The Dysfunctional Affair

The Other Arrival

Officer Diego Vasquez was a just under six feet tall. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. He was standing next to me. The detective turned out not to be Ivan. Ivan had called though, which was when I remembered his wife had called in sick for him.

We had a detective named Jim Jones, which kind of made me feel sorry for him. Even if I had thought of a Kool-Aid joke, I was sure he got them more often than he wanted. If that hadn't done it, it would be his current predicament, in theory, he was supposed to be questioning my mother. In reality, my mother was lecturing him about how to groom his facial hair, which she found untidy and was therefore the sole reason Detective James Jones did not have a wedding ring on his finger.

Sebastian was talking to another officer, giving his statement. Luckily for his officer, Sebastian didn't care about marriage or grooming habits. He had seen two shooters. Both had taken off when they had been charged by six Great Danes. For some reason, big dogs just terrified some people. The shooters had abandoned their car and one of their guns, so I was guessing they were among those people terrified of big dogs. Baldur did have a piece of clothing in his mouth. He had given it to Diego Vasquez only after I had issued him some commands.

However, I was guessing the dogs were still hungover since they hadn't given chase. They usually loved to run, and chasing bad guys was just as fun as chasing anything else to them. I was just glad they were scary looking enough to send bad guys running away.

"When he comes and talks to you, you're going to play stupid, aren't you?" Diego Vasquez asked.

"Yep," I answered, watching Jones. "Although, by the time my mother gets done with him, he might have a nervous breakdown."

"I'm pretty sure she just used the word manscaping," Diego looked at me.

"I'm trying not to listen." I shrugged.

"Congrats on getting married by the way," Diego offered.

"Thanks, it's her fault. Zeke is picking..." I remembered I hadn't called Zeke. "Dang, I forgot to let Zeke know about all this. He's picking up his mother from the airport."

"Wow, your mother and your mother-in-law," Diego gave a small whistle.

"Yep, I'd rather deal with mobsters."

"We have a K-9 unit on the way."

"Great, my dogs seem too hungover to care a whole lot about tracking down bad guys."

"Your dogs were drunk?"

"My dogs might still be drunk, I'm not really sure. They finished a couple of bottles of whiskey last night. Everyone was too drunk to put them out of their reach." I sighed. "We were having a pity party because Zeke and I are getting married."

"I didn't know the two of you were dating."

"We aren't," I answered. "He needed a place to stay, I rented him a room, then I was kidnapped, and now my mother is convinced we eloped. So, she is planning a ceremony at my grandfather's church and keeping the elopement secret."

"What is she going to do when she finds out there isn't a marriage certificate on file for you?"

"Probably file one." I hadn't thought of that. "You know how she gets."

"Yeah, she's a riot," Diego smiled. I wondered if he'd lost his mind. "I hope you intend to send me an invitation."

"Sure," I answered. Detective Jones was now rubbing his eye. Either he had an eye twitch or was getting a headache, from this distance, I couldn't tell.