“Has that ever happened before?”
“No. Some of our regulars have stopped coming. Even one of our volunteers quit. He said that something evil was around here.”
“That is really odd. Well I guess I will be leaving.” No reason to stay with the creepy old man at the Salvation Army. “Bye.” It was still the South; you had to be polite.
“Miss, you should check out the Church under the Bridge. They have Masses Saturdays at 9:00 a.m., rain or shine. If you don’t find your friend by then, maybe he goes there. A lot of the homeless take Mass there and have a warm breakfast.”
“Thank you very much.” I had stopped at the door. He smiled kindly but sadly.
“Goodbye, Miss, come again. Hope you find your friend.” He waved a lazy hand at me and went back to staring out the window.
It appeared the word was getting out that Texarkana was not safe for the transient population. That was a blessing, fewer people to worry about. I got in Bumblebee and pulled out of the parking space. I had a horrible habit of checking my mirrors at least five times. As I pulled up to the intersection, a black car pulled out of the end of the street. I hadn’t seen anyone sitting in any of the cars parked. Call me paranoid, but my week was kind of sucking, and I did not want to be followed.
If they were following me, they were going to have to work for it. I drove around downtown making crazy turns without using my turn signal. Something that drove me nuts when others did it. The black car was still behind me. It was a few car lengths behind but still there. Not something that I enjoyed. I drove toward Saint Edward’s, then back to the library. I made several loops hoping to lose them, but they were right behind me.
I took a quick turned onto Broad Street. My goal was to head down toward Texas Boulevard and then head home. I was going way past the speed limit when I saw flashing lights behind me. I wasn’t sure if this was a blessing or a curse. I pulled over and saw the black car drive by. The windows were tinted, so I couldn’t see who was driving. Fortunately for me, they couldn’t see my face, either.
I glanced behind me, and the cop was getting out of his car. It was none other than Officer Sexy-Butt. Great, kept getting better and better. That man probably though I was a menace on wheels.
“Ma’am, do you know how fast you were going?” Officer Sexy-Butt was not smiling and kept looking over Bumblebee.
“Fast enough for you to stop me, Officer. I’m sorry.” Being followed by random cars made people distracted.
“That is not the only reason I stopped you. We received several calls of a yellow Camaro driving around downtown very suspiciously. You are not good at blending, are you?” He took off his sunglasses and was staring at me. “Ms. Black, you seem to be in all the wrong places. Let me guess; you were looking for your friend, right?” Wow, he looked menacing when he was mad. He radiated energy like a little microwave; I was sure I was getting dizzy.
“I didn’t know there was a law against looking for people or driving around downtown.” He was not going to intimidate me.
“You are right; there is not a law, but you are making people nervous. It doesn’t help that your minivan mysteriously got blown up. Now you are driving a flashy brand-new Camaro. Can I see your license, insurance, and registration, please?” He’d said please as an afterthought.
I prayed Constantine kept his information in the glove compartment. I opened the door, and for the mercy of God, everything was there. Actually it was the cleanest compartment I had ever seen. Constantine was pretty anal about his car. I handed Officer Cranky Pants the papers and my license. If I got Constantine’s Bumblebee impounded, he was going to kill me.
He took the papers and headed back to his cruiser. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but he came back five minutes later.
“So you work for Reapers, interesting. Everything is cleared; here you go.” He handed me back all my documents.
“That’s it? You’re not even going to give me a warning?” What was wrong with me? Did I really want a ticket? I was losing my mind, asking an angry cop stupid questions.
“Why? I already gave you a warning, and you didn’t listen to it. So here you are again, racing down my streets. Would you like to fill me in on what’s going on?”
Ouch. He did have a point.
“Would you believe me if I said it was a top-secret mission and that I was innocent?”
The look he gave me said no. He was not believing a word I said.
“Can you at least tell me who blew up your van?” No, he didn’t buy it.
“I’m guessing the same people who slashed my tires. I have a winning personality.” My charm was not working. Not that I had that much to begin with.
“You do know how to make friends. Let me explain something. I don’t like being in the dark. This is my city, and if something is going on, I expect to know.” Sexy Pants had that evil glare again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Yeah, like I was confessing to this cop that I was chasing witches in downtown Texarkana. I might as well put on a straitjacket and save the authorities the trouble.
“That’s what I thought. You’re all the same. Tell Constantine I’ll be there in the morning.” He turned around and walked off. Constantine? He had called Constantine
