“About…” I ask, baffled.
“That they have a long pecker and can go for hours at a time and ejaculate many times in a session.”
“Yes,” I say frankly.
“Good for you. Enjoy him. I thought about volunteering after my John passed away, but I was already fifty at the time, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until menopause came around. I didn’t know if I could handle childbirth at that age. As it was, menopause didn’t come until I was fifty-five. I hated the hot flashes, but could you imagine being that old when you gave birth? No. Not for me. I’m just fine, thank you very much. My daughter, though, Josephine, she’s thinking about it, but I am so glad she hasn’t told anyone about that or else she might be targeted next. Mark my words, if Frankie and his goons aren’t stopped, they will find and kill other women. If the girls don’t want them, they’ll make sure that no one else can have them.”
“Thank you,” Strol says. “You stay close to Josephine and keep her safe.”
"I will." The old woman points a gnarled finger at him. "She won't like it, but I was forty when I had her. I'm sixty-two now. She's a darling girl, so beautiful, but she's always wanted something more, you know? I want her to have it, and she's headstrong. She won't appreciate my keeping her close to home for now, but until this blows over, I don't see how I can't." She eyes us. "If you go after them, be careful. They're liable to try to kill you both for attempting to stop them, and they'll want to kill you especially, Bluey. I wouldn't put it past Frankie to cut off your cock and try to ram it down your throat."
“He’s welcome to try,” Strol growls.
I shiver. “Thank you…”
“I’m Kiara. Kiara Jacobson.”
“The name’s Strol,” he says.
“I like Bluey better. Is that all right?”
I grin. "I call him Cocky at times, so I doubt he'll mind that."
“Oh, you’re a girl after my own heart! What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Isabella.”
“You go on now, Isabella, Bluey. Be careful, though. Please. For my sake.”
We leave her behind, and Strol grins and rubs his hands together. “You were right about coming here.”
“Yes, and now we have to hurry to find them. Should we head to the docks? See if we can borrow a boat?”
“Do you know how to use a boat?”
“No. Do you?”
“We don’t have boats on Kuria,” he says.
“Ah, right.”
“We can fly over.”
“With the plane? I don’t know,” I say doubtfully.
“The guns don’t work, but Frankie won’t know that. All we have to do is scare him into giving up Nina.”
“That’s really risky, and can we fly lower enough to be able to save her if they are willing to give her up?”
“I can try.”
“So risky,” I murmur.
“Do you have another idea? We could tell the police.”
I grimace. “I’m worried that the police will go in guns ablazin’ and get Nina killed in the process.”
“A show of force might be the best way,” he says.
“And if they call our bluff?”
“We don’t have to be completely unarmed.”
“Do you have weapons?”
“A few.”
“Any that work from long range?”
“Sure, if I throw them.”
“No guns?” I mumble a curse.
“We can figure everything out,” he says.
“How?”
"We can fly nearby, and I'll drop into the water and board their boat. I'll find her, and you can pick me back up again."
“Because I know how to fly that thing!”
“I can give you a crash course. You’re a quick study, right?”
“No way. If anything, I should be the one to go.”
“So they can kill you and Nina? No way in hell am I allowing that,” he growls.
“So we use the plane as a brute force way, then like we originally plan,” I say. “Only thing is…”
“What?”
“What if they have cannons?”
"We'll get in so close that they can't use them. If we're directly overhead, their cannons can't hit us."
“But as we approach…”
“We can approach from above the clouds and then drop down on them.”
“I still want us to have guns,” I say stubbornly.
“Fine. Let’s go and get us some guns.”
We head to the shops in town, and we enter a gun shop. Strol asks for this and that and so many rounds it’s ridiculous. When the owner names his price, Strol grins and hands the man a card.
The man eyes it and grunts. “You sure you don’t want more bullets?”
“As many as you think I’ll need.”
“Depends on what you’re hunting.”
“The lowlife who took Nina,” I say.
“In that case…” The man plunks down a lot more and then another gun. “That one is on me. I know Nina. She’s actually a good shot herself. She likes to go to the shooting range. Whoever took her got the jump on her because she is strong and capable. She’s a fighter, been known to wrestle guys twice her size. She’s going to give them hell herself if she can, but that just might mean that she’s going to get herself killed.”
“We’re going to try to make that not happen.”
The man grunts. “I hope you can find her, but the authorities don’t have many leads.”
I glance at Strol.
“Some agree with the ones who might’ve taken her. This town is split. Some appreciate and remember what you and your kin did for us. Some have forgotten, I hate to say. Some might be protecting them, and her parents, her folk, they might not know who took her to be able to tell the police.”
“Frankie,” I tell him.
The man’s eyes widen, and he nods. “That’s who I would put my money on, yes.”
“He has a boat from what we were told,” Strol says as he starts to pack us his newly acquired weapons. What that card is, I don’t’ know, but the man doesn’t look like he’s going to give it back.
“He does. It’s a massive one, white. A beaut, actually. You can’t miss it in the sea.”
“Good.”
We head out of there, and I side-eye Strol.
“A card that states the government is
