Authors: Ryne Douglas Pearson
Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #General, #Suspense & Thrillers
Top Ten (34 page)
“Teddy!” someone called, and he looked back the way he’d come, expecting to see a reporter or a lawyer or someone telling him he’d left his wallet at the courthouse. But he did not see anyone like that. Instead he saw Ariel.
She jogged between cars on Peachtree and met him on the sidewalk.
“I missed you back at the courthouse,” she said to him, smiling. It had been almost four months since they’d last seen each other in the Piper as the night tried to suck them out. They’d shared some interminably uncertain moments there, and a few hours after that until rescue crews in radiation suits arrived, but there had been too much going on. Too many things with too many people. Father. Officials. Their time had been emotional and brief.
Very brief.
Too brief.
“The trial broke early,” Teddy told her, his shaved ice held between them. “I heard you’re in Albany now.”
Ariel nodded. “The SAC there requested me. Go figure.”
“Not hard to figure,” Teddy said.
Ariel reached up and brushed some hair from his forehead. “You need a trim.”
“You in the business now? Second career?”
She shook her head and he offered her his shaved ice. She took a taste and wiped her chin. “What are your plans, Teddy?”
“Me? A court date here, a court date there. Some time off. I don’t know. I’m still getting used to being me.”
She smiled at that and wondered if anyone other than him could comprehend what that really meant. “Are you still flying?”
“I can’t stop doing that.”
“You ever think you might fly up Albany way?” she asked and invited him concurrently.
He shrugged. “Right now, Ariel, I just kind of want to walk. Do you know what I mean?”
She thought so. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
She passed back his shaved ice and he took some, then he passed it to her. They shared it all the way up Peachtree.
About The Author
Ryne Pearson is the author of several novels, including
Cloudburst
,
October’s Ghost
,
Capitol Punishment
,
Simple Simon
,
Top Ten
,
The Donzerly Light
,
All For One
, and
Confessions
. He is also author of the short story collection,
Dark and Darker
. His novel
Simple Simon
was made into the film
Mercury Rising
. As a screenwriter he has worked on numerous films. The film
Knowing
, based on his original script, was released in 2009 and opened #1 at the box office, going on to gross more than $180 million worldwide.
He lives in California with his wife, children, a Doberman Shepherd and a Beagle Vizsla.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents