Falling for Heaven (Four Winds) - By Anne Conley Page 0,2

been very careful to make sure that everyone was gone, but they were unable to see Uri.

He watched as Heaven exited the club, kissed an enormous black bouncer on the cheek, and started walking down the street.

Slightly alarmed that she was walking home from a strip club in the early hours of the morning, Uri kept himself invisible as he followed her.

She walked fast, keeping her head down. When she passed a homeless man, sleeping next to a boarded up building, he saw her slip a handful of one-dollar bills into his coat pocket and murmur something to him.

Normally, he should have been able to hear what she said, but his senses must have been frayed from being over-stimulated at the club because what he heard sounded like, “Good luck at the races, Sam.”

Soon she turned a corner, and they were in a nice residential area, where Uri followed Heaven a couple of blocks until she went behind a large house to let herself in over the garage.

Having seen her safely home, Uri stayed and watched the building she had entered. It was separated from the main house by a small yard, but obviously belonged to the large, stately home. They were both built from rust-colored stones with wrought-iron accents. This was a nice area of town, and Uri was a bit surprised to find that she lived in a place like this, even if it was over a garage.

Before he had a chance to leave, she re-emerged from the apartment to let out a miniature dog, who waddled out into the yard to do its business. While she was watching the dog, a police car slowly drove by, and she waved to the driver, who smiled back at her as if they were friends. When the dog was finished, they returned inside.

As the door shut gently behind her, he felt the white-hot heat subside, while the tingly feeling remained, as Uri pictured her face. Heather. The name came to him, as her green eyes and long brown hair resonated in his brain. Still not having an inkling of what his purpose with this target was, Uri felt confident that his work for the evening was finished. Tomorrow he would try talking to her.

Chapter 2 :

Heather grabbed her bicycle out of the garage under her apartment, tucked her Chihuahua Taco into the basket, and set out for her sister’s place, stopping on the way to pick up two cheeseburgers, fries and sodas.

Her sister didn’t live too far away, but the neighborhood deteriorated rapidly as she left the residential area she lived in. When she turned her bike onto the main drag of the commercial district, Heather marveled at the decent dwellings next door to uninhabitable ones. Of course, Tiffany lived in the latter.

She knocked on the door. Then she used her own key to enter the apartment, calling out to her sister.

“Tiffany?” She noticed the bag of food was still in the same spot on the kitchen counter where she'd left it two days ago.

“Tiffany? Where are you?” Heather walked from the kitchen to the living room, Taco’s tiny claws clicking on the floor at her heels. A lump of blankets on the sofa gave away her twin’s location. Heather yanked the blanket off her sister. “Have you left the sofa since I was here last?”

Tiffany shrugged, revealing bony shoulders.

Heather tried not to get angry, but she almost couldn’t help it. She appraised her sister, “You have got to do something about yourself. You know that, right?” Heather grabbed the burger and fries that she’d gotten and started eating, tossing the bag with the remaining food at Tiffany.

“Yeah, Mom. Okay. I get it.”

Heather didn’t respond. Instead, while she ate, she studied her sister. They were identical twins, but you couldn’t tell by looking at them. Not anymore. Tiffany’s addiction to pills and meth had so radically changed her appearance that Heather barely recognized her. Where Heather’s hair was shiny and silky, Tiffany’s was oily, frizzy, and looked like it was coming out in clumps. Her frame was a bag of bones covered in splotchy skin, and her face was a complete mess. She had lost so many teeth that her cheeks were sunken, giving her a skeletal appearance. Heather felt a pang of longing to have her old sister back. Not that she could really remember much about her old sister, she'd been an addict for so long.

“Here’s the deal. I have been paying your rent, because I can afford