Read Excerpts
Prologue
The celluloid strips were carefully, almost reverently, wound around braided silver wire. The leather gloves made the effort tedious and at times clumsy, an exercise in patience. The gloom was punctuated with intermittent curses when the marriage of wire and film began unraveling, only to be tightened yet again.
A pale glow shed by the desktop lamp threw shadowy images on the hardwood floor from time to time as the negatives passed under the narrow umbrella of light. Indistinguishable human forms scarcely moved from frame to frame, dancing colors blurring as the gloves sped through their task. The lure of the wire’s impending use evoked a venomous pleasure accompanied by a continuous mantra – sensa una traca…without a trace…sensa una traca. A crooked smile crossed the laborer’s face when the now intertwined wire and film strand was drawn taut between the leather-covered hands.
Chapter 1
The scent of polished leather wafted through the screening room but couldn’t overpower the pungent haze lingering like a fog. A thin trail of gray rising from beside one of the armchairs momentarily mushroomed as a cigar was extinguished, the cloud gradually dissolving into the murky air. The room was well lit from the spillover of light from the movie screen, placing its occupants in smoky bas relief against the whitewashed perimeter. Occasional whispers of conversation were interspersed with an unpolished soundtrack emanating from an elaborate surround sound system. Within their leather cocoons, the room’s occupants displayed varying degrees of boredom, casual attentiveness and a sense of knowing anticipation as the film rolled.
…the man swung his leg over the Harley’s gas tank and bolted toward the screen door of the house, his shoulder length brown hair unwinding in the breeze as the door burst open to reveal a raven-haired visage. As she committed herself to his arms and tilted her face to meet his, their images acquired a dreamlike state, stretching the moments to minutes. When she briefly pulled back from him, the full force of her allure was breathtakingly evident. The carefully styled locks, silken but tanned complexion, and pouty lips that spoke of innocence tempered by experience; the youthful face that graced magazine covers and movies alike, and the beckoning blue eyes…the man could only gaze at her for several moments, appreciating her remarkable birthright, then lean to kiss her again…
Chapter 2 & 3
Progressing at a constant if leisurely pace, the solitary jogger slowly made his way around the slate green track, the white lines neatly arranged ribbons leading nowhere. The building’s windows looked out toward the Hudson River amid a myriad of skyscrapers, a view that made exercising only slightly more tolerable. He gave a thought to heading off to the showers, but guilty recollections of last evening’s chocolate truffle cake led to a silent commitment for another lap or two. As he passed the locker doors, one swung out to admit another jogger who rapidly caught up to the first. The new entrant raised a bandaged hand in salute as he slowed to match the pace of the elder jogger.
“Aaron, what are you doing out here after hours? I thought you caught the four o’clock out of the city to beat the rush,” he said. “Besides, since when did you get interested in running on the job - I figured you folks in event security had enough of chasing after your charges to last a lifetime.” The last line was delivered with a wry smile as the younger man picked up his speed to a more competitive tempo.