will pay you. That will bring our business to an end.”

 

Flair finally pushed her hands clear. “You ARE my business. How stupid do you think I am? Who else could have killed Duncan?!”

           
            The phone rang. Darlene Tyler hit ALT + TAB and toggled back to her work. Her headset sprang to life.

 

            “Bandelburg, this is Darlene. How can I help you?” She said feigning a smile. A smile makes your voice sound happier. That’s what they told her. Mostly the smile was ironic.

 

            It was another day in a long line of similar days for Darlene. By the time her call was over she had already forgotten what it had been about. She stood up, put her phone on “send call” and walked out of the office. The voices that lifted up from the cubicles turned into a white noise. There were no more distinct voices, just a constant noise that sat in the background of the day. She stepped out into the hallway and closed the office door behind her. The only thing brightening her day was the possibility of becoming Office VP.

 

            Sure that meant a raise in pay. Sure it meant more benefits. All Darlene could think about was the fact that it meant an end to the soul-sucking, never-ending calls. She’d have an office door that she could shut and hold out the noise. She like that thought. Today was the day for the interviews. As she made her way down the two flights of stairs to the break room, she thought about Chanra. The hair on Darlene’s neck stood up at the thought of her. She couldn’t stand Chanra. It was nothing specific, just a general vibe that Chanra put out. She was pointless middle management who would stab you in the back as easily as shake your hand.

 

            Darlene stepped into the break room and scanned the vending machine. Chocolate bars, chips, the obligatory pretzels for the women who thought they were healthy. Nothing looked good. And where was Chanra. She hadn’t turned up yet. It was odd since Chanra was going to be interviewed today too. Darlene dropped a couple coins into the pop machine and selected her mid-morning caffeine vehicle. After the can of chemical stimulants thundered out of the machine, she popped the top and sat at an empty table.

 

            Her mind drifted to Flair. She was enjoying the way this story was going. She already had ideas for the next. Something tropical. Anthony should spend a little time in the sun. She crossed her legs and sat back to enjoy her soda.

 

            Her mind floated to Chanra again. Maybe if she didn’t turn up at all, the job would to default to Darlene. She chuckled and took another sip. “I’m such a bitch.”

 

*

            Stack and Needless moved up the gray-carpeted stairs. They glanced at each other for a moment.

 

            “Kind of…” Needless began.

 

            “Oppressive?” Stack finished out of the side of his mouth.

 

            Needless raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say dull, but oppressive works.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m so glad I never took an office job. I’d go crazy.”

 

            Stack chuckled. “Then your nickname would probably be Needless Planning.”

 

            “Needless Meetings.”

 

            They made their way through the rows of cubicles to the office of Barris Feld. Barris’ door was open and he was typing on his computer. Stack knocked on the door jamb.

 

            “Yes? Can I help you?”

 

            Stack held up his badge. “I’m Sgt. Adam Forray with the BCPD. This is Sgt. John D’yen. we are here to talk to you about Chanra Clem.”

 

            Barris stood. “Is everything all right?”

 

            Needless pointed to the door. “Do you mind?” Barris shook his head. Needless shut the door. “Early this morning an intruder broke into Ms. Clem’s home.”

 

            Barris gasped. “Oh no! Is she all right?”

 

            Stack slipped his badge back into his inside pocket. “She’s fine. She wasn’t hurt. In fact it wasn’t really an attack. She’s pretty shaken up as you might imagine. She’s gone to stay with her sister for a few days.”

 

            Needless nodded. “We’d like to talk to some of your employees. Currently the only lead we have is that Chanra is up for a promotion. We just want to talk to some of her co workers, the people she supervises, the people in the running for the promotion.”

 

            “We’d also like to put an undercover man down in your mail room posing as a temp.”

 

            Barris nodded and sat down. “Of course, anything you need. Do you really think it’s somebody here?”

 

            Stack sat down. “To be really honest, we don’t have a clue. It’s a really strange crime. Nearly non-violent. No apparent motive. We’re following up on all leads.”

 

            “Do you want to use my office? “

 

            Stack shook his head. If you have an empty office, that’s fine. Maybe an open conference room. No body is going to be interrogated, just going to ask them a few questions.”

 

            Needless put his hands in his pockets. “And there’s no reason to panic them either. Just let them know that we are inquiring about something and that no one here is in any trouble. There’s no reason to not go on with their normal daily activities.”

