####
I don’t go far, and I can’t rest easily, so pacing it is. A tiny patch of green to gentrify the courthouse, complete with Keep Off The Grass signs, so I pace there. Grass is way more resilient than concrete, given half a chance. It’s humans and their strange need to make everything look neat even when it’s falling apart that makes them put up signs like that. Before I get too deep into deriding humans, I pull out my cell phone. Speed dial gets me to a voice of reason and humor, Leo the lawyer.
“Good evening, Miss. To what do I owe this call?” Leo answers promptly, so I guess it’s after business hours.
"I'm waiting for the finer nature of humanity to assert itself."
"I would like to wish you the best of luck with that."
"Small doses of luck mean small victories, but I'll take what I can get." I don’t waste time explaining what I mean, even though the more time passes the less likely I am to get a good response. If Vickie plants the bomb tonight, she’ll have to wait for Judge Perry to return to his office in the morning to activate it.
"What will you get if the darker impulses triumph?" Leo doesn’t need details to ask the pertinent questions.
"As my lawyer, I will leave that between you and the courts, but I might have another dead body and tarnished soul on my conscience."
"As your lawyer, I know no one will judge you as harshly as you do."
"I'm pretty sure I was burned as a witch in a previous life; that was some harsh external judgement."
"Yes, well, I wasn't your lawyer then." In Leo’s calm voice, this is a statement of fact and a promise of a different outcome.
"Fair enough, but not enough for an increase in your retainer." I don’t actually pay Leo anything, but that’s at his refusal of the idea.
"What do you lose if the better part of human nature prevails?"
"For starters, it'd be cheaper to pay the salary out of my own pocket than to convince the mob to change their way of doing this part of the business."
"If only their pride and superiority complex would allow such a change." Leo’s almost sarcastic when he responds, as he doesn’t think well of anyone who chooses a life of organized crime.
"I'd rather deal with the Armenian Mob than your family."
A pause, while Leo decides if he's insulted enough to disagree. Hint; he never is.
"I find that I concur, and am as always, glad to have distanced myself from them."
"Hey, I'm getting another call, might be my expensive answer. Bye for now."
"Farewell." I let him say before I accept the call from the unknown caller.
"Vickie?"
"You Nancy?"
"For the current round of paperwork, I find I am Nancy." A pause, one many people need when encountering my speech patterns.
"I'll take that job."
"You can't see me, but I'm doing a celebratory dance."
"Okay." It's more question than statement, but she moves on. "Thing is, I never learned how to undo that thing I made."
I bite back a laugh. "Tell me where you are, I'll take that thing off your hands and give you the details."
She's in the alley behind the courthouse, so it doesn't take long at all to fly over there. I cheat, and drop the pipe bomb into a pocket dimension for a little while, even though Vickie thinks it’s just my coat pocket. I call Rabo Polevoi, my contact with a certain mob that speaks English as a second language, and he suggests a diner. I take Vickie there to meet her new employer and let myself believe in the good of humanity. Or at least the 'not blow up our enemies' good of humanity.
Acknowledgments
To Tim and Terry, for all their help, but especially for their encouragement.
Thank you for reading my short story.
If you enjoyed it, please consider buying the first novel in the series from me.
Telling Truths
Thanks!
Nani Nicks
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