“I think a quick still of him with his knife at Tina’s throat would make that a real tough story to sell, not to mention the complete mission video. I’ve already uploaded copies of everything to Steve Corbett for safe keeping. The rest of Demon Inc wants to meet for a viewing. I told them all we’d get together Monday night somewhere.”
“At least they got a Sunday off after the recent Haunt battles. We’re coming at you right now. It’ll be a relief not to have this damn earpiece in.” Mike took out his earpiece and slipped it into his coat pocket. He opened the driver’s door and Demon scrambled over to the passenger seat. Mike stripped off the Kevlar vest he’d been wearing. He retrieved the lapel cam, and took the vest over to one of the Sheriff’s Deputies. The deputy took the vest and shook his hand.
“Hell of a job you and your dog did, Rawlins. Go ahead and get your limo started,” The deputy with Johnson on his nametag told him. “I’ll guide you out of here. Agent Ruiz already called and told us you’re free to go and to get you out of here ASAP.”
“That’s a relief, Sir. Thank you.” Mike slipped into the limo’s driver’s seat. He chuckled at Demon and Denny having a staring match through the center window into the back. They maintained the stare down after he drove out through the police cordon. “Knock it off you two. Do the girls want a ride, Den?”
“Yep. They’ve had a good time. The whole thing with Tina’s kidnapping cooled them to hitting the wine much. Joanie says your Dad and Mom are awaiting full reports on today’s happenings, complete with videos.”
“There’s some good news. I think you should sleep over, Denny. That way, all the girls will want to sleep over. My folks will be deep into teen shock therapy and won’t have time to tear me out a new one.”
“I’m in. I’ll call Joanie and see if she wants to roll your folks. Truce, Fluffy?”
Demon nodded. “Truce, Frodo, but your time will come… very soon.”
“He agrees, but with an open threat,” Mike added.
“I expected nothing less from the wonder dog, who can dish it out but can’t take it.”
That elicited snorting amusement from Demon. Moments later after talking to Joanie, Denny leaned forward with a defeated sigh. “Sorry, Mike. Your Mom shot Joanie down like a scud missile. I’m afraid it will be a simple Rawlins family Sunday night.”
“Cash in your hero card and get me some shots and beers, Cap.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to substitute Polish sausage with Mac & Cheese, partner.”
“Agreed. You just reminded me I’m starving. I’m a shadow dog. I’m nearly a Haunt I’m so famished. Call the ASPCA… this is torture. I’m so hungry even my drool’s dried up.”
Denny watched Mike laughing and Demon snorting with a satisfied grin. Another bloody Sunday indeed.
* * *
Connie Emmerich watched the Kinsler kidnapping news evolve from child endangerment coverage to gun battles and deaths, all the while wondering if they’d ever see Mike and Demon again. Laura had called earlier, needing to vent over Mike’s antics with yet another Haunt fight, topped off with accepting a Sheriff’s Department request to join in on a kidnapping case. After Saturday night’s battle, she had spent the night with Stan. They had slipped out of the Rawlins’ house sleepover celebration. The near death encounters had taken their toll. She and Stan excused themselves from staying with Jerry and Janis, saying they were going to call it a night. She and Stan never went their separate ways. Luckily, her parents didn’t ask any questions when Stan dropped her off early Sunday morning, because of the prearranged sleepover plans at the Rawlins’ house. Connie hoped there wouldn’t be any future information exchanges between the parents.
Stan, Jerry, and Janis were on their way over. Her stomach flipped, thinking of Stan. The prior night’s fear, terror, and adrenaline battle rush had overwhelmed reason along with inhibition. She shivered, remembering their hours together. Before dropping her off, Stan had held her in his arms, and told her he loved her. Hearing him say it turned the world upside down for her. Nothing about Haunts, kidnappings, Demon Inc, or college seemed important at the moment. Being with Stan eclipsed all other thoughts and feelings. Even watching the newscast of danger involving her close friends barely registered.
The doorbell rang and she hurried to answer it, calling out to her parents she’d get it. They were out back swimming in the pool and sunbathing, trying to enjoy the mild fall weather. She opened the door, only to have Janis rush in and hug her excitedly.
