Warlock of Omaha

Warlock of OmahaBy HemaccabeChapter 5: Rolling on the RiverALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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I woke up early, got showered and dressed. When I came down, Miranda had breakfast ready for me. I don't know how she did it, I was way earlier than normal, but I was hungry and grateful and told her so. She was clearly proud of herself for figuring it out.

I took the truck to Jake's hotel. I called him just before I got there, and he was waiting for me outside. Jake was wearing a new Red Sox hoodie, jeans and cheap high-top sneakers. They looked like the best Target could provide and I was happy he had availed himself. Jake also was carrying a baseball bat. Well good for him. I was dressed in the same way I'd been the day before.

I parked next to the rental minivan and jumped out.

"Open up, I want to see the med kit." I said.

Jake took the key fob out and opened the rear hatch. I went and looked. He had everything I had asked for and more including some gloves and masks.

"Looks good. Help me get the bench out." I said opening the side door.

We wrestled the middle bench out and figured out how to fold the rear bench into the floor. I didn't say anything, but I figured between Jake, his girl and me, the odds of someone needing to be carried out would be high.

"Let's get going." I said, and we hopped in the truck.

I ran Jake through a nearby Mexican fast food place I knew that had huge breakfast burritos. Jake got two and a huge soda. It was all gone by the time we got on the highway.

I drove across town on I-80, just beating the morning rush commute, to a river landing in Council Bluffs.

Jim was waiting, sitting on a concrete dock wall, his boat already in the water tied up.

I walked up to Jim and said, "We have to talk."

Jim looked at me quizzically, and then gave Jake and his bat a confused once over.

"I need a ride on the river today, but it doesn't have to be you." I said.

"Why not me?" He asked amused.

"I'm dealing with some bad business. It could go wrong, and you could end up in a bad place." I answered.

"Well, if I get arrested, I'll send you my legal bill." He replied smiling.

"It's not that kind of trouble." I answered. "If this goes wrong, well, it would be bad for us and then they might decide they have to be bad to you too."

"Does this have something to do with drugs?" Jim asked suspiciously looking at Jake.

"No. No drugs." I said.

"Then what is it about?" Jim asked.

A simple question really, but with a really complicated answer. He deserved an answer since I was asking him to put his ass on the line for it.

"There's a girl in trouble. Bad people have her. If we don't spring her, it could be really bad." I answered.

"You can't call the Police?" He asked.

"Nope. Lots of dead cops and a dead girl. We probably can't do it, but at least not lots of dead cops."

That made Jim lean back. I could tell he was thinking. Then he chose to believe me. I appreciated that.

"Then I'm in." He said matter-of-factly.

We got in Jim's boat. Jim's an older gentleman, probably seven feet tall and carrying a lot of extra weight. He doesn't move too easy but managed to scramble onto the boat. Jake hopped in like he was made to hop. I did it without much trouble despite carrying a lot of extra weight.