Excerpt: Greed

Mark sat at the table, drumming his fingers as his eyes glanced to the clock for the thousandth time. Megan was late again, as usual. He motioned to the waitress, indicating another cup of coffee was desired. As he watched her pour the dark liquid, the bell above the diner door dinged, causing his head to snap to attention. There she finally stood, her golden blond hair moving with the slightest turn of her head. Her pale complexion was flawless, nearly seeming transparent against the dark outfit she wore. Her eyes resembled a velvety chocolate color, but he noted the worry they seemed to suddenly hold. this caused him to pay more attention to her body language now. Their eyes finally locked, but he realized this was doing little to ease the tension in her shoulders. He motioned for her to join him, pointing to the seat across from him. He watched her quickly make her way over, not apologizing when she nearly knocked over the waiter.

She tossed her purse upon the table, rubbing her face in her hands.

"A little dramatic aren't we this morning?" Mark asked, as smug smile playing the corners of his lips. He tried to ease his twin sister's frustration.

"Oh, shut up," she barked, finally pulling her hands away. "Your damn jokes are the last thing I need at the moment."

"Sorry," he said in a defeated tone. "I just thought..."

"Well, you thought wrong." she sat back, beaconing for the waitress. "I didn't ask you here to crack jokes. I have a serious problem."

"Well, I guessed that much, seeing as how you never call me even to say hi." He took a sip of his coffee while she placed her order. When the waitress was gone, he turned his attention back to her. "So, what's the dire need that couldn't have waited till about noon?"

Megan stirred the sugar, pouring more in before finally pulling out her cell phone and handing it to him.

"I received this text message last night. Somebody knows about the charges pressed against me, Mark."

He read through it, not sure he completely understood.

"What charges?"

She slammed the mug down, coming closer to him. Megan seemed oblivious to the people staring at her now.

"Don't you fucking read the papers or watch the nightly news? I'm wanted on charges of embezzling money; money I never touched. Someone gained access to my bank account and has been transferring millions upon millions in there," she paused, taking a deep breath. "Mark, you have to help me clear my name."

Mark eyed his sister.

"Okay, let me get this straight. Somebody you say gained access to your bank account, but you didn't give anyone the numbers nor permission to access, and now this person is transferring millions and millions of dollars to your account without your knowledge." he thought a moment. " You do realize how this sounds?"

"Yes, i realize this." she sat back again. "It's not like i expected you to believe me."

Mark sighed. He knew this sounded bad. He didn't need twenty plus years of police training to be able to sense that, but she was his sister... his twin for pete's sakes; he at least owed her that much.

"Look, it's not that i don't believe you. I mean how could you send yourself a threatening text message. I'm just trying to understand how you couldn't know after the first transaction that something was wrong." Mark regarded her solemnly.

"I can't answer that," she began. "Look, this was a mistake; i shouldn't have involved you." With that she threw the money for her drink down on the table, then left before he could say anything else.

He watched as she stormed out of the cafe, then glanced down at his own hands. He should have been more sympathetic to her, should have shown her that he believed in her. he looked to his left realizing she had left her cell phone behind. Paying the bill, he ran to catch up to her. He caught a glimpse of her, standing at the street corner, and quickened his pace to catch up. Just as he was about to call out her name, she stepped into the street. The next few seconds were the most horrifying for him as he heard the sound of screeching tires, and then her piercing scream suddenly being cut short. As he neared the place where she laid, he knew she was dead; ran completely over by a compact car. He bolted to her side, picking her lifeless body up, and cradling her in his arms. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he called out her name, tried to convince himself she wasn't dead but just knocked unconscious. A passerby called for help, and within minutes he could hear the faint sound of sirens in the background. Guilt rattled his body, as he sat there rocking her back and forth.

***
Mark sat on the curb, watching as the coroner's office loaded her body into the back of the meat wagon. He answered the uniform officer's questions as much as he could, leaving out the part about the embezzlement charges and her fears that this would happen.

"You okay?" a female voice asked from behind.

Mark turned to see his partner, Abby, standing there.

"Yeah, about as good as can be expected," he replied in a choked voice.

"Look, I'm sorry about Megan," Abby began, glancing towards the scene. "I know how much she meant to you."

"Yeah, well," he started to say but his cell phone rang. Pulling it from his jacket pocket he cringed when he saw "mom" on the screen. "Great, wonder how she found out so quick. Excuse me a moment." He got up, flipping the phone open.

Abby watched him, her heart breaking at the site of his sorrow torn face. she followed him till he had disappeared around the corner, then made her way towards the coroner driver.