The Dead of Winter by James H Lewis

Author:James H Lewis [Lewis, James H]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: James H Lewis
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Three rows of cardio machines looked out on the indoor swimming pool — one with cycling equipment, another with treadmills, and the third with elliptical trainers. A bank of overhead TV monitors faced them. Most were tuned to sports channels, but one was reserved for news. On most days, it carried a cable service, but on this day, it carried KDKA’s early afternoon news.

Moira Buller had just finished a training session with an overweight man who confused chatter with exercise. He’d spent most of his hour telling tales about his grandchildren and talking with friends who he seemed to have known since grade school. How anyone in his sixties could cling to memories of third grade was beyond her, but it seemed to be a fixture of life in Pittsburgh. Grabbing the towels her client had dropped on the floor, she left the office where she weighed guests before and after training. She passed behind the row of ellipticals, giving the monitors a fleeting glimpse.

She stopped in her tracks. The screen showed a reporter standing in waning light before the Old Mill Bridge. The image of the man who’d called himself Carl Ferris appeared, a man now identified as Brad Walker. Below his photo was his name and the years of his birth and death.

So they’d not only identified him, but released his name to the public. Moira couldn’t hear the audio. You need to wear headphones to do so. But something about the story—its length, perhaps—told her this was more than just another progress report.

As she stared at the screen forty feet away, she saw the banner at the bottom. That couldn’t be right.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her lips trembled as she stood in the narrow aisle between the offices and machines, holding the towels at her side like a Roman statue.

“Moira?” said a voice behind her. “Moira? Move. I gotta get through.” The trainer put a hand on her shoulder and moved her aside. “You all right?”

“Yeah. I thought I saw something.”

“You sure? Your skin’s gone all pasty looking.”

“I’m fine, I told you.”

“Okay, okay. I was just checking. Jesus Christ!” the trainer hissed as she moved past her.

Moira looked down, her breath coming in quick gasps. Aware she was hyperventilating, she tottered toward the front desk, dropped the towels in the hamper, and entered the employee changing room. She sat on a bench, her head in her hands, controlling her breathing until the moment passed. Opened her locker. Took out her phone. Clicked on the web browser with shaking hands. Typed KDKA. Scrolled until she found the story.

She left the phone on the bench, stumbled into a stall, and vomited.

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