War-N-Wit, Inc. – MeanStreet, LLC (5 page)

“No, you didn’t just say so,
that’s why I asked! Okay, that’s a little time, anyway. Now fly on back and keep tabs like a good little parrot. Keep me posted. Especially if there’s any change in the time schedule. And don’t blast the wall again on your way out.”

“
Hmmph.
’At’s all the thanks I get?”

“Want a cracker?”

“Bite me tail feathers, mate.”

“Watch it
, Harold, don’t get cute. Or I’ll tell Micah to eat you next time he’s in cat form.”

“
Cat form
?” Mia whispered.

“I’ll pass, thanks. Gives me indigestion just thinking about the feathers.”

“Harold, you still here? Micah, give the newbie the tour, I’ve got a meeting in just a few. Mia, welcome. To MeanStreet, LLC. Hope you like us. ‘Cause it’s not going to be a short-term relationship.”

Chapter Seven

“Well, hey, good-lookin’s! What’ll it be, boys?”

Michael
glanced up from the menu. Oh, yeah. This barbecue shack knew how to hire waitresses. Knew how to dress ‘em, too. Not every figure could handle halter tops. Too much equipment lost the “come hither” affect. Too little, on the other hand—well, who wanted to play “hide-and-seek”? And the cut-off blue-jean shorts! Ah, that fringe at the bottom! The perfect combo.

“Well, hey yourself, little darling! We’re expecting one more. So just bring us a couple of drafts to start—oh! There he is. Coming in the door. Bring us three drafts and check back with us?”

“You got it!” Miss Perky Halter Top watched the figure approach the table. “You guys brothers? Sure look a lot alike.”

“Yes, ma’am, Miss Eagle-Eye. You pegged us. I’m Mike, this is Rafe, and here comes Gabe. Smith.”

“I’m Jenny! Smith! Think we’re related?”

“Oh, I doubt we’re that lucky, Miss
Jenny.”

Be right back with those drafts!”
Jenny headed toward the bar. And man, did those high wedge sandals put the right sway in that backside!

“Boys, we got to get down here more often! Man, what a pair!”
Michael looked longingly after Jenny.

“I wanta hear that, all I got to do is call Harold in to report. Don’t need to hear it from you.”

“Man, lighten
up
! Take some pleasure in life! Listen to the music!” Hank Williams wailed from the speakers. “Classic country, you can’t beat it.”

“
I can listen to the original anytime I want.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Raphael quipped. “Heaven’s got a hell of a band.”

“Damn straight.” Raphael and Michael high-fived.

“Are you two ever serious about
anything
?”

“Here you are, boys!”
Jenny returned with tall frosted mugs as Gabriel settled in his chair. She plopped them down cheerfully. “Special today’s the babyback ribs. With fries and coleslaw and Texas Toast. Sauce is out of this world!”

“Three specials,” Gabriel
said. “Heavy on the sauce, extra Texas Toast.”

“You got it!”

“Damn, Gabe, you might give us a chance to order for ourselves. Free will and all that, remember?”

“You’re in a barbecue shack. What the hell
else were you gonna order?”

“Babybacks, but that’s
not the point. The point is—”

“The point is you’re right. And we’re in serious trouble. Just got word of
a dimensional break in my division. Not one of the occasional cracks we all have that drives us nuts ‘cause it’s gone by the time we know it’s there, a full-blown breach, an open conduit. That means there’s a breach in all three divisions. And that means—”

“Damn. We really do have a broken arrow.”

“Yep. Another archangel’s fallen.”

* * *

Vegas’s MGM Casino’s Rainforest Café catered to families. Especially families with kids, even though no Rainforest Café ever forgot the grown-ups. It was always full of children’s voices, but these voices had a specific target.

“Dr. Spike! Dr. Spike!” Anastasia Anson, more frequently known as Stacy, Antsypants to family, and about to change her last name to Forrester, laughed as three children, ranging at a guess from six to barely toddler-size, charged them as they maneuvered their way out the doors.

“Dan, my man! Gimme some skin!”

Small hand smacked giant hand and performed a convoluted series of hand movements ending with bouncing fists.

Not to be outdone, Dan the man’s
little brother tugged Spike’s sleeve and waved his video game. “Dr. Spike! Look! I got a new army man game!”

“
Awesome!
Wow, how cool is that? You gonna let me play it?”

“Sure!”

Little sister, somewhere between one and two at a guess, toddled up and grabbed his pants leg.

“Up!” she demanded.

Spike complied. “Lily, you cutie-patootie, you keeping these big guys straight?”

Lily
tugged the beard Stacy’d convinced him to keep after Bike Week. “New?”

“
Sure is. You like it? I’ll shave it right off if you don’t, got to keep my princesses happy.”

“Like!”

“Dr. Forrester, I’m
so
sorry!” Their mother rushed up to corral the three. “We were coming in when you headed out and they’re just so
fast
!”

“No problem, Ms Lindstrom, you know I always love seeing my kids. Guys, this is my lady, Stacy Anson. Stacy Forrester this coming Saturday, in fact.”

“Unless your patients run her off first,” Ms Lindstrom retrieved baby Lily and smiled at Stacy. “The kids just love him. Not just mine, all his patients. So get used to it. My friends tell me their kids do the same thing if they see him. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Lily, that’s such a pretty dress! And your brothers are so
handsome
.”

“
Icccck.
” Lily said, and pointed to her brothers.

“
Lily, that’s enough! C’mon, guys, say good-bye and let’s go get our table.”

Stacy
watched the retreating fan club before turning to leave.

“Wow. There’s something really special about a man when dogs and kids love him, you know.”
She hooked her arm under Spike’s.

“Really?”

“Really. My mother’s always said so. Never did ask her why she married Daddy, dogs hate him.”

“Seriously?”

Stacy laughed. “
No
, in fact they’ve got four and I’ve never seen a dog who didn’t like him. They were so cute.”

“The dogs?”
They cleared the hotel doors and turned left, strolling down Las Vegas Boulevard.

“The
kids
. You really do have a natural talent for kids, don’t you?”

“And
hence the specialty choice of
pediatrician
. As opposed to say, pathologist.”

“
Bad example, circumstances being what they are and all.”

“Damn sure is.
Didn’t think before I spoke. Good thing I didn’t want to be a pathologist, though. Not a good choice
at all
for a ghost whisperer. I mean, autopsying somebody when you’re watching ‘em watch you do it?” He shuddered slightly.

“Okay, have we figured out how we’re goin’ to show Vegas off to Mom and Dad? And Ariel didn’t get to see too much of it when they were out here, either.”

Spike and Stacy were in agreement on most things. One of them was no honeymoon. At least not right now. They’d do that in a couple of months. They lived in Vegas, after all. Exotic enough to a southern girl like Stacy, and still very new to her. She couldn’t wait to show Vegas off to the family.

“Honey, don’t try and plan too much
for your folks. Let’s just cruise the Strip and let ‘em pick. We’ll go in wherever a show hits their fancy. And if we can’t get in one they want one night, we’ll get reservations for the next night.”

“Works for me. But one thing you can count on.”

“Which is?”

“Magic shows.”

“We don’t got enough magic of our own? We got a private little family coven, remember?"

“Not that kind of magic. Mom’s got a thing for magic shows.
Oh, look!” Stacy pointed at one of the large casinos. “There’s one!” She reached in her pants pocket and pulled out her phone, clicking to camera mode and snapping a shot. “This way we’ll remember all of ‘em.”

“She does? I’ve never asked but—your folks, are they, well,
magical
themselves? Seeing as how you and Ariel—”

Stacy
slowed her pace and pursed her lips in thought. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t know
where
Ariel and I came from. Our magic, I mean, of
course
I know where we came from, don’t even.”

“Damn. Temptation shot down. That was almost irresistible, you know.”

“I know. But honestly, I don’t know if magic’s
inherited
or just
inherent
in each new little soul. Or
old
little soul, as the case may be. I’m pretty sure Dad doesn’t have it. If Mom does, I don’t
think
she knows it. I mean, she never tried to explain anything to us about it. Wouldn’t a parent with power try and help their kids understand
theirs?
”

“You’d think, yeah. Hell, Mom, tried to help me. I just wasn’t having any of it. I figured
the magic in that family—and it wasn’t just Chad, looking back Mom just—well, she glowed. Kinda like you and Ariel do. Anyway, there was a lot of magic in that house. And being a foster child, no blood connection, I figured I was out for the count. And then came you. And Daytona.”

“Well. Anyway, whether Mom
does or doesn’t have magic, knows or doesn’t know she does—she
loves
magic acts. Always has. And look!
Another
magic show! Oh, yeah! Mom’s goin’ to
love
Vegas!”

* * *

“Hate to say it, but actually—I’m glad.” Michael took a long swig of his beer.

“You’re
glad
we’re gonna go through all this shit again?”

“I’m glad you’ve got a breach in
your
division. You kept insisting it was impossible and since I know damn well I got one and Rafe knows damn well
he’s
got one—”

“Rafe’s sitting right here, you know.” Rafael took a long draw from his mug, too. “And he can talk. You’re always trying to take over, Michael.”

“Well, just
excuse me
to hell and back!”

“Wait a damn minute here! Back up! Are you saying just because I
wasn’t sure I had a breach, you thought I knew damn well there was one? And thereby might be the broken arrow?
Me?!
”

“G
uys! Can it!” Rafe hissed. “Incoming waitress.”

“Here you go, boys! Y’all
must be hungry, never saw such scowls! Don’t worry, this’ll fix you right up! Anything else?”

“This’ll do it, honey, thank you.”

“Y’all save some room for desert now, hear?” Jenny headed back to the kitchen.

“Man, what
is
it about southern girls?” Michael shook his head as he watched her rear retreat. “Aren’t they just the
best?
”

“You just told me you thought I was the broken arrow and you’re sitting there now stuffing your face and watching a waitress’s rear-end? I don’t
believe
you, man!”

Rafael reached across into the bread basket for a piece of toast. “Gabriel, calm down. He’s still bent out of shape ‘cause you
opted out of the last brouhaha and decided to stay down on earth a while.”

“Call it like it is, brother.” Michael sucked the last morsels of meat off his first rib and licked his fingers. “He
ran
away to earth.”

“
Somebody
needed to be looking after the humans while all you assholes were having a pissing contest! You ever think of that? Maybe spilling your brother’s blood got
your
rocks off, Michael, but it didn’t hold the first damn bit of interest for me! I
loved
Lucifer as much as I loved you!”

Light shot from Michael’s eyes and the beer left
in the mugs bubbled. Rafael slammed his arm across the table between the two.

“
Enough!
Don’t cause a scene! And I get damn tired of refereeing you two! Now we have a
problem
here! Agreed? So what are we going to do about it? I don’t even know where my break is! Neither does Michael!”