"So be wise, because the world needs more wisdom. If you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is and just do what they would do."- Neil Gaiman

Monday, September 4, 2023

Matchstick Excerpt 7: The Aftermath

 “You think Maria was doing the shooting? Mark would have been there, though. He wouldn’t want to miss her reaction.”

“I also don’t think he would have taken a shot at me. He is mad at me, but I don’t think he could kill me. Maria was pissed he called me. She would probably be thrilled to have a chance to take me out.”

“We need to tell them,” Elise said.

“I know. I will. Annabell and Arthur are down and need to rest. Onyx can barely walk. Harley has a lot on her plate with everyone that’s been injured. I think it needs to wait until morning. Let everyone sleep, and then tell them.”

I was restless, but I needed the rest. The level of adrenaline that courses through you when you’re being shot at takes a toll. My mind was whirling too quickly for that. At least the living room was big enough to pace in. Elise stayed perched on the edge of couch. All her muscles were tense, she was ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. I didn’t blame her.

“Do you think the house will be ok tonight?” she asked.

“Maybe? It’s hard to say for sure.”

“We need to get Harley’s car. Arthur’s too,” she said. “We can take a cab to Harley’s and then drive to his.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea. We would be out there on our own. If something happened… they wouldn’t even know where we had gone.”

“Let’s get Renee then. She can drive us in her car.”

“No one will be happy with us involving Renee.”

“What about involving me?” she said as she walked into the room. “Everyone else is sleeping.”

“I wanted to go get the cars. We can’t just leave them, it will draw attention.”

“None of them will like it, but it needs to be done,” Renee said. “Let’s go get it over with before someone wakes up and tried to stop us.”

“I just don’t think that’s a good plan. We don’t know if they are still watching the cars or if they left some kind of surprise at them,” I said.

“It will be ok,” Renee said. “While I don’t have much in the way of formal training, I have spent a lot of time with Arthur and Annabell. I know what to look for.”

“It won’t take long and we’ll be careful,” Elise added.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or be removed entirely from the finished novel)

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