Velvet Roses (Excerpt 1)
As the fog rolled in, Dane stood on the eastern waterfront of San Francisco, gazing out at the view that stretched beyond Pier 7. It was nearing evening, and as the sky gradually darkened, the last bits of the pinkish-purple sunset disappeared.He didn’t like being here. In fact, it gave him a severe case of the willies. But haunted by past events, he found himself unwillingly drawn to this same spot. Seven months had passed since that horrid night, but the recollection of it hadn’t faded in the least. The details were imbedded in his brain, and despite his attempts to erase it from his mind, it seemed he was forever fated to live with the guilt.
The salty, fishy scent of the pier invaded his nostrils, and as night descended, the air grew colder. Glancing down into the deep body of water below him, Dane saw that it was inky black, and as it lightly churned, it made soft slapping noises against the pier.
He eyed the dark water suspiciously, scanning the surface of it to see if there was anything floating around. Common sense told him that it was impossible, yet still he found himself peering expectantly into the bay, fully expecting at any moment for the body to bob accusingly to the surface.
The body.
As the words reverberated in his head, he felt a chill dance along his spine. Seven months had elapsed since that fateful night, and yet still the memories were as sharp as broken glass. He would never forget the loud splash the corpse had made on contact with the water, nor could he ever erase from his mind the image of the dead man sinking like a stone, disappearing into the freezing cold waters of the San Francisco Bay.
It had all been so quick and easy, that Dane still found himself wondering if he’d actually gotten away with it. Clearly he was walking free, but he couldn’t help sometimes wondering if his dark secret would someday be discovered. Continuing to look down into the water below the pier, he found himself wondering how long a body took to decompose.
He knew it would last longer in water than it did on ground, but surely it couldn’t still be intact seven months later. Most likely the flesh had already been eaten away, leaving only the skeleton remaining. Yet even if that were true, that still didn’t mean he was in the clear.
He took in a deep breath, and after slowly releasing it, it clouded in front of him. The winter coat he had on provided a sufficient barrier against the cold weather, but as protected as he was from the external elements, he was completely vulnerable to his tormented thoughts. Leaning his weight against the railing of the pier, he gazed off into the distance. He was trying very hard to push away the negative thoughts, but it was no use, because escape wasn’t an option.
The sky had now grown dark, and as he gazed at the lit up Bay Bridge, he found himself thinking of Cassie, his ex-girlfriend. Ever since leaving Kenichi’s apartment earlier that day, he’d found himself unable to stop wondering about her current whereabouts.
Apart from one other individual, she was the only living person who knew what had gone down that night. For this reason alone, he would always feel some sort of connection to her, and although he no longer had any emotional ties to his ex-lover, he did still care about her welfare.
When he’d first met her two years ago, they’d both been under the employ of Kenichi, who had been, and still was, leading a highly organized crime ring. Along with a team of five other people, they had engaged in a number of cargo theft heists. The goods they’d stolen had been numerous, and ranged from pharmaceuticals and high-tech equipment, to designer handbags.
Still in college at the time, Dane had been suffering from undiagnosed social anxiety, and due to his awkwardness around other people, found that gaining employment in a traditional job was pretty much impossible. This led him to searching for alternative ways of making money, and before very long, he’d found himself entrenched in a life of crime.
He’d promised himself to leave his corrupt occupation behind as soon as he acquired a decent stash of savings, but the flow of easy money had been difficult to walk away from. So like a fool, he’d continued along the same path. After nearly being arrested during a botched heist, Dane made a concrete decision to go straight, and had left the criminal life behind for good.
During his years as a criminal, he’d been steadily working on his premier graphic novel, revising it within an inch of its life until it was perfectly polished and ready to be presented. Then, when he was absolutely certain that it was ready to be sent out into the world, he’d submitted it to several publishing houses, and the rest was, as they say, history.
Two years had now passed since he’d been living the straight life, and although he was ashamed of the fact that he used to make his living by ripping people off, he did learn some very valuable lessons. One was to never let greed rule his life, and two, to not profit by causing someone else pain. He wished he could erase his past, undo all of those heinous and immoral acts he’d committed, but of course that wasn’t possible. The past was set in stone, and that was all there was to it. As his thoughts turned to the earlier part of the day, Dane recalled the conversation he’d had with Kenichi, and found that one particular portion of their dialogue still reverberated in his head.
You see Cassie around lately?
It still seemed strange to Dane that Kenichi had brought her up, especially considering that he hadn’t spoken to her in longer than six months. He had a feeling that Kenichi had purposely mentioned Cassie in hopes of planting a seed in his mind, but what would be the purpose of that?
Clearly he didn’t know, but now that she was on his mind, he was going to satiate his curiosity and give her a call. After retrieving her number from his list of contacts, he pressed the cell phone against his ear, then impatiently waited as the line rang. He counted six times before she picked up, speaking in that slightly husky voice that he remembered so well.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Cassie.”
“Dane?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh wow, it is you. What’s up, how have you been?”
“I’m okay.” He allowed a moment to pass before continuing. “This will probably sound weird, but I’m just calling to see if you’re alright.”
“I’ve been better, but considering the circumstances, I guess I’m doing pretty well. Why, what did you hear?”
“Nothing specific. I ran into Kenichi today, and he asked me if I’d seen you around.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” A moment of silence passed while he waited for her to give a response, but when she didn’t, he continued to speak. “Are you still working for him?”
“No. I quit a few days ago.”
“For good?”
“Yep.”
“And what did he say when you told him you were quitting?”
“I didn’t say anything. I just packed up my stuff and left.”
“What do you mean, packed up?”
“I moved out of his apartment.”
“You and Kenichi were living together?”
“Yeah, we’d been dating for the past few months.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. He didn’t tell you?”
“No. He didn’t mention it at all.”
“Oh.”
An awkward pause stretched between them before Dane spoke. “So that’s why he was asking about you.”
“You didn’t tell him anything, did you?”
“No. What would I tell him?”
“I don’t know.”
Dane watched the fog continue to roll in off the bay, and as a strong gust of wind came along, it whipped his hair around his face.
“If there’s one piece of advice I could give you, It’s to be careful,” he said.
“Of what?”
He remained silent, knowing without a doubt that she was already well aware of what he was alluding to.
