Free Fly With Fire by Frances Randon

it over her as she climbed in. Her feet were soaked. She’d
had to wear the same clothes she was wearing the day before since her room was
still sealed. She was wearing acrobatic flats that did nothing to keep her feet
dry. Zack noticed her shivering and turned on the heat.  He was completely
drenched again. The wipers had a hard time keeping up with the sheets of rain
coming down accompanied by rolls of thunder and shards of lighting. “You must
be used to some pretty bad weather in Montreal. I mean cold, anyway. Lots a
snow.” Zack tried to make conversation as he drove to the hotel. She just
nodded and squeezed her arms more tightly. “I went to Montreal once. Hockey. My
high school team went on a field trip to Montreal. We called it Monty. Stupid I
guess. Beautiful city. I guess I was too young to appreciate it.”
    “That’s funny. You don’t look
like a hockey player. No broken nose. And you seem to have all your teeth.” She
said this blandly and looked ahead with no expression. She was tolerating his
attempt at conversation. Being polite. “Nice weather you’ve got here in the
Midwest. Typical summer storm?”
    “You ain’t seen nothing. What
would really be cool is to be at the top of the John Hancock building watching
this over the lake. Like nothing you’ve ever seen.” He turned into the hotel
parking lot. A valet approached. She hopped out and broke into a run. Zack
threw the valet his keys and said, “Look, dude, gotta run.” He searched his
pocket for a bill as he saw her go through the doors. “Get ya next, time.
Promise.” He threw over his shoulder as he went after her. She was all but
wrapped around Roddy.
    “Thank God, Roddy! What’s
going on? Where’s Linc? Is he okay?” She held on to him like a long lost
father. Zack stood with his hands together behind him. The air conditioning hit
him like an arctic wind. He was wet to the bone and a chill raised bumps on his
skin.  
    “Momo! The police are still
talking to Linc. He is maybe suspect. You? No. I don’t think so or they still
have you. The company arrange for lawyer for Linc so don’t you worry. How are
you, my dear girl? They said you in a room. They say last night I could not
talk to you. They find out you talk to anybody, they take you to question at
the police. It’s okay. It’s okay, don’t cry.” He held his arms around her and
cooed soothingly. Her head was buried in his neck, her whole body shook with
her sobs.
    “Mo! Babeee! What did the
fascists do to you? Oh! In the hands of those monsters!” Claude took her arm
and tried to pull her to him. She clung to Roddy and snatched her arm away. “I
told them what I think about them!” Claude announced with a cock of the walk
look at Zack. Zack felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. He
clenched his fists; let the guy pull at her one more time.
    “Oh, Roddy, how could this
happen to poor Ling?” Mo leaned on Roddy as he guided her to a lobby sofa. “Did
you see Linc? Oh, God, he must be out of his mind!”
    “His cousin is coming from
Cleeevelahnd.” Claude informed her. He sat on the other side of her and took
her hand. He looked up at Zack with curiosity. “And who are you?”
    Zack pulled out his badge.
“Detective Burnham, Chicago Police Department.”
    “Oh.” Claude pushed closer to
Mo.
    “Detective Burnham, from the
mayor! Yes, I remember you.” Roddy unselfconsciously squeezed his arms around
Mo. “You are here to find who kill poor Ling?”
    “No, I’m sorry for your loss
but that’s for the local police. We’ll help however we can. I’m here to protect
Ms. Whitman. Mayor Tyler’s orders.” Zack watched Claude kissing Mo’s hand and
couldn’t help but be annoyed at how obviously Claude was trying to take
advantage of the situation. “Hey, Pal.” He wanted to say. She seemed to not
notice as Claude closed in possessively.
    “Thank you, Detective
Burnham, thank you so much to take care of our precious girl. She is not