Read Online Enigma Black by Sara Furlong-Burr - Free Book Online Page B

alleyway. Along the edge of the roof he walked until he saw her further down the darkened street. Her boyfriend was clutching onto her in a passionate embrace almost as if it were the last time they would see each other. Who knows, depending on how his mission turned out, perhaps it would be.
    Love. It was the dirtiest four letter word of them all. The dreadful emotion rendered a person weak and vulnerable, which was unacceptable to him. It was a hypocritical state of being. Not only did it instill immense pleasure, but it also served as a catalyst for excruciating pain and suffering. It was unexplainable, and he didn’t like the unexplained. Besides, nothing lasts forever, so why pursue an impossibility?
    Quietly, from his vantage point, he observed the couple entering her apartment complex. Removing his cell phone from his pocket, he decided that he would approach her tomorrow. The boyfriend was too big a risk for him to take.
    “Blake,” the response to his call rang into his ear.
    “I’ve located Stevens and will make contact tomorrow,” he reported. Without waiting for a response, he shoved the cell phone back into the depths of his pocket, stomping the cigarette out on the roof. He wondered how long she would last.
    ****
    The stars glittered above us from our haven on the rooftop of my apartment building. We weren’t supposed to be there, but we didn’t care. With the expert lock-picking skills I’d acquired during my teenage years of forgetting my house key paired with a bookend from my apartment, we were able to both prop and open the fire escape door nicely. It was our spot. A regular retreat used by us as a means of escape from the monotony of daily life.
    The one positive aspect arising out of the mass exodus of the city had been revealed to us during the first clear night we visited our rooftop sanctuary. The barren city allotted for an uncompromised view of the night sky. There were no city lights remaining to compete with the natural luminescence of nature. It was in its uninhibited, natural state.
    I held Chase tightly with my head on his chest just over his heart, running my hands through his hair. Most couples had a song to define their relationship, we had a star. And it was shining proudly over us as if realizing its significance. Our star was the last star comprising the handle of the Big Dipper and was chosen primarily because it was one of the few stars I knew I’d always be able to find. Chase tried explaining the constellations to me once but his lecture had been drowned out by my snoring.
    “So, do you still feel like someone is watching you?” he asked.
    I sat up to meet his eyes. “Yeah, but somehow it doesn’t seem as foreboding now.”
    “I guess I need to try a little harder then,” he chuckled. “It’s getting late, we should probably go inside.”
    “Party pooper.”
    “Don’t blame me; blame our employers.”
    “What? Are you telling me you can’t do your job on only a couple of hours of sleep?”
    “It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s my patients. Would you want to see your surgeon yawning only a couple of minutes before he was scheduled to cut into your body?”
    “Point noted.”
    The flame from the candles bounced around my bedroom walls, creating a ballet of light that illuminated Chase’s bare torso. As we lay in my bed, I ran my fingers along the lines on his abdomen. He worked out obsessively when he wasn’t at the hospital, and it really paid off for him. My head rested on his broad shoulders while his hands caressed my back. It was a moment bathed in perfection. It was a moment I wished could last forever.
    “ Have I told you lately that I love you ,” my futile attempt at singing brought a smile to his face.
    “Ripping off Rod Stewart, are we now? Bravo.”
    “Rod who? I thought it was an original.”
    He laughed, moving his fingers up my back, tracing my spine until he reached my head, where he proceeded to stroke my hair.
    “When are we going