Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
I have an announcement to make today, although if you read the title of this post, you already know lol I have finally chosen a title for Rose and Thorne 6. I am calling it Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Hope you like it! Today we continue with the impromptu road trip taken by Vinnie and Ethan et al. What more can happen? Find out in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan! Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them! Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Sarah caught up with Benny, and Ethan and I fell
into step just behind them. We paused at the door to admit a group of people of
various ages who had just arrived, loudly complaining about the cold and lack
of Southern hospitality. They seemed to be dressed for the weather. Maybe they
were the kind who found fault wherever they went.
As we made our own exit, a straggler from the group
hurried toward the building and almost bowled me over, managing to step on my
foot as she did. I started to say something but was momentarily struck silent.
This woman seemed familiar. Brown wool coat. Green head scarf. Large reflective
sunglasses. A warning chill coursed through my body as I tried to place the
memory. Had I seen her somewhere or was I just imagining things? And then she
swept inside the building and the moment had passed. I mentally shrugged, put
it down to some paranoia on my part, all things considered, as we continued on
to the car.
“Mommy will sure be glad when her big boy can ride
in a booster seat,” Sarah mumbled as she leaned into the back to fasten Alex
into the car seat. I could understand the necessity for such safety
precautions, but I was also grateful that Benny didn’t require any such
measures. The dog, not the uncle.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Ethan said. We were
just behind her as Ethan generally walked me to my side of the car and opened
the door. My boy was ever polite that way. Of course sometimes it was simply an
excuse to sneak in another kiss. “Before you know it, he’ll—”
Whatever he’d been about to say became lost in his
next exclamation of “What the fuck?”
My heart leapt into my chest even as my hand went to
my gun. Then my eyes widened in horror as I saw what Ethan was looking at—both
tires on that side had been slashed. When Benny echoed Ethan’s exclamation, I
realized those tires had been vandalized as well.
I quickly glanced around the parking lot at the few
vehicles that were there, including a large yellow school bus which must be the
source of the group we met coming out. Most were empty except for one small
compact car which was just pulling up. The occupants were an older couple,
probably in their seventies. They exited their car along with a small dog on a
leash. They paid us no attention, walking the dog to the grassy are next to the
brick building. I was pretty sure they could be ruled out as suspects.
Sarah finished securing Alex then backed out of the
car, regarding us apprehensively before she too saw the carnage someone had
wrought. “Oh shit, do you think that was deliberate?” she blurted out before
catching herself. “Of course it was. Tired don’t slash themselves, do they?”
“Not likely,” Ethan replied.
I had a sudden horrible thought as a memory surfaced
of Ethan and I at the grocery store back in Roanoke, and my cart collision with
a woman dressed just like the one I’d just seen. “Caroline St. Clair!”
Ethan’s brows flew up in surprise before drawing
together in perplexity. “What do you mean?”
“You might think I’m crazy but I saw a woman who
looks like her going into the building as we were coming out.”
Not wasting the breath to argue with me or tell me I
was nuts, Ethan calmly said, “We need to get back inside anyway until we sort
this situation out. No sense in being sitting ducks. Sorry, Sarah, can you get
Alex?”
“Of course.” She instantly reached inside and
unbuckled her son, who must have been confused at the change in plans. She held
him close to her protectively as she slammed the door shut.
“I’ll go first,” Ethan said, taking point. He
motioned to Benny to follow him, then Sarah and Alex, and I brought up the
rear. We didn’t draw our weapons, but we were poised to do so if necessary. No
sense in alarming the locals if we didn’t need to. As we moved cautiously up
the steps toward the building, I could see the same group we’d passed before
begin to emerge, two or three at a time. They were still complaining, this time
about unsanitary conditions in the wash room. But I didn’t see the woman in the
brown with the green scarf among them. She must still be inside. Assuming I’d
even seen her.
There was no one inside other than an older man
pushing a broom across the tile floor. He never looked at us, intent on what he
was doing. As far as I could see, there was no back door. So what did that
leave?
“Here.” Sarah pushed Ethan’s nephew at him. “So,
what does she look like?”
“What? No,” Ethan protested even as I gave his twin
a description of the woman I’d thought I’d seen. Chances were it was someone
else entirely, but better safe than sorry. And I certainly couldn’t go into the
ladies room.
“I’ll be fine,” Sarah assured him. I had a feeling
she was finding this more exciting than she should have, but I wasn’t about to
argue with her. Not waiting for a response, she disappeared through the door
marked Ladies.
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