“It would be more of a shame if it kills you two before we can destroy it,” Gail said.
Robbins nodded. “I understand. I’ll call Montgomery right away.”
“Fine, Jesse and I have a few things to take care of. We’ll call you in a couple of hours to arrange a meeting. Professor Nichols, you should plan on either coming with the rest of us or finding a church to spend the night in.” Gail said.
“That would keep the spirit off of me?” Nichols asked.
“Most times. Spirits can’t haunt consecrated ground, cemeteries sometimes if they’re buried there, but definitely not a sanctuary. They call it that for a reason. Come on, Jesse, we’d better get going.”
I followed Gail out the door and down the hallway. There were too many students around to discuss things. It only took about five minutes to get back to the parking space but with not being able to discuss the next steps it seemed to take a lot longer.
“You drive,” Gail said as she clicked the key fob to unlock the doors then she tossed the keys in my direction. I caught them and climbed into the driver’s seat. Gail sat down and immediately took out her tablet.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“I told you that you need that tattoo before tonight. I could do it myself, but I’m not that fast at it.”
“You can tattoo? No shit?”
“I have the equipment and I’ve done a few, but I’m not proficient. I’d do it if it were an emergency, but a good tattoo artist will do it faster and make it neater. There,” she said as something displayed on the tablet’s screen. “Head west, we need to be in Northport, across the river.”
I turned west onto University Avenue and sped up as fast as the traffic would allow.
“Probably need to turn right at the next traffic light,” Gail ordered.
Turning north at the intersection, I pulled onto one of the bridges crossing the Black Warrior River. The river was high and brown from recent heavy rains.
I parked on a side street next to a tattoo shop called Trinity Tattoo. Across the street was a sign advertising Riverside Johnny’s Bar and Grill. I looked at the latter hopefully, but it had only been a couple of hours since we had a good breakfast.
I put a couple of quarters in the parking meter and followed Gail to the front door of the tattoo parlor. Inside, I was surprised at how neat and clean everything looked. The counters were glass and chrome and shiny to the point of being hard to look at under the overhead directional lights. Pictures of the artists and their work adorned the nearest walls and a low table had books of what appeared to be art samples.
The receptionist was in her teens but displayed considerable ink on an equally considerable amount of revealed skin. Piercings held various metal ornaments, including a surface anchor in each cheek that reminded me of tiny dragon’s teeth—the concrete anti-tank barricades, not the mythological kind. She stopped chewing her gum long enough to smile at us when the door closed. “How can I help you?”
“Do you take walk-ins?” Gail asked.
The receptionist glanced toward a hallway in the rear or the parlor and then turned back to Gail. “Normally, but we only have the one artist right now. She should be about done. Do you know what you want?”
“Yes, simple black design, shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
The receptionist typed into a computer and read something. “It looks like Sylvia doesn’t have another client scheduled until three. She could probably fit you in.”
“Okay, but if she can’t, we need to know now so we can go someplace else,” Gail said.
“Let me check,” the receptionist said and started walking toward the back hallway.
“So, why don’t you just do it yourself?” I asked.
Gail turned to me and looked sheepish.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m a little squeamish about using the needle on people I know.”
I almost laughed, but took her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss.
“You are adorable, Gail Drexler,” I said.
“Thanks, I … like you too,” Gail said with a little more emotion than I was expecting.
Had she almost said, “I love you?” Nah, not my Gail. She was too tough to be proclaiming love just because we were partners, even with benefits. I looked into her eyes, thinking I’d catch some sign of softness if she had been thinking love when she said like.
Gail blinked once and then glanced away as the receptionist returned. “Sylvia says she’ll be no more than fifteen minutes.”
Gail pushed out of my arms and said, “Okay, we’ll be next door at Riverside Johnny’s.” She pulled a business card from her pocket and set it on the counter. Call me at this number if she’s ready before we get back.”
“Sure thing,” the receptionist said and smacked her gum.
We went back outside. It was still early afternoon and the late May sunshine was making the pavement hot. By the time we’d crossed the street and entered Riverside Johnny’s, I was starting to sweat. The interior of the bar was cool and sparsely populated.
We grabbed a table near the windows, ordered a couple of beers, and decked-out nachos.
My phone warbled a short tone. I glanced at the display and saw there was a new text. I pulled it up.
“What is it?” Gail asked.
“It’s from Marta. She wants to meet before tonight.”
Gail frowned. “Why? I thought we decided they would watch Robbins again tonight.”
“How should I know? Maybe she just wants to catch up,” I offered.
“Yeah, I know how she wants to catch up. Tell her we’ve talked with Robbins and we’re going to meet this Montgomery fellow later. We believe he has the focus.”
I texted Marta with that information and a couple of minutes later my phone warbled again. I read the screen. “She and Javier
