“Yeah, so I heard. I also hear on the beach you’re chaperoning a ‘Friday the 13th’ campout. Any chance of an invite?”
Mike’s pulse speeded up as the blood rushed to his face. Demon head-butted him in the leg to let him know the ball was again at his feet. Grateful for the distraction, Mike pitched the ball far out into the lake. He watched Demon for a moment while he took a deep breath.
Gail smiled at Mike’s obvious discomfiture. “Hey… if it’s a private gig, I can deal. No need to go into a coma, Rawlins.”
Mike nodded, turning to face Gail with a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to zone out on you there. I’m chaperoning my sister. There will be adults there. This isn’t a wild night of partying until first light or anything. It’s just my sister’s friends swapping stories in the dark on Friday the 13th. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”
“Sounds like fun to me.” Gail tilted her head, smiling. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“I have a friend I’ve dated in college at the University of Florida. I think she’s been trying to let me know we’re just friends.”
“I noticed the two couples you’re hangin’ with seem to be together. Since we can’t consider Demon to be a romantic interest, maybe we could get to know each other. I’ll even let you quit playing ‘Three Blind Mice’ on the beach.”
“I’d like that.” Mike waited for Demon to exit the water before sending him after another long throw.
“I’ll call my folks and let them know I’m camping out. I keep a sleeping bag in my trunk for when I stay over occasionally. If I need backup on the adult supervision point would one of the parents you have with the group help me out?”
“Sure. I’m on good terms with them. My Dad and I work on most of their vehicles at his shop.”
“So, you’re a mech-head too, huh?”
“Guilty. I work at his shop full time in the summers and part time after school starts. I believe the term is automotive technician… which my Dad hates. Mech-head is okay too. I have a six man tent set up for Janis and Connie. There’s plenty of room for you.”
Gail grasped Mike’s hand, moving closer. “I prefer sleeping out under the stars. Want to join me?”
Mike took off his sunglasses. He met her gaze with a questioning one of his own. “Gail… not that my heart’s not pounding, but like my Dad told me, if a beautiful woman comes onto you and you’re not a movie star, there’s probably more to it than you think.”
Gail laughed, releasing Mike’s hand and clapping elatedly. Demon returned and sat down next to Mike, watching Gail with interest, the ball in his mouth forgotten for the moment. When Gail regained control, she grasped Mike’s chin in her right hand, shaking it slightly.
“So, you think I’m beautiful?”
“I think you know it too.”
“Contrary to your Dad’s warning I’m a little too forward for my own good… according to my Dad. Besides, I didn’t think anyone could take my cousin Vic. Any guy who can take him with a submission hold is worth a closer look. How about it? We’ll leave the sleep out under the stars up for consideration.”
“Deal.”
“Will the famous Demon be joining us?”
“He has chaperone duty for my sister Joanie and her new love interest.”
Gail knelt down, grasping Demon’s head gently in her hands. “Well aren’t you just the most amazing dog around?”
The ball dropped from Demon’s jaws. “Arf!”
Gail chortled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Oh, he meant it as a yes. You’ll be stunned at the number of things Demon does and understands.”
“Does that mean I’ll be around long enough to witness them first hand?”
Mike smiled. “Your Dad is right.”
“Okay for you, smartass. I have to get back on duty. Want to come around and pick me up about five in the parking lot?”
“Sure. I guess you’ll let me know if your folks don’t take to the idea of you staying after work, huh?”
“They’ll be fine with it, especially when I tell my Dad I’ve met a guy who agrees with him. Bye.”
Mike watched Gail saunter with a deliberate hip sway towards the beach. She glanced back at him and waved when she saw him watching before continuing on. Mike and Demon traded confused looks.
“I guess you didn’t get a reading on her. She sure made me forget about Laura for a few minutes. Still want to play ball?”
In answer Demon leaped back into the water.
