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.
Well, this is a fine pickle! Five vehicles out of commission, thanks to some unknown person. Speculation is beginning that maybe Vinnie's least favorite actress is behind all this, but why? 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!
“Are you saying you think maybe Caroline St. Clair
is responsible for what’s going on here?” Ethan seemed clearly skeptical, and
who could blame him? And yet somehow I knew that was the case, even if I didn’t
know how…or, more importantly, why.
“Caroline St. Clair?” Sarah and her family had just
drawn up to us. “You know her too? Of course you do,” she quickly amended.
“What about her?”
Ethan seemed reluctant to voice our fears, but I had
no such inhibitions.
“We think she might be responsible for what’s going
on here.”
“Whoa.” At least Sarah didn’t protest that a major
Hollywood movie star couldn’t possibly do anything so crazy. I glanced toward
Troy, worried I’d upset him, but he seemed more resigned than anything. She
might be his friend, but he was not blind to her faults, or her eccentricities.
“But what exactly is going on here?” A very sensible question from the minister. I
couldn’t help but notice he had a protective arm about his wife. I was glad to
see that, especially for Ethan’s sake. He threw more than a curious glance
toward the other agents, whom we had never introduced, naturally. Maybe it was
time we did that.
“We’re still not sure, Dad,” Ethan admitted. “Our
boss sent some back-up, though, to be safe.” Here he introduced Carlos. The
other agents had taken up strategic points around us, keeping a watchful eye on
everything and everyone. One of them had removed the offending spikes from the
road. They sat on the ground nearby, gleaming troublemakers.
“How do you do, sir?” Carlos said as they shook
hands.
“I’m concerned about the situation,” Joseph admitted
just before he patted Ethan on the shoulder. “But I trust my son to do what’s
best. What do you suggest we do, Ethan?”
Judging by the way Ethan’s beautiful blue eyes
shone, I think his father’s words meant a great deal to him. I squeezed his
hand in silent agreement.
“I think the first step is to contact Anderson and
see what he wants to do. We need to get these vehicles back on the road and get
everybody to a place of safety. At some point, when Anderson tells us it’s
okay, we need to get Benny to Atlanta.”
That all made sense. Carlos nodded his agreement,
and I followed suit. It was important we stay calm in order to keep Ethan’s
family calm. No sense in panicking if we didn’t need to.
Ethan gestured to me and I followed him a short
distance from the others, where he placed the call to our boss and apprised him
of the current situation. He listened intently before saying “Understood” and
hanging up.
“He’s going to send someone,” he said. “In the
meantime, we’re to just remain alert, stay together, and wait.”
That sounded sensible. “You know, I just realized
something.”
“What’s that, Vin?”
I scratched at my jaw while I formulated my
thoughts, something that had been nagging at me for a few minutes. “You
remember that detour sign, the one that sent us down this way?”
“I do. What about it?” He narrowed his eyes in
thought as he listened.
“Well, if everybody is being shuttled off the main
road to take that detout, why isn’t anyone else here but us?”
“That’s a damn good question, Vinnie. A very good
question. I’m afraid we know the answer, don’t we?”
I nodded in agreement.
“That only goes to show,” he continued, “that we
were the intended targets.”
That was the conclusion I reached even as he said
it. So, if this was her doing all of
this, she surely wasn’t acting alone. Who was helping her? Did this start back
with Benny, at the hotel in Roanoke? The threats in Atlanta? But what did she
have to do with any of that?
So many questions, so few answers.
to be continued
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