Free The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) by Matthew Sullivan Page A

Cain’s sunglass lenses. Then, out of nowhere, Charlie caught three faint blue sparks of light burst across the right lens like shooting stars.
    Charlie had no idea what the flashes were, but he didn’t need to know to be completely freaked out. He fought against every muscle in his eyelids to keep them from going wide and showing any sign of the panic that was overtaking his body.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Charlie hid behind the family-room curtains, fighting to reclaim the breath that had been scared clean out of him. After what had seemed like the longest thirty seconds of his life, Cain had finally left Charlie and rejoined his boss and partner. But Charlie was certain that Terry and his men weren’t through with him just yet, they were merely deciding what to do with him. They had to do something. As hard as he tried to hide it, he had tipped them off to the fact that he knew something. He knew that made him a liability.
    Charlie took a deep breath, counted to three, and then slowly peeked his head out from behind the cloth curtain. He had expected to find Terry and his men gritting their teeth and pounding their fists into their hands as they stormed back toward the front door. Instead, Charlie barely caught sight of the bumper of Terry’s Bentley before it disappeared down the road.
    Charlie let out a long sigh. He was safe from Terry and his men, if only for the time being. Charlie didn’t know how long that time might last, but he knew that he had to make the most of it. He still had work to do. He still had a contract to translate. He waited a couple minutes before hopping on his bike and heading in the opposite direction of the Bentley.
    ◆ ◆ ◆
    Temple Beth Israel was only a short ride from his house, but it took Charlie much longer than any mapping service might have predicted, on account of his head being on a swivel and all of the detours he made in attempt to drop any unwanted followers. He was also slowed by thoughts of the blue sparks he’d seen shoot across Cain’s sunglass lens. Each time he recalled the bizarre flashes and Cain’s icy stare, he felt an equally icy chill course through every vein in his body.
    Night had fallen by the time Charlie finally arrived at the reform temple, and the service for Simchat Torah, the end of the annual Torah cycle, was still in session. Not wanting to be out in the open, he hid with his bike in some nearby bushes.
    Charlie scanned the surrounding area for anyone or anything suspicious. He saw nothing. He didn’t hear anything, either. In fact, it was so quiet that his own breathing was the only sound he picked up. Against the dead silence, it seemed impossibly loud, like something that could—or would—give him away.
    Charlie was in the process of trying to quiet his breaths when he spotted a man in an all-black sweatsuit approaching from the nearby sidewalk with the biggest Rottweiler Charlie had ever seen. The man had a build identical to that of Terry’s younger bodyguard, and had his sweatshirt hood pulled over his head.
    The man continued towards Charlie before stopping abruptly, no more than forty feet away. His dog let loose a ferocious snarl.
    Charlie couldn’t help but release a nervous yelp in return.
    The hooded man shot a glance in Charlie’s direction. The light of a streetlamp reflected off of his face. His eyes were hidden by the same sunglasses that Terry’s men wore.
    Charlie covered his mouth with his hand as the man reached into his pocket. He was going for his gun, Charlie was sure of it. Charlie closed his eyes and waited for the bang and whatever pain might follow.
    After a couple seconds and no sound other than a little crinkling, Charlie lifted his eyelids. He found the man hunched over, in the process of retrieving the mess his dog had made in the grass with a small plastic baggie. The man’s sweatshirt hood had fallen off and revealed his glasses were actually prescription lenses. Charlie exhaled softly as