Red Moon, White Moon

Chapter 11: The Big White House

I woke up to find Lilly standing over me with breakfast. Sitting up, I looked around and found Bear sleeping next to me with fully loaded clips of ammunition all around him. He let out a few monstrous snores—his large frame gasped for air as he slept. I rubbed my eyes and turned towards Lilly who took a seat next to me on the floor and handed me a plate of pancakes and a glass of milk.

"What time is it?" I asked before diving into the delicious cakes on my plate.

"It's about nine in the morning. We're waiting for Toby and Doc to get back from the assignment out in Plant City," she said before sipping on her coffee.

"How is Andie Rae?"

"She's good. She was really upset that you thought that little of her. I tried to tell you at the hospital that you got her all wrong, but you wouldn't listen."

I put my plate down and scratched my head violently with both hands. "Yeah, it's a problem I've had all my life—jump to conclusions and judge before I hear people out."

"She'll be okay. Just give her some time." She stood up. "Do me a favor and wake Bear—Hayden will want to have a meeting when they get back," she said and walked out of the storage room.

I rapidly scooped up my plate and finished my breakfast before waking Bear up. Looking around the room, I was very impressed with how much prep work we were able to accomplish last night. There were stacks upon stacks of full magazines waiting to be paired up with their assigned gun. I gave Bear a soft boot in his butt to try and stir him. After a few more kicks, he jumped up and looked around like he was still in a light daze.

"I'll be on you like a hobo on a hoagie," he shouted with his fists in the air.

"Bear, calm down, it's just me," I said, putting my hands over his and lowering them. "We need to get up and get ready to meet with Hayden."

He stretched and let out a bellowing yawn before standing up. "You need to be more careful waking a fella up." Adjusting himself and having a fit of the shakes, he said, "I got to whiz like a racehorse."

Bear made his way to the bathroom and I joined the others out in the main bar area. Doc and Toby had returned, and everyone was finishing up breakfast. After completing his business in the bathroom, Bear came into the room, seized what was left of the massive stack of pancakes, and poured a heap of syrup over them. He carved out giant mouthfuls and shoved them into his mouth.

With his trap still full of the pancakes, he turned to Andie Rae and said, "Perfect as always, honey. You know you can cook almost as well as my mama."

Andie Rae smiled and thanked him. Comparing her to his mama was the highest compliment I believed Bear could give anyone. Lilly and Toby started to clean up the bar area for Hayden who was bringing in a large map he normally clipped up behind the bar. I decided to be useful and wiped the bar down with a wet rag, mostly to clean up the mess Bear had made with the abundance of maple syrup he used. When I was done, I tossed Bear the rag to wipe his hands off so he could help Hayden finish hanging up the map. After returning to our seats, Hayden gestured for Toby and Doc to give us a rundown on what they found.

"The address led us to a big white house with a large front yard," Doc said, drawing out the area on a piece of paper he had with him. "Each side is well covered, with a trailer park on the left and brush on the right."

"Was there any evidence this is our target?" Andie Rae asked.

"Absolutely. There were dark vans pulling up all night, and individuals shackled and gagged being dragged into the house against their will," Toby answered. He blew on his glasses so he could clean them.