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 et al arrive at the home of Ethan's parents only to find Joe Jr there and Joe's spouse missing. To make matters worse, they get a call from their boss telling them they shouldn't go to Atlanta yet as their hotel has been compromised! See what's happening 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!
If that didn’t sound ominous…
“What’s going on, Anderson?” Ethan asked in a low
voice. To all outward appearances, he seemed calm. But I knew better. I could
feel the tension in him, although I must say he controlled it well.
“Information was leaked regarding the hotel you were
supposed to stay in,” Anderson said. “We have reason to believe another murder
attempt will be made.”
The fact that he didn’t specify just who the target
of that attempt would be worried me. Did he not believe this has something to do
with Benny and his upcoming testimony against his ex? But then again, I thought
I’d seen you-know-who, and she wouldn’t be involved in anything regarding Benny,
wouldn’t even know who he was. And I’d been the one to receive a phone call containing
a threat against me involving certain serial killers.
Nothing was making any sense right now.
“Where are you?” Anderson asked.
“We’re at my family’s house,” Ethan replied. “Just
outside of Atlanta.” I knew our boss knew where Ethan’s family lived. At least
he didn’t ask what we were doing there.
“By the way, do you still have your sister and her
son with you?”
“We do,” Ethan replied, clearly as mystified as I
was by the question.
“Good. All of you stay where you are, at least for
now. I’ll send agents to keep watch on the house. And in the meantime, I’ll put
decoys into your hotel room in Atlanta. Maybe we can get everything taken care
of before your uncle’s due to testify.”
Get what taken care of? The more he said, the less I
understood.
Not to mention, we couldn’t all stay here. First,
the house wasn’t big enough. Second, as I remembered from before, Ethan and I
couldn’t cohabit as boyfriend and fake girlfriend because of not being married
and nothing had changed on that front other than we were now officially boyfriend
and boyfriend. And engaged. Then there was Sarah and Alex besides us and Benny.
And Joe Jr was already staying here. Didn’t that sound like a crowded recipe
for disaster?
I know Ethan was thinking the very same thing. But
before he could open his mouth to sensibly protest Anderson’s arbitrary orders,
our boss had hung up.
Well, now what?
I glanced up at the sound of the front door opening
and closing. Sarah had come out and was looking at us apprehensively.
“I know something’s wrong and please don’t try to
deny it.”
Ethan and I were sitting on the top porch step. At
his sister’s words, he scooted closer to me and patted the space beside him.
She took a seat and looked at us expectantly.
“There have been developments,” Ethan admitted
before filling his twin in on everything that had transpired on this rather
ill-fated trip, including the latest unexpected twist.
“Wow,” she said once he finished his narrative. She
seemed as cool as he did…must run in the family. “Almost like we’re circling
the wagons, eh?”
I wasn’t sure that was an accurate analogy, but I
wasn’t about to say anything either.
I scooted a little closer to Ethan and rested my
hand upon his thigh. “Do you think we’ll all fit?” I had my doubts.
“I’m more worried about whether my dad will even
allow that to happen,” Ethan admitted. He glanced at his twin. “I think maybe
we should drop you at Mercy’s—”
She cut him off at the pass. “Forget it, bro. I’m
not leaving you like this. Besides, I wouldn’t want to attract attention to
Mercy and her wife.”
That made sense. But that still left us with
persuading the minister to go along with the idea. Somehow I didn’t think he’d
agree to any of it, especially under his roof.
Ethan released a long sigh but said nothing. Neither
Sarah nor I broke the silence. We both knew he needed to work things out in his
own way. Not like we weren’t furiously pondering the situation as well.
“There’s only one thing to be done,” he said at
last. “We’ll have to make him think it’s his idea.”
to be continued
Now go see what's up with the other Briefers!
No comments:
Post a Comment