140Story - Day 41

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
 
believed him.  Kelly wasn’t one to get sloppy.  “You’re saying someone wanted others to think you were stealing?”
    “I was separating,” he explained, “leaving Telrik.  Like you.  They didn’t want me to go.  Thought I knew about too many skeletons in too many closets.”
    “That’s true about any of us,” I replied.  “What’s so special about you?”
    “Burton’s father.”
    He said it as if that explained everything.  I didn’t take the bait, I just waited.
    “He was the one with sticky fingers,” Kelly said.  “We worked a detail together down South. I found a courier bag.  He opened it.  Took it to the section chief, who thought we three should split it.  I told him no.”
    I went to the window and scanned outside.  Never could be too vigilant.
    “They split it anyway.  And put my name on dirty money

140Story - Day 40

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

we shared, two years back.
    I made him take a shower but he still had the look of an unhinged vagrant, which is why I made the trip for razors.
    “There should be shaving cream in the bathroom,” I said as I tossed the razors to him.
    “I didn’t steal any money,” he said without looking up.  “If I had, do you think I’d still be here, living on the street?”
    I thought about it for a moment.  Kelly was smart, and an opportunist.  “Probably not.  But what was that you said about getting as much money as you needed?”
    “They framed me,” he said, finally making eye contact.  “My fault for not keeping up with sigint.  There is an account in the Caymans with my name on it and several million dollars just waiting.”
    I didn’t know if I

140Story - Day 39

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

with cash, using a debit card would only leave a trail I knew for a fact Telrik could follow.  I walked back to the bolt-hole the long way around, stopping every minute or so to scan for a tail.  Either Telrik operatives had completely changed the way they operated, or I had given them the slip.
    The tiny room sat at the top of narrow stairs and looked out over a rooftop.  One set of windows opened onto a fire escape, the other was within reach of a solid brass drain pipe.  I never stayed in places that had only one way out.
    Kelly was sitting on the second-hand couch, the remains of a take-out sandwich on the table in front of him.  He was eating as if the last food he ate was the last meal

140Story - Day 38

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

as well pull that trigger right now, Kelly.  Because if that’s true then you’re not even close to the kind of man I thought you were.”
    For what seemed like forever Kelly said nothing.  Did nothing.  I thought for sure my days would end as a red spatter on the inside of the windshield.  At long last, mercifully, Kelly tossed the gun into the front seat.
    “You’re right,” he sighed.  “I’m not who you thought I was.”
    “So let me in,” I said softly.  “Tell me what’s going on.”
    “We have to get somewhere safe,” he said.  “Your place is compromised.  So is mine, most likely.”
    He sounded weary.  Defeated.  Two years on the run would do that to any man, even Kelly.
    “I have a couple of possibilities,” I offered.
    Kelly could only nod.

I paid for the razors

140Story - Day 37

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

and ammo cost money.  All the tools you use cost money.  Where does it come from?”
    There was a long silence.  I felt the gun on the back of my skull again.  “You passed Green Street.”
    “I told Theda you wouldn’t steal,” I said.  “But you did it, didn’t you?  How much, Kelly?  What was your price?”
    “You know them,” he replied, a tiny quaver in his usually-strong voice, “Telrik are bad people.  The worst.”
    “That doesn’t make stealing from them okay.”
    He pressed the pistol more firmly against my head.  “Is stealing from a thief wrong?  Or is it poetic justice?”
    I took a deep breath and gripped the wheel tight.  I was going to take a gamble, one that I couldn’t afford to lose.  “If you were gone for two years just because of money... you might

140Story - Day 36

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

the commotion was.
    Truth be told, that wasn’t far wrong.  I was in the dark about so much.
    Kelly was playing a long game, that was clear, but I had no idea what the game actually was.  Missing funds?  Murder in broad daylight?  There were stakes here I was totally unfamiliar with.  I was the dupe.  The pasty.  And I didn’t like it one bit.
    I drove slowly, but not too slowly.  “Theda said you were involved in embezzling.”
    A snort of derision sounded from the back seat.  “I can get as much money as I need any time I need it.”
    “Tell me the truth, Kelly,” I said as I passed Green Street without turning, “how have you been living these past two years?”
    “I’ve been free,” he replied.  “Not tied to anyone else’s agenda.”
    “Apartments cost money.  Guns

140Story - Day 35

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

we moving?” Kelly demanded. I felt the pistol on my skull again.
    “How did you find me?”
    Kelly smiled, the first human emotion I’d seen him display.  “I’ll always know where you are, Lily.”
    “Then you know about Burton.”
    Kelly frowned.  “Hack.”
    “I think he used me to flush you out.”
    Kelly shrugged.  “Of course he did.”
    I waited for him to elaborate, but he seemed content to hold the gun to my head and say nothing even as sirens grew louder and closer.  In a flash, I got it.
    “But you’re ahead of him.”
    The pistol eased away from my head.  “Always.  We need to leave.  Don’t attract attention to yourself.”
    I eased away from the curb just as the first police car screamed past.  I watched it go, pretending I was just another passer-by wondering what all

140Story - Day 34

  I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here daily.  Can I sustain interest?  Will I lose the narrative thread?  Find out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap

lived it.  The constant tension, ready for any threat at any time.  I’d overcome it with difficulty and help.  The kind of help Kelly needed but never got.
    “Did you kill Theda?” I asked.
    “Drive, dammit,” Kelly hissed.
    I didn’t move.  I needed to know.  “She’s dead.”
    “The brunette you were with?  Is that what the gunshot was?  Not me.”  He shook his head.  “Broad daylight... amateurs.”
    I turned the key and Kelly flinched.  “Which way to avoid cops?”
    Kelly cocked his head, listening as the sirens came closer.  “Left on Green, right on Lake, then the second alley.  Back in.”
    I knew roughly where he was taking me.  Close to where I thought he would be, but not exactly.  Kelly was unpredictable, which was why Burton needed me to find him.
    Or... needed Kelly to find me.
    “Why aren’t