 

*

            “I guess the cops are here,” said Varla.

 

            “I heard that Chanra has been embezzling money,” half-whispered Patrice.

 

            “The cops want to talk to all of us. There’s others involved,” Tom interjected between bites of his cheese sandwich.

 

            It had been an hour since Needless and Stack arrived. Charlie was now being shown around by his new manager, a mopey Vampire named Clarn. His arms were built up like he could dead lift a sedan but his demeanor and haircut would lead you to believe that his soul had been removed and he spent his evenings doing autopsies on puppies. Charlie was only half listening to Clarn. Most of his ears were tuned to the gossip that was moving around the break room.

 

            Clarn held his hand out to indicate that the space in front of them was in fact the break room. “This is the break room where you can take your breaks. You get two, one in the afternoon and one in the morning.”

 

            Charlie smiled. “In that order?” He chuckled at his own joke but Clarn only blinked.

 

            “Lunch is your own. You can eat it here or not. There’s a microwave and a fridge.”

 

            Charlie had already been shown the mail room where, as Clarn detailed, packages and letters come in and stay before going up to the recipients. Charlie thought of Emily sitting at her desk all day at Big City Eyes. He prayed that her job was more fulfilling than Clarn’s seemed to be.

 

            Soon Clarn took him back to the mail room. Charlie had resigned himself to the fact that this would be his job for the next few days. Clarn rolled a cart full of packages and envelopes up.

 

            “Okay, while we’re waiting for Gareth to finish setting up your account, why don’t you do a run. Don’t forget to get the out going mail. When you get back I’ll show you how to ship packages out.”

 

            Charlie nodded and began pushing the mail cart toward the elevator. A few weeks ago he was standing on a bus, helping Smiles take out bad guys, now he was delivering mail. He chuckled for an instant. At least the job never got boring.

 

*

 

Anthony Flair’s kiss made her stomach flutter. She felt her toes curl and dig into the thick carpet. He gripped her shoulders with his hands. He seemed to be all around him and that was right where she wanted him. As the kiss lingered she wanted him more. She wanted to be all around him. When the kiss ended her eyes opened slowly. He was looking down at her. The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he smiled.

 

                        “Goodbye, Shiva,” he said, turning.

 

                        “You’re leaving?!” Her question took on the sound of a plea.

 

He turned and smiled his crooked smile. “I have to. I have to find Dahl-Donna before I can stop. If you are here when I get back …

 

 

            She heard somebody approaching and Darlene quickly went back to her work. Barris poked his head over the cubicle wall.

 

            “Darlene, would you go to the conference room? There’s some police who are asking around about a few things.”

 

            “The police?”

 

            “They’re just trying to get some information about a situation.”

 

            Darlene shrugged. “Okay.”

 

            Barris smiled his thank you and moved back toward his office. Darlene quickly saved and closed her document and went to the conference room. She chuckled at Barris’ tight-lipped request. Inside the conference room two detectives were chatting.

 

            The older of the two smiled at her. “Hi. Are you Darlene?”

 

            Darlene sat down across from them. “Yes.”

 

            “I’m Sgt. Adam Forray, this is my partner John D’yen. We are looking into a recent incident and we are trying to see if anybody here at Bandelburg can help shed any light on it.”

 

            “I’ll help in any way that I can.”

 

            “Great. Do you report directly to Chanra Clem?”

 

            “No I don’t.”

 

            “Are you taking part in interviews for the job of Office VP?”

 

            “Yes.”

 

            “Are you aware that Ms. Clem is also going to be interviewed for the position?”

 

            “Yes. I am aware.”

 

            “Where were you, last night about four AM?”

 

            Darlene looked at the detective strangely. “At home sleeping. What is this all about?”

 

            Needless took a sip of the breakroom coffee and winced. “It’s just routine, ma’am.”

 

            Stack nodded. “Does the name Anthony Flair mean anything to you?”

 

            The room sank in around Darlene and she felt her entire body shift in the seat. How could they? It’s impossible. If Barris ever found out. She blinked. “No. There was an Anthony here about a year ago, but his last name wasn’t Flair.”

 

            Stack raised an eyebrow. “What was his name?”

 

            “Rhodes, I think. You’d have to check with Barris. I didn’t really know him.”

 

            Needless cocked his head. “Ms. Tyler, is there anyone in the office who is openly hostile toward Chanra.”

 

            Darlene shook her head, eager to help. “No. I will admit that she’s not very popular.”

