Kidnapped by a Killer (Edited Version)

Chapter 20

Though we left early for town, it felt like there just weren't enough hours in the day to see everything there was to see. We walked all over the town, but there were still many places we hadn't seen. The places we did see though were such a treat. We even went to a movie, a mall, and cozy little bookstore where Cliff let me pick out a book that I liked.

As I stepped out of the bookstore behind Cliff, clutching my new treasure to my chest, I noticed the sun was low in the sky. "So, what are we going to do now?" I asked, hoping Cliff didn't intend to head home anytime soon.

Cliff swung our hands between us, which should have bothered me, but really just made me feel giddy. "Whatever you want to do," he said. "I've been here dozens of time before, so none of it is new to me."

We passed a small, second-hand antique shop and I peered in the window. I could see some interesting stuff nestled on the shelves. "What's in there?" I asked.

Cliff grinned and pulled me over to the door. As we walked inside, Cliff explained that this was one of the best places to visit because the inventory was always changing. "It has a little of everything," he said. "You never know what you're going to find buried under all the years and stories. Sometimes it's an old, worthless bottlecap, and sometimes it's a priceless glass figurine."

Most of the things we saw was stuff no modern man would be interested in. But Cliff and I were fascinated by the decades old electronics, the 80's toys, and the old school desk that sat in the corner whose tag read: "1940's school desk with inkwell". I was particularly interested in the section of poetry books from the 1800's.

"This place is amazing," I said, carefully lifting an old volume of The Berries of Anger by Joan Glassburn. The spine was falling apart, but the book itself appeared in good shape.

Cliff chuckled. "It really is," Cliff said, watching me more than the contents of the store. I ducked my head, embarrassed to be stared at, and put the book back.

We walked over to a counter near the back and Cliff leaned over it to shout into the back room, "Aaron! You in there?"

"Be there in a second!" a familiar voice called back cheerfully.

As I began putting two an two together, Cliff said, "In the same way that I work at the hospital, Aaron has a regular job on the side. His main job is more lucrative than mine though. This was actually where we learned about each other after  we had graduated college."

While we waited for Aaron, Cliff told me about how he had decided to stop by on his way home form work one night and had found Aaron in his shop, wrestling with a huge guy who turned out to be a member of a Chicago mob sent to kill Aaron under the suspicion that Aaron had killed the next heir. He had, but that wasn't the point, Cliff said. Cliff had fought alongside his college buddy and eventually the mobster was out cold and tied up in the backroom. Aaron wouldn't believe the excuse that Cliff had been into boxing before they met, and Cliff wasn't convinced that Aaron learned his skills from TV, so eventually they admitted to each other who they really were and what they did.

"I just barely convinced him not to kill me behind the store," Cliff said with a chuckle.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should have killed him anyways," Aaron quipped, walking out of the back. "What's up, you two?"

"We were just walking around, so we dropped by," Cliff replied. "Got any new stuff recently?"

"A little," Aaron said. He left and came back with a small box of trinkets. "We haven't had much come in since the store next door opened up, but we still get the valuable stuff once in a while."

With mock delicacy, Aaron pulled a few things out of the box. "We have a nice pair of earrings for the ladies."

Cliff rolled his eyes.