Nearly Departed, Max Schlienger [the gingerbread man read aloud txt] 📗

man by the window. Bobo pointed wordlessly at a dark blue sedan that was parked across the street. As soon as he made the gesture, the car’s headlights flared to life and the vehicle pulled away from the curb with a squeal of spinning tires.

“A bit over-dramatic, that,” Bobo commented. “I guess it answers your question, though.”

“God damn it!” Dennis swore. “What the hell are we supposed to do now? The man is psychotic!”

“He’s also gone.” Bobo let the curtain fall, and he pulled the wig off again. “Nothing much we can do now, except get some rest for tomorrow.”

Dennis started to respond, but a loud buzzing made him jump. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. The display showed that it was Luke calling, and Dennis hurriedly answered.

“Hey, what’s up?” came Luke’s voice. “I saw you called.” Even without hearing the nervousness there, Dennis would have known that something was wrong. Luke never made small talk, and polite greetings, no matter how casual they might have been, were practically a personal taboo for him.

“Are you alright, Luke?” Dennis asked.

“Oh, yeah, fine.” There was a pause. “Only, did you talk to Sam today? Did he say anything about that money he was going to loan me?”

“He said he’d have it soon,” replied Dennis. He pulled the curtain aside and stared out the window again, but there was no sign of Spinner’s car. “Listen, Luke, I’m sorry to do this, but I’m in a bit of trouble here myself. Are you sure that everything is okay?”

“Yeah, really, it’s fine,” Luke answered, not at all convincingly. “I’ll just try to get in touch with Sam.”

“Alright, let me know how it goes.” Dennis ended the call without waiting for a response. “This is messed up,” he said to Bobo.

“Someone else involved?”

Dennis shook his head. “No, that was something different.” He looked out the window again. “I just don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do now.”

The bigger man shrugged. “You can stay here for tonight, if you’d like. The couch is comfy enough, and we can head over to Elspeth’s bright and early.”

Under normal circumstances, Dennis would have refused, but thoughts of being tailed and confronted again made the relative security of Bobo’s apartment look incredibly appealing. “Just for the night,” Dennis said.

“Wife won’t mind?”

“No.”

The curt reply brought a hint of a raised eyebrow to Bobo’s face, but he didn’t push for an explanation. Instead, he walked over to a large cabinet, a twin to the one they had walked through earlier, and pulled open the doors.

“Well, it’s still early,” Bobo said. “Do you want to play a game or something?”

Dennis sighed, and mentally warned himself that he should try to calm down. “Sure,” he answered reluctantly. “What did you have in mind?” Bobo turned around with a wide smile, displaying an unopened box still in its cellophane wrapping.

“Backgammon?”

Chapter Eleven

Dennis woke with a start and a stiff back. Sounds of quiet clattering were coming from somewhere in the apartment, and although it took him a moment to remember where he was, he soon relaxed when a familiar smell reached his nostrils. Dennis shook himself awake and walked towards the kitchen, where he found Bobo preparing a pot of coffee.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” the bigger man asked.

Dennis rubbed his neck groggily. “Yeah, why?”

Bobo shrugged impassively. “I just wasn’t sure if you found the time for it after all those trips to the window.”

Fair enough, Dennis supposed. By the time he had finally dozed off, he must have scanned the street more than a dozen times, hoping to convince himself that Spinner wasn’t laying in wait somewhere close by.

“Sorry if I kept you up,” murmured Dennis. He eyed the coffee. “Is some of that for me, or are you brewing another love potion?” Bobo responded by pulling two white mugs from an overheard cupboard and placing them next to the gurgling machine.

“I put a towel out for you if you want to have a wash,” Bobo said. “It’ll be a few minutes yet before breakfast is ready.”

“Aren’t you hospitable?” Dennis joked. He grew more somber. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what? It’s just muffins.”

“Not just that,” replied Dennis. “For everything. I would have spent the night in a hotel room otherwise.”

“Don’t mention it, then,” Bobo said, turning back to face the counter. Dennis wasn’t sure if the polite dismissal was meant for his benefit or not, and the lack of any follow-up questions bothered him slightly.

“I had a fight with my wife.”

Bobo turned around again, his expression guarded. “That’s bad, is it?”

“It’s not good,” Dennis sighed. “She wasn’t too happy when I told her about the mess that I’m in.”

“The mess we’re in,” corrected Bobo. “That Spinner bloke is after me, too.”

“It does seem that way,” Dennis murmured. He shook his head vigorously. “Whatever. Until he shows up again, let’s just forget about him. I’m going to go shower.”

“Don’t take too long.”

“You can start eating without me,” said Dennis. “I don’t mind.”

“Still best be quick about it; you might mind when the hot water runs out.” Bobo cocked his head to the side. “Although maybe it’s better for you to take a cold shower, with that date today.” A number of halfway-witty retorts came to Dennis’ mind, but none of them seemed appropriate. Instead of letting loose with a lame response, he turned and trudged towards the bathroom, still massaging his neck with one hand.

The tiled room, like the rest of Bobo’s dwelling, was incredibly simple in its furnishings. Everything from the towels to the toothbrush holder was white, the only exception being a green soap dispenser in the shape of a particularly stoned-looking frog. Even the shampoo bottle kept the uniform color, although the smell of the substance inside was much more floral than Dennis would have expected. He bathed quickly and dressed in the clothes he had brought along for the date with Evy, although he left the tie and the blazer off for