The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle Read Online Free PDF Page B

like those sirens have been going all day,
he thought as he waited for a bus to drive by. All morning he could hear police
and ambulance sirens moving past the office building where he worked as a web
designer.
    When he arrived at work that morning, the large video wall
displayed breaking news on CNN instead of the animated agency logo. His
colleagues gathered around, captivated by stories of the air catastrophes that
had occurred in some of the larger cities on the east coast. Dozens of planes
had crashed in New York, Boston, Charlotte, and even one at Pittsburgh. He
remembered hearing something about the crash at Pittsburgh International this morning
on the local news before he headed for work. He rushed to get ready for work
and only caught bits and pieces of the story as he drifted in and out of the
room.
    The staff glued themselves to the news for most of the day.
Nate had went to his desk to try to get some work done, since he was well
behind schedule on one of his bigger projects. Although his intentions were
good, he wasn't able to get anything done. Instead, he just sat and stared at
the twenty-seven inch Mac on his desk and thought about the horrible news that
CNN, and now his co-workers, regurgitated.
    Already the media placed the events in the same echelon as
Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and had dominated all the social networks. The news
bombarded citizens with coverage of the crashes and the many riots that
continued throughout Europe. That's another thing he didn't quite get. A couple
days ago, news broke of riots in Russia, Paris, Munich, London, and several
other cities in Europe and Asia.
    Conspiracy theorists were already hard at work trying to
convince the populace that every terrorist sleeper cell in the world had
activated. They claimed it was in retaliation for the various “freedom”
missions that the U.S. were waging. The plausibility of that was dubious at
best. With similar reports surfacing about disturbances along the east coast of
the U.S., Nathan started to wonder if the conspiracy nuts were all that crazy
after all.
    He finally reached Grant Street, stopped to look both ways
and darted across the four lanes before the walk signal gave him the go. Sirens
blared throughout town as well as across the three rivers encircling downtown
proper. A smell wafted towards him and enveloped him in a warm, soothing
embrace; drowning out the sirens. Hot dogs.
    The hot dog stand stood within a large nook in the wide
sidewalk across from the Omni-William Penn Hotel. A large awning extended out
and allowed a little shelter while patrons waited for the best dogs in the
'Burgh. The depressing news that flooded the media hadn't put a damper on
anyone's appetite, as the line was now about nine people deep.
    The Dog Shack belonged to one Ronnie Manguba. A native of Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida, this Filipino-Scottish character migrated to the ‘Burgh
about five years ago. He moved into the apartment below Nathan and his fiance
Evelyn and became best friends with them immediately. Ronnie bought the hot dog
stand off of an old Greek woman for peanuts. Soon after, he had transformed the
former gyro stand into the hottest thing in Pittsburgh since Sidney Crosby
signed with the Penguins. The “Shack” was so popular, that it stayed open in
even the most inclement weather. Nathan was still surprised at the fact that
there was always a line, even on days like today.
    Nathan speed-walked to the Dog Shack and went straight to the
end of the line, hoping that it moved fast. His stomach growled in agreement.
It was a little odd that there were so many people in line this late in the
day. This was a late lunch even for Nathan. Finally, he reached the small
counter in front of the large open window.
    "Yo, yo, yo, what's up Homie-G-Funk?" Ronnie as he
saw Nathan approach the window.
    "Not too much buddy, just hungry as hell," replied
Nathan as he glanced down at the large sign that listed the day's
"special" hot dog. Ronnie followed the