by D V Wolfe
Rosetta snorted. “I was thinking something about questioning shit before you just do it in the church. But it probably won’t go over well.”
I grabbed one of her flowered suitcases and followed her out to the pink Cadillac which was on display next to the trailer.
“It’s probably good that we’re all getting out of here today. I don’t know about you but I’m still a little spooked about how scot-free we all seemed to come out of this thing,” I said.
Rosetta nodded. “I would say that it’s probably just paranoia because nothing ever goes easy for you, but I feel it too, so there’s probably something to it.”
Gabe came out the front door and shot us both a wink as he took his bags over to his Triumph and began loading up.
“What about him?” Rosetta whispered.
I looked at her. “What do you mean, ‘what about him?’”
“I mean, are you two going to start seeing each other or…” Rosetta started but snapped her mouth shut when she saw the look on my face.
“Rosetta, I love you and I would walk through Hell for you, but if you don’t stop pushing on this, I will end you. I’m still going to Hell in four months. He still has the entire weight of sixteen hundred years of his family that he has to carry. I hope I never see him again, because then at least if something happens to him and the world comes crashing to a bloody end, it won’t be all my fault.”
Rosetta shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
The trailer door opened again and Tags stepped out carrying a crate.
“I’ll help you, Tags,” I said, thankful for a reason to get away from Rosetta and her questions, not to mention the nerves in my stomach about what kind of good-bye Gabe and I would have. I didn’t have a scenario in my mind that wasn’t painful and full of anxiety. Gabe, Stacks, and Noah joined in and we had Tags loaded back up in a few minutes.
“Well children,” Rosetta said, heading back to her car. “It’s been a real slice.”
“You heading home, Rosetta?” Tags asked softly, following her a few steps and helping her into the car, gently closing the door behind her.
“Times like this I wish we had popcorn,” I said to Stacks.
“It’s like when Harold met Estelle,” he muttered.
“So what’s next for you, Taggert?” Rosetta asked. I felt my skin crawl as her voice became almost a purr. “I was thinking of fixing a pot roast and chocolate pie tomorrow night if you’re going to be in the area and feel like stopping in.”
“That sounds like heaven, Rosetta,” Tags said softly. “I need to run something over to a friend’s but then I could head your direction.”
“Really? What friend?” Rosetta asked.
“Oh Kess Dorfin,” Tags said. “I forgot to send the pendulum with the Pucas and she asked to borrow it when I told her about it…” Rosetta glared at him and shifted into drive. “What?!” Tags called after her. She didn’t look back, she just raised her middle finger as she turned the corner and headed for the exit.
I started a slow clap.
Tags turned around and looked at us all, bewildered. “What did I say?”
“I have no idea,” I said to Tags. “But you should just go see Kess and then go see Rosetta and ask her what about mentioning Kess set her off.”
“Jesus, Bane,” Noah said. “You’re going to get him killed.”
I followed Tags to his Scout and leaned on the hood. “Rosetta has this thing about Kess. Maybe it’s because Kess is younger and you two are friends. Maybe it’s because Kess is a Celt druid and Rosetta is a southern Baptist. Maybe it’s because Kess is buck naked anytime she’s not at work and Rosetta sleeps in a ski cap. Hard to say. Regardless, you might just not bring up Kess around Rosetta if you want to keep whatever you two kids have. Got it?”
“That woman is nuts, Bane,” Tags said, sliding onto his driver’s seat and rolling the window down. I shut the door and reached in to pat him on the shoulder.
“Don’t I know it,” I said. “Now drive safe, and call me if you hear anything interesting on demon radio.”
Tags nodded. “Will do.”
“Oh, and since you’re going to see Kess,” I said. “Keep an eye on the Pucas while you’re there, will you? There are still some unsettling questions, like what was controlling Vix, is it done and why did she run cross country to jump on Nigel’s face and save me.”
He nodded and I moved back so that he could back out. Stacks came to join me and we waved him out of the driveway.
“Stacks,” I said. “How bad of a sign do you think an earthquake and blinding lights might be?”
