Red Lady
F i v e
-5-
Eden
A tune belted out from the speakers in the car I currently sat in, a woman’s high pitched voice singing about a lost love. I winced as she hit a particularly high note and changed the station. A man’s voiced sang through now, going along with a beat. Since this channel seemed to be censored, there was a lot of beeping to keep the song clean. Even in between the annoying pitches, it was almost impossible to distinguish what the male was saying.
I groaned and just ended up turning the radio off all together. “American music.”
My blue eyes looked across the street where I saw my cousin, Avian, sitting on a bench meant for bus stops. He had today’s newspaper in his hand, scanning the articles as he waited for his friend to show up.
Avian’s friend had contacted him yesterday, telling him that the guns had been delivered and that they would send us the guns that we needed.
Seeing as they knew Avian, he was the one that needed to pick them up. My attention quickly turned to the bus that was coming upon Avian. It slowly came to a stop and I watched as a group of people came out, none looking like they were carrying any guns.
Then I saw a skinny fellow, clad in short tan shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, apologizing as he struggled to get his luggage off the vehicle. Once he was off, the bus moved forward again and the man waved them off. Once it was completely out of sight, the man’s face turned serious. Avian folded the paper in his lap and stood up, facing opposite the “tourist”.
Seeing as I was in the car, I couldn’t hear the conversation going on between the two, but it was short and soon, Avian had the two roller carts in his hands and was walking towards me. I pushed down on the button that unlocked the doors and Avian threw the bags in the back seat, and then got into the driver’s side.
“Hey, don’t throw my guns around like that. You’re likely to get yourself shot that way.”
“Is that concern for me getting shot, or worry that I might scuff up your guns?”
“So, that scrawny kid is the friend you’re always talking about?” I asked, evading his question.
“That guy standing there? No, he’s just an underling. He acted out pretty good; I wouldn’t have suspected there were weapons in those suitcases.”
I nodded my head and put my hands behind my hair. “So, where to next?”
“Back to the hotel.”
“Ugh, I’ve been stuck in that room for a full week. Do we have to go back?”
Avian nodded his head. “You’ll be out all day tomorrow before we have to make that quick escape,” he replied, his voice empty.
I turned towards my cousin and saw that his face was blank. For a mob boss, he sure was insecure about killing people. I put my hand on his forearm and he looked into my eyes.
“There’s still time for you to bail Avian. It was nice having your help, but I can do this alone.”
“No, I’m going to see the end of this with you. Then we’re going back home, together.”
I smiled at him and he gave me a grin back. “Let’s go back to the hotel and pack; you have a big day tomorrow.”
--------------
Dominic
“You drive like an old man Dominic! We’re an hour late, and I’m sure that Kris is wondering where the hell we are.”
“I do not drive like an old man, I just obey the law, I am a law enforcer.”
I saw Su roll her eyes at my statement and I pushed her arm. “Come on, this is just giving us more quality time together.”
“Am I supposed to be happy about that?”
I gasped dramatically, putting my attention on her before looking back at the road. “That hurt.”
“Whatever, you big baby. Look, there’s Kris!”
And she was right. Standing on the sidewalk in his dark Marine uniform and a dozen roses, was her boyfriend. I parked the car in one of the last available parking spaces and Susanna was out the door like a lightning bolt.
I watched with a smile on my face as she ran to Kris, jumping into his arms and laughing loudly as he twirled her around. They shared a passionate kiss before they once again hugged. I walked over to them and Kris gave me a grin.
“Hey man,” he said, taking my hand and shaking it.
“It’s nice to see you here. How was your tour?”
“It was a normal tour, nothing abnormal happened.”
“That’s always good to hear, and it’s good that you’ve come home safely.”
“Damn right,” Su said, squeezing her boyfriend.
Kris laughed and squeezed her back. “How has your life been, working in the field and all?”
“Oh, he’s been working on a case to find a killer!” my sister answered for me.
“Really, any idea who it is?”
“We have some idea, but we have to keep that information disclosed.”
“Come on, let’s stop talking about work and catch up!”
------------
Eden
“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” I said, polishing this gun in my hand with a slightly oiled rag.
“From the beginning?”
I nodded my head.
“Alright, this is how it’s going to go. At 12:30, you’re going to position yourself on the rooftop west of the entrance to the government building. Motgomery has been spotted leaving there around 12:45 each day. You’ll be able to catch him as he walks the streets. Once that is over, get your ass in gear and get back to the hotel. It won’t take the police long to spot where you shot from. We won’t have much time to get away.”
I nodded my head once again, packing my Maria away from the exciting day tomorrow. I stood up and looked out the hotel window. “I have this weird feeling in my gut.”
“Nervous?”
“I guess you can call it that. I’m never usually nervous for stuff like this though, it’s natural to me.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re doing this in D.C?”
“Maybe…” I said, turning away from the window.
