Fates' Folly (18 page)

I leaned against my butcher block cart
directly across from him and folded my arms across my chest. "Fine,
what would you have done?"

"I would have ignored them, and if they
became too much to ignore, I'd threaten to sue their asses for
forgery and defamation of character. If that didn't work, I'd go
and find an aggressive Atlanta lawyer who has an axe to grind
against the abuse of civil liberties in rural towns and actually
sue them. They can't hold you to a contract that you didn't sign,
and they can't harass you at your home, work or even socially and
get away with it."

"And if that didn't work?"

He shrugged. "It would have, but if that
didn't work, I'd kill them-probably in their sleep."

"Shit, a bit extreme don't you think?" I
asked, a little freaked out because he seemed completely
serious.

"Worked like a charm for the Celts."

"You mean for you-because you were a Celtic
soldier before you became immortal?"

"I was a Uiros Uiramos, a very successful
one, and now I am paying for it. Go change, so you can get to work
and I can continue my penance."

I did as he asked without further comment.
Though Barty looked flamboyant- in his pretty purple jogging shorts
and matching spandex shirt, not to mention his ever present
annoying pencil mustache- he had a certain edge to his persona, one
that said yes, I've done the worst you can imagine and not only was
I good at it, I enjoyed it too. So, like I often did with my mama
when she reached the mean drunk stage, I backed off and did what I
was told.

We worked for over an hour, this time with
Barty trying to knock me down and me, with his direction, thwarting
his attempts. Barty said the technique was basically Aikido, slowed
down for my minuscule brain. I didn't care what he called it. All I
know is that by the time Riley showed up and we had to end our
training session early to get ready for Joshua's memorial service-
I was grinning so wide my face hurt.

Why was I grinning, you may ask. Because,
though I landed on my poor battered bum more times than I can
count, I managed to deflect Barty's punch and throw him over my hip
onto the ground. It was only one time, and he jerked me down next
to him and gave me a nasty jab in the ribs for pay back, but it
didn't matter. I successfully grounded his ass, and for the tiniest
of seconds, he wore a look of surprise.

"So how did it go today?" Riley asked from
behind the wheel- again- on our way to the funeral home. He was
dressed in gray slacks and a matching gray silk shirt with a
charcoal gray tie. I've never been a fan of the monochromatic look,
but Riley wore it well, making me hope that Linda Farnsworth
wouldn't be in attendance. I'm sure she didn't know the family, but
you never know who will show up at a viewing, especially in a
small, gossip monger town like Dempsey.

"What did Barty say?" I asked, wondering if
he had been honest.

"He said you didn't fall on your butt as many
times as he thought you would, and he's worried about losing the
betting pool this week."

I pulled on the bottom of my dress- a simple
black number, knee length with an empire waist and satin trim on
the hem and sleeves. I had purchased it for my mother's
funeral-sheesh-almost a year ago. I mentally smacked myself to stop
thinking about my mama and thought about what Riley had just
said.

"Betting pool? What betting pool?"

He grinned. "As soon as Hades assigned you to
compete in the Olympian Trials there was a betting pool. With the
actual competition still months away, there have been smaller side
bets based on your training."

This was interesting.

"Such as?"

"Such as how many times in a session you'll
be thrown on your ass, how often you can get Barty to lose his
temper, how many times you succeed in learning a skill-”

"How do they know the results?" There better
not be a hidden camera.

"Nothing nefarious like a hidden camera or
anything. Barty reports on the training session. He has given an
oath to report the truth in exact detail and to do nothing to
impede your training for his own benefit."

"Just how many are involved in these
pools?"

"Pretty much all of the Underworld, except
the souls of course, but in all fairness, I'm not sure if the rest
of Olympus knows your identity. I don't think Hades wants them to.
The gods don't have to announce who their champion is until the
week before the Trials start. That's when the real betting
begins."

"You know, I don’t even know when the
competition is."

"New Year's day."

