PIER 20
The moon's glow fills the surface
of King's Bay, slinking over the water like melting butter. It mingles
with more intrusive reflections, those of the lights from the buildings
that surround the bay. The sheer amount of lights make it quite clear that
the city is alive and hopping for New Year's Eve.
Surprisingly little of this light
is spilling over onto the pier. It sits shrouded in the night's darkness,
shadows flung carelessly here and there. And even though the rest of King's
Bay seems to be very much alive, the pier feels somehow removed from all
that.
Tim cannot help being careful about
how heavily he puts his feet down, although he is well aware that caution
is probably in his best interests. He does not even realize how tightly
he is holding his breath until he is able to stop creeping and take cover
beside a wall and behind a number of barrels.
He turns back to Andy.
"Are you starting
to get nervous?" he asks, his voice hushed.
"I have been since I left to meet
you," Andy answers. "This feels like something out of a movie, doesn't
it?"
"Yeah ... although I've been in some
pretty bizarre situations, I must say. Sometimes I think my whole life
feels like a movie."
"I don't think that's a good thing."
"Probably not."
The men duck behind the barrels,
crouching more than enough to be sure that they cannot be seen from the
pier itself. Tim immediately notes how uncomfortable the position is, and
he cannot help but wonder how he can hold such a pose for however long
this is going to take.
He doesn't have much time to worry
about it. He and Andy both watch as two men, dressed in what appear to
be fine suits, stroll out onto the pier. Neither is doing anything particularly
threatening, yet they somehow manage to appear quite menacing.
The men stand together for a few
seconds before one begins pacing. Each of them casts a few casual glances
around and then at his watch. This seems to Tim to go on forever, though
he is too wary of being discovered to risk even a look at his watch.
Finally the one who is pacing stops
beside the other. "Where is this guy?" he wonders.
"I hope he's not tryin' to stand
us up," says the other. "'Cuz that would not be the smartest move."
The first man shakes his head disapprovingly.
"I hope -- for his sake -- he decides to show up," he says after a long
pause.
Andy shoots Tim a confused look.
Tim replies with a mini-shrug, too nervous to express fully all the questions
that are darting around in his head right now.
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