Saturday Night and The Moon is Full

The smoke climbing from the cigarette resting forgotten in the ashtray danced around the blades of the slow ceiling fan like a punch drunk prize fighter ducking the knockout blow. It was another sultry summer Saturday night, and I was soaking through my third shirt. Pity, cause I had let Sally go for the night so I wasn't going to get another. This kinda night always brought a foul mood, and I was drawing the cheap bourbon to add a mean drunk. I picked up the envelope from the top of the pile and chased it with another draw from the hiball glass. It tasted like varnished maple, but it did the trick. Another bill I couldn't pay, another collector I'll have to ignore. I hadn't had a case worth the name in over a year. The hunt wasn't over but the dogs were certainly howling.

She burst through the door like a wrecking ball. She looked like Christmas Eve, all dark mystery and anticipation. She wore a blue satin dress with broad shoulder and a steep scalloped v that highlighted the tops of her breasts and the valley between. her midnight hair hung in a slow curl that framed the pale lustre of her face like the scroll of a fancy violin. Her grey eyes cut though the haze and looked right into me.

"You Nathan Cane?" Her voice was strong and mellow like brandy mixed with honey.

"Who's askin?" It was a dumb question, everybody knew who she was, but like I said I was nursing a mean drunk and I didn't like the way she barged in like she owned the joint.

"Name's Morgan Harper." She said, a little doubt creeping in at the edges of her face.

Good she needs to know who's givin' the orders.

She was the featured chanteuse down at the Top Hat Club and she was making a bit of a name for herself. Word was she had some record boys sniffin' around, but for some reason she never bit. She was as close to famous as anybody got in this neighborhood. She would have done alright just standin' on stage, but she could sing like the angels after a bender so she had star stamped on her passport in bright red.

"Have a seat." She oozed across the space and gathered herself into the chair across the way. She was stunning at the door, across my desk she made it hard to breathe. "What do you need me for?" No one except Sally or the bill collectors ever came through that door unless I could do something for them.

"Mister Cane, I'm in trouble." She blurted, eyes big and round at her sudden confession. The stage queen had just walked out and left a scared girl beggin' for help. She was just about to cry.

"Easy miss, what's you're trouble?" Words I hoped I'd live to regret.

(To be continued...)


Editor's Note: So here's the game people; we're going to write this story together, I need everyone who comes by to add something. A picture, a paragraph, a comic book panel. That's the only way we'll find out what happens to Morgan and Nathan. Submit items through the comments or by the email link on the sidebar.