“Time to get a good night sleep.”
Eden
A tune belted out from the speakers in the car I currently sat in, a woman’s high pitched voice singing about a lost love. I winced as she hit a particularly high note and changed the station. A man’s voiced sang through now, going along with a beat. Since this channel seemed to be censored, there was a lot of beeping to keep the song clean. Even in between the annoying pitches, it was almost impossible to distinguish what the male was saying.
I groaned and just ended up turning the radio off all together. “American music.”
My blue eyes looked across the street where I saw my cousin, Avian, sitting on a bench meant for bus stops. He had today’s newspaper in his hand, scanning the articles as he waited for his friend to show up.
Avian’s friend had contacted him yesterday, telling him that the guns had been delivered and that they would send us the guns that we needed.
Seeing as they knew Avian, he was the one that needed to pick them up. My attention quickly turned to the bus that was coming upon Avian. It slowly came to a stop and I watched as a group of people came out, none looking like they were carrying any guns.
Then I saw a skinny fellow, clad in short tan shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, apologizing as he struggled to get his luggage off the vehicle. Once he was off, the bus moved forward again and the man waved them off. Once it was completely out of sight, the man’s face turned serious. Avian folded the paper in his lap and stood up, facing opposite the “tourist”.
Seeing as I was in the car, I couldn’t hear the conversation going on between the two, but it was short and soon, Avian had the two roller carts in his hands and was walking towards me. I pushed down on the button that unlocked the doors and Avian threw the bags in the back seat, and then got into the driver’s side.
“Hey, don’t throw my guns around like that. You’re likely to get yourself shot that way.”
“Is that concern for me getting shot, or worry that I might scuff up your guns?”
“So, that scrawny kid is the friend you’re always talking about?” I asked, evading his question.
“That guy standing there? No, he’s just an underling. He acted out pretty good; I wouldn’t have suspected there were weapons in those suitcases.”
I nodded my head and put my hands behind my hair. “So, where to next?”
“Back to the hotel.”
“Ugh, I’ve been stuck in that room for a full week. Do we have to go back?”
Avian nodded his head. “You’ll be out all day tomorrow before we have to make that quick escape,” he replied, his voice empty.
I turned towards my cousin and saw that his face was blank. For a mob boss, he sure was insecure about killing people. I put my hand on his forearm and he looked into my eyes.
“There’s still time for you to bail Avian. It was nice having your help, but I can do this alone.”
“No, I’m going to see the end of this with you. Then we’re going back home, together.”
I smiled at him and he gave me a grin back. “Let’s go back to the hotel and pack; you have a big day tomorrow.”
--------------
Dominic
“You drive like an old man Dominic! We’re an hour late, and I’m sure that Kris is wondering where the hell we are.”
“I do not drive like an old man, I just obey the law, I am a law enforcer.”
I saw Su roll her eyes at my statement and I pushed her arm. “Come on, this is just giving us more quality time together.”
“Am I supposed to be happy about that?”
I gasped dramatically, putting my attention on her before looking back at the road. “That hurt.”
“Whatever, you big baby. Look, there’s Kris!”
And she was right. Standing on the sidewalk in his dark Marine uniform and a dozen roses, was her boyfriend. I parked the car in one of the last available parking spaces and Susanna was out the door like a lightning bolt.
I watched with a smile on my face as she ran to Kris, jumping into his arms and laughing loudly as he twirled her around. They shared a passionate kiss before they once again hugged. I walked over to them and Kris gave me a grin.
“Hey man,” he said, taking my hand and shaking it.
“It’s nice to see you here. How was your tour?”
“It was a normal tour, nothing abnormal happened.”
“That’s always good to hear, and it’s good that you’ve come home safely.”
“Damn right,” Su said, squeezing her boyfriend.
Kris laughed and squeezed her back. “How has your life been, working in the field and all?”
“Oh, he’s been working on a case to find a killer!” my sister answered for me.
“Really, any idea who it is?”
“We have some idea, but we have to keep that information disclosed.”
“Come on, let’s stop talking about work and catch up!”
------------
Eden
“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” I said, polishing this gun in my hand with a slightly oiled rag.
“From the beginning?”
I nodded my head.
“Alright, this is how it’s going to go. At 12:30, you’re going to position yourself on the rooftop west of the entrance to the government building. Motgomery has been spotted leaving there around 12:45 each day. You’ll be able to catch him as he walks the streets. Once that is over, get your ass in gear and get back to the hotel. It won’t take the police long to spot where you shot from. We won’t have much time to get away.”
I nodded my head once again, packing my Maria away from the exciting day tomorrow. I stood up and looked out the hotel window. “I have this weird feeling in my gut.”
“Nervous?”
“I guess you can call it that. I’m never usually nervous for stuff like this though, it’s natural to me.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re doing this in D.C?”
“Maybe…” I said, turning away from the window.
“Time to get a good night sleep.”