Flint and Brent stood on the sidewalk not knowing where to go or what to do. So Brent just kept on glancing at Flint to see if Flint sparked up an idea. Flint was glaring at his phone angrily. The rush of people going passed them, kept on increasing as each minute went by. The streets started to get louder as people drove off to work or off to their duties.
"I think we need to turn right at the turn of this sidewalk." Flint looked up and Brent raised an eyebrow.
"You think? Why can't you be sure?" he demanded. Flint just glared at him, and Brent looked away with a roll of his eyes.
Since kindergarten they had been enemies, and all the way through college. Now Brent was tagging along with Flint as if they had been friends forever. Flint just didn't get it. But for once he was happy to have someone help him find the FLDSMDFR. Everyone else would have yelled at him or just understand. Suddenly he wished Sam was here to help them.
They began to walk again down the sidewalk and turned at the corner just like Flint had said they should. When they turned, there wasn't a street or a road. It was an alley. A dark alley with a dead end. The alley was narrow and had mice and rats scuttling on the ground. But this alley didn't have dumpsters or garbage bins like most alleys did. It was empty, only with a door at the end of the alley.
"It's probably a back door to a restaurant or some store." Brent squinted his eyes at the door. It was covered in rust and had a broken lock on it.
"We should get out of here." Flint turned to head out of the alley. Brent followed him, and as he turned around to follow Flint, the door creaked open and a face peeked out. Brent heard the noise and spun around to see the door closed. He shuddered and they left the alley.
xxxx
Sam Sparks rode in a taxi to work. She still had a headache from all the reporting from yesterday. Today they had a new location to tell the weather. Near the Empire State Building. She really didn't understand the difference from telling the weather in Time Square and on 5th Avenue or near the State Building.
As she stared out the window with a sleepy expression on her face, the taxi stopped at a traffic light. She watched the people on the sidewalk hurry by.
Then she saw… no it couldn't be. She rubbed her eyes and glanced out the window again. Yes it was! There was Flint and Brent talking on the sidewalk. Maybe it could be someone else, but she knew how Flint looked like even from a mile away.
"I'm getting out here!" she told the driver. Quickly she fished out some crumpled dollar bills from her handbag and handed them to the driver. Then she opened the door and managed to slam it as the traffic light turned green. Then she ran across the road, avoiding honking horns and zooming cars.
On the sidewalk she ran toward Flint and Brent. Now she was sure it was them. She grinned at Flint's crazy brown hair.
"Flint! Brent!" she shouted over the voices of other people. They both turned around and looked around to see where the voice was coming from. When Flint saw Sam, his whole face broke out into a big smile. Brent grinned too. She reached them and Flint hugged her tight. As he let go, she asked why they were in NYC. Brent opened his mouth to speak, but Flint kicked him hard. Brent winced and glared at him.
"We are just looking for something." Flint told her. It was half of the truth. He prayed that she wouldn't ask any more questions.
"Oh, ok. Well, I need to get to work. Maybe I'll see you guys after work or at my lunch break." She nodded and then looked down at her watch. Her eyes widened, she said a quick goodbye and hurried down the sidewalk.
"I'll call you, Flint!" she shouted, before the crowd swallowed her and she was out of sight. Flint watched her go. If it rained food today, her weather report will get very interesting…
Now they defiantly didn't know where to go. Flint had thought the alley was the way to the FLDSMDFR, but he had thought wrong. And now Brent was complaining about being hungry. He was mumbling something about not having breakfast and how he hadn't eaten dinner last night either. After pleading for ten minutes, Brent convinced Flint that they should eat something. Flint agreed easily. Had he even drank his coffee that morning?
They stepped into a small corner café; a waitress led them to a tiny table in the middle of the place. They sat down and Flint looked around. There weren't much people in here. Slow music was playing out of a portable radio on the counter.
Flint ordered himself a coffee and Brent got himself a bagel with earl grey tea. The waitress jotted it down and left. Brent was strumming his fingers across the tabletop and looking at the radio on the counter. Meanwhile, Flint was watching a man enter the café. The man was dressed oddly for such a beautiful day. He wore a dark blue trench coat and a matching dark blue trench hat. The collar of the coat was brought up; covering the man's face.
As the man sat down near the window, a waitress came over to him and he ordered something. When the waitress left, the man pulled out the New York Times out of his pocket and began to read it. Quickly, Flint turned away and the waitress brought in his coffee and Brent's tea and bagel.
While Flint sipped his coffee, he felt someone watching him. He looked out of the corner of his eye and turned around ever so slightly. The man in the dark blue trench coat was watching him over the tops of his newspaper. The man was glaring at Flint as if Flint had done something. A shiver ran down Flint's spine and he turned back to his coffee.
"What's wrong?" Brent asked in a whisper.
"The man by the window is watching me." Flint hissed back and they both turned to look at the man. Except the man wasn't watching him. He was reading the newspaper, with the newspaper covering his entire face.
"You're probably just imagining things." Brent whispered a little louder. He finished the last of the bagel and got up.
"I'll just head to the bank next door to convert some of my ChewandSwallow money to American, or else we can't pay for the drinks and food." Brent told Flint and left the café. As he did, Flint saw the waitress appear at the man's table and hand him a coffee too. The man thanked the waitress and reached for his wallet that was inside the trench coat. As he pulled out the wallet, Flint saw a gun strapped to the man's belt under the coat. The waitress didn't seem to see, she just accepted the money and left. Flint's eyes widened and he sipped his coffee some more. The man was watching him, without any newspaper covering his hidden face. Flint turned around so that he saw the man too. Slowly, the man slid his hand inside his coat. Flint knew what he was doing.
At the same time, Brent came in and Flint got up. The man got up too.
"We have to get of here, now." Flint grabbed the money from Brent's hand and slapped it on the table. As they moved toward the door, the man pulled the gun and pointed it straight at them. Gasping, both Flint and Brent pushed the door open and a gunshot was sounded. The same time as the gunshot, Flint slammed the door and they ducked as the bullet ripped through the glass in the door and flew over their heads.
"What the hell?" Brent cried out and they both got up. They stood outside. There was the window, at which the man sat. Now he was gone and the waitress stood at his table; confused.
"Let's go." Flint began to walk the other direction.
"Why that way?" Brent asked, and still tried to catch his breath.
"The back door of the café is that way. The guy might have gotten out that way." Flint replied with anger at the edge of his voice.
"You want to follow that guy who tried to kill us?" Brent gasped.
"Yeah." Was all Flint did was nod. The gears in his head turned. He needed to find the man in the dark blue trench coat. No matter what.