Kiss of the Blue Dragon by Julie Beard

Author:Julie Beard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2004-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Cosmo the Magnificent

By the time Mike and I left the bar, it was dark outside. As we walked toward the Southport station, I gave him a good tongue-lashing for taking Marco into his confidence. Mike took it with his usual serene expression. I had absolutely no idea what he was thinking, but I didn’t think he was listening.

He clearly trusted Marco. Part of me felt betrayed and part of me was relieved. His confidence in Marco made me feel like I wasn’t being a total idiot. As for swooning in Marco’s arms, what was that all about? I couldn’t think about that now.

Just before we reached the station, my lapel phone buzzed. I popped it in my ear.

“Baker here. You’ve got thirty seconds and it better be good.”

“Angel, it’s Hank. Whatever you’re doing, stop and listen.”

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pressed the button more firmly in my ear. “Shoot.”

“Jon called. He was able to make contact with his family. They’ll be looking out for you just north of the Addison station.”

Jon gave us directions to a secret entrance that fed into the underground. That meant we wouldn’t have to start all the way downtown and work our way north. It beat the heck out of meandering through miles of abandoned subway tunnels hoping we wouldn’t run into a band of Shadowmen trotting by in their jack boots. Best of all, the entrance was within walking distance of my apartment.

I thanked Hank profusely and turned to Mike as I pulled the button out of my ear and hung up. “Things are looking up, Mikey. Who would have thunk it? The moles’ secret north side entrance is in the old Cubs stadium. Right under our noses.”

The original home of the Cubs was built in 1914. It was a cozy, natural grass park with low seating close to the diamond and had retained its old-world charm to the end. Now it was a deteriorating relic etching the skyline, a fond memento like the Coliseum in Rome, minus the cats.

The Chicago Cubs baseball team abandoned the site in 2095, moving to TerraForma stadium that floated on Lake Michigan. The team owners said, in essence, build a new stadium and we will come—or we move to Bali. Mayor Richard J. Daley VI cried uncle and the city financed the project.

Personally, I don’t think the city should have subsidized billionaire players, especially since the team hasn’t won a pennant since 1908. You can only hold your breath so long. But no one asked me. Naturally, the new stadium cost a fortune. The only people who can afford tickets are rich, which is convenient since most of them have yachts they can ride out to the stadium.

So the old bleacher bums who used to get drunk in the outfield and Wrigleyville locals who used to catch a game in the afternoon now come here to reminisce. For the cost of a beer, you can sit in what remains of the stadium and listen to a play-by-play of the division playoffs when the Cubbies had a real shot at victory.

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