by D. R. Mather
“About 1240 horse.”
“HOLY SHIT!”
Kevin grabbed the hood and started to close it, “Yeah, it’s a beast alright.”
“How the hell do you keep it on the road?”
“Take a look,” Kevin pointed to under the car. After Mark was on the floor for a half a minute, Kevin heard him whistle.
“Wow.” Mark said, and then, “Yeah, that would help alright. It must suck though, having to get eight shocks at a time instead of four.”
Kevin told Mark that it had a wide, extra-large brake system, like the ones they used in stock car racing.
“Hey listen Mark, I have to get back in the house. If you ever want to take a ride, just let me know, I’ll try not to scare you to death.”
“Hey, yeah…sure…okay, maybe sometime.”
They both headed out and up to the house. When they got in, Mark went upstairs and Kevin found his new group in the living room. The second Judy saw him, she had her hand up and ‘pulled’ him over with her finger. Kevin sat and said nothing; looking troubled.
“What is it hun?” she asked.
“I think we have trouble in paradise,” Kevin replied. He told them about Mark and his inquiries.
“So why is that weird, the man likes cars?”
“Later, just call it a feeling for now.” Kevin turned to Alex. “I have some things to talk to you about, are you game?”
“Sure.”
A little bit later, the four of them were sitting deep in a corner of the living room, talking quietly and close to each other. Will came down the main stairs and was on his way over to the desk when he looked right and saw them. He stopped and just stood there. Kevin looked up and saw him, quietly said a few more things to the group, then got up and headed over to Will.
“Hey Will, need any help with anything?”
“No…no…hey, what was that going on over there?”
“Nothing to worry about Will,” laughed Kevin. “We were just conspiring to take over the Inn from you; a mutiny if you will.”
Will looked at Kevin for a few seconds then said, “Fine, don’t tell me then, your choice.” He then headed over to the desk.
Dinner was fabulous that night. Pork spare ribs with what Barb called a ‘secret’ sauce.
“Come on Barb,” said Kevin, “don’t make us beat it out of you.”
“Well it sure won’t help you any. I said it was a secret, I didn’t say it was my secret.” With that, she pointed at Judy. Everyone turned to Judy, who just happened to be deep into a messy rib that was half in, half out of her mouth. She stopped dead in mid-chew and tilted her head up to find them all looking at her.
“Whuff?” she asked.
“Did you learn that word in regular school or did you go to some advanced polishing school to learn it?” laughed Kevin.
She took the rib away and said, “Hey, I was eating.”
“Did you even hear any of the conversation that just took place?”
Judy looked at Kevin and said, “Sure I did, you were talking about the pool.”
Kevin laughed, “Um, yeah, that was three minutes before you started destroying that rib though.”
Judy looked around the table, “Oh, sorry guys, I get blinders on when there are ribs in front of me.”
Everyone then told her they loved her sauce. Everyone except Stan, who slapped his napkin down, got up to leave, and said, “Yeah, a guy can’t resist slut sauce, can he?” He then walked out.
“That’s about enough of this,” said Will, slapping his own napkin down and heading off in the direction of Stan.
Judy leaned against Kevin, “I think our Stan problem is about to end.”
“No, I don’t think so. Will is going to warn him to knock it off or else he’s gone, that will be about it.”
“Oh, and what makes you so sure, Mr. Brain? “
“Because Stan has to be here, he’s the other side,” explained Kevin. Judy, Alex, and Beth stared at him and Kevin only added one word: “Later.” They all went back to eating in silence.
Barb no longer worked in the kitchen alone. She had a full complement of help now, all of them volunteers. The guys were clearing the table without being asked, the girls were beginning the clean up or heading out with the guys to the kitchen. Judy grabbed Barb and sat her back down at the table, telling her to take a rest as it was all in hand. Barb tried four or five different times to get up, but Judy was having none of it. Judy asked Barb about any family they left behind when they came here.
“Well, my mom and dad are in southern California. We haven’t seen them since the day before we left. They don’t have a lot of money so they can’t afford to come out. We certainly don’t have enough to go visit or pay for them to come here, that’s for sure.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Oh my, yes, we were all very close. I call all the time, but you know, it isn’t the same.”
“Yeah,” Judy said, “that much I do know,” and she kind of glazed over for a second.
Barb looked over at the large clock hanging on the wall and stood up, “Oh my, look at the time, I still have a lot to do.” Not five seconds after she had said that, a whole group of guests started marching past her silently and heading towards the living room.
Kevin stopped at Judy and took her hand, then looked at Barb, “Barb, why don’t you come and join us for a good old fashioned sit down?”
“I can’t. I have a ton of work to do still.” She turned and went off towards the kitchen.
Kevin and Judy stood and waited. Barb opened the kitchen door and stopped dead on the spot. Everything was clean; all the food was put away. Wet towels were hanging on the rack and the tile floor was wet. She just stood there with her mouth slightly open for a minute, then turned around and came back into the dining room, only to see a grinning Kevin and Judy standing there, facing her direction. She couldn’t talk, but she pointed back towards the kitchen.
