by JJ Zep
“Well if it ain’t the prodigal son. Come to fetch back the knife you stuck in my back, Dexter?”
“No, actually. I came to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For your testimony today, for getting Pandora to help me…”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“…and for being a good friend.”
“I warned you before about that soppy crap, Dexter.”
“You are though,” I said. “A good friend, I mean.”
“What can I say?” Jitterbug said. “I’m a sucker for a clueless putz.”
“One other thing,” I said.
“You ain’t going to say you love me, are ya? Cause that’s where I draw the line.”
“No, I just wanted to give you this.”
“My bobbit?” Jitterbug said, his face lighting up. “Where? How?”
“Pandora,” I said. “She asked me to give it back to you.”
“Well, what do you know,” Jitterbug said. “The bitch finally found out where her heart is.”
“Thank you, Jit,” I said throwing my arms around him.
“Cut that out!” he growled and struggled out of my grasp, although with a lot less vigor that I knew he was capable of.
Afterwards we sat and shot the breeze for a while, talking about old cases and some of the things we’d been through, but eventually I had to go. “Belial is probably on the phone to Abaddon as we speak,” I said, “complaining about the SPAA using his staff without permission.”
“Yeah, you keep your nose clean, Dexter,” he said as I walked away.
I’d just reached to entrance to the cavern when Jitterbug called out to me. “Hey Dexter,” he said. “We had us some times, didn’t we?”
“That we did Jit,” I said. “That we did.”
epilogue
So here I am, back in the Accounts Department, working twenty-four hour shifts chasing money that doesn’t belong to me. I’ve even got my old cubicle back, next to Lenny Pettigrew who is still the most nauseating suck-up in hell. Belial is on my case more than ever, and takes every opportunity to remind me that, while I might be some kind of hotshot SPAA agent, I’m still a piss poor accounts receivable clerk.
Not that it bothers me much, I’ll always have Chicago, and Rome and Paris and Devil’s Gulch. I’ll always have Alice and Mae and Drusilla and Marie Antoinette and Cecelia. I’ll always have the friends I’ve made, Jitterbug most of all of course, but even Pandora turned out to be not too bad in the end, and let’s face it, she’s a darn sight better to look at than Jit.
I don’t think back on my adventures as much as I used to, but when I do they seem more like a dream than something that really happened to me. Still, if I’m ever in doubt, all I have to do is look up at the SPAA Agent of the Year Award, signed by Mr. Abaddon himself, which hangs proudly on the wall of my cubicle.
“Blackwell!” I hear Mr. Belial screech from across the room. “Quit gold-bricking and get back to work. You’re not in the SPAA now you know.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Belial,” I say. I pick up the phone and press the speed dial. “Hello, Elysium Realty? This is Dexter Blackwell calling from Hades Correctional, I’d like to speak to Gabrielle St. Peter in your accounts department. What’s this about? It’s about an unpaid bill for…”
A Note From JJ Zep
Hey, this is JJ. Thank you for purchasing and reading the Johnny Black, Soul Chaser series. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you enjoyed the book (or even if you didn't) I'd love to hear your thoughts and would really appreciate it if you could leave a review at the link below.
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Thanks again
JJ Zep
Find out more about JJ. Zep, his books and upcoming projects at http://www.jjzep.com
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