THREE HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT by Knighton Tony

Author:Knighton, Tony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brash Books
Published: 2021-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

This neighborhood was called Manayunk, a Lenape word that roughly translates as “Place to drink.” Even though I was soaked to the skin, my throat was dry.

I moved in a series of dashes, from one protected spot – a doorway, the mouth of an alley – to another. I was thirty feet from a corner when headlights lit the roadway behind me, and an engine revved hard. I kicked in a rotting gate to a narrow passageway – a ginnel – between two row homes and dove over the trashcans that blocked the way through to the backyards. Out on the street, I heard the van skid to a stop. Its doors opened and closed and it sped up again. I guessed that the driver and passenger were doing their little dance again. I hopped two fences. A motion-activated security light came on in the second back yard. I considered hiding in the breezeway of a darkened home, behind a propane grill covered in gray plastic, but gave that up and clambered up on top of the grill, climbed to the shed roof, shinnied up a run of soil pipe and crawled over the back edge of the main roof.

I lay there in two inches of rainwater, gasping from the effort and peered over the edge. The shooter came through the alley, moving cautiously. I cursed my lack of ammunition; he’d be an easy shot. He moved through the block’s backyards slowly.

I found myself blinking, and shook my head. I was really feeling the effort, and had to fight the urge to close my eyes and lie there. I crawled away from the edge and stood, walking out to look over the front, but I felt dizzy, and went down on all fours the rest of the way. The street was empty. Creeping back, I watched the shooter exit the other end of the alley.

I waited a little longer than a reasonable interval, and went back to look over the front edge again. I was in time to see him get back into the van at the end of the block, in the passenger seat this time. They drove another block and took a left. I looked down at myself; I was a mess – wet, dirty, disheveled.

I climbed back down to the shed roof. The back storm window was down. I took out my knife and pried at the bottom edge, bowing it past the point the window would slip off its track. I pushed it up, out of the way and tried the sash behind it. It was unlocked but tight. I had to fight it open. I felt weak as a kitten. The window opened to the back bedroom. I listened for anything – any sound of an occupant that I may have missed. There was nothing. I climbed inside, lowered the sash, and went to the door, leaving wet footprints on the carpet.

As I opened the door to the hallway, there was a thump on the floor below, and something charged up the stairs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.