by Sam Cheever
Heathcliffe pushed the cowboy hat back so his brother could see his smiling face. “Not as cool as this one, it shoots like a gun. We're gonna have to raid Alfric's stash when he's not looking."
Mr. Bigg took two steps and then stopped, quickly finding himself on the business end of another taser before he could get any further. Edric Honeybun cocked his head at the little man. “I don't think so. We need to talk to you for a few minutes."
Clovis Honeybun emerged from the shadows of the alley and grinned at the very pale man. He nodded at his brothers and Heathcliffe slid out of the saddle. He and Warwicke grabbed Julio under the arms and dragged him toward the black Hummer that had pulled up beside Warwicke's cycle in the middle of the street. Louis was quickly dispatched in the same way.
Clovis reached into his pocket for the pair of cuffs he'd stashed there. “Bigg, I believe you and I have some things to discuss before I call the police and tell them you're ready to talk."
If it was possible, the little man's face lost even more of its color. “You can't do this, I'll sue you for everything you have. I'll have you arrested for kidnapping. I'll make sure you never spend another day as a Marine."
Clovis laughed. “You can try, little Bigg. But I'm betting my lawyer type friends can keep up with your lawyer type friends any day of the week."
Bigg snorted, “What? Your pansy ass brother Percy? I don't think he's quite in the same league as my lawyers."
Clovis nodded, frowning slightly, “You might be right. But hey!” His face cleared as if something had just occurred, “Have I mentioned that my dad's name is Bob Honeybun? You might have heard of him. Legal counsel to President Reagan. Geesh!” Clovis snapped the cuffs on the man's skinny, baby soft wrists. “I can't believe I forgot to mention that."
Edric stuffed the taser back into the waistband of his baggy jeans. “Don't forget Uncle Brick, the Senator."
Clovis clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I had forgotten uncle Brick. Thanks, bro."
Bigg looked like he wanted to pee himself.
"Let's just make use of this nice little car shall we?” Clovis looked up at Warwicke, who was standing over a slightly dazed Louis talking to Alfric. “Wick?"
Warwicke turned around. “Yeah?"
"Would you care to drive?"
The younger Honeybun brother grinned, “Would I?” He turned to Edric, “You'll take my cycle where it needs to go?"
Edric nodded, “With pleasure. I thought you'd never let me drive this thing."
Warwicke slid into the driver's seat of the long, black car. “Just don't wrap it around anything or you'll be answering to both me and mom."
Clovis settled little Bigg into the back seat and closed the door. “I wonder how fast this thing will take the turns, bro,” he asked Warwicke in an offhand manner.
Warwicke grinned, “Let's find out shall we?"
They left half of the tires behind on the pavement when they took off and, by the time they turned the first corner it was hard to tell which was gonna be more annoying to the sleeping neighbors; the squeal of tires as the long car slid and careened around corners and down streets at an impossible speed, or the screeching that was coming from the little man in the backseat. Bigg was definitely gonna need a new pair of tidy whitey's by the time Warwicke got done taking his fancy limo for a test run.
* * * *
* * * *
Angie scrubbed at a tiny spot of spilled coffee on the counter and glanced at Alastair. “Do you think they're all right?"
Alastair chuckled, “The bad guys? Or my brothers?"
Angie slanted him a look.
He shrugged, “Hopefully my brothers won't be too hard on them. Though they deserve everything they get."
Angie nodded, “So, Brita said the DA was finally singing?"
"Like a bluebird on acid."
"And he admitted that he and his wife had Debra kidnapped to throw a wrench into the Bigg extortion case?"
Alastair nodded, “Bigg forced him to do it. Said he'd let out that they'd been partners in a few deals if they ended up in the courtroom together. With it being reassigned, the case won't go to trial until next year most likely. Bigg thought he had an angle to get out of the other deal, he just needed more time to work it out. This will add a whole new dimension to the trial. He's pretty much screwed."
Angie clucked her tongue, “Sux to be him. What about all that money the Burns's extorted from the rich ex-wife."
"That was the only way Burns could get his new little wifey to go along with it. She apparently overheard him talking to Bigg about the kidnapping and threatened to squeal. The original plan didn't include any money. Bigg was just gonna hold the girl for a few days and then, when the DA's case file had been reassigned, give her back. No harm, no foul."
"So tacky."
Alastair took a sip of the hot, wonderfully fragrant coffee Angie had made them. “Extremely."
"But little did the DA know that his wife had other plans for that money."
"And for poor little Ms. Burns too it appears."
"Except that poor little Ms. Burns was going to double-cross her."
"And her father."
"And her boyfriend? Brian Davies?"
