The Devil on Kazoo

21: Enemy Aboard

  

"Ooh, I bet you're wonderin' how I knew
'Bout your plans to make me blue"

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye

Absolute silence filled the seconds between the Crumbs and Greg Whitman, who was now standing aboard Wolgemoth & Sons.

Greg wore his usual sneer, but there was something in his eyes different from the storm it often possessed.

His posture was slightly slumped and his gaze kept darting around as if he were unsure or maybe even nervous.

After everyone had recovered from the shock of seeing Greg on their boat, everyone looked at Jim.

Jim shrunk back, his face pale.

"You," Smiley accused, stalking toward him.

"That son of a–" Syl went to join Smiley, but Bash caught her arm.

"Don't," he warned quietly.

"I didn't–" Jim began, struggling for words before Smiley was upon him.

Greg puffed out his chest and said in his typical cavalier tone, "Jimbo, you nasty little traitor."

Smiley stopped in his tracks toward Jim, turning to Greg. "What?"

"I didn't tell him, I swear," Jim said.

"He certainly did not," Greg affirmed with a shallow laugh. "It's always a jolly old time aboard the Crumble raft, isn't it? The one time I decide to make a surprise visit, I find my own cousin helping out the orphans."

"You just shut up," Kathy snapped.

"It's not like that," Jim said, going up to stand in front of Greg. "Let's just talk over here and–"

"I didn't come here to talk to you," Greg interrupted. His gaze swept over the Crumbs in a way that Bash didn't know to describe as menacing or angry.

The Crumbs immediately bristled, their muscles suddenly tense.

Bash stepped forward and said, "We'll talk alone."

Syl cut her eyes at him, questioning. "Bash–"

"I wanted to talk to you as well," Bash said to Greg, gesturing for him to follow him up to the wheelhouse.

Greg seemed to weigh his options but went to wait by the stairs without a word.

Smiley, Kathy, and Syl all inched toward Bash for an explanation.

"Just let me talk to him," Bash said. "Last time our paths crossed with this bloke one of us got a broken hand. I don't trust him, but you can trust me, alright? Let Jim help finish the soundcheck and I'll be back."

The Crumbs regarded him suspiciously.

"This concert is our only shot," was all Smiley said before going back to his piano.

Kathy squeezed his hand.

Syl gripped his shoulder. "I'll help you hide the body if the need arises; no questions asked."

Bash chuckled, even though he knew without a doubt that Syl was being serious.

From the time he woke up this morning, he was fairly certain he'd experienced every emotion known to man. His head was still swirling from his conversation with Syl and now they had a Mad Teddy aboard their boat.