Surviving Prague Excerpt 10

The Hollow Man    |     The Hollow Man Series, International Espionage​

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Foaming clouds turned menacing over the narrow street as we emerged from the backside of the alley. A dark rolling mist poured along the cobblestones like tumbleweed. An injured animal’s cry mixed with the shaky breeze. I had stepped into the Twilight Zone.

For an instant I thought the man approaching was Lon Chaney Jr. My head swung behind to see if the old woman still had my back. Honestly the glance was more to make certain she hadn’t transformed into superstition’s demon. She hadn’t; yet.

The man passed with a slight nod to the lady. There was hardly a notice of me. Perhaps not the Twilight Zone after all, I thought. Even so I still watched as he trudged down the block. If he turned around even slightly I’d be sprinting west. Paris would see my smiling face by midnight.

The old woman took my arm and led me in the direction of a makeshift checkpoint at the next cross street. A black automobile sat angled across the cobblestones behind a squad of six soldiers. The team examined credentials as pedestrians funneled through narrow slits bounded by bumpers and brickwork.

A sudden realization sent needles through my body. The old woman was leading me right into Communist hands. Why had I trusted her? Did she really know where Zita was? Had she turned Zita over to the Russians, too? I struggled to get free. The sewer was looking like a better option right now.

A soldier glanced up from a pedestrian’s documents to see the old woman pull me through a shop door thirty meters south of the barricade. His eyes narrowed. He stared until I lost sight of him through the plate glass window.