by JB Lynn
Zeke shook his head. “That would never happen. You’re driven by an intense sense of right and wrong and your conscience would never allow you to let someone down.”
I wrinkled my nose as a gust of wind blew the restaurant smells toward us. “It smells like fish.”
“It won’t be as bad inside,” he promised. “Come on, they’ve got a really cool fish tank I want you to see.”
“Considering we just left an aquarium, I suspect that this tank won’t compare.”
Zeke grinned mischievously, reminding me of the young, devilish boy he’d once been. “Come see.”
I nodded my agreement.
Taking my hand, he led me into the restaurant.
“Your party is in the back room,” a hostess dressed as a pirate told us.
I wondered how she knew who our party was, but didn’t get the chance to ask since Zeke was tugging me along.
Sitting in a small back room, Armani waved as we walked past, while my dad chugged down a beer at the sight of me, but Zeke didn’t slow down as we barreled past the doorway.
“This way,” he insisted.
“Must be a hell of a tank,” God muttered, which was exactly what I was thinking.
Suddenly Zeke covered my eyes with his hand, led me a few more steps and whispered in my ear, “Prepare to have your mind blown.”
“It’s just a fish tank,” I reminded him.
But I immediately wanted to swallow my words as he took his hand away and revealed what was certainly not just a fish tank.
“Wow,” I murmured.
The room we were in was completely dark and while only the faintest outline of the tank was visible, its contents glowed in the dark.
“They’re beautiful.” I watched in awe as a tank full of blue and green glow-in-the-dark sea life swam and wiggled their way through the darkness.
“See?” Zeke said. “Even you like some fish.”
“Coolest tank ever,” I agreed. “Spectacular.”
Curious, God scrambled up my shirt to see what all the fuss was about. “Not that spectacular,” he sniffed superiorly. “An estimated eighty percent of deep-dwelling animals are bioluminescent.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said again.
“Glad you like it,” Zeke hugged my shoulders.
We stood there for a long couple of moments watching the calming show.
“Feel better now?” he asked.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“Okay, let’s go get something to eat. You won’t antagonize your dad, I won’t let Armani in on the plan, and everything will be okay.”
“Everything will be okay,” I repeated, hoping it was true, but knowing it wasn’t.
Chapter Fourteen
Lunch passed uneventfully, with Armani and Zeke carrying the bulk of the conversation, until the bill came.
The waiter put the vinyl billfold down in the center of the table and almost lost a finger as Armani and Zeke both dove for it with the zeal of a couple of bald eagles trying to snatch a fish out of the river.
“Hey, hey,” Dad complained as their jockeying for position shook the table, causing his third beer to slosh over the side of the glass.
“Easy, guys,” I warned as neither of them relinquished their respective corner.
“I’ve got this,” Zeke said.
“What? Are you going to rip it out of the grip of a handicapped woman?” Armani tugged it toward her. “This is my treat.”
“I invited you,” Zeke replied, trying to gently pull it toward him.
Like a dog with a bone, Armani wasn’t about to surrender it. “Lady’s prerogative,” she declared.
I raised my eyebrows. “Now you’re claiming to be a lady?”
“Oh shut up, I don’t see you offering to pay.”
“You told me that all my meals would be taken care of,” I reminded her. “That’s part of my chauffeur’s compensation, isn’t it?”
“You’re her chauffeur?” my dad asked, sounding offended by the idea.
“Best job offer I’ve had in a while,” I replied flippantly.
He drank more of his beer. Wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and declared, “I thought I raised you better than that.”
White-hot anger coursed through me, but my words were as cold as ice. “You didn’t raise me at all. You left that to my aunts. Tell me who got stuck with raising Ian? Oh wait, I know, his uncle.”
I didn’t even think when he started to raise his hand. I just grabbed the remains of his beer and threw it in his face.
I was dimly aware that Zeke and Armani had ceased their struggle, as my father roared his disapproval. “You, b—”
“Archie!” Zeke shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to drown out my dad’s insult.
“We should get out of here before they call the cops,” Armani suggested.
When she said that I realized that everyone within earshot, employees and diners alike, were watching us.
Shaking, more from anger than embarrassment, I got to my feet. Head held high I stalked out of the restaurant, Zeke following closely behind.
Once I’d reached the parking lot, I handed Zeke the keys to the RV.
Worry pinched his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t be around him. He brings out the worst in me.”
“No argument there.”
I frowned at him.
My friend shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“He’s more likely to help you if I’m not around,” I insisted. “Dangle some kind of score in front of him and he’ll be hooked. While if I ask him for basic info about my brother, he refuses to give me a crumb.”
“I understand you’re frustrated…” Zeke began. “But what are you planning on doing? Walk all the way back to New Jersey?”
“Oh she’s beyond frustrated,” God opined. “Her fuse has been lit and it’s only a matter of time until she blows.”
“Shut up,” I told the lizard, but of course Zeke thought I was talking to him.
He frowned.
“I wasn’t…” I began to explain, but cut myself off when I realized I’d been about to admit to talking to the lizard.