“Come on Barb, why don’t we go in the living room and rest a while?” Judy took her arm and led her out. Everyone was sitting around doing their own thing. Judy brought Barb over to the chair that was next to Will and made her sit. Then Kevin and Judy went over, sat on a sofa and started to make small talk.
Barb turned to Will and started to say, “Did you see what they…”
“Yup, they did all the vacuuming too.” Will smiled and went back to his evening paper. Barb enjoyed her evening off.
Alex was reading another copy of the paper and perked up.
“Hey, look, the Expo is having an international beekeeper’s convention next week, who wants to go?”
Kevin looked over at Alex and said, “You can count me out.”
Judy didn’t miss that one.
“Whohoah… is someone afraid of the big bad bee?”
“Well, time for a smoke!” said Kevin, as he looked at her and realized what was coming. He got up and started heading out. Judy got up as well and walked behind him.
“I’ll scout ahead and make sure there are no killer bees hiding outside,” she laughed as she ran past him.
Kevin said one word, “Shit.” Then he headed outside. He stepped outside into four inches of snow. “When the hell did this happen?”
All he saw of Judy were footprints that led off into the dark. Then it hit him…WHAP…a snowball right in the center of his chest. He looked down and then all around. He couldn’t see her, but he certainly could hear her giggling.
“Oh lady, I hope you know how to pray….” And he ran off into the dark after her.
Everyone in the living room could hear her through the window, giggling, laughing and pleading all in one sentence. Then the sound moved off into the distance and all was silent again. The room filled with quiet smiles.
Will reached over and grabbed Barb’s hand. “Remember the family we never found the time to have?” He held out his other hand and moved it from right to left, slowly, “Welcome to our family dear, take your shoes off and stay a while, won’t you?�
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Barb smiled at him and patted his hand; it said it all.
***
Two days later, Kevin was in the upper library with Alex. He was doing two things: fine tuning Alex because he knew he’d need some help, and relearning how to use a PC. Barb was in the kitchen with Judy, Beth, Cindy, Marie and April. They were all baking what in Judy’s words were ‘a shitload of cookies’ for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Everyone seemed to have their own style going on, but it actually blended perfectly together when placed on the trays. Kevin burst through the door with a stern look in his eyes.
“Judy, Beth, come with me.”
Both women instantly dropped what was in their hands and made a fast exit with Kevin in front. The rest of the women were just frozen in place.
“What the heck was that all about?” asks Barb.
Cindy knew. She didn’t know how, but she knew. She covered for them all.
“Don’t worry Barb, everything’s okay, they’re doing some important work, that’s all.”
Barb and the women went back to cooking.
Alex was already at the door holding out Kevin’s trench coat and Judy saw Kevin’s backpack on the floor.
“SHIT,” was all she could say, as she and Beth ran at full speed to the coat closet. Not five minutes later, the mustang was roaring out of sight around the curve of the driveway. Kevin filled them in on the way down the mountain.
“Everyone put your hands in mine.”
Everyone did it. They all felt a surge and a strange thing entered them again. This was new to Alex though, so Beth attempted to explain it.
As they pulled into the big grocery store parking lot, Kevin slowly waved his right hand, reaching from left to right across the dashboard of the mustang. He drove right up to the doors, shut off the car, then turned to them to talk.
“Now listen very carefully, nine people are already dead in here. There is about to be a massacre unless we stop it. I want all of you to do what I taught you. Alex, I want you to go to register four. There is a man there with a handgun pointing at several people. Just reach over his shoulder and grab the gun, just as fast as you can, and put it in your coat pocket. Beth, the man over at register six, same thing. Listen really well, you MUST put the gun in your pocket or they will see the gun and you. Don’t forget this or it could get you killed, got it?”
Everybody got it.
“DO NOT act until you see Judy and I go into the door upstairs. I’ll send you a sign when it’s time to take the guns. Trust me, you won’t miss it. Once they hear the commotion from upstairs, they should all look up there. That’s your chance. They will move away from the people at the registers and start towards the stairs, give them three shots in the head and point the gun in an upward angle so the bullets will go towards the ceiling if any exit. Judy, you and I are going up the stairs to the right. Once we get in the office, move over to the far left side and watch. One of the three men up there is going to try shooting his way out, and that will be the one closest to you. Take this…” Kevin handed her a 9 mm pistol. “Three times in the head, got it?”
Judy said “yes”, and then they all got out. No one outside saw the car. The group went into the store. It was packed with people because of the holiday the next day. It seemed everyone in town had forgotten to pick up something or other today. No one saw them come in the store. Alex saw a man with a gun at register four and headed over there. He stopped right behind the man and waited. Beth went to register six and waited as well. Bodies were lying on the floor in an open area just before the registers, a river of blood slowly spreading out from below them. Beth saw two in particular; they were both dead, a mother and daughter. The little girl looked to be about five years old. Mom was still holding the little girl’s hand. This sight almost caused Beth to break rank and kill the man with her bare hands. She pulled in her cool for all she was worth and stood her ground.
Alex saw much the same thing in front of him. For Alex, he saw an old couple side by side; the man was over his wife as if he had been trying to protect her from the onslaught. It hadn’t helped. Alex was ready. In fact, at this point, he wanted to kill them all by himself, but he stood his ground as well.
