The Immortal Game by David Shenk

Author:David Shenk
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307387660
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2007-09-03T20:00:00+00:00

13

The German was watching. His blue eyes clocked every detail of these two men. Perhaps they could lead him to her. The one man was obviously police. Either now or in a past life. Maybe he was private. The other was not what he appeared. The clothes he wore, the bandana, these were affectations. He moved like a soldier, head on a swivel. The German realized he would not be able to follow this man too closely, for if he saw the German’s face, he would not forget it.

There was a blankness to this tall man’s eyes, a hardness that the German recognized. This man had seen how bad things could be, and so spent most of his time observing the world with dull recognition. Only rarely would those eyes go wide, as they just had, and only when faced with true beauty or true horror.

The man was a killer. It took one to know one.

The policeman left first.

The German decided to stay with the other man. He risked stopping across the street for a moment; the lights in the shop would make looking out through the front window difficult.

The man sipped his coffee. The German watched, jealously, from the cold sidewalk, in a heavy winter coat and wool cap.

Something changed in the tall man’s face. A softness crept into his eyes. What? A memory, a regret? What warms your cold heart, he wanted to ask.

But then the man’s eyes shifted focus. Looked out the front window.

The German had lingered too long.

The man had registered the still shape in the window. He stood.

The German ran, dashed down an alley, over a fence.

He would have to be careful with this one.

He twisted his route, doubled back, slowed to a walk, got his breathing under control. He stepped onto Prince Street when he heard a heavy step behind him.

“Nice night for a stroll.”

The German paused. A smile on his face as he turned slowly toward the voice, the man from the coffee shop. The killer. A deep voice, ragged, and just a bit playful. The man knew what he was playing, who he was playing with. The German could see the tension in him, an echo of his own. Both men poised, ready for a sudden move.

Their eyes met, eyes that had seen a lot of people die in front of them.

“Yes, it is,” the German said.

Now is not the time, their eyes said, but both men felt the chilly knowledge that the time would come. Soon.

They both smiled. With anticipation? Curious to find out who the best was, but willing to wait.

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