“Walking is a bad idea,” God said. “Very bad. It’s cold, you’re out of shape and the world’s not safe for hitchhikers.”
“I still need your help, Maggie,” Zeke said solemnly. “That’s why Whitehat sent you. We may be able to pull this off without Archie’s help, but there’s no way I can do that without you.”
“Then get me the information I need,” I challenged.
“I don’t know how.”
“Con it out of him,” I spat.
The hurt on Zeke’s face felt like a slap against my own. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Yeah, you did,” he muttered, turning away from me and striding toward the RV.
I chased after him. “I’m sorry, Zeke.”
He ignored me.
God scrambled up onto my shoulder. “You aren’t really going to walk, are you?”
“Shh!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Armani and my father emerge from the restaurant. I wasn’t sure who was in worse shape. Armani with her Zamboni accident-caused limp carrying a plastic bag with her good hand, or my father, who was stumbling around like a drunken sailor.
Sighing, I caught up to Zeke and snatched the keys from him. “We might as well put him in the back and let him sleep it off.”
Instead of answering me, he looked back at the pair crossing the parking lot. “At least she remembered.”
“Remembered what?”
He didn’t respond.
“Something for Piss,” God explained.
“At least someone will be happy,” I muttered.
Zeke opened the side door and waited for Armani and my father to catch up, while I got ready to walk the cat.
“Well, that was a disaster of epic proportions,” the lizard told Piss as I snapped a leash onto her collar.
“As long as I ge
t my snack I don’t care,” she replied, licking her lips in anticipation.
“You should,” God snapped. “Maggie’s ready to walk home.”
“What’s this?” Piss hissed, digging her claws into my arm. “You can’t go home.”
Fighting the urge to yell “sensitive skin!” I pushed her away, looking to see whether she’d drawn blood. “Why not?”
“Because the only reason I came along on this trip was because I wanted you to take me home.”
“Home?”
The cat stared at me with her one good eye. “To the house where I used to live.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Fish!” she meowed lightly, jumping from the RV and charging toward Armani.
“Come back!” I called, chasing after her, desperate to catch her leash. I panicked at the idea of her disappearing, returning to her original home without saying goodbye.
“Never trust a cat,” God complained as I ran across the parking lot. “They always have hidden agendas.”
Ignoring him, I dove for the leash as Armani dangled the plastic bag over the cat’s head.
Before I could grab the leash, it was pulled away from me. Groaning my frustration, I looked up to see Dad holding it out to me.
“Here you go,” he offered.
I took it. “Thanks.”
Armani pulled a take-out container out of the bag, handed the empty bag to my father, and carefully placed the tray on the ground, flicking it open as she stood. “There you go, princess.”
Piss didn’t wait for an invitation; she devoured the contents, purring like a race car engine.
“Thank you for remembering,” I said to Armani.
“Wasn’t me.” She tilted her head in Dad’s direction. “He’s the one that thought of it.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, not making eye contact with him. “You’ve made her very happy.”
“At least someone doesn’t hate me,” he replied.
I jerked my gaze up to meet his. “I don’t hate you.”
“You could have fooled me.”
“Me too,” Armani agreed.
I shot her a look. “Why don’t you go flirt with Zeke or something?”
“So touchy, Chica.” She tossed her mane of shampoo commercial-worthy hair and headed toward the RV.
“I don’t hate you,” I repeated when she was out of earshot. “I’m frustrated with you. Disappointed in you. Angry with you.”
“But you don’t hate me?” he asked hopefully.
“Not yet,” I told him. “But don’t push your luck.”
He grinned at that. “You’re a lot more like your mother than you know.”
Considering I talk to animals and kill people for money, I’m well aware of how similar I am to my institutionalized mom.
“I might feel more kindly toward you if you told me about Ian,” I hinted. I held Dad’s gaze as my words sunk in. I watched as he wrestled with them, physically swaying from the effort.
Finally, looking down, he scuffed his shoe against the pavement. “Thurston shouldn’t have told you about him.”
“You planted the tree and then during the séance Teresa insisted I find him, so you can’t put all of this on your brother.”
Rolling his eyes, Dad shook his head. “You’re looking for easy answers and there aren’t any, Maggie May.”
“I’d settle for the truth.”
He nodded. “Okay, after everything that’s happened, I guess you deserve that.” He glanced around. “But not here and not in front of Armani or Zeke. Some things need to stay within the family.”
“They are my family,” I told him. “Besides, it’ll be time efficient since I’m going to tell them whatever you say anyway.”
Sighing, he raised his hands in surrender. “Have it your way.” He glanced around the parking lot. “But not here.”
Nodding, I picked up the container that Piss had licked clean and gave a gentle tug on her leash. “Do you want to relieve yourself or go back to the RV?”
“You’re not expecting her to answer, are you?” Dad interjected before she could reply.
“Walk,” she requested on a soft meow.
“I’m going to throw this out,” I told Dad. “I’ll meet you at the RV in a minute.”
