"Even if we don't make it, i'm glad it led me to you. Probably can't hear me, being asleep and all, but I just wanted to say...you saved me. Hearing the detective stories on the radio growing up always made my imagination run wild and actually being in the read deal now makes me realize just how much those stories were dramatized. When I first saw you I thought you were just another one of them out on that roof, making sure that if things went bad in that room, I wouldn't make it out of there alive. But you waved and I could see your face, it wasn't a face I feared. I'd be lieing if I said that I trusted you fully at first. I mean, I just got caught up in a situation where my friend of a few years turned out to be someone messed up with the mafia and carrying around a million dollars in dirty money to a party. I wish she was still around so I could ask her how it all happened."
She adjusted her head on his chest and continued even though she knew he wasn't conscious to listen.
"My parents didn't want me moving here, kept telling me I should stay there and the city was no place for a pretty girl to be alone. But I wanted to prove myself. I thought schooling and a decent job would send me on my way to the top. Three waitress jobs and a failed attempt at a degree later and I'm living large in a small apartment and becoming a professional want ads reader. Sigh. If only my parents knew the truth. This past week has been a whirlwind of close calls and nervewracking events. But I can honestly say it's also given me some of the best feelings I've ever had. At the risk of sounding cliche, I've been through a lot. As the years went on I felt like I was just getting more and more lost, following a path that I thought I was supposed to be on as an adult. But as each year passed I found myself in the same position I was in the last one, maybe a step or two to either side but still the same. I met her at my last job and we quickly became good friends. Visited the city sights and talked about how we were going to show the other how successful we would be this year. She wasn't stupid, finding out she had mafia ties was eye opening to say the least. Maybe I should have talked to her more, I don't know. They say life has a plan for you and everyone has a path that is set out before them. It's just too unbelievable to me that her path involved this. Hell, it's hard to believe mine did too. But you, you are proof that maybe there is. You encounter so much in life that there are times when you question if somewhere that path diverged into a dark wood and the exit is far beyond where you could fathom. Those nights that I cried myself to sleep, I wished for someone like you to be there. Behind me, arms squeezing tightly."
She felt his arms around her pull in and squeezing her tightly. Was he listening? It didn't matter.
He was warm and she laid in the darkness with him listening to the drops hitting the glass. The train barely made a noise to her, she was savoring a moment that she never thought she would get. There was still a ways to go and as the night wore on it became clearer that there was only one man who followed them onto the train. She held his hand and snuggled as close as she could to him.
"Thank you darlin, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect savior to let into my heart."
She felt him squeeze her hand and he kissed her forehead. She felt a little embarrassed that he may have been awake but he showed no other signs of movement. For the first time in days, she laid her head down on his chest and closed her eyes knowing that she didn't have to watch the door or listen for movement. A smile crept across her face as she drifted off.
Back at the departing station, a burly man placed a dime in a nearby payphone. He dialed a series of numbers and waited. "It's me. They boarded the train going east to the coast. Slats followed them on, won't know how it turned out until they arrive."
"That's not a chance I'm willing to take. Do you know the path the train is going on?"
"Sure, follows the countryside until the mountains, then down to the coast."
"I want you to take Notes with you and catch up to it. Hop aboard and rendevou with Slats. If he ain't moving then make sure they don't make it to that station. You read me?"
"Understood boss."
He hung up the phone and met up with a thinner partner nearby who was leering at some women in skirts. "Boss says we catch up to the train, board it and make sure it all went to plan."
"No faith in Slats eh?"
"More of an insurance policy."
The thinner man winked at one of the women who promptly turned away from him.
"Boy what I'd give to have them skirts above their heads."
"Come on, we gotta get to the car and get movin, train's already been out for a few hours."
"Yeah yeah, we take the back valley we'll be there no sweat." He put a toothpick in his mouth and took a few steps towards the women before being pulled back by the much larger brute. "Now Notes. Vagina ain't goin extinct, get in the car."
With a huff he followed and the two took off towards the valley, keeping an eye on the tracks.
The bartender wasn't comfortable leaving the bar with the man still at the table but he locked up the booze so it should be alright. He just felt so uncomfortable about the whole situation. He couldn't shake the feeling and while he wanted to stay in bed and get some good rest, he couldn't just assume the man in the suit was alright. The one man seemed to be trying to pay his silence that evening and seeing him hide the girl was a bit odd. It was against his nature but he got up and curled a robe around himself and left his cabin. Thunder and lightning shook the cars and he slowly made his way to the bar cab. Passing the many rooms on his way was like an abandoned hotel with quiet door after quiet door. With the exception of one that was doing a poor job of keeping the moans of a woman inside. When he reached the door to the bar cab he peeked through the window and saw the man still at the table, head in his hands. Maybe he fell asleep. Still, he felt responsible and went inside. He walked up to the man and put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, mister, I think you'd better get back to your room, it's pretty la--" Before he could finish his sentence, the man slumped over revealing his side stained completely with blood. The barkeep gasped and backed up a few steps before panic set in and he rushed to the small receiver at the bar. "Yes this is the barkeep, I have a situation back here that the constable on board might want to have a look at. I think I may know what happened.......and who is responsible."
TO BE CONTINUED <3 p="">
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