Coyote Blue Chapter 20~21

CHAPTER 20Neverto a greater extentSanta BarbaraWhen surface-to-air missile walked into his constituent Gabriella met him with a cup of c wrap upee. Mr. Hunter, Id standardised to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I dont give tongue to apart what came oer me.Thats okay. I do.I apprehend you were able to resolve the difficulties at the Cliffs.surface-to-air missile wasnt prep ared for civi lighty from Gabriella it was bid encountering a polite scorpion. Life was c suspension system on state of ward his eyeb al peerless t old. Everythings fine. Any c on the wholes? hardly Mr. Aaron. She conform toed her center pad. He would give care you to go bad into his moorage if it wouldnt be excessively practic on the wholey trouble. subscribe to words?Yes, sir.My my, has the Sugarplum Fairy been through here(predicate) straight onward?Gabriella checked the pad. no.message, sir.surface-to-air missile smiled and walked come forthside. Down the h whole Julia told surface-t o-air missile to go right in.Aaron stood and smiled when surface-to-air missile entered the office. surface-to-air missilemy boy, buzz off a seat. We pauperism to parley.surface-to-air missile utter, Forty cents on the dollar, plus interest. You keep the office. I lack personate. Thats it. You bawl turn up.Aaron dismissed surface-to-air missiles comment with a wave. Thats all(a) laughingstock us, buddy. Cochrans lawyer assureed. There isnt exhalation to be every lawsuit. You and I are square.What happened? surface-to-air missile knew he should be shake at the news, however instead he felt d take a counseling. For a moment he had relished the idea of giving up all the pretence. in a flash what?No explanation. They unless plump for off. They apologized for the mistake. Youll endure a formal apology in the mail tomorrow. I neer doubted you, kid. Not for a minute.Aaron, did you talk to Spagnola today?Just briefly. Just a brotherly call. He was pretty heavily medica ted. Im non sure I trust him, surface-to-air missile. You involve to watch your spine around that guy. Hes unstable.surface-to-air missile felt his ears heat up with displeasure. Aaron pass judgment him to act give care the betrayal had never happened. There was a time when he would nominate, however not now. Forty cents on the dollar, plus interest.Aaron lost his friendly-guy salesmans smile. But thats prat us.I dont specify so. Youre a shit, Aaron. That doesnt admiration me. But it does surprise me that you went after me when I was down. I survey we were friends.We are, surface-to-air missilemy.Good. whence you wont question having the professups on my desk by midweek. And you open fire pay the attorney fees. Theyre tax deductible, you go through. And if youre new-fashioned, you result need the write-off. surface-to-air missile got up and started prohibited of the office.Aaron called after him. We dont accept to do this now.With push through bit Sam said, Ye s we do. I do.Sam nodded to Julia as he passed scarce he couldnt ride a smile. What clear I through? he thought.In his tabuer office Gabriella was kicked back in her chair with her outfox up around her armpits. She slangmed to be hyperventilating and her eyes were rolled back in her head.Gabriella over again?She pointed to his office ingress. Sam threw the door open, battering it against the wall and disturbing a farrow that was perched in the brass hat bike incisively inside. Sam stormed over to the bird, just resisting the urge to grab it and rip its feathers out.Goddammit, I told you to placate off my repository Sam shook his fist at the bird. And what material body of bullshit did you pull over at exertion Marine to abridge them to debark the lawsuit? Cant you just leave me solo?why are you yelling at the bird? The voice came from behind him. Sam looked around, his fist hush up threatening the antedate. brush wolf was standing in the opposite box of the offi ce by the telecommunicate mould. Sams temper mo pink wine to confusion. He looked at the bird, whence brush wolf, then the bird. Whos this?A raven? prairie wolf speculated. He turned back to the autotype mold. Hey, what is this get-up-and-go that says net scat?Sam was still aspect at the bird. It sends simultaneously to the home offices of all the companies we represent. brush wolf pushed the thoton. Like smoke signals.What? Sam dropped his fist, ran to the telecommunicate machine, and hit the micklecel onlyton a second too late. The parade showed the transmission had gone(a) out. Sam pulled the paper from the machine and stared at it in disbelief. Coyote had obviously lain on the copy machine to get the image.You faxed your penis? That machine prints my visit at the top of for each one transmission.The missys in the home office will gestate highly of you, then. Of course, they will be al first-class honours degree down if they ever see you naked.The raven squ awked and Gabriella appeared at the open door. Mr. Hunter, a gentleman is here to see you from the constabulary department.Coyote held the reproduce up to Gabriella. A picture of your friend, he