12:37 am
I used to love being a doctor. I don’t know, it was like some kind of high. I felt good helping people feel better. I was saving the world one stuffy nose at a time. Now here I am, sneaking out the door of a club like some back-alley abortionist.
The metallic door of Club Esscro shuts firmly behind me. If I listen carefully, I can still make out the thumping base calling me back to the dance floor. As much as I want to, I can’t go back just yet. It’s never a good idea to mix business with pleasure. Around us the city is quiet and gloomy. Sky scrapers rise up from the dirty, paved streets. They reach out like metal fingers to the sky, their glass windows twinkling like the stars they’ll never touch. The night is cool and damp and the cold wall against my back bites through my thin dress shirt.
”What is it this time?” I ask, reaching into my pocket for a cigarette and a lighter. I offer one to my companion but he waves me off.
”I thought we could talk.”
I look at my companion. He’s taller than me by a few inches and older by a few months. He has short brown hair, scraggly eye brows that look like he borrowed them off a terrier, and piercing brown eyes. Even after mid-night his brown suit is immaculately pressed. Next to him I look nothing short of disheveled- but at least I’m not still on the clock.
”Spit it out, detective.” I said, a puff of green smoke lingering after my words. ”I don’t have time for this bull shit. My shift starts in a few hours.”
”Word on the street, Dr. Neilson is that you have connections with the Rebels.” I can feel him watching my face. It’s a mask a usual. ”Fortunately for you there’s never been any proof. That are you’re one of the best doctors in Restraint.”
I let out another puff of smoke. It’s orange this time. ”Did you ask me out here to flatter me? If so, let’s just cut to the chase. I don’t do men but I do know a wonderful bar tender who...”
”Damn it Mark!” he growls. And for a moment it’s like we’re back in school together. He’s no longer Detective Jones and I’m no longer Dr. Neilson. Part of me wants to fall down at his feet and beg him to help me. Then he has to go and mention her. ”Look, we all loved Julia. But you’re got to let it go and stop making an ass of yourself. Do you think that’s what your sister would have wanted!?”
To keep her alive? Yeah, I think that’s what Julia wants. My urge to confess my Rebel involvement at the feet of my former friend dies a quick death. ”If you drug me out here for a lecture- you can save it.” I push against wall and move to head back into the club.
”Does the name Emilie Killhallam, ring any bells?” Jones said, thrusting a picture in my face.
A dark haired beauty looks out at me from a black-and-white photo. Her face looks relaxed and her eyes sparkle with youth. She looks happy.
”No.” I answer. ”Should I?”