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NOAH
She’s been gone for 35 minutes. I know this because I keep looking at the wall where a clock is hanging and to the spot where she disappeared, it allows me to avoid the glances from the staff who all seem to fear me, which is fine, because no one is telling me to leave. They would have to pry my ass off this chair because I wasn’t leaving until Ava returned. The goon squad that I had knocked out suddenly all sat up at once looking dazed and confused at each other. When it dawned on them as to what happened, they all turned in unison. Took one look at me then scrambled to their feet and ran out of the room.
Five minutes later a cloudy mist appears at the entrance to the dining room, and I wait until I see her figure start to form before I get off the chair and go to meet her. Taking her by the arm, I said, “You need to do something for the staff. They’re a little shook up.”
As we headed towards the hall, she waved her hand and seconds later I could hear laughter as all was set to rights.
“Let’s gather our stuff up and get out of here. We need to get that relic for Satan before midnight tomorrow night,” she said as we entered our room.
“We have to square up with the front desk before we can leave right?” I asked, stuffing Bones dishes into a bag.
She shook her head. “Already taken care of.” She grabbed her bags and moved to the patio door and slid it open. It was so cold outside that the snow crunched underneath her as she walked around to the back of the Land Rover, unlocking it as she did. She then tossed her bag into the back and slung her backpack onto her shoulder.
“Come Bones,” I said, and the Doberman bounded outside and into the back of the SUV while she got into the passenger seat. As I was throwing my bag into the back and closing the door a white Honda came screeching into the parking lot. Peter the night clerk got out of his car grinning from ear to ear. He looked over to me and yelled, “How was your stay?”
“Good, very eventful. You seem happy,” I said, as he jogged over.
“Yes! I’m going around handing my resignation in effective immediately to all my employers. I hit the lottery! Can you believe it?!”
“Oh, I certainly can, congratulations!”
He looked at Ava grinning as he gave her a double thumbs up. “You two take care, I have to get in there before my boss leaves.” He waved and was off and I got in behind the driver’s seat.
“Well, he’s certainly happy.” I said as I fastened the seat belt.
A contented sigh escaped past her lips. “That he is. He’ll do good things with it.”
“How do you know. Never mind, you can see into the future too.”
She looked at me and grinned. “I did peek into it briefly before deciding on helping him. What good would it have been to help him if he was only going to end up being a devious bastard. I’d had to have come after him.”
I laughed. “That is true.”
She pulled out the map and a highlighter from her backpack as I put the car into reverse and asked, “Where to now?”
“North. We have a long drive ahead of us and unfortunately for you you’re going to have to do it because I need to rest.”
I looked at her. “How long of a drive are we talking about?”
She made a face. “Twenty-four hours.”
“Ah...” My mind began to race.Twenty-four hours was she nuts?Although the night spent in her arms was better than heaven itself, I was still feeling the effects of our lovemaking. “Yeah... that’s no big deal.” I nodded to affirm myself and shrugged a shoulder. “I can do it.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry I’ll put a spell on you so that you can do it. Just let me know when you need it.”
Relieved that I wasn’t going it alone I thanked her as she went back to marking out our trek on the map. As we were leaving the town that we had spent the night in a flash of black against the brilliance of the snow caught my eye. It was the black wolf from last night. I pointed out her window. “Look it’s your friend.”
She glanced up from her map to look to where I was pointing. “Stop the car.”
The second the car was off the road she jumped out and went up to the animal. Just like last night, the beast sniffed her hand, licked it then Ava stroked its fur. She stayed that way bent down in the snow, silently communicating with the majestic animal until it backed away and bounded off into the trees.
The look on her face had me worried. “What’s wrong?” I asked as she climbed in.
I watched it disappear and was replaced with a smile. She’s drawn a mask over her face. “Ah nothing. All is well it the town of Cotton Springs. She just wanted to thank me, like she always does,” she replied, buckling up her seat belt.
I pulled back onto the highway and started driving when a thought occurred to me. “Do you want to know what I think of your wolf friend there?”
