Page 35 of Bishop

“Loa?” I finally asked as Butch inspected the room.

“Yeah, the spirit she might serve,” he murmured looking around. “My old lady, she practices.”

Watching him, he moved some of the tapestries hanging on the wall and pulled one back to reveal a door.

“Well, what do you know,” Butch looked back and grinned.

Butch sharply twisted the small doorknob that had been locked from the outside. The second he stepped inside; Avery Stone came into view. His mouth was gagged and his hand, now missing three fingers, was bound. Filth covered his body. Holding my nose, I noted he also smelled worse than a pig farm in the middle of summer.

His eyes were full of desperation, and he looked like hell.

“Let’s get you home, kid,” I nodded to him.

By the time we got outside, Bo had Rattler up against a tree treating his leg wound.

“Let’s go home,” I told them.

Relief didn’t come until I was finally laying in my bed that night. I could still hear the whispers of whatever had been in that room.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, a text from Loki came through.

We just cleaned up the house.

In my mind, that just meant the gators were eating good on Britney Lee and her men.

Good to hear,I shot back.

Thank you for helping get Avery back home to his folks,Loki replied.See you soon.

Just wish we’d done it faster. Night Prez.

I lay there in the dark for hours, waiting for sleep to fall over me. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still see Britney Lee’s face and hear the whisper of the spirits…

EMMY

The restaurant was crowded to the point of intimacy. Will had gotten all the first-year associates together as a thank you for all the hard work we’d been doing.

Eventually, it was just the two of us left and we moved to the bar for a glass of wine.

“Do you remember in Professor Wallace’s class,” Will started laughing so hard he grabbed at his stomach.

I knew where this story was leading to. “He would stand too close to the air conditioner!”

He nodded fighting for air as he continued to laugh. “And his nipples would get hard.”

I shook my head laughing even harder. “Those were the good old days.”

He nodded, picked up his glass and finished off the deep red wine.

“He was a good professor though,” Will offered once he composed himself. “He got me a clerkship in Raleigh that year.”

“I read in a newsletter he died recently,” I picked up my own glass that was nearing empty.

“Yeah, I tried to go back for the funeral but things were happening at home. Just wasn’t able to go.”

I nodded as my phone vibrated. Zane’s name showed up on the screen. Picking it up, I read the message.

I’m going to be at your house in about an hour.

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