The Hazing Tower Read Free Page A

gone.
    “Nikki, what’s happening up there? He inside? We lost your secondary radio.”
    “He jumped! Damn it, Eric! He jumped!”
    “Nikki, come back? No one jumped. We are clear down here. You said he is ESU— Nikki, copy?”

    She sat down and pushed herself against the wall. She rubbed her eye where she had been punched, just like he said. She wiped the tears off her face and waited for her team. Her mind was like a blinding white snowstorm. And she was lost inside it.
    • • •

Café de Flore
    Alex walked to Café de Flore and took his regular seat. A hot cup of coffee awaited him.
    How could he be such a fool? He was an idiot, plain and simple. He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long. When he saw her, it was the same. The rush, the pain, the emotions. So strong, overwhelming. He still loved her so deeply.
    She sat across from him without saying a word.
    “Rebecca.”
    “Alexander.”
    “So this was all a set up. Another one of their sick games?” he asked.
    She sighed and checked her makeup. “Poor Alex. You’re just too good for this world. With all your honor and duty. Won’t you ever learn? Even after all these years?”
    “Is her name really Nikki? She has it?”
    “She gave you her real name then. See, you still have it, that charm, you never did lose that. I guess you never will. Maybe you can be lovers? The two of you.”
    “Stop it, Rebecca. It’s not funny anymore.”
    She looked more serious now and turned to him with focus. “You still love me, don’t you?”
    He didn’t say anything. He did love her, even after everything. Decades later. He still did.
    “Well, I would do it myself, but you know how that turned out the last time. I don’t have the skills like you. You always had a way with it. I guess I got lucky with you.”
    “Maybe she wants to die. We don’t know her. Maybe she is ready. We are not gods, Rebecca.”
    She tossed a file folder across the table.
    “Read up. That’s her life. Everything. Sad actually. She hasn’t had a good time of it so far. You know that can all change. It’s all in there, medical records; she is one of us, Alex. Think about it. How often does this chance come around?”
    “What makes you think I will do this?”
    “We both know you will. Remember, I know you— honor, love, romance. It’s who you are, Alex. Don’t run from yourself now.”
    He looked at her. She was so beautiful. He wanted so badly to look away. She still had him, he was putty in her hands.
    “Where have you been?”
    “Everywhere. Paris. Rome. The world. I was even a teacher for some time. I suppose you have been here the last 70 years. You waste it you know. This gift .”
    “Maybe I don’t think it’s a gift.”
    She smiled. He was still mesmerized by her smile, it was like nothing had changed.
    “Do you remember Paris in the springtime? Making love under the full moon. The spring air like dancing flowers.”
    He hesitated. The one place they had not been was Paris. They had planned on it before she left him.
    She took his hand softly. He felt that same electricity, the connection. It reminded all his senses of just how much he missed her.
    “I remember,” she said quietly, almost as a whisper. “Don’t waste it, Alex.” She started to leave. “I hope it goes well with Nikki.”
    He wanted to beg her to stay, say anything, something that would make her understand that he couldn’t live without her another day. Nothing came out. He just sat there and watched her walk away. Just like she had walked away 70 years ago. Gone.

    His coffee was refilled as he opened the file.
    Nikki Edmanton— 29 years old— one of the youngest and best ESU officers... Rebecca hadn’t lied. Her life had sucked. Parents died in a car accident when she was 10. Relatives didn’t want her, grew up in foster care. Medical records... she had it— almost one in a billion— the genetic disease was killing her; two months maybe. The pain must be unbearable. He remembered the pain. He