“Check this out, girl.” Janis held up her hand for Connie to see the ring on her finger. “Jerry asked me to marry him last night.”
Connie burst into tears, hugging a stunned Janis tightly to her. “I…I’m so happy for you.”
Janis held Connie out at arm’s length firmly, squinting at her in the interrogative mode Connie had seen so many times. “Don’t you play me. Something’s up with you. Spit it out or I start slappin’.”
“I slept with Stan last night.”
Janis giggled. “Is that all? Hell, I’d have slept with Jerry, but my Dad was already loading his shotgun. You two tooled off to a nightspot right after we snuck out of the Rawlins’ house, huh? Jerry took me to the top of the Cal State hill. It was beautiful.”
“Your ring is gorgeous!” Connie clasped Janis’s hand. “I could tell Jerry was going to do it soon. He’s loved you since he was a kid.”
“What about Stan?”
Connie wiped her eyes. “I can’t think of anything else.”
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Those guys should be here any minute. They were on their way. I guess you’ve been watching the adventures of Mike and Farfel.”
Connie nodded as she closed the front door. “Laura gave me the whole rundown from this morning to the ongoing gun battle in the woods. You’d think he’d take one damn day off from Demon Inc. The Holy Grail called because she put two and two together from the news. Then she called Denny and got the lowdown. It seems Laura left her out of the loop.”
“Uh oh, that’s not good. Laura can’t be doin’ that. She won’t be able to play the preggo card on that one. I guess the alerts will be shifted to Denny from now on. I hate to say it, but our girlfriend needs to get her act together. This jealousy thing is going to cause trouble with the team. I can’t have that. I’m going to be a married woman.”
“I think she’ll calm down after the baby’s born, but treating Mike like it’s his kid will get her kicked off the island, especially since Gail’s Dad is our manager. She’s excellent with Joanie at Demon Inc Central. That said, there are three team members that are untouchable: Demon, Mike, and Denny. The rest of us hold our own, but we can be replaced.”
“I doubt finding replacements to face down Haunts in a pitched battle would be easy, but you’re right, Laura the accountant/coordinator would be expendable if she gets Mike torqued off. I’m glad he’s as laid back as he is. So far he has Denny give her ‘Wicked Witch’ themes when she calls, but when he stops laughing, she’s in trouble,” Janis agreed.
“What did you think of Mike-”
The doorbell rang and Connie ran over to open the door. Stan and Jerry were on the doorstep, both with bouquets of roses in hand. Stan took Connie into his arms, his lips sealing hers with a passionate urgency she quickly succumbed to. Only their friends clearing throats, coughing, and finally bumping into them worked to separate the two.
“I missed you,” Stan said.
“I missed you more,” Connie replied, framing his face with her hands.
“Oh gag! So, this is how it’s going to be from now on?” Janis held a finger in her open mouth while making gagging noises. “We’ll have to add barf bags to the Demon Inc equipment list, Jer.”
“Don’t let my fiancé rain on your parade,” Jerry said, giving Janis her roses with a kiss. “Anyway, did you hear anything new from Laura?”
“The last I heard was they found Tina Kinsler, but something happened Laura couldn’t talk about,” Connie answered.
“Everybody’s okay so far, but Laura had a visit from the FBI, and she wasn’t sure if they’re monitoring the lines. She told me as soon as she gets out of Demon Inc to a secure phone, she’ll update us. That gun battle with a couple of accomplices is still going on. I don’t think Mike and Demon had anything to do with that.”
“I wish,” Stan said. “You can bet they’re up to their eyeballs in it. I’m with Laura though on waiting until we can get a face to face. There’s a real downside to making the FBI interested in us rather than the Haunt invasion.”
“I hope Mike and Demon are okay. I’m glad we didn’t get dealt into today’s adventures,” Jerry replied. “They were supposed to be limo riding the weapons master and his throng of cuties to brunch and a movie. In addition to that, they worm their way into a Haunt kill and a kidnapping. Those two are like the Bad News Bears.”
