Chapter 26

Just as the trooper drew the sergeant’s attention to me, Wendy materialized from the shadows ... well ... sort of ... she materialized all right ... from the ether.

I was pretty surprised.

She looked like she had stepped out from the gathering darkness ... but I knew better. Right then Annabelle followed her out and then the Feminine Powers slithered out too. Six and Four ... the male Powers were next. You have to understand ... the Powers are all very tall ... very tall. From Seven’s seven foot three inches all the way down to One; the midget at six foot eight. The girls could have stepped off the Pro Bball courts except ... they were FIT ... not skinny beanpoles ... Amazons. Not anyone a mugger would like to meet in an alley. Big, dangerous looking ... in a feminine way. Girls you’d like to take home to meet the parents one minute and the Chicago Bears the next.

“Well, Troop ... it looks like he was talking to them,” said the Sergeant.

There are times to speak out and there are times to acquiesce. The trooper KNEW that the fella hadn’t been talking to the obvious. There hadn’t been anyone in that little alcove ... he’d been there and examined it thoroughly; no doors, no widows and certainly not enough room to house that gaggle of heavyweights. The sergeant accepted the presence as evidence and there was enough trouble with half the MSU Spartans defense drunk and disorderly and the underage free safety suffering a broken arm.

Go with it, Gil, he muttered to himself. Just go with it ... I sure would like to know where that lot came from though. He glanced over at the setback. Fuck! NOW where did they go?

The where was the alley just outside the Antler in Pentwater. The only witness was the teenager picking up the sixer stashed in the bushes behind the bar and he, for sure wasn’t going to make waves ... the local roundheels was going to relieve him of his much regretted virginity ... IF he brought beer to the party ... beer that cost him a weeks allowance. Nope ... just grab the beer and go.

It makes one wonder how many crimes were never reported because the witness had somewhere else to go and didn’t want to get involved.

“Catch anything?” Wendy asked.

“Nothing I wanted to keep,” David said. “Did you have fun?”

“Not really,” she said, “Too many fumble fingered assholes.”

“What were all the cops doing?”

“Just the normal,” Wendy said. She began to describe the situation in the bar when The Powers that Be chose that particular moment to recombine. “God! That’s disgusting. Warn a girl before you do that.”

Spokesperson Seven said, “Since you’re buying we thought it would be cheaper if you had to buy ONE burger and fries instead of seven meals.”

“Point for the Gods,” Wendy said.