Seven months. That's a long time… and a lot
of bets. “Barty said that Hades would be wagering on my defeat in
the Challenge, but I had no idea there was an actual betting pool,
involving so many.”

Riley parked the car in an empty corner of
the funeral home parking lot. He turned off the car, turned in his
seat to face me, and waited for my reaction.

I turned in my seat too. "Do you think you
could place some bets for me?"

Riley laughed, "Sure, sweetheart."

I smiled, a little embarrassed by the
endearment. "Thanks. Now let's go bug these poor people until they
kick us out."

I've always thought it
funny that a town as small as Dempsey, with only enough residents
to have one grocery store, two gas stations and one bank, could
have five churches, two funeral homes and three cemeteries, not
including the little family plots of gravestones that were
scattered along the countryside.

Meadow Walk Funeral home, the more upscale of
the two funeral homes, was housed in a grand white antebellum with
the standard five white columns and balcony overhang. The grounds
were immaculate with beautifully trimmed hedges of pink and white
azaleas, dogwoods and pear trees that had just begun to bloom, and
an assortment of jewel colored pansies that were planted in
strategic locations to offer nature's support and good cheer.
Overall it was a very picturesque place to visit the dead, even if
it was only to see the closed, dark cherry casket with gold trim
that Joshua Collins' body was tucked away in.

Riley and I had followed the line of visitors
around the room to pay our respects to a boy we'd never met. My
thoughts of stupid, lost boy were not exactly respectful but I
couldn't help the frustrated feeling of anger that squeezed my
heart for the loss of a life not yet lived.

We walked past the casket to where the
family, clothed in various shades of black, mourned and graciously
accepted condolences. Riley stopped in front of a younger version
of the woman we had met on Sunday. She looked up at us, her wide
brown eyes shadowed and her small pixie mouth turned down and
trembling in despair. Suddenly, I desperately wanted to leave. I
did not want to cause this woman more grief with our intrusive
questions. I tugged on Riley's sleeve, but it was too late- he had
already begun.

"Please accept our condolences, Mrs. Collins.
My name is Riley Black." He pulled me closer, from where I was
doing my best to hide. "This is my niece, Myra, and we are cousins
of Dr. Sebastian Black, Joshua's Latin teacher at Morgan Hill.
Sebastian spoke often of your son and, as we were in town to gather
Sebastian's belongings, we thought we'd take a moment to pay our
respects."

She continued to look up at Riley, her face
devoid of everything but her grief.

"We are truly sorry for your loss," I
added.

Mr. Collins, a man equally as slight of build
as his wife, turned his attention to us. His face was pale, his
cheeks sallow and his eyes excessively shiny, compared to the deep
dark circles that surrounded them.

"I'm sorry but my wife and I have never heard
of a Dr. Black. You must be mistaken, Joshua didn't take
Latin."

His wife gave a ghost of a smile, clinging to
her husband's arm. "He hated foreign languages, said it was a waste
of his time," she said.

"Our mistake, we're so sorry to have taken up
your time," I said, nudging Riley to move on.

"That's all right," Mrs. Collins said.
"Joshua did love Morgan Hill and I'm sure he knew your cousin in
some aspect. He was a very…" she choked on a sob, took a deep
breath to calm herself and then, in a whisper, finished her
thought, "he was very outgoing."

I nodded my head and pushed Riley forward. We
stepped out of the room into the large foyer.

"Are we satisfied? Can we leave now?" I
asked, very disgusted with myself.

Riley began to answer, but an arm wrapped
around my shoulders, and at the same time, I heard Bo's smooth
voice. "Myra and Uncle Riley, what a surprise. What are you doing
here?" he asked.

I was already not happy. Bo's arm wrapped
possessively around me was not making me any happier. I moved to my
left, making a point of removing his arm from my body.

"What do you think we're doing here, Bo?
We've come to pay our respects."

He looked concerned. "Did you know
Joshua?"