Stacks shoved his glasses up his nose. “I don’t know. I’m going to start with researching common spell side effects and work my way up to omens of the end times.”
“Saving the party subject for last?” I asked.
“Hoping I don’t get there,” Stacks said with a sigh. “I’m really hoping that I accidentally called down an earthquake and blinding light with the Latin I used.”
I nodded. “Well, call me with anything you find out?”
“Will do,” Stacks said. He slapped me on the back. “Are you going to be able to drive with just the one eye right now?” I glared at him and he took a step back. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.” We turned back to the trailer and I saw Gabe and Noah deep in discussion.
“Spill girlfriends,” I said to the pair of them.
“Oh we were just discussing the pros and cons of night cream over facial masks,” Noah said.
Gabe grinned at Noah. “He’s been spending way too much time with you.”
I shook my head. “He just rattled off more beauty tips than are in my vocabulary. Sounds more like something you would have said.”
Gabe rolled his eyes and patted Noah on the shoulder. “See you around, kid.”
Noah held out his hand and Gabe shook it. “Take care, Gabe.”
Gabe nodded and turned to Stacks. He slapped him on the shoulder and smiled and then headed for his bike. Stacks headed inside and Noah gave me a look and then followed him. I knew I was being set up. I leaned against the porch rail as best I could, trying not to put pressure on my ass cheek or the new stitches in my side. I watched Gabe get to his bike and pick up his helmet.
“So not even a high five?” I called to him.
Gabe shrugged. “You don’t really seem like the ‘high five’ kind of girl.”
“What kind of girl do I seem like then?” I asked. Gabe ignored me and started double-checking his saddlebags. He pulled out his leather jacket and put it on, zipping it up. Still, he didn’t answer me. Finally, I pushed off the rail and swaggered over to him.
“Just what kind of girl do I seem like then, Mr. Helsin?” I knew I was playing with fire. Every fiber of my gut was telling me to go back inside, collect the kid, and just hit the road. Maybe wave as Gabe rode off.
“I don’t know,” Gabe said, his voice soft, turning back to look at me. “What kind of girl are you?”
For the next two minutes, I wasn’t going to care. Not about anything. Not about the fact that this was my last year. Or the fact that I’d never see a Christmas with Gabe or Noah or the people I cared about again. I wasn’t going to care that every time Gabe was on my radar, he was also on the radars of every evil thing that wanted to rip me apart. Or that if he got caught in the crosshairs, the world would devolve into supernatural chaos because his line would end and there would be no one to bleed on the seal of the Hellhole. For the next two minutes, I was going to kiss him. I leaned forward and grabbed him by the beard with both hands. His arms were around me and there was nothing but his lips on mine, the feel of his beard and hair under my fingertips, my nose filled with the smell of bacon and leather and pine and the July breeze whipping around us. For two minutes, I felt what it must have been like to be sixteen and to kiss your sweetheart at a school dance. Odd feeling, but there it was. The two-minute timer in my head went off and I backed away.
“Take care of yourself,” I said, my voice com
ing out more breathy than I would have liked it. “And those stitches. I don’t want to have to redo them again.”
He nodded. “Take care of yourself, Bane.” He smiled. “I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you soon. I just need to make a stop in South Dakota.” He slipped on his helmet and pushed the visor up. I leaned in and planted one last kiss high on his cheek.
“I’ll be seeing you,” I said.
With a wink, he flipped his visor down, kick-started his bike, and took off. It was a nice thought and I’d been stupid to act on it. “I’ll be seeing you” had been a stupid thing to say. I wouldn’t be seeing him. Because “seeing him” was the opposite of what I needed to do. I couldn’t drag this out. I’d gotten my two minutes. That would have to be enough. I stood still for a moment, listening to the fading sound of his engine and then I stomped up the trailer stairs and threw the door open. Both Stacks and Noah were on the couch peering out the window. They turned around when I entered.
“Alright Noah, time to saddle up. We still have a cannibal tribe leader and an injured hunter to find,” I said. “Not to mention, more demons to skewer, and two hundred and ninety-one souls to save.”
