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Skidding around a corner, Beau gunned the engine and the old car sprang to life.  Roaring down the road, the streetlights flashed overhead in rhythm to the squealing tires.  Hurry, hurry, hurry.

“Where are we going?” Billy whined, clutching the seatbelt as Beau flew around another corner.  “Why won’t you tell me?”

“What good will it do?” Beau asked.  “You’ve already proven you can’t be trusted.”

“I have not!” Billy whined, sweat running down his bald head and puddling in the folds of his thick neck.

“Right, I should trust the guy that was going to blow up my mom and only said something when I got in,” Beau replied, gritting his teeth as a tire hit a curb.  The old car shook and the engine squealed.  “Could you be quiet?”

“At least I said something.”  Billy pushed out his lower lip, looking like a enormous infant.

“You said plenty,” Beau muttered under his breath.  Slamming the pedal to the floor, the car raced down the road.  Suddenly, red and blue lights flashed in his review mirror.

“Damn it.”  Hissing through his teeth, Beau hit the brakes and jerked the car to the left.

“Why are you slowing down?” Billy asked, glancing back as the sherriff drove up slowly behind them.

Beau gaped at him.  “Getting arrested for evading the law is not on my bucket list, ok?”

“But the sheriff is best friends with the mayor.”

“So?”

The sheriff got out behind them, opening his door slowly as he held his cell phone up to his ear.

“So, the mayor’s the one that hired me to mess up your mom’s car.  And the sheriff is the one who told me to do it.”

Beau sucked in his breath.  In the review mirror, he watched the sheriff look at the car, nod and flip off his cell phone.  Leaning back in his car, he dug around in the dashboard, his head buried.

“Are you positive?”  Beau looked at Billy, who was white as he was.  “If that’s true, why didn’t you want me to call the sheriff earlier?”

“Because he would have done to me what he’s going to do to both of us right now.”  Billy wiped his slick forehead against the seatbelt.  “He was very clear what would happen if I was discovered.  And it wasn’t pleasant.  It wasn’t even humane, really.”

Beau gripped the steering wheel.  He looked in the review mirror.  The sherriff was easing out of the car.  In his left hand was a rope and a heavy black club.  Beau didn’t want to see what was in his right.

Digging the key into the ignition, he slammed on the gas as the car roared to life.  The last thing he saw in the review mirror was the sheriff’s astonished face before he ducked to avoid the spray of gravel and smoke.

“Will you tell me where we’re going now?” Billy asked, the seatbelt soaked through with perspiration from his shirt.

“Where do you think?” Beau asked grimly.

——————————————————-

Clementine Jane hadn’t had time to scream when the door slammed open. Her father burst in, flanked by her mother and Adelaide.

“Dad, he’s got a gun!” Clementine Jane yelled as her father roughly kissed her forehead and shoved him behind her.

“Hello, Grayson.”  The mayor calmly raised the gun with his left hand, waving his right as if he was passing him in the grocery store.  “I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.  I was hoping you would win.”

“Drop the gun,” Dallas Jean snarled.  Clementine Jane let out a squeak.  Her mother had a small Lady Revolver aimed straight at the Mayor’s forehead.  Adelaide was aiming a sawed-off shotgun.

“Did I ever tell you I was first place winner in the Ladies Shooting Gallery?”  Dallas Jean drawled, her blue eyes icy.

“I believe I heard something about that,” the Mayor purred, switching the gun from Grayson to Clementine Jane.  “But I’m sure you’ve heard of my hunting prowess as well.”

“No dirty politician knows how to shoot,” Adelaide snarled, her finger twitching on the trigger.  “That’s what he’s got flunkies for.  Where’s the sheriff to do your dirty work?”

The mayor smiled chillingly.  “See, that’s the wonderful thing about families.  They share the same traits.”

“What are you talking about?” Grayson snarled, wishing he had a gun.  He pulled Clementine Jane closer behind him.

“Well, Grayson, not only are your wife and daughter ridiculously stubborn, but so is your son.  Apparently, no one in the Lee family can keep their nose out of business it doesn’t belong in.”

“May I remind you,  you called me?” Clementine Jane snapped, peering around her father’s shoulder before he shoved her back.

“Only to repay a debt.”  The mayor smirked.  “Not everything in your world is as clean and pristine as you think, Grayson.  Especially after I let this bullet fly through your wife’s obnoxious skull.”

“Let’s go, pretty boy,” Dallas Jean growled.  “I’m faster than you can ever dream of.”

“We already know about Norman,” Grayson snapped, glancing around for some kind of weapon.  Did no one use letter openers anymore?  He made a mental note to get one.

“Norman’s the least of your problems.”  The mayor snorted, leaning back on his desk with a disarmingly casual air.  “There are others that hate your charismatic wife, Grayson.  And if you insist on letting her continue to run, the problems are just going to keep cropping up.”

“But all your so-called documentation was fake!” Clementine Jane snarled, peeking around her father’s right arm as he shoved her back.  “And that girl at the bank–she was just crazy.  And my grandfather’s journal”–

“I don’t know about a girl or a journal,” the mayor interrupted, his grey eyes moving into thin slits.  “But I know that this has gone on far too long.”

Cocking the gun, he smiled thinly.  “Perhaps I’ll run for mayor instead of senate.  After all, it’s not as if I’ll have any opposition.”  He licked his lips, relishing his words like a fine wine.  “Especially as the sheriff is taking care of your son as we speak.”

Grayson grew pale as blossoms of anger exploded on Dallas’ cheeks.  “Care to explain that?”

“It’ll all be in the newspaper tomorrow.  So sad, really.  But not written by you, my dear.”  The mayor shook his head, giving Clementine Jane a sympathetic look.  “I’m afraid you missed your chance for that.  They’ll be writing about you instead–your obituary.  So young, so soon….It’ll be a terrific introduction for my campaign,” he mused.

As he threw back his head and laughed, Dallas Jean grit her teeth.

She had just opened her mouth when a tiny movement in the corner of her eye caught her her attention.

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have some Memorial Day whimsy!  Stay tuned!

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