Alastair frowned. “That, Brita wasn't sure about. Davies actually loved the little witch. He knew she was headed for trouble and thought he could pin everything on her wicked stepmother and the DA. But unfortunately, Debra Burns wasn't content to just sit on the sidelines and let events unfold. She decided to grab that gun..."
Angie reached into the pastry case and pulled out a couple of fat, sticky looking rolls. She set them on small white plates and put one in front of Alastair. “Honey bun?"
"Yes dear?"
She laughed, “Eat your honey bun. They go really well with hot coffee."
"Yes we do don't we?"
Angie leaned over the counter and gave him a soft kiss filled with promise. “We'll have to find out later. I have this idea that involves dunking and nibbling."
"Mmmm, sounds like something I could definitely get behind."
The door swung open and a small yip greeted them, followed swiftly by the sound of pitter pattering feet. Jaws leapt onto Alastair's lap and gave him wet kisses on the nose and cheeks. Alastair laughed and stroked the little dog's floppy ears. “Hey boy, I've missed you too."
Angie reached for Jaws and snuggled him up close, happily accepting her own dose of doxy love.
Percy and Brita joined Alastair at the counter.
"Two more coffees?” Angie asked.
Percy nodded, “And two more of those, whatever they are, they look delicious."
"Honey buns."
"Yes dear?"
Brita frowned at him, still angry from the looks of it. “They're called honey buns. And although they do indeed look good enough to eat, you don't. So don't even give me any lip."
Percy pouted playfully and turned to give Angie a wink. “I'm slowly winning her back over. She's crazy about me."
Brita ignored him and sat down on the other side of Alastair. Looking around she said, “It looks like the place held up okay. Nothing seems permanently broken."
Angie nodded and set two steaming mugs in front of them. “Thanks to you all. I couldn't have done it without your help. Your family is the best, Alastair."
He had a mouth full of honey bun but he nodded. Percy nudged his arm. “Should we tell her about Edric and Heathcliffe?"
Alastair went pale. “No. I don't think..."
Percy ignored him. “You see, the pastry truck showed up and the delivery guy was really sick."
"He was all pale and stuff.” Brita added.
"And he looked like he was gonna throw up.” Alastair mumbled with a mouth still full of bun.
"So Edric and Heathcliffe offered to help him unload the truck and the guy was desperate so he said yes."
"Then off he went to the bathroom to throw up."
"Only the toilet backed up."
Angie grimaced, �
�It does that a lot."
Alastair stopped chewing, “Really? Cause we can get it fixed for you."
"We have a cousin who's a plumber,” Percy added.
"So anyway that kid you have helping you here ... the geeky one?"
"Petey."
Alastair nodded, “Yeah, that's the kid. He's helping the delivery guy in the bathroom..."
"And meanwhile Edric and Heathcliffe are unloading the truck...” Brita's smiling now.
"And mumbling about how many damn pastries you ordered for one little coffee shoppe."
Angie clapped a hand over her mouth, starting to understand.
"And then the guy finally comes out of the john..."
"All pale and sweaty..."
"And Edric and Heathcliffe are sitting on a mountain of crates in the back..."
"All sweaty and exhausted..."
"And the guy just looks at the mess of boxes in your store room and he runs to his truck and he looks in the back and it's totally empty..."
Angie shrieked into laughter. “They unloaded the whole truck?"
Alastair, Percy, and Brita were laughing too. They all nodded.
"But the best part,” Percy tells her, “Is that the guy says his company has this rule..."
Brita nodded, “Anything that comes off the truck can't be put back in. It's a health issue."
Angie's leaning on the counter now, barely able to breathe.
"So Edric says, ‘What the hell kind of a rule is that?’”
"And the guy says...” Alastair is gasping to breathe at this point, “...he says..."
Percy slapped his brother on the back, “He says, ‘it's a rule that just made you the happy owner of five hundred muffins, two hundred loaves of bread, three hundred bagels, and fifty assorted cakes. You're lucky the cookies were loaded into the cab of the truck. I ran out of room in the back for those.’”
Angie shrieked again and wiped tears off her cheeks, “Holy crap! Is it all still in my store room?"
Brita shook her head, sniffling, her cheeks and eyes were wet too. “They paid the guy and then sheepishly carted most of it off to their cars. Heathcliffe was gonna give stuff away at the Academy and Edric thought he might be able to get rid of some of it at the college."
Alastair shook his head. Mom and dad told me about it tonight, while we were waiting for them to round up the horse at the airport."
Brita took a sip of her coffee and narrowed her eyes. “Where did your brothers take that horse anyway?"