Chapter 5
Altercation and Lake Del Valle’s Haunt
Temperatures in the nineties remained throughout the day with only a slight decline into the upper seventies at sunset. Knowing the meat-eating wasps which plague the Lake Del Valle region from sunrise to sunset disappear with the sun, Mike reasoned with other parents arriving late to hold off on cooking until dusk. He left Demon on chaperone duty while he drove slowly over the access road to meet Gail at the main parking lot. She waited for him with parka, small day-pack, and sleeping bag in hand. Gail’s long blonde hair hung in loose waves over her shoulders. Tanned legs, black shorts, and red halter top caused Mike’s hands to tighten on the steering wheel in order to channel some of his nervous anticipation into the wheel.
“Is that look on your face surprise?” Gail sat down next to Mike, tossing her sleeping bag and jacket onto one of the back seats.
“I think grateful shock would be more accurate. You look great.”
“Thank you.” Gail leaned over to Mike’s side, sliding her hand down his left thigh.
The first caress of Gail’s lips across his sent chills all the way to Mike’s toes. He closed his eyes as the universe shrunk into one wondrous pinpoint of sensation. Warmth, softness, and wet whisper of something more rushed all thoughts from Mike’s head in a split second, his hands wrapping around her upper arms as if by their own volition. In the momentary mind meld, Mike heard or felt Gail gasp before the two teens locked into a wild embrace of surprised attraction. A car horn jolted the two apart as Mike had blocked a car in while stopping the shuttle to pick up Gail. He hastily drove forward, waving an apology at the driver. Mike turned to look at Gail only to find her staring speculatively at him with arms folded over her still heaving chest.
“What the hell was that?”
“I blocked the guy’s car in and-”
“Not that! Don’t play dumb. I rocked your world, Mike.”
Mike shrugged, his mouth trying to form a smile but failing. “I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to you. You seemed-”
A fist banging on the shuttle door cut Mike’s sentence off. The fist belonged to a bearded, stocky guy a little over six feet tall sporting an outraged scowl. Mike quickly looked out the driver’s side window to see if he had failed to clear the car blocked by his shuttle. After confirming the shuttle was well past the other car Mike opened the shuttle door.
“Why don’t you get your head out of your ass, Romeo?” The thirty something man exhaled a deadly combination of beer and cigarette breath, causing the nearer Gail to turn away from him, grimacing for Mike’s benefit.
“I’m very sorry, Sir.” Mike glanced around to make sure he wasn’t blocking anyone else.
“You should be, shit for brains! People got better things to do than watch you suck face with blonde here!”
“Hey, Mister!” Gail cut him off. “I work for Del Valle’s park district. Mike apologized for the five seconds of inconvenience so-”
“Stay out of this you little twit!” The man leaned inside poking an unsteady finger in Gail’s direction. “I got a good mind to adjust your attitude!”
“Leave those kids alone, Chuck!” A female voice yelled from the driver’s side of the car Mike had blocked. “We could be half way home by now!”
“Better take her advice, Chuck,” Gail warned before Mike could stop her.
“Oh… that right… you little ‘ho! Maybe I’ll light you up along with your chump boyfriend. Get the hell out here
, asshole! I don’t like talkin’ up to you, punk!”
Mike grabbed Gail by the shoulders before she could launch through the open door. He pulled her back a row away from the door as she struggled.
Mike twisted her around so he could look into her face. “Gail! You’re not helping. Calm down. I’ll talk to the guy. I’m sure he just wants to get home.”
“Okay… okay… I should report him though.”
“That won’t help either. Sit here. I’ll be right back.”
When Mike stepped off the shuttle he could see a rail thin redhead talking animatedly at his assailant to no avail.
“The kid’s not even eighteen! You touch him and you’ll end up spending the next six months in jail, you moron! Get in the car so I can drive you home.”
“Lay off, Shelley…” Chuck swept by her, stumbling toward Mike. “I’m going to make this little shit say he’s sorry from his knees!”
“I apologized already, Sir.” Against all his will power, the thought of Demon doing an intervention on Chuck popped into Mike’s head, causing a smile to spread unbidden before Mike could turn away.
Chuck’s voice lowered to a threatening growl as he perceived a slight. “What you smilin’ about? Get on your knees before I-”
Mike held up both his hands in placating manner wondering if he’d ever get out of the parking lot in anything other than a police cruiser. “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, Sir.”