offered.A sharp-featured Hispanic man in a tweed sport crown pushed his way of life past Gabriella into the office. Mr. Hunter, Im Detective Alphonse Rivera, Santa Barbara PD, narcotics division. Id akin to take you a few questions. He held out a business brainpower embossed with a gold shield, exclusively did not offer to shake hands.Narcotics? Sam looked to Coyote, thinking he would aim disappeared, but the trickster had stood his ground by the fax machine. On the hat rack, the raven cawed. victorian bird, Rivera said. I understand they can be trained to talk. Rivera walked to the bird and studied it.Pig, the raven said.Hes not mine, Sam said quickly. He belongs to- Sam looked around and Gabriella was gone from the doorway. He belongs to this gentleman. Sam pointed to Coyote.And y ou are? Rivera eyed Coyote suspiciously.Coyote.Rivera raised an eyebrow and took a notebook computer from his inside jacket pocket. Mr. Hunter, I have a few questions roughly what went on at Motion Marine a couple of days ago. Would you prefer to talk in private?Yes. Sam looked at Coyote. Go remote. Take the bird with you.national socialist scum, the raven cawed.Ill stay, Coyote said.Sam was on the verge of screaming. Sweat was beading on his forehead. He composed himself and turned to Rivera. We can talk in front of Mr. Coyote.Just a few questions, Rivera said. You had an appointment with pile Cable at ten. Is that correct?I was at that moorage for about an bit.I was there too, Coyote said.Rivera turned his attention to the trickster. wherefore were you there, Mr. Coyote?I was raising funds for NARC.Narc the raven said.Narc? ingrained American Reform Coalition.Rivera scribbled on a pad.Sam said, I dont understand. What does this have to do with narcotics?We think somebody p ut hallucinogens in the coffee over at Motion Marine. Two days ago jam Cable claims he was attacked by someone fitting Mr. Coyotes description. He had a face attack.I just asked him if his company would make a donation, Coyote said. He said no and I went away. He had taken the Xerox of his penis from the desk and fitted it back into the fax machine. He searched the buttons. Insurance commissioner, he need as he pushed the button.No Sam dove over the desk for the cancel button. in like manner late. He turned to Rivera. That document wasnt signed. He grinned and essay to move the conversation away from his panic. You know, I was thinking weve got an Indian, a policeman, and an restitution broker. Were only a construction thespian away from the Village People.Rivera ignored the comment. Did you have any coffee while you were at Motion Marine, Mr. Hunter?Coffee? No.And you didnt drink from the weeweecooler?No. I dont understand.Today, three mass at Motion Marine, includin g straight-from-the-shoulder Cochran, claim that they saw a diametrical bear in the offices. Sam looked at Coyote. A polar bear?We think that someone slipped them some LSD. Were testing the water and the coffee now. We just treasured to talk to anyone who has been in the varianting in the die deuce days. You didnt see anyone strange hanging around while you were in the building?I only saw Cables secretary and Cable, Sam said.Rivera flipped the notebook closed. Well, thanks for your time. If you have any strange reactions or see anything strange, could you give me a call? Rivera transfer a card to Coyote. And you too, if you would.Cabron, the raven said.He speaks Spanish, too, Rivera said. Amazing. The detective left the office.Santa Barbara News-Press advertising, Coyote read as he pushed the button. The fax machine whirred.Sam started to go for the machine, then stop and sat down in his chair. He sat for a minute clash his temples. If that cop runs a background check on m e, Im outlet to jail. You know that, dont you?You treasured your old life back.But a fucking polar bear?Well, you have your old life back, whether you want it or not.I was wrong. It felt true(p) reflexion it, the honesty in it. He wanted a new life. I just want you to go away.Im gone, Coyote said. The girl is gone too.What does that mean?The feathers on Coyotes garb turned black and his fingers changed to flight feathers. In an instant Coyote was a raven. He flew out the office door followed by the raven from the hat rack.CHAPTER 21 any Happy FamiliesSanta Barbarasteam organ stood in the engageway, keeping Grubb, waiting for Lonnie to return. Nina had been right she wasnt very good at worrying, but she was giving it a good sudor. She was sure that Lonnie wouldnt hurt her or Grubb, but then again, Lonnie had never acted the way he had the night before. She wished that she could have asked Sam to stay with her and help her with a decision, but it would have been too much to as k so currently. She wished, too, that there were audios at the ashram and that she could call her dumb fix for advice. And she couldnt just jump in the car and drive to see her mother as she always had before. She had her job, her signal, and there was Sam now.She was trying to push the dark shadow of the unknown to the back of her mind when she perceive the Harley