Days of Darkness

Chapter 9

"I thought you teachers have all the answers," I joked.

"Whoever told you that, doesn't teach," Rose snickered, "we just have to be smarter than the students. Sometimes we even fail at that."

"I wish I had met you years ago," I admitted.

"You probably did meet someone like me," Rose said, "you just weren't ready."

"Stink has a way of making a person ready," I said, "she removes all the barriers and lets you see your potential."

"We still don't know how real it is," Rose said, "there are drugs that convince people they can fly."

"True," I agreed, "and there are drugs that cure diseases."

"I sure hope she is a good d**g," Rose said, and she caressed Stinky's back. Stinky smiled, enjoying the attention as she always did.

"Good Morning," Natalie said brightly. She was wearing a summer dress and looked striking. She turned around quickly, showing it off. "Think one of Flagstaff's finest can resist?"

"Not in a million years," I said with more awe than I intended. Rose choked back a laugh at my unexpected tone. I gather myself quickly. "I thought you lawyers were all suit and tie."

"Only when we take you to court and clean out your life savings," Natalie said, not missing a beat. I didn't think she noticed my brief loss of control.

"You want to do this before breakfast?" I said, my stomach growling.

"Never, it's Sunday," Natalie said. She continued when she saw my blank look. "Sunday is pancake day at the William's household." I looked to Rose, who quickly handed me Stinky. I could see she had forgotten and thought herself remiss.

"Pancakes sound good," I said. Natalie shook her head smiling.

"Then you can help," Rose announced. There was something I was missing about past pancake days. Sitting on your a*s and commenting must be frowned upon. I handed Stinky to the grinning Natalie and became the kitchen helper.

I enjoyed watching Natalie play with Stinky as we ate. Stinky tried desperately to get a taste of the syrup. Natalie seemed at ease at keeping her mind off the food with simple tickling and some bouncing. It looked like she enjoyed it as much as Stinky did. After our meal, I washed dishes, and the ladies fed the human disposal. We put our plan into action after Stinky was fed.

I watched out of the corner of the window as Natalie leaned into the Police car talking to the officer who was watching our house. I assumed they had us under surveillance because we refused a search. I was telling myself I was watching to see if she succeeded. My eyes locked on the subtle gyrations of her backside. The flowered dress flowed with her movements in a beautiful way. For a moment, I wished I was the officer. I had known before the car door opened, that she would convince him.

"It took me all night to convince her," Natalie said to the cop as she entered the front door, "this Ebola thing has her scared. Is it okay if she keeps her distance?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, Natalie," the cop replied. I didn't like how he said her name. I was having new reservations about the plane, "We usually require two officers, but I think we can make an exception in this case." I could almost feel the smile that must have been on his face.

"Thank you, Tom," Natalie said. I disliked how she said his name. I took a slow breath and let the emotion pass. I didn't like what I was feeling. I had no idea where it was coming from. Natalie was a lawyer and way out of my league. A brief necessary friendship was all that would ever come of it. "Where would you like to start?"

"Is there a basement?"

"No, just a crawl space you can only access from outside," Natalie answered.

"Then I just need to look in each room starting with this one," Tom instructed, "then the bedrooms." Natalie giggled when he said bedrooms. My anger flared. More slow deep breaths and self-admonishment for being an i***t cooled me back down. I sat quietly on the bed knowing if he got to this room the gig was up. I listened as footsteps walked around the living room, presumably behind the couch and other possible hiding places.

"Oh!" I heard Rose exclaim from the kitchen. I knew she was peeking from behind the kitchen door, Stinky still behind the wall.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry about this," Tom said, his tone changing from confident man to sympathetic, "I will only be inside for a moment. Once your house is cleared, you won't be bothered again."

"He's not wearing a mask," Rose said with desperation, "he can cough it all over us."

"I assure you I'm not infected," the cop said calmly.

"I'm sorry, mom. I forgot to ask." Natalie said. There was a short pause as Natalie pulled out the scarf I knew she had. "Would you mind if I put this on you?" she asked the cop. I could hear the smile in her voice. Unless the cop was gay, he would allow it.