“Get… on… your… knees!” Chuck accented each word with a stubby finger poke into Mike’s chest.
Mike looked to Chuck’s wife, hoping she could intercede before his encounter escalated beyond the threat stage. What he saw was amused indifference mixed with what appeared to be excitement. Oh boy. It was then Chuck launched his sucker punch. Mike slipped the drunken attempt easily, catching Chuck’s arm in his hands. He allowed the man’s momentum to cause Chuck to lurch by while Mike kept his grip on Chuck’s arm. With a quick side kick to the man’s exposed right Achilles tendon the incident ended with a scream of pain followed by Chuck’s collapse to the parking lot surface. Shelley ran over with appropriate cries of sympathy, which she turned quickly into a string of expletives directed at Mike. Gail streaked past Mike and into Shelley’s face in an instant.
Gail held up her cell-phone. “You better get in your car right now or I will have the cops here in fifteen minutes!”
Something in Gail’s demeanor shut off Shelley’s diatribe in an instant. She gestured at Chuck who was rocking on the ground while cradling his right ankle. “Will you help me get him in the car? Can he walk?”
“I bruised his Achilles.” Mike grabbed Chuck’s right arm, pulling it away from where it had been locked on Chuck’s tendon area. “C’mon, Chuck. You’ll be okay in a few minutes. Walking on it will help.”
The ease in which Mike drew Chuck’s large frame into a hobbling gait toward his car sobered the older man somewhat. Mike supported him but kept at the ready until Chuck was seated on the passenger side of his Buick. Chuck stared with a painful glare at the floor mat while massaging his leg. Shelley started the Buick with an overly angry twist of the key in the ignition, drawing the grinding sound of a starter still engaged after the engine fires. A moment later the Buick sped toward the Del Valle exit gate with the two teens watching it go, relief plain on their faces. Gail laughed in pleasant waves of infectious amusement, pointing a finger at Mike who simply enjoyed not having the worst of what he envisioned happen.
“I saw you from the window. You… you smiled at him! Oh, Mike… his face lit up like a Christmas tree. What… what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking about how easily Demon could have fixed him without more than one warning growl. I needed my sidekick.”
Gail lost coherent speech for another minute at Mike’s admission, nodding her head in enjoyment.
Mike grinned, guiding Gail into the shuttle. “Actually… I’m probably his sidekick.”
* * *
“Where you been, Dempsey?” Stan asked as he and Jerry waited outside the shuttle.
“Mike tuned up some guy in the parking lot when he picked me up. I’m Gail by the way.” Gail held out her hand to Stan and then Jerry. “Whose Demps… oh, the old time boxer. I like it.”
“Damn, Stan, I knew we should have gone with him. He’s like a trouble magnet. All the excitement goes on in his plain of existence. All we ended up with was starting up the grills.”
“You guys didn’t miss anything. It was a slight misunderstanding, contrary to Gail’s description. The parents are cooking tonight, right?”
Jerry nodded his head, and gestured for Mike and Gail to follow him. “Yeah, some of the Dads took over the grills. I want to get a beer before we eat. Is Gail allowed to have one?”
“It’s okay with me.”
“A beer sounds great to me. I’m starving.” Gail lowered her voice. “I was going to say something later but a friend made some special brownies. I had one. If anybody else wants one, I’ve got a few extras in my pack.”
“Just our luck. Me and Jerry play football. They give us random drug screens. I thought I saw a little red in your eyes. Janis and Connie might take you up on your offer. They don’t like beer all that much. I can answer for Dempsey too. He won’t take one either.”
“Why, because of training?”
“Nope. His Dad reads him like a dog-eared comic book.”
“I don’t know if I’d take one anyway, but Stan’s right. My Dad’s like that guy in that old TV show ‘Lie To Me’. The night after last Halloween’s Rave, my Dad broke my sister Joanie in about two minutes at the breakfast table while I was taking Jerry to get his car the next morning. He had the whole story waiting for me when I got back. I gave him my word I wouldn’t keep anything from him in the future. As he explained it, ‘I can’t help you or Joanie if I don’t know the truth’. Count me out on the brownies.”