 

            “Why do you think that is?”

 

            “She’s an attention hog. She seems to throw around the little bit of weight that she had here.”  Darlene paused and her eyes grew wide. “Wait. Did something happen to Chanra?!”

 

            Stack and Needless looked at each other. Stack nodded. “A man going by the name of Anthony Flair broke into her house last night and scared her.  He didn’t hurt her. She’s fine, just shaken up.”

 

            Darlene took a deep breath. “Wow.”

 

            Stack looked at her again, quizzically. He held out a business card. “That’s all for now Ms. Tyler. If you think of anything else, you let me know.”

 

            A few moments later Darlene was walking back to her cubicle.  Her hand trembled slightly. How could they know? The blame would be placed completely on her. She sat down at her computer and stared at her screensaver for a while.

 

Over her shoulder the new temp was delivering mail. He noticed her staring at the computer screen.

 

*

            The clock moved slowly toward five. People moved in and out of the conference room all afternoon. When the day’s last interviewee left Needless’ head collapsed on the table.

 

            “This could be the single worst lead we’ve ever followed up on,” he mumbled into the arm of his coat.

 

            Stack leaned back. “Oh I don’t know. I can think of a few worse.”

 

            Needless looked up. “So,  any of these people stand out to you? Anybody seem to be lying.”

 

            Stack looked at the list. He thought back over the afternoon. “I don’t know.” He began to focus on a name. “Darlene Tyler seemed a little…”

 

            “Shifty?”

 

            “No. But the Anthony Flair thing gave her pause.”

 

            “Yes, but 1) she’s a woman. Second, pausing isn’t evidence. It’s not even probable cause. She’s probably freaked out by being asked to talk to the police.”

 

            Stack nodded and added a little star next to Darlene’s name on the list. “C’mon, let’s meet Charlie at Tuck’s before heading back.”

 

            Needless couldn’t argue. He needed a drink.

 

*

            In the earliest hours of the morning. Somewhere in the hazy, silent hours between 1 and 5, when the streets are at their quietest, you can hear the howl of winter in the mountains. To those who heard it, it was like a distant land calling to them. The distant winds were howling that night.

 

Darlene lay awake in her bed. Between thoughts about the police and the Tellemakis’ dog two houses away there was no going to sleep. LaptoBoy46 on The Board always suggested that if she faked an attack the dog would be taken away by the city. The thought still made her chuckle. Most nights the dog kept her from getting more than four hours of sleep. She hated the dog and the Tellemakises kept the freakin’ thing on a chain all night.

 

            She buried her head in the pillows and hoped it would stop.

 

            Outside Darlene’s two flat he crossed the street. He paused for a moment and stared at her house. He was so glad that she made him the way he was. He owed it all to her. He loved her. Another gift. Yet another bane of her life dealt with. She deserved nothing less. He continued across the street.

 

            In the dim light of the street lamp a block away, he could make out the fence line. The dog barked louder. As he got closer he could make out the silhouette of the dog through the chain-link fence. The dog caught sight of him and barked louder while throwing its body back and forth.

 

            Without fear he stepped up to the fence. The dog went crazy. The dog wanted a piece of the intruder. It barked and scratched at the pavement, slobber dripping from its mouth. Finally the man pulled out a tazer and shocked the dog with all the volts he could. He held it there as the Tellemakis’ dog was overcome with uncontrollable convulsions. There was a quick yelp and the dog fell dead to the pavement. Silence fell on the street.

 

            Anthony Flair could now hear his footsteps as he made his was back across the street.

 

            “Sleep tight, my love,” he whispered as he disappeared into the shadows.

 

            Two houses away sleep overcame Darlene and in the peace and quiet she fell into a deep, dreaming sleep. Her mind filled with romantic thoughts of Anthony Flair.

 

*

            The over night rain had caused mist to roll up from the bay. Stack and Needless sat on the trunk of the car as Charlie emerged from Laura’s apartment building.  Stack smiled and held out a hot coffee.

 

            “There’s the working man,” Stack chuckled.

 

            Needless sipped his coffee. “Our boy is growing up.”

 

            Charlie took the coffee with early morning gruffness. “Funny. You two are friggin’ hilarious.”

 

            “We’re thinking of changing our monikers to Stack Funny and Needless One-Liners,” Stack quipped as he hopped off the trunk.

 

            “What’s with my nick-name?! That’s the second time in as many days that you’ve talked about changing it.”

