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.
Vinnie and Ethan are on their way to Green Cove Springs, Florida, the city where the Florida Mangler is currently incarcerated. Ethan offered to go alone, in order to spare Vinnie, but he wasn't having it. See what's going on 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!
Chip, aka the Florida Mangler, was being held in the Clay County Jail, in Green Cove Springs, Florida. His trial hadn’t happened yet, which was why he wasn’t in prison, and he was being held without bail, so I knew he wasn’t getting out any time soon. Under Florida law, a judge had the right to rule that a particularly violent crime warranted withholding bail, deeming that person to be a threat to society. Considering what Chip was accused of, that decision seemed to be a no-brainer.
Normally, according to what the website for the jail said, visitation had to be scheduled 24 hours in advance. But Anderson was able to get that formality waived for us—don’t ask me how, probably as a courtesy between law enforcement officers. However, that meeting wouldn’t happen until the next day, since Green Cove Springs was a good five hour drive from where we were. Probably a little more, depending on how often we stopped to walk Benny. To be honest, that didn’t exactly break my heart, either. If I could postpone this meeting forever, I would. But I didn’t tell Ethan that, naturally. Just nodded when he gave me the information and said that sounded good.
On the drive, we discussed Sarah’s moving in, and what we needed to do to facilitate that. Of course, it wasn’t like she’d given us an actual date or anything. We just wanted to make sure the extra bedroom was ready for her and Alex to move into for however long they needed to stay. I knew it wouldn’t be forever, and I was fine with them staying for the foreseeable future. Ethan would be happy to have his twin there, so I would be happy. Win-win situation.
We arrived in Green Cove Springs in early evening. While Ethan drove, I had been searching for places that would accept pets, as well as daycare services for them. We certainly didn’t want to leave Benny in the car while we went inside the jail, and I doubted he would be a welcome visitor either. Luckily I was able to find both.
The motel, which wasn’t part of any chain or anything, was small but nice. The clerk who checked us in proudly informed us that they were family owned and operated, and the entire family were animal lovers. He oohed and ahhed over Benny and, with our permission of course, offered him a treat from a bowl they kept on the counter for canine visitors. That won our pup over, of course, at which point, he gave his approval for the sleeping arrangements.
“You know what’s funny,” I said to Ethan as we settled into our room and ordered delivery from a nearby restaurant.
“What’s that?”
“I can’t imagine our lives without Benny, you know? I mean, sure, I remember a time before we had him, but it seems so long ago.”
Ethan chuckled. “I can remember a time when you wished I wasn’t in your life. I bet you couldn’t have imagined us together back then. Not only together, but engaged to be married.”
My cheeks heated, not surprisingly, at his words. What he said was very true. I had to admit I’d grown a lot in the time since I’d met Ethan, and he’d been the catalyst for that change.
“I know I treated you badly…” I heard myself stammer, which was no end annoying. But before I could add anything to my statement, he’d rounded the bed and cut off any further conversation with a kiss. Kisses, rather. Which ended up with us tumbling onto the bed together, kissing, rubbing, moaning…until a knock at the door reminded us we were expecting food. And that put an end to things. At least for then.
to be continued
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