Kevin was climbing the stairs with Judy on his heels. As he got to the top, he put his arm around Judy, and they ‘melted’ through the still closed door. Both Beth and Alex saw this and their mouths dropped open. Once inside, Judy moved to the far side, next to one gunman and waited behind him. She saw three armed men, two security guards and the manager, who was desperately trying to open a really stubborn safe. The man was literally vibrating like some kind of weird sex toy. Judy saw tears in his eyes. Off to the far right, lying next to Kevin, was a dead security guard. Half his head was now a part of the wall. Judy only had time to think, ’Bad move mister.’ Then she focused on the man in front of her. Kevin ‘appeared’ in the room. She knew Kevin was fast, she never knew he was that fast. He covered the twenty-odd feet in one or two seconds flat. The gunman in front of her was back more than the two at the safe, so he saw Kevin first.
“What the fuck…?” Judy head him say.
She saw his gun point straight out at Kevin. Judy didn’t hesitate; she put the 9 mm behind the man’s head and fired three times. Kevin had already reached the other two men and had both of them by the neck. He turned, with them dangling in the air. Kevin threw both men in one swing, over to the one-way mirror at the side of the office. The gunmen were already dead before they hit the glass. Kevin only did this to get the two men downstairs to look over and up. There was a loud crash and the two bodies were on their way down the express elevator to the ground floor.
Now it was Beth and Alex’s turn. The both reached around the gunmen and took the guns. They put them in their pockets. Both men moved out of the register area and looked surprised at the same time. Beth and Alex were behind them. When the men were away from the other people, Beth and Alex took out the guns and blasted three shots each into the men’s heads. The scumbags hit the floor, dead. The door upstairs opened and both Kevin and Judy came out. They moved quickly down and headed over to Alex and Beth.
“Give me the guns, let’s go,” Said Kevin.
They all headed out and got in the mustang, except for Kevin; he opened the trunk and deposited the guns into the lock box. After this, he jumped in behind the wheel and drove off. Beth and Judy were silent.
Alex was sitting in the back just repeating, “Shit, shit, shit.”
Kevin looked in his rear view mirror, “Alex? You cool back there?”
Alex looked into the mirror, tears running down his eyes, and calmed down a little. “Yeah Kevin, I am now.”
“Good.”
Beth reached to Alex and took him to her. She hugged him hard and long. When they separated, Alex was still holding Beth’s hand.
“You’re okay Alex; we’re all okay, right?”
“Yeah, I’m okay now.” Alex never let go of Beth’s hand for the entire trip back to the Inn. She could feel the vibration coursing through it. Beth never tried to take her hand back; she felt a flutter deep inside her, the same one Alex had felt months before. Kevin reached out to Judy and grabbed her hand as well; Judy leaned her whole body against his arm and just lay there.
***
When they all walked into the Inn, they began removing their coats and things. Will walked past from the living room and headed towards the dining room. He stopped in front of them, took one look, and said, “Did you leave Scooby Doo somewhere? You guys look like the Mystery Gang there.”
They all stopped what they were doing in mid-move and stared at him.
“Whooooah, my mistake, I thought you were some people I knew!” And he started walking away.
“You know us Will,” said Kevin. “We just had a tough time at the grocery store, the place was packed like sardines.”
“Yeah, I can see you guys must have been starving after all of that, you plum ate everything you got!”
Kevin looked from person to person a
nd realized that not one of them had anything in their hands. He turned to say something to Will but he’d already gone. He took off his coat and mumbled, “Well Kevin, not your best excuse to date.”
Judy began to giggle. She started something with it; in no time everyone was laughing, and not one of them knew why.
“Okay guys, get it together now,” said Kevin.
They all walked off in separate directions. Well, almost everyone; Judy was stuck to Kevin like a coat of paint on a wall.
“Judy, I want you to go gather them together and bring them to the library, get them to talk a bit about what they saw, it should help them.”
Judy said something Kevin didn’t expect, “Who helped you get over it hun? When you were alone, who helped you?”
Kevin looked at her and moved to the stairs, “No one baby. No one.” With that, he went up the stairs and out of sight, carrying his backpack. For the first time, Judy truly began to see the pain inside of him.
Judy was inside the library, calming Alex and Beth, and herself as well. The door was closed. Judy had no idea that Stan and Mark were up against the door on the outside. Stan listened for a few minutes and turned to leave.
“Amateurs,” was all he said as he headed to his room with Mark in tow.
***
Kevin was sitting in the chair, looking down the mountain into the valley below. He didn’t get the ‘calming down period’ that the others would get. He’d learned to suck it up and just move on to the next mission. As darkness settled over the landscape, he began to smell mint.
“Nicely done Kevin, you handled that well, and so did your new assistants.”
“Yeah, we do what needs to be done, right?”
The voice ignored Kevin’s sarcasm as if it had never heard it.
“Kevin, we found out what is going on with Stan. He has been contacted by our enemy.”
“You’re all powerful and you have enemies?”
“One, Kevin, only one. All good must be shared with evil, above others, you should know this?”
