I will now be posting my novel in progress on this blog. Here is part one.
CHICAGO
Molly October did not have a good feeling about this. She did not know how to pronounce half the things on the menu. And every other thing seemed to have goat cheese in it. Molly was not totally against the idea of goat cheese but she was cautiously suspicious of it.
Coming to this little café/sandwich shop/bookshop, whichever it was, had been her Cousin Charles’ idea. Or to be more accurate his girlfriend Elaine had suggested it and he had agreed it was a good idea.
“Are you guys sure about this place?” Molly asked.
“Yeah,” said Elaine, “This is a really good restaurant.”
“Are you sure this is a restaurant?” said Molly, “Restaurants have waiters. This place has… bookshelves. And why does everything on the menu come with goat cheese? Do they have something against regular cheese from cows? Are there a lot places like this in Chicago? How do they stay in business?”
“Come on relax Molly,” said Charles, “You came out here because you wanted to get away from your work. Just stop asking questions for a minute and enjoy things.”
“Yeah sure,” said Molly halfheartedly.
It was nice seeing Charles but what she really wanted was to get back to work. She wanted to be in her office back in Washington D.C. at FBI headquarters. She wanted her case back. But now Molly was on a forced leave of absence and she could not bring herself to stay in DC and not investigate. So she had flown out here to Chicago to see the only family she felt close to.
“They do pretty good business here,” said Elaine, “They’re on Michigan Avenue and close to Printer’s Row so they get a lot of college students in here. Mostly the vegans and communists.”
Charles and Elaine laughed at this. Whatever the joke was it was lost on Molly. She found Charles and Elaine to be an odd match. Not because he was black and she was white. Molly herself was of biracial decent; her father had been white and her mother black. The odd thing was that Elaine was a skinny pale Goth girl, she had black hair, she dressed in black, and she wore various pieces of metal on her face and fingers. Where Charles, as Molly had always thought of him, Charles was a health conscious academic, he kept his hair cropped very short, he had no tattoos or ornaments of any sort and always seemed to wear something that showed of his muscles. He was not a vegetarian or anything but he did take care of himself and he was very intelligent. It was easy to see why any woman would be attracted to Charles. But Molly had never been sure what he saw in Elaine.
It was then that Molly noticed the first police car through the front window. Its siren was blaring and its lights flashed. It was followed by two more. People began walking in the direction of the police cars. Molly stood up and headed for the door.
“Are you okay?” asked Charles.
“I want to check something out,” said Molly without looking back.
“Where are you going?” asked Elaine.
“Just order whatever, I’ll be back later,” said Molly.
She jogged down Michigan Avenue in the shadow of the buildings only glancing to see if there was oncoming traffic when she crossed a street. There were people gathered a street away from The Art Institute of Chicago. Molly could see a police line and an ambulance along with many police officers telling people to stay back.
“Did something happen at the Art Institute?”
Molly turned around. Charles and Elaine had followed her.
“Oh my gods do you think anyone was hurt?” said Elaine.
Hearing that reminded Molly that Charles had mentioned Elaine was a pagan at some point.
“I’m going to try to get a closer look,” said Molly.
“No you are not,” said Charles, “You warned me not to let you do anything stupid while you were here.”
“I just want to get a better idea of what’s going on.”
“No you want to investigate,” said Charles, “come on its getting late. We should head home.”
“It’s not that late,” said Molly, “Why do you really want to get back to your place? Does it have something to do with the call you got just before you caught up with me?”
“How do you do that?” asked Elaine, “How does she do that? We just got a call from the… from out boss. She needs out help tonight.”
“Then just say so,” said Molly, “and to answer your question, I saw you put your phone in your purse when I turned around and you both seem vaguely nervous. Is your boss really that intimidating? And is it weird living in the same building you work in?”
Molly went with Charles and Elaine back to their building but the whole time she kept looking back towards the Art Institute scene even when it was out of sight and two streets away.
“Are you sure this is a restaurant?” said Molly, “Restaurants have waiters. This place has… bookshelves. And why does everything on the menu come with goat cheese? Do they have something against regular cheese from cows? Are there a lot places like this in Chicago? How do they stay in business?”
“Come on relax Molly,” said Charles, “You came out here because you wanted to get away from your work. Just stop asking questions for a minute and enjoy things.”
“Yeah sure,” said Molly halfheartedly.
It was nice seeing Charles but what she really wanted was to get back to work. She wanted to be in her office back in Washington D.C. at FBI headquarters. She wanted her case back. But now Molly was on a forced leave of absence and she could not bring herself to stay in DC and not investigate. So she had flown out here to Chicago to see the only family she felt close to.
“They do pretty good business here,” said Elaine, “They’re on Michigan Avenue and close to Printer’s Row so they get a lot of college students in here. Mostly the vegans and communists.”
Charles and Elaine laughed at this. Whatever the joke was it was lost on Molly. She found Charles and Elaine to be an odd match. Not because he was black and she was white. Molly herself was of biracial decent; her father had been white and her mother black. The odd thing was that Elaine was a skinny pale Goth girl, she had black hair, she dressed in black, and she wore various pieces of metal on her face and fingers. Where Charles, as Molly had always thought of him, Charles was a health conscious academic, he kept his hair cropped very short, he had no tattoos or ornaments of any sort and always seemed to wear something that showed of his muscles. He was not a vegetarian or anything but he did take care of himself and he was very intelligent. It was easy to see why any woman would be attracted to Charles. But Molly had never been sure what he saw in Elaine.
It was then that Molly noticed the first police car through the front window. Its siren was blaring and its lights flashed. It was followed by two more. People began walking in the direction of the police cars. Molly stood up and headed for the door.
“Are you okay?” asked Charles.
“I want to check something out,” said Molly without looking back.
“Where are you going?” asked Elaine.
“Just order whatever, I’ll be back later,” said Molly.
She jogged down Michigan Avenue in the shadow of the buildings only glancing to see if there was oncoming traffic when she crossed a street. There were people gathered a street away from The Art Institute of Chicago. Molly could see a police line and an ambulance along with many police officers telling people to stay back.
“Did something happen at the Art Institute?”
Molly turned around. Charles and Elaine had followed her.
“Oh my gods do you think anyone was hurt?” said Elaine.
Hearing that reminded Molly that Charles had mentioned Elaine was a pagan at some point.
“I’m going to try to get a closer look,” said Molly.
“No you are not,” said Charles, “You warned me not to let you do anything stupid while you were here.”
“I just want to get a better idea of what’s going on.”
“No you want to investigate,” said Charles, “come on its getting late. We should head home.”
“It’s not that late,” said Molly, “Why do you really want to get back to your place? Does it have something to do with the call you got just before you caught up with me?”
“How do you do that?” asked Elaine, “How does she do that? We just got a call from the… from out boss. She needs out help tonight.”
“Then just say so,” said Molly, “and to answer your question, I saw you put your phone in your purse when I turned around and you both seem vaguely nervous. Is your boss really that intimidating? And is it weird living in the same building you work in?”
Molly went with Charles and Elaine back to their building but the whole time she kept looking back towards the Art Institute scene even when it was out of sight and two streets away.
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