Part of me felt like an idiot for being such an old worrywart. It wasn’t like I was the only guy who left family at home. Cole’s ailing son was valiantly starting kindergarten, like Anna, and Marty’s wife Melanie was six months along with their first. Neither of them were obsessing about it. Just me and the knot in my stomach. Of course, no one had tried to kill either of them in the last year or so. I’d had more close calls than I liked to think about.
You know how that one guy in the Western who always says the place is too quiet? Yeah, that’s how I felt. Something was brewing, it just hadn’t come to the surface yet. And the farther we got away from home, the more it tickled at the back of my mind, an insidious little whisper that said, “We always come back, Jesse.”
“Rest stop!” Will announced from the front, and even I could feel a twinge of relief. I just needed to get out of the truck and away from my thoughts.
We all piled out, everyone stretching and groaning including the dog. The five of us made an interesting troupe. You had me in all my wiry-scrawny glory with my shoulder-length blond ponytail and the beginnings of scruffy red beard stubble.
Shorter than me by a good foot, Marty’s head was shaved totally bald, and he’d cut the sleeves off his T-shirt to show off his ink. At least he wore cargo pants today instead of his usual kilt.
Will’s curly hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he took a moment to wipe the smudges off his thick glasses. My height, probably, though a good seventy-five pounds heavier if not more. Wicked smart, though he did a bumbling idiot impression really well.
Cole… well, Cole looked like a cop, and there was no way out of it. Clean cut, clean shaven, perfect posture, good boy. That’s my little brother.
And of course, Cam-short-for-Cameron, who was trying to make lumberjack into the new fall chic.
Marty tossed me the end of Duke’s leash and vanished in the direction of the restrooms. How exactly did I get elected official dog walker? By the time I pondered that for a moment, the guys had vanished, leaving me and Duke alone.
The big goofball gave me his best pleading look and leaned against the leash just enough to get his message across. I gotta go, boss!
That was all well and good, but I suddenly realized this was a chance to do a little snooping. Cam’s backpack was on top of the pile. Maybe I could just peek inside, real quick like. “Hang on, boy, Uncle Jesse’s being a bad person.”
The backpack itself was brand-new, still stiff with creases in it from where it had been boxed at the store. Glancing around once, on the lookout for the guys coming back, I unzipped it and went poking.
Jeans, jeans, socks, more socks, two shirts, boxers-ew! I grimaced and kept pawing my way past someone else’s underwear down into the depths of the bag. And I came up with nothing. No esoteric trinkets, no mystery bottles or vials. Nothing sent any tingles along my skin, evidence of magic derring-do.
Duke, not nearly as fascinated with my detective work as I was, tugged harder on the leash, whining softly.
“Hang on, almost done.” Each garment was tidily folded; it was easy enough to get everything back in the pack like I’d never touched it. Easier that than explaining to Cam why I was rummaging around in his drawers.
The spell hadn’t been his. Couldn’t have been. I’d never seen a magic user yet, my wife included, who didn’t carry something on their person, some shard of their own power. Sometimes it was a talisman, sometimes it was just tools of the trade. Hell, even with no magic to call my own, I carried charms and spells with me almost all the time, courtesy of Mira.
Mira’s was her pentacle necklace. Miguel’s had been a gold hoop earring in his left ear. Esteban’s was a silver ring on his pinkie finger. Ivan’s was the gold cross he wore religiously, pardon the pun.
A cross… Did Mr. Not-a-Priest wear a cross? I tried to picture Cam in my head, but couldn’t pull up that particular detail. It would be fitting, and magic passed for faith often enough… Okay, so it was looking like he wasn’t responsible, but I couldn’t rule him out completely. I’d have to get a better look.
Duke butted his head against my hip, rocking me. “All right, all right. Let’s do this.” I tucked Cam’s pack back in with the rest-mine had a suspicious damp spot, and I gave the dog the evil eye-and we went in search of facilities.
I found a nice big patch of grass, suitable for the occasion, and a very relieved Duke did his business quickly. I cleaned it up like a good citizen, but there was nothing in the world that would compel me to get back into that truck before I absolutely had to. Every part of me was stiff.
Glancing around, I realized I had a fairly decent open area and I decided to stretch out. Sword katas were all well and good-those I do for love. But to get myself limbered up, there were a few others I could run through real quick, work the kinks out of my muscles and joints.
Duke cocked his head in puzzlement as I looped his lead around my wrist, and set about going through a few slow stretches. I could feel my muscles loosening immediately, and for a few moments, I closed my eyes and just flowed through the motions. It was so easy to lose myself in the movements.
“Am I interrupting?” Cam-short-for-Cameron’s voice made me open my eyes, and I very nearly came around swinging. Thankfully, the ex-priest didn’t notice, more intent on feeding half his ham sandwich to the dog. “I thought he might be hungry.”
Duke scarfed it down in one bite, then looked hopefully at his new best friend. Cam chuckled and rubbed the dog’s head. In my mind, I glared at the mutt for being a traitor. “Um, I heard Marty and Will talk about leaving you here for being grumpy. They are joking, right?”
This was my chance, I realized, to get a better look at our new buddy. I finished the kata with one last motion, a slow spin that ended in a low crouch, then stood up with a hop. Was Cameron wearing a necklace? Couldn’t tell. Stupid collared shirt. “Nope. We left Cole at a rest stop for two hours one time before we came back to get him.” I tugged Duke’s lead and got him moving. “But Marty won’t leave the mutt, so I’m not too worried.”
Cam blinked and followed me back to the Suburban. “I don’t think I got a chance to thank you for inviting me along. I still don’t have a lot of friends in the area.”
I gave a noncommittal shrug. He knew he was here only because my wife insisted. No point in rubbing his nose in it. “Hope you have a good time. It’s a long hike up there, but the cabin is nice and we always have a ton of fun running around like loonies in the woods.” “And by the way, do you have any supernatural powers at your disposal? Just one of those questions I ask everyone.” Somehow, I just couldn’t make that conversation sound sane, even in my own head.
“Still, I know this is kinda your time with your buddies. I do appreciate it.” Thankfully, he went back to eating his sandwich, and that was the end of the touchy-feely stuff. It was also the end of my chance to question him alone, and I mentally kicked myself as I got Duke loaded back into the truck.
It’s impossible to leave someone at the rest stop when they beat you back to the vehicle. Marty and Will were visibly disappointed to find Duke and me firmly ensconced in our seats when they got back, and Cole smirked at me as he slid in beside me. “Cam narced, didn’t he?”
“Yup.”
In the front seat, Will and Marty exchanged devilish looks. I had a feeling Cam-short-for-Cameron was getting left at the next rest stop. I think he felt it too,’cause he didn’t make any effort to leave the car for the rest of the trip. Dude wasn’t stupid, I’ll give him that.
Needless to say, I wasn’t going to get out of the car either, and that effectively trapped Cole between us. He wasn’t going to be the happiest of campers by the time we got to Colorado.