TNT ... Chicago 13
1 He had only made the trip just once before, so there was still something that made him pause when he got to the Skyway bridge.
2 That pause wasn't just because he had to wait in line with all the other cars. 3 Truth be told, he was a little perturbed that there *was* a long line, what with the holiday. 4 It made complete business sense to him that there should have been MORE employees in the booths what with the extra holiday traffic that anyone could have predicted.would be making its way to Chicago for the New Year Eve's celebrations. 5 If he were in charge, he would have staffed every single little hut ... and he would have fired anyone who begged off. 6 Then again, he was a little ruthless when it came to business matters.
7 There would be time to rest the day after the holiday ... and there would be others waiting in line for the jobs of those who couldn't perform as he expected them to.
8 He counted five cars ahead of him in line.
9 As he waited, his frustration turned to anger, and he let his mind wander into the hypothetical world where he was the boss. 10 He imagined those he would let go, and he pictured the scene in his office where he'd line them up in a row, walking down the firing line and taking the action that he knew no other could take.
11 Four cars to go.
12 The crying wouldn't bother him. 13 The pleading wouldn't sway him. 14 The begging wouldn't affect him. 15 There would have to be sacrifices for the greater good.
16 Three cars to go. 17 Two cars to go. 18 One car to go.
19 It was his turn to pull up on to the booth. 20 He pressed the button and the window retracted automatically as the toll worker came into view. 21 All of the venom and vitriol that had worked its way to his surface dissipated instantly. 22 He looked into the eyes of the young lady who was holding out her hand and he saw *her* pain.
23 He put the bills and the coins into that hand and he grasped onto it firmly. 24 "Peace and blessings to you," he said, holding it a little longer than her comfort level allowed.
25 "Sure. You too," she replied with a bit of a bite, as she withdrew her hand hastily, being certain to avoid eye contact with the young man with the dark beard in the car acting creepy.
26 Mo realized that there was no opportunity for a moment of ministry.available to him in the toll booth line. 27 He pushed the button to roll up the window to protect him from the biting cold of a Chicago winter's night, and he drove on.
28 Checking the app on his cell phone, he couldn't believe his luck that both of the individuals he was tracking were at the same location. 29 He thanked the pillar in front of the mosque on Stony Island for his good fortune, attributing it to divine intervention of a sort, and he continued all the way to Lake Shore Drive -- past the convention center ... past downtown ... around the curve and into the northside ... pulling off where the app told him too.
30 He got out of his car and walked through the park in the darkness until a pier came into view. 31 A pier ... and two individuals who looked to be having a clandestine meeting.
