Page 24 of Sage

Hans relished the moment, realizing that once again he had the upper hand over Charles. He just needed to ensure that he had some time before there would be a concern that Charles would get to Sage; before he and Marcy had the opportunity to get her out of Marco’s house.

“I’m gonna get to the point, since you seem to be a man of few words.” Charles poked his pointer finger into the table. “I think Sage is hiding out at Marco’s.” He paused for dramatic effect. “And I think you’re helping her.”

If given some time to think, Hans knew that he would be able to concoct the perfect response to Charles’ accusation. However, on the spot, he could feel himself start to panic. It was like Delilah could tell things weren’t going right with their conversation because she magically appeared beside their table, ready to take their orders.

Her distraction was the perfect amount of time for Hans to think. “Don’t you feel like if I was helping her, I wouldn’t have shown up here and I would have been taking the time to find her a new place?”

“That could be true. And while you can be an idiot sometimes, I refuse to believe that you wouldn’t have devised some sort of scheme or brought someone else in to help out with your little sinister ‘fuck Charles over’ plan.”

“What are you even talking about?” Hans was lost in the gibberish that was spouting from Charles’ mouth. The moment he had mentioned Sage, Hans had to fight himself from punching the life from Charles, but he knew he had to remain calm. “What plan is this, exactly?”

“You already know that I’m not going to be able to take over Marco’s old position,” Charles seethed, “and it’s because of that bitch that you’re trying to protect.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hans started to lecture Charles like a child over the list of reasons why he wasn’t eligible to take over Marco’s position.

“While I’m not sure who or what the precinct is looking for,” Hans reassured Charles. “I can tell you a big part of why they didn’t offer the position to you is because of your attitude which has nothing to do with Sage.”

Once again, like clockwork, Delilah walked over to the table, placing a smorgasbord of food in front of the men. Things they had ordered, but also, things that they hadn’t, nor did Hans even know were options on the menu.

I really should branch out and look at the menu more often.

“What is this feast? I didn’t know it was Thanksgiving,” Charles chimed in.

Delilah rolled her eyes at his lackadaisical attempt at cracking a joke. “It just seemed like you boys needed something to break the stress from whatever conversation you’re having over here.” She patted Hans on the back and started picking up dirty dishes from the other now vacant tables.

“Look, I’m gonna know who that car belongs to soon, and once I do I can either say, yes you’re involved, or no, you’re not involved. Unless you want to make my life easier and just admit you are working with her.”

Hans could feel his blood starting to boil. Charles wasn’t going to let this go and it was frustrating him that he had to remain calm under the circumstances. He knew that he was going to need to get to Sage and Marcy and get them out of Charles’ line of sight sooner rather than later.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Hans hoped that his poker face was better than the one time that he had attempted to gamble his life away.

Bzz. Bzz.

Charles looked down at his phone. “Looks like we’re about to have our answers.” He glanced up with a smirk. Hans returned the smile, feeling nervous about what was about to be revealed.

“Okay, uh huh. Alright, thanks. Bye.” Charles hung up and sat back, his eyes like an x-ray examining Hans’ soul. “Well, that was an interesting conversation.” He twisted his neck to the side, the popping sound loud enough to reach Hans’ ear.

“Was it?” Hans braced himself, mentally preparing for the variety of hoops he was about to have to jump through in order to create a believable excuse.

“It turns out that the car that was in the driveway was registered to a Marcy Murphy, a mortician who lives in New York.” He paused. “Now, why do you think a mortician from New York would be at Marco’s house?”

Hans took a moment, sipping his coffee to buy him enough time to choose his words carefully.

“It seems really strange. Was she a relative of his?” It was the perfect question to get a better look into where Charles’ mind was wandering off to.

“No, but I’m going to look a bit deeper into this.” Charles took a gulp of his orange juice and stood up. “I need to get back to the office.” He adjusted his pants, pulling them up and smoothing his shirt out. “Delilah, it was amazing as always. Thank you.” He waved to her as he left the diner.

Hans sat and watched Charles get in his car and drive off until his tail-lights disappeared. He finished his coffee and then reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out his wallet; glancing around to see if Delilah was paying attention before tossing a couple of bills down on the table to cover the cost of the meal and a tip.

As he stepped out of The Shake Shack, he dialed Marcy’s number to let her know that Charles was hot on her trail and that he was unsure how long they would have before he would show back up at Marco’s.

Chapter Seventeen

Something's Not Right

Hans made it back to his apartment, concerned that he had yet to hear back from Marcy. Where is she? He tried to convince himself that everything was fine, but his gut was telling him that something was off. What was it though?

Bzz. Bzz.

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