Free Breakdown: Season One by Jordon Quattlebaum Page B

a life on the streets possible, and a bit more comfortable.”
    Thom nodded. It made perfect sense. “Gotcha.”
    “After crossing, we’ll need to head over to the I-35 branch. We can stay off of the main road as much as we can, but it shouldn’t be too bad today. Still early, so I’m guessing a lot of the rougher elements are sleepin’. Need to cut through the train yard here. You good?”
    Thom nodded.
    “Good. We meet up with any of my folk, you let me do the talking. Got it?”
    “Got it.”
    The bridge passed quickly, and they were on the north bank of the river in just a few short minutes. The two men cut right, leaving the road to head northeast through the rail yard.

Chapter 8 – Rescued

    Linus’ mouth was dry, and his body hurt badly. He opened his eyes for a moment and saw a beautiful woman cutting away his suit. She was gorgeous. Caramel skin, thick rosebud lips, light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a white short-sleeve button-up with a pale yellow camisole underneath and a tight pair of jeans.
    His eyes fluttered open again and rested on his nurse’s nicely developed…personality.
    Nearby, a large man cleared his throat. Busted.
    “You’re a lucky man, Linus, to cheat death the way you did. Not everyone gets to survive a plane crash.” The large man took a step so that he was right next to the makeshift gurney.
    “My name’s John, and this beautiful nurse is my wife, Talia. Don’t get any ideas.” Despite the kindness in his voice, there was a flash of warning in his eyes, and he certainly wasn’t smiling.
    Talia continued removing the suit fibers and noted that Linus was wearing one of those fanny packs designed to be worn under your clothing to hide valuables while traveling.
    “Linus, I’m going to help remove this pack so I can get a better assessment of your injuries. It’s important we clean them properly. With our current situation, an infection could be very, very bad. Do you understand?”
    She scooped her hand down and unclasped the pack, and Linus began to protest, “No, don’t, I’ve got it!” and slapped her hands away.
    John was there in an instant, pinning Linus’ arms to the table with an iron grip. Linus let out a shriek of pain, his hands being one of the areas that were burned worse than others.
    Arching his back, Linus tried to knock John’s hands away, and during the scuffle the fanny pack was knocked to the ground.
    “ John !” shouted Talia. “Thank you, John, but I could have handled that. Can’t you see you’ve hurt this man?”
    John looked crestfallen as he let go of the man’s arms. “He was attacking you, Talia. We have to be careful with strangers now. Especially now.”
    Talia bent down to retrieve the pack, and Linus’ eyes couldn’t help but use the opportunity to try and peek down the nurse’s shirt. John noticed, and he growled.
    Talia picked up the pack from the ground and lifted it. She gasped as the contents spilled across the concrete floor: stacks of neatly bundled twenty-dollar bills.
    John’s eyes flicked from the money to the man on the table, his police instincts quickly drawing conclusions between the man’s behavior and the contents of the pack.
    “Why so much cash, Linus?”
    Sweat beaded on the man’s brow.
    “I…I was moving to another country. I didn’t know what the infrastructure would be like, so I thought I’d bring cash to pay for a home.”
    John eyed him skeptically.
    “How’d you manage to earn that kind of money? You can’t be a day older than 30.”
    “Professional poker player,” he lied. He was a good player. Good enough to win at the casino most times he played, but not good enough for the big boys in Vegas.
    “Not a great bluff there, Linus.”
    John was big. He was scary. Linus smiled weakly, trying to disarm the situation, and, thankfully, Talia stepped in.
    “How’re you feeling, Linus?”
    “I’m doing alright, all things considered. Hurts like the devil, though.”
    Talia