Part 36 (2/2)
He turned. ”Hey, it'd be the third time, you know? Besides, Bud and Charlie looked like they could take care of themselves. What could I have done, anyway?”
Kerry stared steadily at him.
216*
”Hey, I admit it-I'm no hero.” Bob lifted his hands. ”I'm not like you. I'll save my own skin first, and that's just the truth, okay?”
Kerry looked at Dar. Dar rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Kerry sighed and took a bite of her dinner. ”So, why were you looking for us, then?” she asked. ”Did you need another diversionary target?”
Bob apparently felt his grilling was over and that he'd won a point. ”No.” He gathered his confidence again. ”Look, I realized I was going about this the wrong way. I need resources, and help.”
He faced them. ”So, here's the deal.”
Dar rested her elbow on the chair arm while Kerry leaned forward attentively.
”I want to make you my partners,” Bob said. ”Is that a good deal or what?”
Blue and green eyes met across the inn room. Kerry sighed.
”Bob?”
”Yeah?” He grinned at her. ”I know, it's a big sacrifice for me, but-”
”Did you get dropped on your head a lot as a kid?”
”Huh?”
”I should have stayed naked,” Dar commented, shaking her head sadly. ”He'd never have noticed.”
”Huh?”
”Another explicit reason why stupid people shouldn't breed.”
”What are you guys talking about?”
”I think we should just tie him up and leave him in the closet,”
Kerry decided.
”Hey!”
Chapter.
Twenty.
”OKAY. HERE'S THE scenario as I see it.” Dar paced in front of the window, her hands in her pockets.
Bob was sitting in the corner, keeping as far away as he could from Bud, who'd arrived not long before. Kerry was seated on the bed cross-legged, and the only thing missing was a whiteboard and markers.
Dar was actually quite a good situational a.n.a.lyst, as Kerry had decided some time ago. She tended to toss out all the irrelevant details and concentrate on the core issues, and if you were smart, you let her finish before you asked any questions.
”But, wait.” Bob spoke up. ”Don't you think I should explain my part of this first?”
”No,” Dar said. ”As I was saying...here's the scenario.” She paused. ”We have a ten-year-old wreck in pretty rough condition, just east of Charlie and Bud's place. We have one certifiable nutcase trying to bring up bits of it, and another certifiable nutcase trying to blow it up.”
”Hey!” Bob protested.
”Shut up,” Bud drawled. ”Or I'll stick a chair leg down your throat.”
”Nutcase two has the resources to achieve his objective.” Dar consulted a piece of paper on the table, now cleared of its tray. A pot of tea, however, squatted mutely in the center. ”He also has the easier task.” She turned to Bob. ”Are you ready to tell us what you're looking for?”
Bob squirmed a little as all eyes fastened on him. ”Um.” He swallowed, an audible sound in the silent room. ”Well, you know, that's a... Y'see, I don't know if I can, um...”
Dar walked over and put her arms on his chair, fixing him with her dourest look. ”Kerry risked her life to save your a.s.s. Don't even think about not trusting us.”
”Uh.” Bob leaned back in the chair. ”It's not that, it's...
just...I...”
”You don't know, do you?” Kerry spoke up. ”You have no idea 218*
what you're looking for.”
Dar looked at Kerry, then looked at Bob. The expression on his face spoke volumes. ”Is that true?”
”Um.” Bob gulped. ”Sorta.”
Dar straightened and walked over to the window, lifting both hands and letting them drop in eloquent silence.
”Son of a b.i.t.c.h,” Bud snorted. ”No wonder you told us to show you everything we done brought up,” he said. ”I thought that was a weird-a.s.s story about lookin' for pieces of some puzzle.”
”See.” Bob sat up. ”I told you I shoulda explained first. Here's the deal.” He took a breath. ”My grandma-”
”She's not your grandmother,” Dar interrupted. ”You're not even related to her. You're trying to impress her granddaughter, who you want to marry.”
Bob looked at her in consternation.
”You're from Ohio,” Kerry added with a brief smile. ”Your family raises alpacas.”
”Who are you people?” Bob asked, looking from one to the other. ”Cops?”
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