Sky's the Limit
Copyright© 2026 by aroslav
Chapter 10: New Ally
“TAKE IT EASY, David. He’s right here. No one has done anything to him,” Pat said, gesturing toward Matthew, who was still utterly fascinated with the twins.
“How did he get here?” Drake demanded.
“I found him...” I began.
“What did you do to Uncle Mattie?” Debbie demanded, rushing in behind David. Brent was right behind her. Brent was fully dressed. Debbie was wearing pajamas and fuzzy slippers.
“I didn’t do anything to him!” I said as David continued to argue with Pat and Marge. “I found him on the boardwalk and brought him in to call his emergency number.”
“Really, Sky! I know you are still hurting from losing me, but to kidnap Brent’s uncle just to get me near you is unconscionable,” Debbie said. Funny, she hadn’t even glanced at Matthew.
“Uncle Matt never leaves the house,” Brent added. “You must have snuck in and kidnapped him!”
“The word is sneaked. No one kidnapped anyone,” I said. “He was out on the boardwalk with his drone. He was having difficulty, so I invited him inside. Denise gave him a latte and a cookie. He found a book he was interested in. I called his emergency number and you all arrived.”
“Uncle Mattie hates to be touched. You assaulted him!” Debbie insisted.
“Did you touch my brother?” David asked, spinning to face me.
“No! He made it clear he didn’t want to be touched,” I said. I was about fed up with this shit. They couldn’t even settle enough to listen to reason. Apparently, it ran in the family. Debbie was a good fit with this father and son. I did kind of pity Matthew.
“It wasn’t enough that you bring a rabble into the commission meeting today to embarrass me,” Debbie said. “You just weren’t satisfied with that. You had to go out to prove your point.”
“It was your point I proved!” I shouted back. I wasn’t going to bring this part up, but I was really pissed. “When I saw Matthew on the boardwalk, he was protecting his drone as a gang tried to mug him and take it away. I got between them and chased the muggers off. So, you were right. There’s a gang running loose on the beach at night and I plan to put an end to them.”
“You’re trying to tell me you fought off six guys to save my brother? Do you think you’re superman?” David asked.
Wait! I never said how many there were.
“I have pictures of them running away and their car as they drove off,” I said, pulling out my phone. I pulled up the photos and held the phone out to them. “See? They tried to take Matthew’s drone and I fought them off. I’m turning this picture of the license plate in to the police. The State Police, since the locals seem to have been intimidated to stay away from the Waterfront at night. They even bragged about having someone high up who would see they were free.”
“Those sons of bitches!” David screamed. “They’re just supposed to intimidate people, not mug them!”
He quickly shut his mouth, realizing he’d said too much.
“You paid them, didn’t you!” I shouted at him. “There were no gangs roaming the beach until you started sounding the alarm. Did you pay the police to stay away from the Waterfront at night, too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Debbie said. “I’ve talked to the guys in this so-called gang. They’re just tourists. You’re the one who went out there to pick a fight.”
“That’s right!” Brent said. “You used my uncle for bait and beat up the people who were trying to help him.”
“You’re making things up. Just ask Matthew!” I said.
We all turned to look at Matthew. His drone and partial cup of coffee were still on the table, but Matthew wasn’t there.
“What did you do with my brother?” David said, regaining his belligerence.
“He was right here when you came screaming in,” I said. “He probably went to find someplace quiet.”
“Pearl and Ruby are gone, too,” Marge said. “Girls! Where are you?”
“They went that way,” Denise said, pointing toward the back of the store. “That guy wandered off that direction and they followed.”
“Matthew!” David yelled, heading toward the back of the store.
Matthew walked up the aisle with an armload of books, followed by Pearl and Ruby, each weighed down with books.
“David! Get books!”
“Matthew, are you okay?” David asked, rushing to him, but carefully not touching him.
“Pretty girls!” Matthew said, motioning to Pearl and Ruby.
“Yes, yes. What are you doing with all these books?” David asked.
“Want these books. Good books.”
“Can’t you order them for your reader?” Brent asked.
“Want books. Smell good.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Put them on the counter. I’ll pay for them,” David said. “Matthew, were you attacked on the boardwalk?”
“Pow! Bam! Kick!” Matthew said, mimicking the karate kicks. He pointed at me. “Good guy fights them.” He continued with a few more kicks.
“I still don’t believe it,” David said.
“Oh! Have pictures,” Matthew said confidently. He detached a recording device from the drone and rewound quite a ways. “Flying drone to take pictures of beach. No power, so I went to get it.”
“How did you get out?” David asked.
Matthew looked at him with utter disdain.
“Easy,” was all he said. He turned the video to play and we could see him coming up on the drone and the gang approaching from the other direction. From there, he had a pretty good record of everything that went down. Apparently, he never shut off the recorder, even when he was being attacked.
“I just can’t believe they actually pulled this,” David said.
Debbie reached over and felt my arms to see how strong I was.
“I always thought of you as the bookish type. Not so physical,” she said, stroking up and down my arm. I jerked away from her.
“I’m sure you have all the physical you need,” I growled. Pearl and Ruby pulled me back away from her.
“We need to get going,” David said. “Matthew, bring your toys and let’s go home.”
“Books!” Matthew said.
“We have an entire store of books,” Brent said. “You can have as many as you want.”