           

            Charlie chuckled. “So, any game plan for today.”

 

            Needless shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that we’ll be done today. I don’t think we’re going to turn anything up. Unless this guy turns up again or we get another lead, this case is dead in the water. I’m starting to think that it was just a random, crazy act. “

 

            Stack held his coffee out as he removed the lid. “Wouldn’t be the first.”

 

            Charlie looked at his watch. “Shall we?” The three climbed into the car.

 

            Across town Darlene Tyler was awakened by blood curdling scream. She sat up in bed and opened the window to hear what was going on. From her window she could see Mrs. Tellemakis sitting on the ground near her dog, sobbing.

 

            Darlene blinked. The dog wasn’t asleep… the dog was dead.

 

            A shiver ran down her spine.

 

*

Mid-morning.

           

“Thank you Professor. Have a good day.” Darlene pushed the button that disconnected the phone and waited for the next call to ring in. Nothing. She checked the display… no one on hold. Alt+Tab and she was back to Anthony’s latest adventure.

 

Flair moved to the wicker chair and sat down. He looked across the sun bleached stone to where Timonia was pushing her tan body up out of the water. His eyes traced her form. The toned muscles of her legs moved her skin as she took every step his direction. The water fell down her stomach and the small of her back, dripping to the thirsty patio stones below.

 

She stopped just a few feet from Flair. He looked up at her from the chair, watching the streams of waters drizzle from her long hair. He squinted in the sun which made him look like he was smiling.

 

“I hear you are a man who can get things done,” she said, rubbing a towel over her legs.

 

 

            “Darlene?”

 

            Darlene jumped and toggled back to her work page. How did she not hear? She turned to see Barris poking his head over her cubicle wall. He seemed to be none the wiser. She smiled.

 

            “Yeah, Barris?”

 

            “I just wanted to let you know that because of everything that’s going on, Chanra and everything, we are going to postpone the interviews for another week. I’m sorry, I know you’re anxious about them.”

 

            Darlene forced a smile. “That’s fine. I completely understand. Just let me know when you need me. “  She continued the smile until Barris nodded and moved away.

 

            Toggle over. Log in:

 

I can’t believe this. My boss is making me wait another week for this interview. I hate interviewing…

 

            With every word she typed the stress seemed to melt away.

           

*

            “I think Chanra is a great supervisor and really deserves that VP position.” Jarna, the middle-aged woman with the shoulder pads smiled and nodded her head.

 

            Needless squirmed in his seat. “Jarna, this has nothing to do with the VP position. We’re here to see if anybody might want to harm Chanra.”

 

            “Oh heavens no. She’s a wonderful young lady and supervisor.”

 

            Stack chuckled. “If Chanra got the VP position, she would no longer work with you directly, is that right.”

 

            Jarna blinked. “Yes.”

 

            “That would make you happy wouldn’t it?”

 

            Jarna took a forced breath through her smiling. “Yes. Yes it would.”

 

            Stack closed his file. “Thank you Jarna, that’s all we needed.”

 

            Jarna grinned and left the conference room. Stack looked at his partner and smiled. “This is a waste of time. Let’s get out of here before WE apply for the VP position.”

 

            Needless was slipping his shoes back on under the table. “I couldn’t agree more.”

 

            Stack glanced under the table. “Why do you do that?”

 

            Needless shrugged. “You go tell Barris.” He checked his watch. “You’ll need to catch him before lunch.”

 

*

            Barris Feld buttoned one button on his over coat as he stepped out into the parking lot. The butterflies in his stomach the day before had kept him from eating. That was not going to be the case today. There was a cold sub with his name on it less than five minutes away. Oblivious to everything except the rumble in his gut, he open the door to his SUV and stepped up to the seat.

 

            He slipped the key into the ignition just as there was an explosion of stars and a sharp pain to the back of his head. He tried to turn around to see who was attacking him, but another fist stopped him.

 

            “Don’t bother turning around,” the attacker nearly whispered. Barris felt an arm encircle his throat and squeeze. “Mr. Barris, my name is Anthony Flair. I think you should reconsider postponing the interviews. If you want Chanra Clem so bad that you have to wait, why bother with the charade. Hire her and spare the feelings of other employees.” The assailant squeezed tighter. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch someone you love be dragged along by some suit like you? Rage is all I feel.”

 

            Another hit connected with Barris’ jaw. Then