Percy shrugged and became suddenly very interested in his honey bun. Alastair looked at Angie and she turned away so Brita wouldn't see the guilty look on her face.
"Boys! What are they up to?"
Percy bit his lip. “How do we know, we can't keep track of those bozos.” He tried to appear impatient but a smile kept tugging at the corners of his battered mouth.
"Percy!"
Alastair stood up and looked at his watch. “I don't know where they are, Brita, but I was wondering, do you have your cell phone on you?"
The pretty golden-brown eyes narrowed even further, “Yes. Why?"
Alastair shrugged and started gathering up cups. “It's getting late. You ready to go home, Ang?"
Angie avoided looking at Brita and nodded. She allowed Percy and Alastair to help her tidy up.
Brita's phone rang and Percy headed for the door. Brita was talking rapidly on the phone and hurrying after Percy. The last thing Angie and Alastair saw as they headed for Percy's car was Brita flicking her phone closed and flipping Percy the bird.
Angie sighed, “That will probably slow his efforts to win her back."
Alastair came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Yup. But don't feel too sorry for him. Percy digs this stuff. He gets bored if life isn't complicated enough."
Angie leaned against him and sighed, wrapping her arms around his. “How about you?"
"How about me?"
"Do you get bored without constant challenge?"
His lips touched her temple and began a trail down the side of her face. “Not in the least. In fact, right about now I'm thinking I'd like things to get really quiet and really cozy for a while."
"You would?"
"Mm hmm.” His lips found her neck and his tongue came out to lick the ultra sensitive area behind her ear.
Angie moaned, “My apartment's pretty cozy."
"What the hell are we doin’ here?"
Angie grinned, “I can't move when you're doing that."
"I can't stop doing this."
Jaws yipped and they both looked down.
Alastair grinned, “He told us to get a room."
Angie sighed, “He's the boss. Let's go little man. I think you're gonna like my bed. It's big and squishy."
"I know I will ‘cause you're gonna be in it."
She flipped the light next to the door and pulled it shut. “I was talking to Jaws."
Alastair frowned, “Oh."
Angie twisted the key in the lock and turned. She gasped and looked at Alastair with a horrified expression on her face. “What's that doing here?"
Alastair gave her a slow, knee melting smile. “Edric must have dropped it off."
"Why didn't he bring one of our cars?"
Alastair shrugged, “They don't know where they are."
"I'm not getting on that thing."
Jaws yipped happily and ran to the motorcycle that was parked at the curb. He jumped up and down with excitement.
"But Jaws wants to ride on it."
"I don't care."
"But you were worried about whether he would like your bed."
"I'm not worried about this. I have an idea, you and Jaws can ride this damn thing home and I'll walk."
Alastair shook his head and handed her one of the two helmets that Edric had left. “That wouldn't be safe.” He reached down and picked up Jaws. “Come on, fraidy cat. Climb on."
Angie stood on the sidewalk for a long moment looking at the sleek, black machine and wondering how she could get out of riding on it.
"I promise to drive like my grandmother."
"I don't believe you. Besides, if she's a Honeybun she probably drives like a crazy person."
Alastair shrugged.
Finally Angie sighed and dropped the helmet over her head. It was so big it felt like it was resting on her shoulders. She felt like Dumb Donald of the Fat Albert cartoons. She climbed on and wrapped her arms tightly around Alastair's waist, dropping her head against his back. “Let's get this over with."
He revved the engine. “What?"
She lifted her head, “I said let's get this o ... o ... oooooohhhhhh shiiiiiitttttttt!"
The End
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www.samcheever.com
Sam Cheever writes fast paced fantasy and romantic fiction with feisty characters who deal with life's little challenges in unique and often hilarious ways. As a reader Sam is very impatient. She quickly loses interest if a story doesn't have a good pace and snappy dialogue. Sam's inability to focus in a backwash of human angst and subtleties works out well for her readers, since she writes the way she likes to read.
In her real life, Sam lives on a hobby farm in Indiana with 10 dogs, 4 horses, 2 barn cats, 2 daughters, and one husband. Not necessarily in that order.
To learn more about the author and her work, visit her website at www.samcheever.com and her blog at tweenyouandme.blogspot.com/ or come friend her at www.myspace.com/samcheever.
Red Rose Publishing:
For Life
Dancing With Tad
The Honeybun Series
Cerridwen Press:
'Tween Heaven and Hell
'Tween a Devil and His Hard Place
Under Contract, late 2008 early 2009 release:
Ellora's Cave: Nocked Over
Cerridwen Press: Tween Heart's Fire and Devil's Delight
* * *
Visit www.redrosepublishing.com for information on addition
al titles by this and other authors.
