Fiction
Two Before The Wedding Part 13
A Sunny Alexander And Henry James Series
My name is Sunny Alexander-Johnson, and I’m Henry James, and we’re writers for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12
We really love it when a plan comes together. Which, in this case, meant nobody got shot walking into the coffee shop. Daryl Thompson and Angela Bartley did precisely what we’d instructed them to do, sitting in their favorite spot, then immediately getting up and heading to the back door.
It took a few minutes, but we finally convinced the barista on duty that day of the severity of the situation. When she opened the door, and Daryl and Angela stepped into the alleyway, Howard was standing outside of Daryl’s car.
Angela rushed into the man’s arms, embracing her father with a tight hug, then we watched the two slide into the back seat, Daryl get behind the wheel, and they drove off.
We were heading back to the front, figuring we might as well have a latte when our phones started ringing.
“Hey, Donnie. They got him?”
“Yeap, Henry. They sure did. The swat team went up on both sides of that water tower and converged on him. Caught the man with his pants down for sure. I stood there and watched them bring him down in cuffs, One of the team members was carrying a pretty nasty looking sniper rifle. I’m guessing this Christian Delaphonte dude is going away a long time for attempted murder.”
“You got that right. Good job, Donnie, damn good job.”
“All in a day’s work, Mr. Henry. If you don’t have anything else, I need to head back downtown and report back to Ms. Alexander.”
“Nope. Give Cynthia a kiss for me.”
“Uh, ain’t that your job?”
“Come on, Donnie, you know what I mean.”
We disconnected from our own calls at almost the same moment and hung around the counter, waiting for our orders.
“What did Manny say, princess?”
“Apparently, Roger Sterling was completely shocked the police would take him into custody for conspiracy to commit murder.”
“Bet he lawyered up even before they Mirandized him.”
“He sure did. But I bet even his lawyer isn’t going to be able to help him much. Manny and Robert turned over all the information we had. I bet when they tie the phone calls from Sterling to Delphonte, he’s pretty much done for.”
“Yeah, and I’m guessing Delphonte’s going to start singing to save his ass.”
“Probably. Can we go sit down, Henry? All this running around we’ve been doing is killing me.”
The barista pushed our order to the edge of the counter, took our money, but before counting out our change stopped and gave us both a strange look as if she’d seen us somewhere.
We were used to this “don’t I know you” look before. Photos of us were usually plastered on Dark Sides when the magazine featured one of our stories.
“Aren’t you two Sunny Alexander and Henry James?”
“It’s Alexander-Johnson, but yes, we are.”
We lost sight of the woman as she bent beneath the counter and then popped back into view with a small envelope in her hands. She slid the envelope across the narrow expanse of counter between our cups.
“Earlier this week, a man asked me to give you this. He said you’d know what it is.”
“What man?”
“Don’t know, sir. He just said you two would be in here this week and to give it to you.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Sure, kind tall and really out of place. Stuck out like a sore thumb.”
“Out of place?”
“Yes, ma’am. Wore a three-piece suit, power tie, a matching kerchief in his pocket. Looked like some high power executive.”
“Okay, thanks.”
We turned away and found an unoccupied table near the front of the coffee shop and the large glass window. With the shooter in custody, the only thing we had to worry about was the contents of the envelope.
With the envelope lying on the table between us, we sipped our coffee and stared it in silence.
“We going to open it up and see what’s inside?”
“I’d really rather not Henry.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure, princess?”
“Really, old man? I’ve been waddling around this entire city with you for the last four days. My feet are swollen and hurt like hell. I feel like I’m turning into the Goodyear blimp, and I can’t even see my ankles anymore. And here you are talking about having another adventure? Just open the damn envelope.”
“Okay, fine, Johnson. Just chill, will ya?”
“What’s it say?”
“Thought you didn’t want to know.”
“Bite my ass, old man. Read it out loud.”
“My dear Sunny and Henry. If you’re reading this it means my judgment of your capabilities was astute and that you have successfully managed to not only protect the target but apprehend both Mr. Sterling and Mr. Delphonte. Excellent work. I’ve been following your, how shall I say this, work, for quite some time. This world is full of savagery and evilness and it’s been my life’s mission to combat evil wherever it rears its ugly head. This was just one instance of many. I’m certain there will be other opportunities for us to work together, but for now, remain diligent. One day I may have need of your capabilities again.
The Fixer”
“Damn, Henry. I was right. The dude’s a regular Bruce Wayne Batman.”
“Oh shit, here we go again.”
“Tell me I’m wrong. I dare you.”
“Look, princess, whoever this is could have just as easily picked someone else to do his dirty work.”
“But he didn’t Henry. He picked us. Somewhere out there, we’ve got an ally. We don’t know who he is. For that matter, we don’t even know if he’s a he. For all we know, it could be a woman.”
“Well, that certainly narrows the playing field.”
“Bite me, you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. I also know I’m getting married eight days from now, and you and I have got a lot of work to do on this story to get it ready for this Friday’s storyboard session with Rick. We need to head back to the office.”
“Uh, Henry, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Like what?”
“We drove Angela’s and Daryl’s cars here. With them gone, we don’t have a ride.”
“Ah, hells bells. Guess I’m going to have to call Donnie again.”
“Oh, mother’s going to love this.”
“Put a sock in it, Johnson. Hey Donnie, one more favor.”
Read On — Two Before The Wedding Conclusion
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