I could feel myself squirming. "No, umm…"

Riley saved me. "I'm buddies with one of
Joshua's teachers at Morgan Hill. In fact, one of the reasons I
came to town, besides," he put his arm around me, pulling me to his
side, "catching up with sweet little Myra, was to hunt my buddy
down. Though, when I got here, I heard about the boy, and as bad
timing would have it, my friend had already left town. I only felt
it proper that I should pay my respects. I'm sure my friend will be
devastated that he missed the opportunity to do so. This way, I can
ease his mind a bit." He squeezed me tighter to his side. "Of
course, I had to drag Myra along with me. She's so much better at
these types of social events than I am."

I had a hard time not rolling my eyes. I was
so bad at dealing with people that antisocial was listed on my
birth certificate, and Bo knew it which was why he was staring at
Riley like he had grown horns or something. It also could have been
Riley's arm wrapped around me, but either way, I was going to need
to diffuse the situation.

I walked out of Riley's hug and took Bo's
hand. "Would you like to walk with me to the car? Uncle Riley has
bladder issues, so he'll need to hit the restroom before we can
go."

Riley chuckled, "Yep, that's me, always
needing to find the head. I'll meet you at the car sweetheart," he
said, walking off into the line of mourners.

Bo and I walked in silence out onto the lawn
and made our way around the house to the parking lot.

"This is not the place I'd wish to run into
you, but I'm not sorry I did. You look quite stunning. I don't
think I've ever seen you in a dress before."

"This is the only dress I own. I just bought
it last summer."

"So somebody got you out of the house on a
date. I'll have to meet this guy, discover his secret," he
teased.

I wasn't going to tell him why I had bought
the dress, but for my benefit, not because I was protecting his
feelings. After all, I had no feelings other than irritation for
this man. Why did you ask him to walk you to the car then? the
annoying voice in my head asked. Because, I wanted to question him,
I answered. Then why are you holding hands with him taking the long
way through the garden to the parking lot instead of asking your
questions? She must be my inner bitch, I thought, growling at her
to shut up.

"Did you just growl at me?" Bo asked, letting
go of me so he could move his hand to my waist, pulling me closer
to his side.

"No, I was just clearing my throat. Did you
know Joshua Collins?"

"Yeah, he was on the community football team
I coached a few years back. He was a bright kid, really outgoing. I
can't imagine the parents' shock to find him like they did."

We had reached my car. Bo let go of me, and I
leaned against the passenger door, facing him.

"The parents found him?"

Bo ran his hand through his hair. "They came
home from an early dinner out. Joshua was supposed to be at school
working on a research project. His mom noticed his bedroom light
was on, went in to turn it off, and that's where she found him, on
the floor, the gun still practically hanging out of his mouth."

I thought of the blood splattered wall in
Sebastian's office and had to squash the urge to gag, squeezing my
eyes shut, mentally erasing the image.

Bo pulled me into his arms. "Sorry. So, so,
sorry. I didn't mean to be so graphic. I'm just shocked, he had so
many good things ahead of him in life.”

He wiped the small tears that slipped from my
eyes. "Are you alright? Would you like me to take you home? We
could pretend it’s Friday and watch a movie, some inane musical or
something."

I smiled. I couldn't help it. He was such a
good guy. I could see Riley's tall figure heading our way.

"Thanks for the offer, Bo, but I can't. I
already made plans with Riley. I'm helping him track down his
friend, he's really worried about him."

Bo looked disappointed and took a step back,
retreating from me. "Okay. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, not that I know of, but I'll let you
know if something comes up." He was still looking a little hurt, so
I leaned into him and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "I'll see
you at school tomorrow."

Riley walked up, slapped Bo on the back and
then, with a hand shake, ended my conversation with Bo.

As we drove out of the parking lot I found
myself watching him in the side mirror, walking away.

"Somebody's got it bad," Riley said.

"I do not, it's just that he's a nice
guy."

"I wasn't talking about you, but isn't it
interesting that you thought I was?"

"No. Not interesting at all," I snapped. "Are
we driving to the Underworld, or can I go home and change
first?"