Lost in Space  Chapter  4

Lost in Space  
Chapter  4
 
Thirty-five minutes later, his car screeched to a stop next to a Boss 351 Mustang at the Medical Towers building. His still-wet hair was uncomfortable in the cold morning air, but it was only thirty feet to the door. He descended the stairs two at a time and turned past the blocked-open glass door with 'Cafe' written across it. He saw an empty stool next to his target.
 
"You're late," Peter Miller told him, a half-full mug of coffee in front of him, heavy, dark bags under each eye, but he had a half-smile.
 
"Well, you are alive," Dave said, "although you look like shit..."
 
"You got the phone message, I take it. Good. Saw Hardy shoving you out." Peter's voice was hoarse; Dave's throat tickled from the smoke, and they assumed Peter had gotten even more.
 
Dave sat down next to his friend; the hostess caught his eye as she held the coffee pot; he nodded, and she brought a mug, filled it, and refilled Peter's. Two soft 'thank you.'
 
"Orders?"
 
"Two grand slams, scrambled, no cheese, both sourdoughs," Peter said; Dave started to object, then shrugged. She smiled and stuck the ticket in the queue above the large flattop grill.  
 
The owner/chef turned, nodded at Dave and Peter, smiled with a hint of recognition of a regular, then turned back to his collections of eggs, hash browns, and every breakfast meat known to man.
 
"Yeah," Dave said, "Anna promised me over and over that you were fine, said she knew you'd gotten out and were safe. Just said she'd seen you..."
 
"I was with Joyce, you know, that teacher, I mean, ex-teacher?"
 
Dave nodded and confirmed he remembered.
 
"Had to dodge that tower that fell, then, a bit of trouble because had to help that skinny Bonnie in the red dress pain in the ass, we got out the side door. What'd Anna say she saw? I saw her and Laurel near the front door, then you and Hardy and that Cat."
 
"Hardy found us," Dave said, "I yelled about you, but Cat told me you were with 'his teacher.'  
 
Hardy. Shit. The dude was muscular. Forced us out, just shoved people out of the way, that's when we found Anna, she swore she saw you get out."
 
"Did you see Cat or Anna talk into their watches?"
 
"Huh? I thought I heard Cat say something; she was behind me, and I thought she was talking to Hardy. You sure you didn't bump your head?"
 
Peter smiled and shrugged.
 
"They claim they saw anything else?"
 
"Oh, hell," Dave snorted, "it was a horror show in there. I’d never seen anything like that; we weren't close to that tower, but we saw it... shit... people... but we got out, the place was coming down. Cat wanted to get scarce, knew police and firefighters coming, and didn't want to get caught up with that. I wasn't overly happy, but, well, I figured leaving was better. Saw enough people taking drugs in there, well..."
 
"They just drop you off?"
 
"Yeah, took me to my place, left. Anna, I don't know, seemed to think it was, hell, something of a lark, I don't know, but if it was all gangbangers and crooks and dealers in there..."
 
"It was," Peter said, "might've been a few stupid poseurs, but well, now you know why I don't talk about my past..."
 
"I got the message from the cop," Dave smiled wanly, "but he promised you weren't arrested.  
 
What was with that?"
 
"My old teacher," Peter's slight smile, "she joined the force! My high school was, well, it was a shithole. She said she got tired of seeing us delinquents coming through and getting nothing out of what she was teaching us. She'd taken some law enforcement courses and did double Psychology and English BAs, so they took her readily. Was there undercover? They had a few; all got out. Bartenders, too."
 
"You were right," Dave's smile more genuine now, "About your mutual, um, desire? That's why you look like you haven't slept all night?"
 
"Yeah, busy once we got to her place... me being a Uni student put me over the top on that... felt she had at least one win with me... but well, one-time-only deal. I won't be seeing her again. She threatened me that if she ever saw me in a professional capacity, it'd be bad for me... Didn't, um, Cat offers you a..."
 
"Shit," Dave snorted loudly as Peter chuckled, "she laid rubber leaving my place... And that Anna talked about you on the way back to my place..."
 
"Huh? Did she say anything where she's from? Joyce, my ex-teacher, thinks she's some criminal looking to move into town... But I told her Anna was only there because Jake and Tommy crashed our boring ass party for lame university students. She had no clue about the Church or the Mongrels, so she hadn't planned to be there... But."
 
"Oh?"
 
"Anna. Her face... it wasn't a mask or a disguise. I don't think even the eyes were makeup or the nose. Or those ears. I think... that's what she is. And her tits... Wow."
 
"Those were... yeah. Amazing. But what is she, an elf? From Middle Earth?"
 
"Maybe...," Peter's eyes went unfocused, but it wasn't clear it was from thinking or fatigue, "she's not a local. All we need to do is figure out who the hell Cat is. She'd heard about the Church; it wasn't the kind of place good and decent people know about."
 
"Well," Dave said, "I hadn't."
 
"Like I said," Peter's voice low, "you're good and decent. Cat's... got some connections, a bit of knowledge of that world. But. Hell, we never crossed paths in my old life. At the least, I'm certain she's a local like me. Or I have been here since I was a child. Not an import like you. But she knew where to find the first party; I'd guess she's a student. Our staff got to be connected to the Uni, too."
 
"What about talking to your old teacher? She'll be investigating?"
 
"Not directly, she's undercover, just another party animal for the night. But yeah, they'll look. But you're not talking to her. I told her you're a nobody—-"
 
"Oh, hey! A no—-"
 
"Don't take it wrong. There's nothing useful you can add about anyone who was there, and there's no need for you to get involved. I showed Anna to Joyce; she saw her, but if they're going to chase people down, they've got a few hundred others ahead of her. But Cat's the connection."
 
"I'll keep my eyes open."
 
"I'm sure you will," Peter's smile was broad before he turned as the chef plated up their breakfasts and didn't wait for the waitress to return from her deliveries to the little dining room beyond the kitchen.
 
"Two grand slams," he said, his English excellent if accented by his native Greek, "enjoy, gentlemen!"
 
"Thank you," Dave said. First, the chef smiled and went back to his grill. Dave shook his head as he looked at a foundation of hash browns that covered the entirety of the large oval plate, topped by an equally large pile of scrambled eggs with three pieces of bacon, a large slice of ham, and two sausages laid across the foundation and a third plate with four thick slices of toasted sourdough to share.
 
"Shit," Dave said, "almost objected to the full-on, but suddenly I'm starving."
 
"Yup," Peter commented just before his first forkful, "lots of booze last night, not much food."
 
"And speaking of food, you going to Colorado for Thanksgiving?"
 
Dave swallowed and stayed silent for a moment.
 
 
 
To be continued