“Laura did tell me Mike got raked again and it was a bad one,” Connie added. “D had to run out into Brennan’s for Denny while Mike held the wound shut. The holy water fixed it, but I’m wondering what new goofy thing he’ll get Haunted with from it.”
“I bet Denny had a few words for Mike about going rogue again,” Stan said. “I’m not sure what he can say though if Mike doesn’t endanger anyone but himself.”
Janis shook her head. “Like I told Connie, I’m going to be a married woman. I can’t be having my meal ticket taken away. We need to swarm him. Denny and Laura are with us, but getting the Holy Grail to face off with Dempsey is a long shot.”
“D really zapped Gail with that one,” Jerry put in. “Every time I see her that tag pops into my head. We’ll have to keep an eye on Mikey. That touch thing was dangerous. Denny came through big time with the Colloidal Silver cure and made it disaster for the Haunts in our weapons. Maybe the Silver will work with any new thing Mikey gets. How about the four of us go over to the Rawlins’ house. We can get the news first hand when it comes in, and tell them Mikey our own news.”
Connie blushed. “I’m not ready to share what Stan might have told you, Jer.”
Jerry looked confused. “Stan didn’t tell me anything.”
Stan took out a small black box, knelt, and held it up. “This is the news, babe. I love you. Will you marry me?”
Connie gasped. She looked around wildly before bursting into tears. She took the small box with trembling hands and opened it. Taking the diamond engagement ring out and putting it on her finger, she knelt in front of Stan. “The answer is yes, my love.”
Jerry grinned over at Janis before putting his arm around her. “I think Mikey would like to hear about this turn of events, Jan.”
Janis kissed Jerry lingeringly. “Yeah, he would,” she whispered.
* * *
Mike had dropped the limousine back off with the friend of Steve Corbett, paying the extra money agreed to in renting it for him. With Demon next to him in his Chevy, and Joanie in the backseat, he approached his street with uneasiness. Until reaching eighteen he would be in his parents’ legal control. He never doubted for a moment they were behind him a hundred percent, but the thought of being on his own without confrontations made him eager for his coming graduation.
“Drooling over your anticipated freedom are we, Cap?”
Demon’s insightful lance into his subconscious thoughts jolted Mike. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Damn, D, you need to get the hell out of my head.”
Demon countered with a few seconds of snorting amusement. “You are an open book to me, Captain Darkness.”
“Stow that Captain Darkness tag, Fluffy.”
Demon growled. “I know the weapons master will spread that one.”
“Kick back and laugh.”
“Yeah, like you’re so much more receptive to nicknames, Dempsey.”
Mike sighed. “You’re right. We need to just let them call us whatever comes to their agitated minds, Fluffy.”
Demon growled again. “Except for that one.”
“Okay, Farfel.”
“And that one.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late to lose either one.”
“Hey, remember me,” Joanie piped in from the back. “You two exchanging thoughts telepathically is rude.”
“Tell Sizzling Sis we’re trying to get the image out of our heads from her negligee outing.”
Mike laughed and repeated Demon’s retort verbatim, which elicited a gasping intake of breath, accompanied by a slap to the back of his head. “What’re you slapping me for? You wanted to be included in the conversation. There you go.”
“You’re not going to rat me out to the folks, are you?”
Mike thumbed attention to Demon. “I won’t, but Denny’s teaching Fluffy how to communicate on the computer.”
On cue, Demon immediately swiveled around to stare at Joanie over the front seat, complete with snorting grin.
Joanie collapsed back against her seat, arms folded in an angry show of body language. “I hate you two! It was bad enough when you were mimicking each other in sync. This telepathic nonsense is ten paces past insane. You spy together, drink together, kill everything in sight together, and now you’re adding extortion? Okay… what’ll it cost me?”
Demon turned back around. “It will be a player to be named later.”
“D’s keeping you on the pad for a later payoff, Sis. Nothing for me. It looks like we have company. Maybe they can take the heat off me with the folks. I wish I knew how much of what happened Laura ratted us out for. That had better have been an oversight with her leaving Gail out when she was updating everyone else. Denny will be doing the updates from now on.” Mike parked in front of his house. It was nearly 9 PM. It felt like two weeks of Sundays had passed in the hours since starting out on what was to be a fun day.
