Ransom X

  *****

  “You made a mistake with the bartender, but having him cuffed and in custody in the middle of that company might have been disastrous for Laura.” He explained that word would have gotten back to the group – quickly if not instantly through the biker network – and they would have killed Laura. It would have been a flick of the wrist riding down some open road. Legacy concluded his analysis. “I’m not saying this to make you feel better.”

  Wagner breathed a sigh of weary caffeinated acceptance, “I’ll be spending the day here.”

  “You should get another coffee. You’re out.”

  Wagner looked around the mall to see if there were any cameras on her. “How do you do that?”

  “They brought in a specialist to study me once.” Legacy quipped.

  Wagner replied, “I want a copy of the study.” A young man with a push broom walked up to the table and cleared the coffee cup with a polite nod. He’d evidently mistaken her fixation on the cup for impatience at the service. By the time she realized what was going on several moments of silence had passed, and she returned her attention to the conversation. “Sorry, I got distracted, you said you had big news?”

  “I’m proud of you, a lot of good work happens during a distraction. We’ll talk about it when you get back.” Legacy said.

  “My plane gets in around ten, I could be at your place at eleven.” Wagner replied.

  The words came out like a gag reflex, “I – well –” a sweet melody erupted from the over Legacy’s shoulder coming from the speakers of his tape player. Later, Legacy told her that it was a tape by a teenage boy, who’d never been out of an institution. Legacy had been waiting for the clarinet savant to get to this moment for over seventeen hours of total chirping chaos.

  It was like the fleeting blossom of a cactus flower, a moment of transparency in a parched desert. Legacy had gotten a glimpse of a tortured soul buried under so many layers of mania that it took days to find a way to the surface only to leave a fleeting message, which almost no one could decipher. He didn’t miss the irony that he was listening to someone screaming to get out, while throwing up new barriers against anyone attempting to get into his life. An impulse, it must have been a simple impulse in his brain that flowed downhill into stream of words. “I need to clean up the place.”

  “We can work my hours for a change.” She flipped back.

  “I’ve really got to start pulling my weight. You’ve got to go.” Legacy stated bluntly.

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  “Turn in the direction of the receiver is pointed.” Legacy said.

  Wagner’s eyes followed the vector up past her mouth and over her shoulder and came eye to eye with the young server who’d taken her cup just moments before. He had returned with a fresh steaming latte.

  “Now you’re just trying to impress me.” Wagner couldn’t repress a cautious smile of reckless delight.

  “Bye, Wagner.” Legacy hung up the phone.

  The beaming boy from Duluth explained that there were free refills for pretty ladies in this seating section of the food court until 10:07. Wagner let him thing that the smile was for him. He turned red. Maybe it wasn’t that bad of a town after all.