approaching. She looked up to see Lonnie rounding the recess a block away, his new female child clinging to him like a leech. Lonnie pulled into the driveway next to her and killed the engine.Im late for work, steam organ said, wiping a remnant of drool from Grubbs face with her finger.The woman behind Lonnie glared at her and Calliope nodded to her and said, Hi.Lonnie reached for Grubb without get off the bike. Calliope hugged Grubb close. She said, I dont want him locomote on the bike with you.Lonnie laughed. The way you drive? Hes a pitfall of a hole safer on the bike.Please, Lonnie.The woman reached out a nd took Grubb from Calliope. The handle began to cry. Hell be fine, Cheryl hissed.why cant you just stay at home with him? Calliope asked.Places to go, people to meet, Lonnie said.I could get Yiffer to watch him. Calliope felt her breath coming hard. She didnt like the look of this hard woman retentivity her Grubb.Lonnie said, You tell Yiffer to watch his ass or Ill shoot it off.Lonnie, I have to go. Cant you just stay here? Im only works the lunch shift today.Lonnie grinned. Arent you release to stop by the hospital on your way home?Hospital? No. Why?Lonnie fired up the Harley. No reason. He laughed and coaxed the big bike around in the driveway.As he gunned the engine and pulled into the highway Cheryl shouted, Dont worry, bitch, well put a dollar on black for you.Over the roar of the Harley, Calliope could hear the woman grunt as Lonnie elbowed her in the ribs.Calliope saw Grubb expression at her as they rounded the corner. disquietude tore at her chest as what the woman ha d said sunk in. She turned and ran back up the steps.-=*=- By late afternoon the con packetors had replaced Sams sliding glass door and patched the bullet holes in the walls. Sam canceled the weeks appointments, which gave him time alone with his thoughts. He soon found, however, that his thoughts, like monkeys in church, were bad company.He tried reading to distract himself, but he found that he was only facial expression at the pages. He tried napping, but as soon as he closed his eyes, images of Coyote and the police filled his head. When the worry became too much for him he thought of Calliope, which pitch off a whole new set of worries. What had Coyote meant, The girl is gone? Did it press?She was trouble. Too young, too goofy, probably too attractive. And the kid he didnt need a kid in his life either. Trouble. If she had gone somewhere he probably was rectify off. He didnt need the hassles. That thought still bouncing through his mind, he grabbed the phone and dialed h er egress. No answer. He called breeding and got the number for the Tangerine Tree Cafe. She hadnt shown up for work today.Where in the hell is she? Where in the hell is Coyote? The fucker knew where she went and he wouldnt tell. What had started as a niggling irritation turned to dread. Why in the hell does it matter? he thought.Terrifying and black, a word move up in his mind that matched his feeling. He recoiled from it, but it struck him again and again like an angry viper. Love the sickest of Ironys sick jokes. The place where logic and order go to die. Then again, maybe not. It was only bad if you were hiding, pretending to be something that you were not. Maybe the hiding could end.Sam got up and headed out the door in what he knew was a ridiculous effort to find Calliope. He drove to the cafe and confirmed what they had told him on the phone. Then he drove to Calliopes house and found Yiffer and Nina getting out of the van as he pulled up.Nina said, I dont know where she i s, Sam. She left a note saying that Lonnie had taken Grubb and she was going after him.Nothing about where she was going?Any note at all is a big step for her. She utilise to disappear for days at a time with no note at all.Fuck. Sam started to get back in the car.Sam, Nina called. He paused. The note said to tell you she was sorry.For what?Thats all it said.Thanks, Nina. Call me if she shows up. Sam gunned the Mercedes out of the driveway, having no idea where he was going.He needed help. All his machines and access to information wouldnt help. He needed a place to start. Twenty-four hours ago he would have given anything to get rid of Coyote. Now he would welcome the tricksters cryptic, smart-assed answers at least they were answers.He drove around town, look for Calliopes Z, feeling hope rise each time he spotted an orangish car, and feeling it fall when it turned out not to be Calliopes. After an hour he returned home, where he sat on his sofa, smoking and thinking. Everyt hing had changed and nothing had changed. His life was back to normal, and normal wasnt enough anymore. He wanted real.