“Don’t go off on her, Mike. That visit from the FBI messed her up. I could tell from the way her voice was shaking when she called me while that Navarone woman was there. I wish Denny had come back with us.”
“He couldn’t, Sis. His parents were on the curb waiting for us. Although they didn’t have anything to base their conclusions on, they instinctively knew we were involved in today’s weirdo bonanza of events.” Mike opened his door and Demon jumped out on his side. “Besides, he doesn’t want to show favorites with his harem.”
Joanie got out on the street side too, shaking a fist at Mike. “Don’t even go there if you know what’s good for you. Did you see the way those three harpies were climbing all over him in the limo? I thought Danielle would never end her sloppy goodbye before we left her house.”
“Tell Sizzle to keep stripping when she sees Denny. He’ll get the message.”
Mike kept walking, ignoring Demon’s quip, so Demon began walking on his hind legs behind Mike, poking at him with his right foreleg.
Joanie sighed. “Fluffy just nailed me. Out with it, Mike.”
Mike shook his head as he approached the front door. “I don’t give in to terrorists.”
Demon dropped down with a gruff growl. “I’ll type it for her later.”
“Don’t let D near your computer, Sis,” Mike advised, opening the door. He hesitated in seeing his friends and parents waiting for them anxiously at the door. All of them were smiling. “Wow, somebody get some good news?”
Demon poked his head around Mike. “Looks like a setup, Cap. Run for it.”
Joanie pushed past the two paranormal partners. “Hey… what did we miss?”
Connie and Janis held out their hands to flaunt the engagement rings on their fingers. While Joanie went wild over the rings with Laura, Dan, and Jenny enjoying the spectacle, Mike quietly shook Stan and Jerry’s hands. Demon did a round robin head butting congratulations with each of them.
“What the hell? Was there a full moon last night? We need to get these four checked out, Cap. They sucked down too much Haunt juice or something. Hi ho, Silver, get Denny over here to inoculate them. These four mating will bring on the apocalypse.”
Mike was laughing so hard by the time D
emon finished his diatribe, it was minutes before he could repeat it. Janis immediately knelt down next to Demon with her ring under his nose.
“But Fluffy, look at the beautiful ring.”
Jenny smiled down at the now snarling Demon with malicious intent. “Fluffy? Aw, that’s so cute.”
“Start interviewing, Cap. I’m killin’ the weapons master.” Demon did another round robin, tapping each person on the foot with his paw. “Dead to me. Dead to me…”
The translation of that antic drew big laughs. Mike had forgotten to leave out Demon’s new nickname for him. Stan noticed.
“Hey Cap, what’s your full name, Captain Planet, Captain Kroger, Captain Kirk, what?”
Mike stopped smiling. “It’s nothin’. Just D trying to get a rise.”
Demon sensed an opportunity. He did his first moon walk, which no one recovered from for five minutes. By then Laura was begging him to stop.
“Another… Ace… D.” Jerry managed to get out. “Oh my God, how the hell do you do that?”
“That’s D telling you to spill it, Cap,” Stan insisted.
“He calls me Captain Darkness.”
“What’s funny about that?” Laura asked.
“I didn’t say I thought it was funny. D thinks it’s funny.”
“Wait a minute.” Laura walked over in front of Mike. “It’s because you juiced Navarone when she was wounded, didn’t you? You really did it? I thought it was a joke.”
“D called me that because we were eavesdropping on Denny and the dates today,” Mike replied. “Don’t make the Navarone thing into a big deal. You didn’t hear her going off on us before she led us into an ambush. D wanted to make sure she didn’t get well and make us the scapegoats for her screw-up, so I practiced a small touch of influence on her.”
“He juiced Melissa to demonstrate his control because she was being a dork,” Joanie added. “He stopped it himself too. I overreacted about it and Denny set me straight. It’s Mike.”
“That’s a sobering power, Son,” Dan said. “It would be something used rarely… if at all.”
Demon at War (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 3) Page 7