While he stumbled toward my home away from home, I went looking for a place to dispose of the fishy container.
“That stinks,” God complained. “I’ll never understand why the furry beasts are so fond of such odorous foods.”
“They taste better,” Piss answered, tail held high as she trotted ahead of me.
Glancing around to make sure there were no human beings nearby, I said, “So tell me about this home of yours.”
Her tail wilted a little. “It’s not far from here.”
“It was very sneaky not to tell us about its vicinity before hitching a ride down,” God admonished. “I’m disappointed in you.”
Piss flattened her good ear.
“Leave her alone,” I said, feeling it necessary to defend her. “I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“Of course she had a reason, she knew you wouldn’t have brought her.”
I tossed the offensive container into an open garbage dumpster and turned to head back to the RV.
Piss looked over her shoulder at me with her good eye. “Is that true?”
“Of course not,” I assured her. “I mean, I’ll be sad when you’re gone, but I’d never prevent you from being with who you want to be with.”
The fur on her back bristled. “You trying to get rid of me, Sugar?”
“Of course not,” I soothed. “I just figured if it’s important for you to go home, I’m not going to stop you.”
“I would have stopped you,” God groused.
“You don’t even like me,” the cat shot back, relieving herself on the nearest patch of grass.
“I’ve grown fond of you,” the lizard gruffly admitted.
“Only because I bring you fresh food,” she countered.
“It’s as good a reason as any to like someone,” he reasoned.
“Well, I like you,” I told her. “And I’ll miss you terribly.” Just the idea of not seeing her again made my eyes well up. I had to stop walking since the tears made everything blurry.
“Save me from the maudlin melodramatics,” God groaned.
I cleared my throat and blinked away the tears.
“You’re not going to need me anymore,” Piss predicted, rubbing against my legs. “Your life is calming down. You’ll find your brother and everything will be hunky dory.”
“Hunky dory?” God mocked.
“I’m not sure I’d know what to do if that happened,” I admitted.
“You’ll figure it out,” Piss assured me, pulling toward the RV.
When we reached it, I picked her up and pressed a kiss to her head before putting her inside. Armani and Zeke were lolling around on their respective beds talking about the benefits of essential oils.
“Where’s your dad?” Armani asked.
My stomach sank as I looked around and realized he was nowhere to be seen.
“Dammit.” I balled my hands into fists.
Once again he’d made a promise he’d had no intention of keeping. I should have expected it, but the betrayal felt like a weight crushing my chest, crushing my hope of reconciliation.
I kicked one of the RV’s tires. It didn’t make me feel any better, but it did send a jolting pain from my foot to my hip.
Realizing what was wrong, Zeke said, “I’m sorry, Maggie.”
“I’ll never learn,” I muttered.
“That’s a good thing, Chica,” Armani said gently. “Only someone with a big heart can keep trying.”
Chapter Sixteen
The occupants of the RV were grimly quiet as I drove back to the aquarium so that Zeke could get his car.
“Where are you ladies staying tonight?” he asked as we pulled into the parking lot.
Armani rattled off some location.
She may be flighty in a lot of ways but I admired how together she’d been about this entire road trip.
“Why don’t you stay at my place instead? I’ve got extra bedrooms, full-sized showers…”
“We have a full-sized shower,” Armani retorted.
“But it’s not big enough to do the Hokey Pokey in and mine is.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror at the passengers, wondering if Hokey Pokey was some kind of coded flirtation.
“You’ll feed us dinner?” Armani bargained.
Zeke chuckled. “You just ate.”
“Doesn’t mean we won’t be hungry later. Considering the way Maggie picked at her mac & cheese, she’ll probably be starving in an hour.”
I nodded my agreement. The mac & cheese had been the only non-seafood option available and it just hadn’t held a candle to Aunt Susan’s recipe.
“You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll throw in dinner,” Zeke agreed.
“And breakfast in bed?” Armani asked with hopeful flirtation.
Zeke laughed. “Stop here, Maggie.”
I pulled to a stop.
“That red Jeep is mine.” Sliding the door open, he hopped out. “Just follow me.”
“Drive slowly,” Armani ordered. “In case you haven’t noticed, it takes my chauffeur forever to make turns.”
“Only because I’m trying not to tip over this beast,” I snapped. “If you don’t like it, try it yourself.”
“She’s just kidding,” God said gently. “It’s not her fault your parental unit disappointed you.”
I winced, knowing he was right.
“Slow turns. Got it,” Zeke said, flashing me a thumbs up before sliding the door closed.
“Don’t think I don’t appreciate the job you’re doing,” Armani said softly.
Looking in the rearview mirror, I met her gaze. She was watching me carefully.
“I didn’t mean to bite your head off,” I apologized as Zeke’s red Jeep pulled out in front of me.
She patted her scalp. “You didn’t. It’s still here.”
Piss chuckled softly. Unfortunately to Armani it sounded like she was getting ready to hack up a hairball.
“Your cat is going to puke!” Armani shouted, scrambling as far away from the cat as she could get.
That just made Piss laugh harder.