Page 5 of Half Blind

“Don’t like the idea of a drifter being here with these ladies; you got some ID?”

“Of course,” Jared said, slowly reaching into his front pocket and removing a military ID. He limped over, passing it to the officer. “I have three younger sisters myself who are my best friends on this planet. Wonderful, accomplished women, whom I absolutely treasure. It can be rough on a lady in this world. For Doc Myrtle’s kindness in giving me shelter last night, I plan to repay her with a bit of cleanup.”

Officer Sparta handed back the ID. He removed the glasses to stare directly into Jared’s eyes. His chest puffed up a bit, but Jared didn’t take the bait. “Mr. Bane, are ya headed somewhere in particular?”

“Yeah, I’m retiring soon and was headed towards Cleveland to see an old pal I served with when the tornado hit,” Jared said.

The officer’s eyes went to the girls. The eldest of the two began to smile at Helen, who returned the grin. Helen was impressed—they read the situation well and were moving accordingly, which meant there were stories here to learn and understand.

Bria asked, “Helen, please tell me you’re making Auntie's famous cookies!”

“No, but I do have her pound cake recipe,” Helen said, smiling back. “I think that, and if Myrtle here has some fresh cream, we can make vanilla ice cream to go with it, but man, I could really use some breakfast. Cuz, you hungry?”

“Sure am,” Lemon said, looking at the Sheriff. “Thanks for checking on us. We appreciate you. Mr. Bane, let’s get some coffee going, take a walk over the property to assess the damage, and get your vehicle here to give it a once over so we have a plan of action. However, first, we need to get a better look at the leg. You're going to have to come out of those pants.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Jared said, looking at the Officer. “Sir, do you have those tow companies we can call?”

“Yeah, let me get a phone number for you,” Officer Sparta said.

“Sure, but I’m not going to be able to make the calls,” Jared said.

“And why not?”

From his back pocket, he removed his phone. The crack in the screen of the device appeared as if the phone had been dropped from ten stories up and landed face down. He held out his hands as if in defeat. “Last night, this is how my body felt as well. Getting on that roof is going to be a challenge,” Jared added with a grimace on his face.

Officer Sparta went to the squad car, returning a moment or two later with a couple of business cards for local tow services. Jared thanked the man as he tipped his hat and climbed inside the cruiser. Just as he’d arrived, he left, more than likely with more questions than necessary.

“He’s going to be back,” Helen said.

Bria spoke up, “That’s part of the problem. Hopefully, if Mr. Jared is around for a minute, it might deter him. We don’t like how he looks at us. Dirty ole fox eyeing the chicks in the pen.”

Jared said, “I got that feeling too. He’s looking for an in, and when he finds one, he’s going to make everyone’s life a living hell.”

From his other back pocket, Jared removed a second phone. He punched in three numbers and a voice answered. In the line he said, “A tornado caught me and my truck, turned my life upside down. I’m, where am I?... Oxford, Ohio. Find who? Well, that is where I am, believe it or not, and there is a nosey Smoky sniffing around. There’s a lot of damage to the truck, so I'm going to need some assistance to make it roadworthy, or another truck, but it feels as if I may need to hang here for a bit. She has some storm damage and the Smoky has intentions for this family. Plus, I think she said her name is Cranberry, has arrived. Oh, really? Interesting. Roger that.”

They watched him as he ended the call and put the nice phone away. He wasn’t who he seemed, and all eyes were on him. He eased their fears with one sentence. “The Archangel wants me to stick around for a while.”

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