Chapter 5 Gerry had agreed to keep his eye on the comings and goings to the building and help keep the police abreast of any strange faces around the neighborhood. Later that same evening, Inspector Gibbons called to check up on me and to see if I recalled anything important. Right now the case was lukewarm at best and they were working on the list of leads they had. Right in the middle of the conversation, there was an e...

Chapter 3 My appointment at the police division was for 3 p.m., and I hoped not to bump into anyone I knew. I took my longtime friend Elaine with me for emotional support. We have been buddies since our college days when we used to raise hell and get drunk. She is perpetually single, and loves it. She says it would be a frosty day in hell before she does the ball and chain routine. Call it commitment phobia. Seeing me and...

Chapter 7 Sunday morning came along, and I found myself cocooned in Gerry’s blankets with chipmunks buzzing around in my head. I swore to myself that there would be no more beer—until of course the next time. Somewhere in the apartment the phone was ringing. I struggled out of bed and answered it. It was Gibbons calling to report that the car was clean—no outstanding warrants on the driver—and to ask me if I knew a man by...

Prologue May 15, 2005 / Delivering the Goods “C’mon man, can’t we just leave the package on the balcony?” The short stocky youth was trying to drag an item off the rental truck. “Nope, we have specific orders to deliver the ‘goods’ right to the apartment — I have instructions right here, Dawg.” “How we gonna get in there without getting caught?” He was anxious about this aspect of his initiation exercise. “Rebo, brother.....

The White Pawn XVA hard banging at the door interrupted Meradith while she was going over the seating arrangements for all the guests at the feast, for the fourth time that morning, for which William was grateful, he hadn't a mind for wedding plans. In fact, he didn't see the need for it to be so extravagant. He wasn't a lord or royal; though Katrina's family was wealthy, and friends with some nobles in the Grasslands, sh...

The White Pawn XIVBy some undignified luck, William and the wife had lost the men chasing them and lay hidden in a dark corner behind some boxes in a random back street. They had a nice head start as the men were still searching the house for the gold thinking it was still there. William had led them off the long roads of Wall Street and into a maze of back roads and nameless streets."Who the hell were those men and what...

The White Pawn XIIIThe late Walden Fen's house stood at the end of a row of houses each identical to one another. With only about 8 feet between them, the houses were made of a wooden framework with cob walls and clay thatched roofs. Walden's home lay at the north end of the line. William walked up to it and knocked.While waiting he glanced up at the sky, the sun was slowly setting off in the distance. The door soon opene...

The White Pawn XII"It's suspicious isn't it?" The cloaked stranger asked sitting down on the stool next to William at the bar. Their voice was muffled by something covering their mouth so he couldn't tell if it was male or female. He paid them little mind as it was, he was half drunk already and didn't intend to stop there.Katrina's aunt had come into the city at last and all they did was talk about gossip back home. He w...

The White Pawn XIWilliam and Derren sat in a secluded back room at Niel’s tavern, away from prying eyes and ears. It was neither large nor small, with only one way in or out that leads into the back hall. Neil left them a small ale keg and William tossed him a silver bit. At first, he was alone, content to drink until he passed out until Derren finally caught up to him. He barely made it through his second cup. "So ready...

Sitting in the bar is a man. He's never been seen before. Questions expressed by everyone's faces. "What to drink?" Asked the waitress. "Water will do." The man replies quickly. Away walks the waitress to the bar.  The man rises from his seat. Silence fills the room as his chair screeches against the floor. He takes off his hat sets it on the chair beside him. From his pocket he pulls his wallet. Retrieving a few dollars...

  Do you, like me, sometimes ponder why things happen to be? Do you ever pause to consider what really is the cause? Do you ever wonder or marvel at what really is amazingly clever: why two separate people become entwined to love and mate? In this mystery play with its cast of millions how come my needle was plucked out of the hay? I ask, what did I do to be so blessed? How come I even got to meet you? What power surge en...

Finding myself standing out here once again as I have done in the past, standing here during that last hour before the dark light of the true dawn under a cold bringer moon, with nothing but silence that seems to surround me and holds sway as I look up towards the moon. Looking at it with these green eyes that at times can be colder than it and be able to stare forever. As I shift my gaze to those dark mountains now silho...

The White Pawn X"So what do I owe this unwanted visit, captains?" Commander Jorden asked, setting his quill down in the bottle of ink before sitting back."Ser we need to speak with Captain Lewis Gren's men right away." William asserted."How come I get the feeling you boys know something about his disappearance?"That caught William off guard, he didn't expect for Captain Gren's disappearance to be noticed so quickly. Worse...

The White Pawn IXMadam Fiona was entertaining a couple of patrons when William found her. It took some effort to pull her away, and the men were not too pleased with it either. But after seeing the look on William's face, they backed down and moved on. He turned his attention to Madam Fiona.She was a shorter woman with light brown skin and long dark curls of hair. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head in annoy...

The White Pawn VIIIThe wine cellar was so dimly lit that William could hardly see a few feet in front of his face; let alone the six men aside him. Derren had his eight best and most trusted men with him that night. Five of them were down there with him, and the other three were keeping an eye out on the entrance to the cellar door upstairs, to make sure no one but Gem and Lewis entered. They had to trust that Madam Fiona...