Kiss On The Bridge Read Online Free Page B

plucked from the ocean onto the bench.
Looking through the bottle’s glass wall he spied a piece of yellow
paper which seemed to have been tightly folded five times. Wade
pulled the cork, up ending the bottle. The note fell into the palm
of his hand.
    Quickly pouring a strong mug of coffee and a
white wine, Wade held the note and the mug in his left hand, the
glass of white wine in his right. He walked to a comfortable black
leather chair at the small table. Sitting, he carefully unraveled
the note. Leaning back in the chair he read the hand written words.
His eyes bulged at the name on the bottom of the note. The author
signed it, ‘Anneli.’
    Wade sat staring at the wall, lost in a
fantasy of the night on the bridge when he kissed Anneli.
    “Could this note have been written from the
very girl I am looking for?” he mumbled. “Anything is possible,
besides, how many young ladies live in Melbourne who has the same
name?”
    Wade climbed the stairs to the bridge.
Feeling like his emotions were rejuvenated he pushed the throttle
to its stop, navigating the yacht back to the Port of Melbourne
more determined to find the young woman he kissed on the bridge.
Through endless hours of questions over the phone he came to one
single possible conclusion. Beyond reasonable doubt, Anneli is
heading for Darwin.
    “Come sunrise tomorrow, I’m sailing for
Darwin,” Wade confessed to one of the workers at the marina.
    “You’ll be a wantin’ extra diesel in the
tank.”
    Wade slapped the old unshaven man on the
shoulder. “Add the cost to my account. I’ll pay you when I
return.”
    Inside three hours Wade’s shopping list
appeared complete. His thoughts zeroed in on a woman who seemed to
be shadowing his every move. To confirm his suspicions he spied a
security guard standing on the courthouse steps. He stopped,
striking up a short conversation. In a couple of minutes he said
goodbye, deliberately marching across the road. He stood at the
doorway to a small café, watching reflections in the glass window
waiting to see if his suspicions were confirmed. The figure
belonged to a tall woman. Dark sunglasses and a large latte
coloured hat pulled down over her face helped to mask her facial
features. Her black shiny two inch stilettos were the only things
protruding from the mystery woman’s ankle length coat.
    The moment Wade entered the café he ordered
two cappuccinos. He gave the waitress instructions the second
coffee belonged to the woman in the long coat watching him from
across the street. He paid for the hot brew, left the café and
joined the stream of shoppers. The woman re-commenced her quest to
follow. Wade noted she’d dropped back slightly to avoid possible
detection.
    Wade entered the park across the road. To
make it easier for the woman to approach him he sat on the nearest
seat. The forty foot Elm trees lining the pea stone path still
smelt damp from the rain the previous night. A woman pushing her
young eighteen-month-old daughter in a stroller walked past.
Raising her eyebrows she looked Wade up and down before marching
off wearing a grin.
    A school-boy riding a pushbike entered the
park. Wade watched him ride directly at him.
    “This is for you,” announced the lad, handing
over a scrap piece of paper.
    “Who gave you the message?” asked Wade,
noting the paper had been neatly folded five times.
    “A woman standing at the entrance to the
park,” he replied.
    “Can you give me a description of what she
looks like?”
    The lad shrugged. Before riding off the boy
looked over his shoulder. “She must be rich; she gave me one
hundred dollars to give you the note.” The young teenager gestured
a wave before pedaling his pushbike towards the entrance to the
park.
    Wade sprinted through the park’s wrought iron
gate to the street. He made it in time to see the mystery woman
step onto a tram. Before she sat the tram took off towards
Melbourne CBD.
    Five men dressed in black suits squatted
behind three large