Gail gripped Mike’s hand. “No problem. I used to love that ‘Lie To Me’ show.”
At the campsite Mike introduced Gail to everyone before the older teens split off from the parent chaperones and their younger charges. Janis and Connie gratefully accepted Gail’s offer while Jerry and Stan sat down with beers in hand, giving one over to Gail when she sat down with Janis and Connie. Mike grabbed a soda after glancing around the immediate area.
“Before you ask,” Connie volunteered, “Joanie and Brad went for a walk. Demon slinked off after them a minute later.”
Mike sat down. “Thanks, Connie. I figured the Demon was on duty. Joanie’s one of the originators of this Friday the 13th party so she better figure on being around to keep things going.”
“Anyone up for a swim later?”
“You don’t know the story about the teen that died right out there by the pier?” Stan pointed in the general direction. Darkness ate away at the fading light, leaving only less apparent outlines where the lakeshore began.
Gail laughed. “I know that old ghost story. The teen latches onto startled swimmers in the water, right? I think I’ll put it to the test later tonight. How about it, Dempsey, want to go ghostbustin’ with me?”
Mike hesitated.
“We don’t play that, Gail,” Janis replied for Mike. She related their first get together as a group to Gail with the others filling in small details. Gail listened intently, peeking over at Mike during the story telling.
Gail waited for a moment when Janis finished the story, expecting the teens to start laughing. When they sipped their drinks quietly Gail broke the silence. “Wow. I don’t know what to say. That’s the only first person witness ghost story I’ve ever heard. I’m still taking a dip later but I can understand why the rest of you don’t want to. Is Laura the one away at college you mentioned?”
“Yes. Laura was at the Rave last year too. I’ll go out on the dock and sit with you. It doesn’t feel like the temperature’s dropping the way it usually does.”
One of the parents called out that the hot dogs and hamburgers were re
ady. Two folding tables set up near the grills displayed all manner of condiments, chips, dip, and side dishes brought from home. Mike noticed Joanie and Brad grabbing plates for food after everyone else had already served themselves. Demon plopped down on the spread blanket a moment later, eyeing Mike with apparent expectation. Mike put the extra plate he had carried over down in front of the dog with two hotdogs and a hamburger on it. Demon wasted little time devouring every morsel before licking the plate completely clean.
Stan reached over and patted Demon’s head. “I don’t think you even tasted those, D. You inhaled them. Did you have to give Bradley a little attitude adjustment?”
“Grumpf.” Demon shook his head slightly, eliciting a gasp from Gail.
“Oh my God this dog is so dope!” Gail dropped down next to Demon, sharing the food still left on her plate.
“He’d light up your life if he ever goes DEFCON on something in front of you,” Janis said. “We still don’t know where he came from… probably outer space… or a dimensional rift. Man… that brownie is soooooooo… good. I’m going to have to go all ‘Jenny Craig’ for the next six months after I scarf another plate down.”
“Go swimming with me after the fireside Freddy Kruger hour.”
“Not me, girl. I’m a believer. Stan and Jerry like to tug on Superman’s cape. They’ll go.”
Jerry waved her off with a flourish. “I don’t think so. We’ve been to the pit and back. No way we’re sightseeing some Casper’s personal underwater crib.”
They finished eating in quiet ease. Connie giggled every few seconds until Janis smacked her lightly on the forehead.
“You shoulda’ had a V8, lightweight. If you think I’ll listen to you giggle all night, you’re cat lady crazy. Now get a grip or I’ll chuck yo’ bony butt in with the lake Casper.”
Connie rubbed her forehead plaintively, staring at Janis. “That’s not funny, Jan. They’re all gathering around the fire. Let’s get some chips and listen for awhile.”
Janis stood, giving Connie a hand up to her feet. “Okay… but no giggling. Anybody know if they have any gags planned? I hate it when some parent jumps out with a gorilla mask on.”
Demon (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 1) Page 7