“You make it sound so boring,” Noah said, standing up from the couch. He turned to Stacks and held his hand out. Stacks shook his head and pulled Noah into a hug. “Take care of yourself, kid. You’re gonna need all the luck you can when you’re traveling with this one.” Stacks said, nodding at me.
Noah broke the hug and stepped back. “Don’t I know it.” I glared at both of them and Noah nodded at Stacks. “Take care, Stacks.” Noah pushed through the front door and I looked around at the trailer.
“Are you going to be lonely with all of us gone?” I asked.
“Oh hell no,” Stacks said. “The second you leave, I’m stripping buck naked and sitting down on my recliner for a nap. And the clock is ticking on me waiting for you to leave before I do it, so you better heel-toe it out of here.” I mentally thanked myself for never sitting in Stacks’ recliner and I gave him a hug.
“After your nudist nap, don’t forget to do that research and give me a call with whatever you find,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Stacks said. “I’m on it.”
I grabbed the last of the duffle bags and took it out to the truck. “Oh hey!” I heard Stacks call behind me. I stuffed the duffle into the toolbox and turned to look at him.
“What?” I called.
Stacks held up the silver-plated .45. “Vix said she found this in the nursery room, thought it might be useful.”
I hustled up the stairs and he handed me the gun. I grinned at him. “Sure is good to have it back.”
“Something else you’ll have to add to the pros column on leaving those Pucas alive,” Stacks said with a grin.
I gave him the finger and tucked the gun into the back of my jeans. Noah and I gave Stacks one more wave as I climbed in and started Lucy up.
“So you got your gun back,” Noah said. “I debated telling Vix to keep it.”
I turned to look at him. “Why would you do something like that?”
Noah shrugged. “You have too many guns as it is.”
“You know Noah,” I said. “Stacks sleeps naked in that recliner.”
That wiped the smile off his face. “Why would you tell me something like that?” Noah asked.
I shrugged. “Just thought you might want to know.” I backed out of Stacks driveway and shifted into gear. I headed back into town.
I reached for the radio knob and found 115.8. Walter was in full swing and we were quiet as we listened. “There’s a storm front moving across the plains into southern Nebraska, expected to hit Lincoln and the surrounding towns tonight. In the east, there is a white squall moving inland in South Carolina…”
“That’s more like it,” I said, patting the radio.
“In the southwest, there is a drought expected to last the next few weeks with temperatures reaching up to 115. Texas is expecting a monsoon with a chance of intermittent lightning around Galveston tonight. Florida is experiencing record humidity in the panhandle…”
I frowned at the radio. “Ok, that’s enough.”
Walter droned on. “Illinois is still working to control the fire that is ripping across the Chicago southern Metropolitan area. There is a series of tornadoes currently touching down in southern Kansas from the Colorado border to the Missouri border. The northern part of Missouri is currently suffering dirt storm brownouts…”
“Ok,” I said. “That’s too much. Too much.”
“Well,” Noah said. “At least we’ll have something to choose from.”
Books In This Series
Other Books In The Midnight Rider Series
Midnight Rider
Dirty Deeds
Bad Company
Hot Blooded
Shoot To Thrill
War Pigs
Gimme Shelter
Like the Wolf
Working Man
Whipping Post
Bad Moon Rising
Under Pressure
Minutes 2 Midnight
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Acknowledgment
This story started with a hellion in a dirty a-shirt, jeans, and a sports bra, behind the wheel of Lucy, my '49 Ford pickup, telling me that shit was about to go down and I needed to find a pencil.
Through all the chaos of blurting out this story, I can't emphasize enough how important Glenn, my mentor and guide, and Jimbo, my entire support system and partner in everything, have been. Thank you also to Nikki, Laura, and Lydia, my kickass betas.
And to my readers, thank you for, like Noah, thinking it was a good idea to climb into the truck with Bane.
About The Author
D. V. Wolfe
is a transplanted Kansas farm kid now living in Oregon. When she's not writing, reading, or walking her furball, she's traveling back to Kansas to spend time on the old farm or in her favorite dive bar in Manhattan with her partner in life and crime.