The Mystery Danger Serials: A Kiss Goodbye

The Morning After

Morning...

     The clock on the mantle said 5:43. The sun would be coming up soon. 

     I had managed to make it home in one piece. After the night I had, that was quite an accomplishment. Just two hours ago, I had been tied to a chair in a warehouse out in the sticks, waiting for the bundle of TNT to turn my insides into my outsides. Before that, a man had tried to carve a new smile into my neck. Earlier still, a witless ox had fitted me with steel trousers and tossed me into a river. I still hadn't completely dried from that little swim.

     Luckily Nick and Bobby had been there to fish me out. I told them I owed them one. Now I guess I owed them two. 

     After I took the bread truck to chase the Tailor, Nick and Bobby hotfooted it to the nearest payphone and put a call in to the police. Those boys sure are smart. They had given the officer on duty my name, said I needed back-up, and told them to meet me at 1214 Sawtooth Drive. At first, the officer thought it was a prank, but by some miracle, he dispatched a patrolman to check it out.  

     I stumbled through the doorway of my apartment. My head was killing me. I probably needed to make an appointment to see a doctor. The first explosion really did a number on me.

     But, I guess I should be thankful. Without that explosion, the patrolman would have never found me in time. In fact, he said he was just about to chase down a maniac in a black Studebaker when the bomb went off. He said he figured the man in the black car must have been the reason I needed back-up. When I didn't follow in pursuit, he came running.

     He was half correct, and it was good enough to save my skin, so I left it at that.

     I opened the bedroom door. The pain in my head had let up enough for me to realize that my entire body hurt. All I wanted to do was lay down. But, I had to clean up a bit first. I was a walking pile of mud, blood, smoke and ash. I needed a hot shower.

     Undressing wasn't easy. My neck was killing me. There was a long thin cut down the right side of my throat. The Suit had come much closer to finishing the job than I had thought. In the heat of it all I must not have noticed. My wrists were wrapped in burns from being tied to the chair. Both my legs and ankles were several shades of black and blue, thanks to the Tailor and his chains. With every move my head pounded even harder. Some of these wounds might take a while to heal.

    As I walked into the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The man staring back at me looked like hell. Dirt and grime streaked my face. There was something green in my hair. Moss from the river. My lips and cheek were stained with blood.

     No, wait. Not blood...

     Not blood at all.

     As I washed the red lipstick from my face, I thought about her. It's amazing to me. After all I went through last night, almost drowning, being shot at, the Suit trying to gut me, the explosion, it's amazing to realize that the thing that hurt the most...

...was a kiss goodbye.