"Of course, Natalie," Tom answered. I closed my eyes and prayed for divine intervention. I knew Rose was moving up, behind the cop as Natalie reached around his neck to tie the scarf around his mouth. I tried not to imagine her hands gracing the back of his neck as Stinky was secretly brought within Natalie's reach. There was a long paused filled with way too many pounding heartbeats.

"Who is she?" I heard Tom ask calmly.

"We don't know," Rose said, no longer acting the senile woman, "we only know the government wants her enough to dream up the Ebola scare." I walked out of the bedroom and joined everyone in the living room. I was gratified to find Tom a little out of shape, maybe carrying an extra fifty pounds. He was untying the scarf.

"You must be Samuel Donaldson," Tom said, shaking his head.

"Sam," I said, holding out my hand. I wasn't surprised when he didn't take it.

"Is this some kind of trick?" Tom asked Natalie.

"Only to get you in the house," Natalie said, "I'm sorry about that, but we need help." She looked over to Stinky, "she is for real."

"I knew something was wrong," Tom said, "they were letting people leave, in fact encouraging it."

"I think they figured it would be easier to catch us in a car," I surmised, "we need to get past the roadblocks."

"Why shouldn't the government have her?" Tom asked. I looked between Rose and Natalie. It wasn't a question I was prepared to answer. Everyone else who bonded just naturally wanted to protect her from everyone.

"I think they plan to use her as a weapon," I replied, "spying and interrogation. Things like that. We believe she needs a childhood." Sam reached out and grabbed Stinky's barefoot. Stinky gave him one of her laughs, and he smiled as the bond took hold again.

"Damn, she's powerful," Tom said, "somehow I know you're not lying," he turned to Natalie with a friendly smile, "and I know you're not interested...in me."

"Sorry," Natalie said. I thought I saw her cheeks redden. I guess leading a man on embarrassed her.

"Sam," Tom said, holding out his hand, "how can I help?" I smiled and shook his hand. We all sat down and spent the next ten minutes filling him in on what has happened and our observations and reservations about Stinky.

"So, we need you to drive us through a road block," I said when the explanations were through.

"I better make a call," Tom said, ignoring the radio clipped to his breast and using his mobile phone.

"Hey, Gabby," Tom greeted when his call was answered, "I'm at 23 Madison. The owner is pretty freaked out, but the daughter got me in, and I searched the place."

"I know, but the Feds will have to be satisfied," Tom continued after a short pause, "the lady is senile and near a nervous breakdown." He smiled at Ruth, "you bring in anyone else, you'll need an ambulance as well."

"Yea," Tom continued, "I just need to use your name on the write up so the Feds won't go postal on me for doing it alone."

"Yes," Tom laughed as he spoke, "she is a nine. Would be a ten, but I couldn't get a phone number." There were a few more jibes that made Natalie blush. The call ended to Tom's satisfaction.

"Sorry," Tom apologized to Natalie, "he knew why I went in alone in the first place. We don't usually break protocol." Natalie just nodded with her speechless blush. "Luckily, a lot of homes refused the initial search so it doesn't look that suspicious." Tom grabbed his radio and reported that Rose's house had been cleared using Gabby as his second. He was rather efficient for a police officer who was essentially breaking the law. Stinky was an incredibly powerful d**g.

"So," Tom said when he was through, "you guys got a plan."

"Not really," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "I just figured you would drive us past the checkpoint, and we would handle it from there."

"What? Drop you in the desert and you hitchhike or something," Tom said, shaking his head, "I can't go too far past the checkpoint without raising suspicion. All our cars are tracked by GPS. Dispatch will be checking up as soon as I leave my jurisdiction."

"What if I drive out first," Natalie offered, "after they search my car, I can drive ahead and wait for you to catch up." I liked how she thought, always a devious second before me. Simple solutions for simple problems.

"I can find another car," I added, "and be out of your hair in no time." Natalie gave me a look I wasn't expecting, almost angry. I looked away, toward Tom, trying to give myself some time to figure it out. Rose shifted Stinky in her lap. I saw curiosity in her eyes. She was perplexed by Natalie's reaction as well.

"You know, you and her," Tom continued, pointing at Stinky," will have to ride in the trunk. They won't search my car, but they will look inside as I go through." I just became the drugs I used to carry. I was contraband.

"Will need some pillows or something," I said, looking at Rose, "I think Stinky will be alright as long as I'm holding her." Rose nodded her agreement.