Excerpt from the Philly Murder Mystery Blackout

Excerpt from Blackout


When Steele went back to his booth to talk to Gordon, he noticed a glass of whiskey on
the table. Gordon took a sip, paused, then said to Steele. “You know the tortoise only wins in story books.”

Steele wasn't sure what Gordon met by his remark. He sniffed Gordon’s drink and slid it
back over to him. “I'm off the clock, Mr. Steele. Your friend Sugar Bear tells me I got you
figured all wrong. When I look around your club I see Asians, Whites, Blacks, Hispanics; you
name it. I feel like I am at the UN. If it's not drugs then how do you get all of those people to
get along under the same roof night after night?”

Steele gave him a serious look before answering his question. “Racism is an insult to
God.". “That’s why my club is members only. You look around and see color; I don't. I
just see folks enjoying themselves.”

Steele pointed to a plaque above the small window in the booth that read- ‘Show me a
man who judges me on my race, gender, age, or color and I will show you a fool. The value or
worth of a package is not determined by the wrapping; it’s what’s inside that counts.’

Gordon nodded, “Agreed, you know Mr. Steele there was a time before the
Iraqi war when the doors for the United States law enforcement worldwide would open up with just
a single phone call. Well, I’m sad to say that those days are gone. We are running out of time.
The questions is - are you the hare or the tortoise Mr. Steele?” He gave Steele a curious look and
handed him a twenty. “Keep the change. Goodnight Mr. Steele.” When he looked down at the
bill, Steele noticed that there were numbers written in black ink.

Special Agent Gordon was a lot smarter than he looked. Suddenly all the gibberish from
the past 15 minutes had begun to make sense to Steele. Even the drink was all part of a clever
plan to enlist Steele’s help in preventing destruction, and God only knows what else the terrorists
had planned. It didn't take long for Steele to match the numbers on the bill to one of the phone
numbers from the list that Brenda had given him earlier.