Page 37 of Wild Temple
My glare persisted.
I added a little something to the wad of cash and handed it to him as I snatched the bag. “That’s all you’re getting, and it’s more than fair.”
He fanned the money out, counting it, not looking entirely disappointed. He was just trying to bilk me out of as much as he could.
I climbed back into the car, and Jack drove off.
We hustled back to the hotel, and JD pulled to a side entrance. It wouldn’t be terribly unusual to carry in a drunk girl who had overindulged on Sunset Row. I didn’t trust Rafi not to take off, so I made him carry Kelsey inside. JD and Brooke followed. I moved to the driver’s seat, pulled the taxi around, found a place to park, then hustled inside.
In the room, JD and I got Kelsey started on IV fluids. We’d both treated plenty of battlefield casualties in our day. This was a piece of cake.
"I've done everything you've asked," Rafi said. "I need to get to my home and check on my family."
I told Brooke to stay with Jack and help with Kelsey.
She nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
I was her lifeline. Her only chance at finding Hannah.
Rafi and I left the hotel room and headed back down to the parking lot. He cringed when he looked at his car again. It had taken a beating.
I told Rafi to take the wheel.
I pulled open the door, swiped away the broken glass in the front passenger seat, then climbed in. I gave Rafi the keys, and he fired up the engine.
"If you try anything funny, I will kill you," I said, brandishing my pistol once again.
"I have no funny ideas.” He paused. “Actually, I have plenty of funny ideas. I want to be a stand-up comic. That is mydream." He put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.
We headed out of town.
"You want to hear some of my material?”
I gave him a skeptical look. "Not really."
He frowned. "It's good. You like. You could use a laugh.”
He was right about that.
"Okay. Let's hear what you've got."
Rafi took a moment to get into character. When he did, his colorful personality came alive. His delivery was short and punchy. “I drive tourists around all day and all night. From the airport to the bars, you name it. They always ask me stupid questions. Rafi, are you from around here? No, I’m from Wisconsin. I moved all the way here to drive your drunk ass around and clean puke from my car. It makes my life complete.”
His routine was mildly amusing so far.
“Westerners come here tounpluganddigital detox. They want to get close tonature. Then, they check into a hotel with air conditioning and free Wi-Fi. You want to get close to nature? Go spend the night in the jungle with mosquitoes the size of attack helicopters. Let me know how that works out for you.”
I may have chuckled.
“A girl got into my cab the other day. Said she was here to healancestral traumaand cleanse heraura. I said, honey, drink the tap water. That will cleanse your aura.”
“Okay, you might be onto something,” I said, amused.
“Oh, I got more,” Rafi said.
He proceeded to go through his entire routine on the 20-minute drive through the jungle to an inland village. I had to give him credit. The routine wasn’t terrible. It passed the time. I figured he ran the act on every tourist that got into his cab.
