Chapter 25
I woke up in a hospital bed. The first time in my life that had happened. The door to the hallway was open and a uniformed officer was standing guard outside my door, which made me wonder if I was under arrest.
I did shove the chief of police, which meant they could charge me with assaulting a police officer if they wanted to. Seemed a bit petty to me, but maybe Crystal had gotten to the chief just like she had gotten to Walt.
I tried sitting up, but a stabbing pain in my stomach convinced me I should stay where I was. At least for a couple more minutes. I looked around the room to discover Savanna standing next to the windows gazing out of them.
We were several floors up and it was dark outside, so the lights of the city were sparkling, competing with a full moon.
“Hey,” I said.
Savanna turned around, saw that I was awake, and smiled. “You’re awake.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Just a few hours.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You needed a transfusion. Human blood wouldn’t work and since I’m the only other mermaid in town.”
“We got the same blood type?”
“From what they told me, all mermaids have the same blood type.”
“How much blood did they take from you?’
Savanna shrugged her shoulders. “Two, three pints, I didn’t really count. I was too busy focusing on all the free pizzas they were giving me.”
“A thirty-eight shouldn’t have caused that much blood loss,” I said. “Not even with hollow points.”
“It wasn’t a thirty-eight,” Stringbean said, slipping into my room with Frat Boy in tow. “It was a forty-four Magnum, with hollow points.”
If you’re familiar with the Dirty Harry movies, you’re probably familiar with a forty-four Magnum, so I won’t bore you with the technical details. All I’ll say is it packs a slightly bigger punch than a thirty-eight.
“What was Walt doing with a forty-four Magnum?”
“Claims it was a gift.”
“From the siren,” Frat Boy added.
Stringbean and Frat Boy moved to the side of my bed opposite Savanna. Frat Boy wasn’t wearing his suit jacket. Then I remembered why.
“Looks like I owe you a jacket,” I said.
“That one didn’t fit very well anyway,” he said. “I needed to upgrade.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Why would you think that?” Stringbean said. I nodded at the cop in the hallway. Stringbean glanced at him and grinned. “Well . . . you did shove the chief of police.”
“He’s just joking,” Frat Boy said. “That’s just an honor guard. Chief insisted on it. If you hadn’t reacted as fast as you did, those bullets would’ve hit him.”
“Walt and Crystal?” I asked Stringbean.
“Walt’s been suspended pending on official review. My guess is he’ll be taking an early retirement.”
“And Crystal?”
“Technically, she didn’t do anything illegal, so we couldn’t arrest her. But I suspect her days as a consultant for the department are over.”
I turned to Savanna. “John know about this?”
Savanna nodded. “A helicopter picked him up and is flying him back even as we speak.”
“Who’s paying for that?”
I looked at Stringbean but he just shrugged his shoulders. “Not the city.”
“Wormby’s paying for it,” Savanna said.
It was a good thing I was laying down, otherwise they would’ve had to pick me up off the floor. Gnomes are notorious cheapskates. They don’t pay for anything, not if they don’t have to. And Wormby, well, he was king of the cheapskates.
“He said he didn’t want to break in a new treasure hunting partner,” Savanna added.
The word treasure reminded me that I had locked Gladrielle in my vault and left her there. Somebody needed to let her out and it was obvious that I wasn’t in any condition to do it. I needed somebody to do it for me.
Savanna was the obvious choice, but she was also the wrong choice. If she saw what I had in my treasure room, she would just feel bad about her own treasures, or a lack thereof. Stringbean wouldn’t understand what I was doing with all of that stuff and would launch an investigation to see if any of it was stolen. Which it wasn’t.
Frat Boy on the other hand had majored in supernatural studies. He would know about mermaids and their treasures. He would understand why I had all of that stuff, and seeing it wouldn’t make him envious. Dumbstruck, yes. Envious, no.
“I need you to so something for me,” I said to Frat Boy.
Savanna and Stringbean headed off to grab a bite to eat. I told Frat Boy what I needed him to do. He retrieved the keys I normally wore around my neck from a drawer next to my bed. I showed him which key would let him into the building, which key would unlock my condo, and which key would open the vault door.
“Why me?” he asked before heading to my place.
“If Savanna saw what was in my treasure room, she would just feel bad about what’s in hers. And Stringbean, well, he just wouldn’t understand why I need all that stuff. You on the other hand studied us in school. You know about mermaids and their treasures.”
“I won’t let you down,” Frat Boy said. He headed off then stopped in the doorway and looked back at me. ‘The girl in the vault. What should I call her?”
“Claire,” I said. “Her name is Claire.”
***
I must’ve dozed off, because when I woke up, John was there, sitting in a chair next to my bed, staring at me.
“Hi,” he said, when he saw me staring at him. “How do you feel?”
I tried moving. My stomach didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had earlier, which meant my accelerated metabolism was already doing its job and healing my body.
“Hungry,” I said.
John glanced out the window, it was growing light outside, which meant I had slept most of the night, a highly unusual occurrence for a mermaid. “You want me to run out and get you something? Pancakes? Waffles? Donuts?”
Yes, yes, and yes. Not that I said that, instead, I slid to the side of my bed, to make room.
“After awhile.” I patted the bed. “Right now, I want you to join me.”
John slid onto my bed, laying down next to me. Then he draped an arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed, as content as I had been since Elvis vamp had interrupted our dinner.
“Mind if I ask what you were doing jumping in front of a forty-four Magnum?”
“Technically, I didn’t jump in front of a forty-four Magnum. I just pushed the chief of police out of the way, so he wouldn’t get shot.”
“How did you end up in a confrontation with the police anyway?”
“I was doing what my dad taught me to do, defend those that can’t or won’t defend themselves.”
“Your dad taught you that?”
“When I was young, he used to sit me on his lap and tell me that I had to look out for the little guy. You’re special, he used to tell me. That means you have special responsibilities. You have to look out for the little guy. You have to look out for those that don’t have anybody else to help them.”
“By little guy, you mean the elf that was throwing fireballs at you, trying to kill you.”
“The other elves banished her. If I didn’t help her, no one would.”
John smiled and kissed me on the forehead. “That’s my girl.”
It was at that exact second that the sun broke over the horizon, turning it into the perfect moment. Well, except for the fact that I was in the hospital and had just taken three hollow points to the gut. Still, it was about as perfect a moment as a deadly little mermaid is likely to have.
BOOKS BY J.D. ROGERS
The Low Campbell Series
Dirty Little Mermaids
Deadly Little Mermaids
The Princess Wars Series
Princess Wars
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Destiny's Queen
Lost in Time
The Competition
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.D. grew up in a house where women were in charge of everything, which may explain his preference for strong female characters. He studied history and law in college and uses that knowledge to help build the worlds he creates. J.D. makes his home in Montana.
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