Christopher

I got petrified with the screech which I heard from the other side of the call. The call dropped abruptly. Everything was alarming that something dreadful must have happened to Michelle. Getting hold of myself seemed to be an arduous task. I can’t stay cool till I reach out to Michelle, but it's never gonna be a walk in the park. How could I track her in a place totally strange to me? Those unknown numbers could help me to sniff out something worthwhile. But to my dismay, I couldn't spot anything. The last four digits of both the calls were different. I was feeling edgy, and my jittering was quite noticeable. My conscience was signaling me towards the La Grange City Hall. Clutching on Klein’s arm, I said,

“I guess we should visit the city hall. Somehow I strongly sense that we could deduce something from there. Abruptly an innocent faced guy with an infectious smile came to us to serve us coffee. As he was handing over the cups he said,

“Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't resist myself. I heard you guys talk about the city hall. If you want I could take you there. I own a cab and I do a part time cab service too.”

He peeped into our conversation at a very wrong time. I was not in a mood to entertain any sort of entrepreneurship. And moreover, his meddling agitated me. I maintained my cool as I could sense him as a ray of hope at the darkest hour. Smirking at him, I asked,

“So you might be quite familiar with the whole town right? What's your good name?”

I gestured at Klein and he read what was going on in my mind. Grinning at me, the waiter said,

“ I'm Christopher, and you can call me Chris. Yep, I know every nook and corner of this town. Anyone new in town will be totally safe with me.”

Christopher was blabbering consistently for five more minutes, but his words caught my attention. I asked,

“ So how come you know we are new to this town?”

Christopher chuckled and said, “I've been working here for five years and I ride a cab. Do you really think it's that hard for me?”

Boom! Finally got when I needed my source of information. I gestured Klein with my eyes to keep the conversation going client immediately responded to my cue and said,

“I guess now it's sorted. We will wait for you until you get finished.”

Christopher amazed us with his generous offer.

“Don't worry about the stay, I will arrange it in a nearby motel. You both could freshen up.”

His courteous question made me think whether he has any psychic abilities. There is no better choice than him for us there, in the current scenario. Christopher was an enthusiastic guy than I envisioned him to be. Meeting him was much the same as getting hold of a roadmap. Through Him we got easily into the nearby motel. We waited for him there till he got done with his shift. I felt guilty for exploiting his innocence but I was left with no choice.

After three hours, Klein and I went back to the cafe. Christopher waved at us and gesture to us to wait for him outside the cafe. He came out changing his waiter costume to a more casual attire. Without delaying much we started our journey. As the car proceeded further, Christopher started rambling about the year-old history of the town. His chatter was infuriating me as I was least interested in the topic. To deviate his focus from the topic I said,

“You do have a photographic memory. It means you can recollect any face or people once you meet them right?”

Klein gazed at me with uncertainty. Neglecting him I carried on with my query session, “Christopher, in the past few days, do you recall bringing someone to the grain City Hall?”

Christopher stared at me for a while. His gaze alerted me that I should be cautious of what I give out. Smirking at him, I started to weave out my well-tailored fiction, “Let me be very frank with you Christopher. The reason I am here is because of a girl.”

Listening to my words, Klein looked at me startled. Noticing his body language, I gestured to stay calm. I continued, “but she is my girlfriend and today is her birthday. I wanted to make her birthday extra special by proposing to her today.”

Pointing at Klein, I said, “This is her brother. So we both planned to surprise her by coming here, but as it's a surprise. We couldn't announce our arrival.”

Christopher bought it and his smile was proof of it. In a moment he stopped smiling and asked hesitantly, “But what is she doing in City Hall? And how did you know that she would be there?”

Oh, he caught me. I didn't expect this question from Christopher. Quickly Klein acted as a savior for me to cover up. He said,

“She's a historian by profession and she came here for a project. Yesterday she mentioned this place on the phone so it's just a wild guess. She is very shrewd and could sniff the plans effortlessly if I asked her for more details.”

I passed a smile at Klein as a thankful gesture. Hesitantly, Christopher said,

“ I do remember taking someone to city hall and I do remember riding for a very gorgeous lady two days back, but I'm not quite sure whether that's the same girl you're looking for. Do you have any of her snaps?”

Straightaway, I took my phone and opened my phone gallery to show Michelle's pics to Christopher. I extended my phone to Christopher to show her pics. Unexpectedly Klein shouted, “Christopher!”

Klein’s scream scared the shift out of us both and Christopher lost his control over the steering wheel. My phone flew out of the window. Christopher somehow managed to pull back the cab. It was a narrow escape. For a brief moment I stared death in the face. What shocked me more was Klein’s act of shooting video in such a panic situation. I yelled at him,

“What the hell are you doing?”

Klein continued to shoot with his camera not affected by my loud cry. Christopher looked furious that he started to shout at Klein, “But are you out of your mind? You could have killed us all. What's wrong with you? What were you thinking?”

Nonchalantly, Klein replied, “Why are you both yelling at me? Rather you both should thank me for saving us from the charges of murder.”

Both Christopher and I looked at each other perplexed. Reluctantly Klein asked, “Were you both blind and did not see that lady in the middle of the road? The cab could have hit her.”

I looked around bewildered. But I couldn't trace any lady nor did Christopher or Klein.