Double Play (Nadia Stafford 3.5)

Pause.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Fucking paranoid bastards. Fine. Have it your way. Call me back in an hour."

Pause.

"Two hours then. Fine by me."

Pause.

"Yeah, yeah. If I don't have him, you'll kill me and my dog. Too bad I don't have a dog. I'll have him by then, okay? He might be busy, but he's not going to ignore my message."

I didn't look to Evelyn for an explanation. Jack was using full sentences and had dialed his faint Irish accent up to eleven, which meant he was impersonating someone. Likely connected to the job he'd been doing overseas. He'd explain later.

We relocated Haskell and his partner about a kilometer deeper into the forest. They'd be safe there--any thugs wouldn't hunt that far past the bodies. When they glowered over their gags, I reminded them that we'd tried to play fair and they blew it. They would suffer some discomfort for a few hours. They'd survive. Probably.

We got my overnight bag from my rental and wiped down the steering wheel and doors, though it's not as if that's a serious issue with a rental car. If it was, I'd have worn gloves. Then we left the car where it was. Wouldn't be the first time, which is why we use credit cards that aren't linked to our aliases.

Next we headed to Jack's rental. He said he had a motel room closer to Washington but declared that too far and unsafe.

"Got our stuff," he said. "No reason to go back."

Evelyn argued--it wasn't that much further and as long as the room was paid for . . . Jack said nothing, which was his usual way of winning a fight with Evelyn. He just didn't acknowledge the dispute.

I cleaned up in the car as he drove to the first gas station and bought me two bottles of root beer and a bag of Skittles.

"I'm hungry too, Jack," Evelyn said.

"You didn't pass out from blood loss."

"I think it was more the blow to the head," I said as he climbed into the car.

"Combination. Eat. Drink."

I smiled. "Be merry?"

"Sure." A half-smile my way. Then he glanced at Evelyn. "Can ask her to share. Be nice, though."

She flashed him the finger.

Jack drove us to a hotel off the highway and checked in while we waited in the lobby. Then he walked over and handed Evelyn the key.

"Getting food," he said. "Dee's hungry."

"I don't believe that's possible," Evelyn said. "Given the sheer quantity of sugar she just consumed."

"She is."

"Which she communicated to you telepathically?"

He turned to me. "When'd you last eat? Proper meal?"

"You know, Jack," Evelyn said. "Women don't really like it when you make presumptions about what they

do and don't want."

I shook my head. "He knows that if I'm not hungry, I'll say so. We'll go eat. I'd offer to bring you back something, but McDonald's isn't really your style."

She looked around the chain hotel, nose wrinkling. "Nor is any room service this place provides. Why don't we drive--?"