Getting in Touch with Humanity

I milled among the crowd bustling on the town square. People ambled this way and that, patronizing shops and businesses, oblivious to me. I scanned for suspicious activity and quickly found it. Atop several of the buildings, men in black suits scanned the square below. I wasn’t worried about them. I knew whatever note I left for Kelly, they’d be able to read.

So when I’d written “the town square” on a random scrap of paper, I’d done so knowing it was specific enough for Kelly to find me, but vague enough for my pursuers to be left grasping at shadows.

Which meant, if they were smart, that the men in black suits were not looking for me. They were looking for Kelly.

I hoped Kelly was smart, too. I hoped he would find a way to—

I stopped in my tracks when I saw the electronic traffic sign blocking an adjacent street.

I blinked, looked away, then looked again.

I broke into a run, hitting the Main Street sidewalk on a beeline to the church only a few blocks to the south. The sign winked out the moment I saw the message, but the men in black suits might have seen it.

I never made it to the church.

As I passed a narrow alley, a hand shot out, seized me by the collar, and pulled me inside.