Page 34 of Half Blind

“You do it your way behind a computer, but I am the boots on the ground. It is up to me to make the moves you need for a favorable outcome, happen in real time,” Jared said. “Now I need a change. I'm not sure if I want this, but I want a life. The last job went sideways, and they're coming for me.”

“All will be as it should be,” Gabriel replied.

“I'm not understanding,” Jared said as Gabriel took a seat at the table. “They are going to come to the farm.”

“Are you worried about Myrtle's safety?”

Jared frowned at him. “Hell no. The woman had a pet cobra named Curly! I'm afraid of her my damn self.”

“Larry,” Gabriel corrected. “The other was Frank.”

“Oh, so you're aware of her sociopathic tendencies,” he said, “and you wanted me to go there for sanctuary. Have you met her?”

“I know her well. She was my first,” Gabriel replied, watching the man's face closely.

Jared's hand fisted. He didn't like where this was going. The idea of the overly good-looking man and Doc Myrtle made his ball sac jump. “What do you mean, your first?”

“My first parishioner,” he said. “I have been doing what I do for a very long time, Jared, long before you and I were roomies at Langley. Myrtle's grandmother lived next door. She grew up next door to this home. I've known her since she was a teenager.”

“I'm still on her being your first,” Jared said, scowling at him.

“Get your mind out of the gutter. She was a smart but lonely kid, whose mother got herself into a world of trouble, and instead shipping her off to foster care, they brought her here to her grandmother, Ms. Evelyn, with whom she shares a middle name,” Gabriel told him. “Myrtle has a brilliant mind and an affinity for science. I helped focus her skills.”

Jared's lips were down-turned. “Her skills of milking cobras for their medicinal properties?”

Gabriel said, “No, creating products that your team uses to cleanly end festering issues.”

“Ok, that explains it all. You created a chemical assassin,” he said, shaking his head. “My stomach is feeling all sorts of unsettled.”

“You felt threatened when I said she was my first. Jared, have you developed an interest in Myrtle?”

“Hey, she needed help around the place, and the storm tore up more than just my truck. Plus, you told me to go there and... wait a minute,” Jared said, holding up his hands. “Oh, no you don't! Nope. Not hearing it.”

“My plan for your new life coincided with the plan of a Higher Power who put you where I was planning to send you anyway,” Gabriel said smiling.

“Don't smile at me you Bible thumping psychopath! Me and that woman? Those kids! Did you send the blond girl there? I recognized her. That was the little girl from the job about four years ago. I remember those blue eyes,” he said. “That child spit in my face and called me the N-word. You sent her there? I don't like you.”

“Yes, I sent her there to make sure she saw you again, to give her hope,” Gabriel said. “Her Uncle did a number on her, and she paid dearly over the last four years. Seeing you again gave her hope that God hadn't abandoned her.”

“Yeah, her hope made her pass out on the floor when she saw my face,” Jared said. “We are not going to talk about the other two girls or the Cranberry, who is hella scary. She looks so sweet, but her eyes give me the willies. When she looks at you, that Cranberry, I immediately want to start talking and telling her all my business. You know that little Delgado boy made a pass at her? He actually said that woman could put a few hairs on his tattoo.”

Gabriel chuckled, “I would love to have seen Helen's reaction to that! What did she say when he made the pass?”

“She went sister girl and asked, ‘What the hell?’ I nearly laughed myself. He, that one, was...heck, I don’t know how to describe him. To say he was interesting would be selling him short,” Jared said.

“His eldest brother, theBocaracá, that one, is a really complex dude. He's intuitive on a level I’ve never seen and can read people in less than ten seconds,” Gabriel said. “There aren't many people who rattle me, but his brother rattles me.”

“Right now, I want to rattle you. Back to Myrtle, the snake charmer. What do you mean by your plan for my new life? Did...the farm...wait, what?” Jared said, fisting his hands. “You want me with Doc Myrtle and those kids?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said, rising. “I'm getting some tea. Would you like a cup?”

“No, I don't want any of your holier than thou tea. My new life and identity are that woman and those girls? How did you come to this conclusion?” Jared asked.

“I love her,” Gabriel said. “I've loved her since the day I met her, and she distrusted me. I built a trust to interact with her as a teen, and even into her adult years, I maintained a healthy distance to watch over her. We have a balanced friendship, and I love her, just as I love you.”

“Yeah, but you didn't send her out to sweep up messes and, if need be, kill people,” Jared said.

“I have never sent you to kill anyone,” Gabriel corrected.

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