Page 67 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
We drive sedately through the residential streets. Some of the areas have streetlights, but other sections are dark.
The route has a sketchy feel to it, that I don’t like. It’s like trolling the back alleys for action, back when we were in college.
Austin keeps his eyes peeled. “I don’t like it,” he mutters. “It’s like driving a convoy through an occupied village.”
The comment gives me the shivers. What had my friend gone through in the years since we parted?
We don’t see any sign of a girl on a bike or a big dog. When we reach the clinic, it has a closed sign on the door. The sign has a “Back at” sign on the door, with the hands on the clock face set to 8:00 AM.
That’s when Austin loses it.
“Lee!” he shouts. “Lady Mermaid! Dammit woman, I got your selkie pelt, you can’t leave me.”
Lights start coming on in the building next door, and a dog starts barking with a distinctive “Ark, Ark, Ark,” sound.
“Lee!” Austin bellows again. “I know you’re there. Answer me!” He bolts around the corner, right up to a locked gate in a chain link fence.
“Hold it right there, buddy,” an older woman’s voice says. “It’s after hours, and we aren’t open to visitors.”
She’s got the biggest handgun I think I’ve ever seen, and she’s got it trained right on Austin. Austin holds up both hands and backs up a little.
She’s a wrinkled little black woman who looks like she might blow away in a strong wind. But she has presence that commands a hell of a lot of respect, and it isn’t all about the hand cannon that she’s holding with both hands like she knows how to use it.
Before I can say anything, I hear Rylie’s voice. “It’s all right, Artie. That’s my boyfriend. He’s come to find me.”
30
LEE
Ark wakesme up with his “Welcome Home” bark that he only uses to Austin. But Austin isn’t here. He’s visiting my brother on the other side of the village.
Ark keeps yelling his distinctive bark, “Ark, Ark, Ark!” He’s right in my ear, but over his fussing, I can hear Austin yelling, “I got your selkie pelt! You can’t leave me!”
I struggle up off the floor. My muscles don’t want to obey me, I’m so sore from riding the bike, falling off the bike, and nearly getting run over, it’s a wonder I can even move.
But I do. As I stumble out the door, my heart nearly stops. Artie is standing at the bottom of the walk, just far enough inside the gate to be out of reach of anyone on the other side.
She’s in a classic range-shooting stance, and she’s got this giant gun that she’s holding in both hands, pointing it right at Austin.
“Don’t shoot him, Artie,” I call out. “That’s my boyfriend.”
Artie lowers the gun and points it at the ground, but she doesn’t put it away. “What kind of boyfriend lets his girlfriend bike seven miles through some of the worst neighborhoods around?”
“One who was stupid enough to go visiting and leave his girlfriend at home alone when she’s been hurt and is sick,” Austin says humbly. “Lee, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. When did you find out?”
“Today,” I say. “Maybe yesterday if it’s after midnight. I got a test kit from the supermarket.”
“You should have called me!” Austin yells.
“No phone,” I remind him. “It was the first thing I ditched.”
“About that,” my brother speaks up. “What the heck, Rylie? I thought we were through with the running away nonsense.”
“I had to,” I say. “But I don’t want to talk about it out here. He’s had people looking for me. That guy with the camera, remember?”
Austin got a funny look on his face. “I do remember. I guess I should have asked, but I thought he was just some kind of crazy tourist, not an investigator for some kind of crazy ex.”
The matron glares at Austin. “So what now?”