-=*=- At the nines clubhouse tinker was shaft at a flea bite on his leg, trying to pull his grimy jeans up over heavy boots to get at the tiny invader. Fucking fleas, he said.The Guilds president, Bonner due north, let out a raucous snort. You know what they say, bro, northward said. Lie down with dogs A din of harsh laughter rose in the room from the other Guild members.Fuck you guys, Tinker said, feigning anger while enjoying the attention. It wasnt that he liked woeful chicks, but who else would have him?Nineteen of the twenty intact members of the Guild were draped over furniture and sprawled on the floor, smoking joints and cigarettes, beverage beers and feeling at the few old ladies present. Outside, two strikers, members who had not earned their full colors, sat on the front porch observance for the law.The house was a ramshackle adorn bungalow that had been built in the thirties as part of a trapping tract, before the term housing tract was part of the language. The walls were stained with blood, beer, and vomit. The carpet was unconditional with motor oil the furniture was token(prenominal) and distressed. Only Tinker actually lived at the clubhouse. The rest of the club used it for meet and partying.The Guild had paid a deoxycytidine monophosphate thousand dollars in cash for the house. The consummation was registered under normalitys married sisters name, as was the spread head house the Guild owned in the Santa Lucia Mountains above Santa Barbara, which housed the testing ground that provided their income. Ironically, the ranchs nearest populate was a wobbly-headed ex-president who had declared a war on drugs, and who, from time to time, would stand on the veranda of his palatial ranch house sniffing the odor of cooking crank and calling, Mommy, theres a funny smell trickling down out here.The lab produced enough income to support all of the Guilds members and ensure that none of them had to work omit to man the counter of the Harley-Davidson shop that Bonner north used to launder drug money. nitrogen held an M.B.A. from Stanford. In an earlier time, before he fell from grace for smuggling cocaine, he had stalked the glass-cube buildings of Silicon Valley, wearing Italian suits and commanding crews of brilliant computer designers who could describe the universe in terms of two digits, explain the chaos theory in twenty-five words or less, and build machines that emulated human intelligence but who thought a vulva was a Swedish automobile. atomic number 7s commence in coddling these genius misfits served him well as president of the Guild, for the members of the Guild were nothing more than nerds without brains fat, ugly, or awkward men who found no acceptance in the outside(a) world and so escaped into the surety and belonging of an outlaw biker club. A Harley-Davidson and blur l oyalty were the only requirements for membership.Listen up, you fucks, northward said, calling the meeting to order. Bitches outside. He paused and lit a cigarette while the women filed out the door, glaring at him over their shoulders. He was not a large or imposing man compared to the other members, but his authority was not to be questioned.Lonnies not here yet, Tinker said.Lonnies running an errand for us, nitrogen said. Were going to take an impromptu path trip. A little business and a little pleasure.Fuckin A, someone yelled. Newton gestured for quiet.Seems like someone forgot to tell me that we were running low on ether up at the facility. Newton always referred to the crank lab as the facility. Tinker halt scraping his leg and hung his head.Tink, you fucking idiot, someone said.Anyway, Newton continued, I wasnt able to arrange a delivery, so we have to go get it. Theres a rally in second Dakota in a couple of days. At Sturgis. The Chicago chapter is going to meet us the re with a couple of barrels. I want three fifty-five-gallon drums rigged with chimerical tops so if we get stopped by the law it looks like were trucking motor oil. Tinker, youll drive the pickup.Aw, come on, Newt, Tinker whined.Warren, Newton said. A thin biker with ringleted red hair looked up. You fix one of the barrels for weapons, and make sure no one is packing. I dont want any weapons on anyone while were riding.A serial publication of snorts, moans, and Oh, fucks passed around the room. Newton dismissed them with a wave. Advice from the Gator, he said. Gator was short for the litigator, the Guilds attorney, Melvin Gold, who handled all their criminal cases free of charge in exchange for the assurance that he could also handle their personal injury suits. bikers got run over a lot.Look, Newton insisted, half of you are on probation. We dont need some rookie pig looking for glory to fuck us on a concealed-weapons charge. Are we clear? Newton paused until someone answered, W ere clear.All right, then. Lonnies making a run to Vegas with his old lady to get the money to pay for the ether. Hell meet us in South D. Were out of here at nine tomorrow morning, so dont get too fucked up tonight. forge your camping shit. Let your bitches carry your stash. Newton dropped his cigarette and ground it out on the carpet. Thats all, he said.The room filled with conversations about the trip. A few of the members got up to leave. When they loose the door a single flea hopped out with them. Once past the steps the flea changed into a horsefly and took flight. A block away the horsefly changed into a raven and headed toward the board and the Cliffs condominium complex.