Running

Prologue

~Washington, DC, October 29, 2019, 3:47 PM~

"Hurry up, Connor! Or the bus is gonna leave you behind!"

"I'm coming! Just make him wait a few seconds!" Connor said as he finished tying his shoes.

The Kinsmen's junior class had been on a school trip to the Washington Memorial Museum for the day, and when it was time to leave, Connor, like always, had been found wandering the hallways, instead of packing his stuff, like the rest of the class. Ollie, the security guard and a good friend of his dad, had hauled him out of the exhibition area and told him to hurry up or he was gonna have to walk home.

Again.

Connor stood up and shouldered his bag before racing toward his bus. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw something in a nearby alley that made him slow down.

Inside, a tall man stood, arms crossed, behind a fancy-looking lady. They appeared to be talking, even though the lady wasn't facing him.

She was looking at the bruised woman on the floor.

Connor silently moved forward, using the dumpster's bulk to hide his large frame and listened as their conversation drifted toward him.

"You shouldn't have stuck your nose in somebody else's business." The lady hissed.

Connor tried to get a good look at her, but the lady was turned away from him.

"This is not 'somebody else's business.'" The young woman on the floor snapped. "This is the city's business, the country's business. What you are doing is a crime and you're not getting away with it!"

"Oh, but my darling girl," the lady scolded with a sickly sweet smile. "I'm getting away with it. You, on the other hand, won't make it out of this alley."

She turned and extended her hand toward the man, who had stayed quiet during the whole interchange. The man opened his coat and took out a gun, placing it on the lady's hand. That's when Connor finally got a good look at them, and his eyes went wide.

It was congresswoman Lena Adler.

He had seen the congresswoman at a press conference the other day and her words and passion had inspired him to be better. But now, she didn't look anything like the passionate woman who stood up for her country.

Adler turned to the young woman; gun raised and before Connor could even blink, she fired.

Connor gave a strangled shout and fell backward when he saw the bullet go through right between the woman's eyes. Dragging his trembling hand through his hair, he took his phone out of his back pocket and dialed 911, as Adler the gun back to the man and wiped her hands down with a rag.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I want to report a crime," Connor whispered, never taking his eyes off the two killers, as he slowly moved backward. "I just saw someone get murdered."

"Please tell me your location." The woman on the line said with a little urgency.

"I'm in the alley near the Washington Memorial Museum." He explained in a whisper. "The one between the bakery and Garcia's Law Firm."

"Okay honey, I'm sending backup toward you right now, but I need you to do me a favor. Get out of there without someone noticing you, all right? Think you can do that for me?"

"I can try."

"Good. Now, what's your name, sweetie?"

"Connor." He was almost out of the alley now. "Connor Garrison."

"All right, Connor. You just wait..."

Connor stumbled, with what was possible a can of soup, and fell to the floor, barely hanging onto his phone. When he looked up, his hands started quivering with dread.

Adler and the man were looking directly at him.

"Connor. Connor!" The woman on the line called urgently. "Run, Connor! Get away from there!"

And that's exactly what he did.

He ran.