Page 62 of Thunder Road

“I have it on good authority that there won’t be any leaks,” Vic replied.

“There better not be,” Hargrove warned.

“There won’t be.”

Hargrove accepted Vic’s assurance with aharrumphbut didn’t argue further. “At least you’ve got Hardin’s contact information in the report, in case anyone asks. Which they probably won’t. He called me earlier. Persuasive bastard. Sounded like he had everything buttoned up.”

“Look at it this way, Cap,” Vic said. “We’re saving time and department resources because what happened last night means no more deaths or disappearances from the Low Rangers and a significant decrease in vanishing homeless folks. No investigations or reports necessary.”

“Uh-huh,” Hargrove grumbled. “We’ll see.”

To Vic’s surprise, Hargrove paused. “Thank you—unofficially. It’s a big deal, even if no one else knows about it. I don’t pretend to completely understand what happened—and I don’t need to as long as it works. But I do recognize that there was significant risk involved and that people stepped up despite personal danger to fix a problem. So, thank you for letting the rest of us sleep well at night.”

“Just doing my best to protect and serve,” Vic said, although his boss’s recognition meant a lot. “I’ll pass that along to Simon.”

“And there’s a system set up to make sure the…force…behind the deaths doesn’t come back?” Hargrove asked.

Vic nodded. “Yes. It’s not our problem. The St. Expeditus Society is handling that—from matching guardians to lighthouses to making certain the protections are regularly reinforced.”

Hargrove lifted his hand in a stop gesture. “That’s all I need or want to know. Glad it’s taken care of.” With that, he walked out.

“Guess it’s business as usual—until the next time.” Ross shrugged. “I wouldn’t be disappointed if it got real boring for a while.”

“I’ll be very happy if the only spooky stuff I see are silly decorations and kids in costumes.” Vic checked his watch. “Speaking of which—it’s quitting time, and I’ve got a dragon to inflate.”

“Knock yourself out,” Ross replied. “If you have any leftover candy, bring it in tomorrow. I’ll take care of it for you.”

By the time Vic got home, Simon had already turned on the orange-and-purple twinkle lights and set up a small speaker on the porch to play eerie music. He had added fake cobwebs to the bushes for atmosphere. Strategically angled lights made the fake cemetery look ominous.

“I was worried you wouldn’t get home in time to do the honors.” Simon nodded toward the dragon and hearse, which lay in crumpled piles in their designated spots. “I already ran the extension cords.”

Vic kissed him. “Thank you. Best Halloween hubby ever!” He gave Simon a quick once-over. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. I slept most of the day. It helped,” Simon replied.

Vic arranged the dragon and hearse before plugging them in, letting the built-in air pumps rapidly fill the decorations. Both were lit from inside, making them stand out as the daylight faded.

“And there we go!” Vic said triumphantly as the dragon’s wings slowly opened and closed. It took longer for the hearse since it was bigger, but several people paused walking their dogs to watch the inflatables take shape.

“Dinner is in the slow cooker,” Simon told him. “Corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots. That way we don’t have to worry about it during trick-or-treat, and it’ll be done by thetime the festivities are over. I queued up a playlist of horror movies we haven’t seen so we can do a marathon afterward.”

“With snacks?” Vic looked up with a hopeful expression.

Simon made an exaggerated sigh with a fond expression. “Of course. Charcuterie board with all the trimmings and lots of good crackers.”

Since Vic’s introduction to the paranormal world, he discovered horror movies no longer scared him. He didn’t like gore fests or movies about human psychos and sadists because they were far too real to be entertaining. But he and Simon loved poking fun at the special effects and plot holes in movies about the supernatural.

It’s a strange, unexpected benefit for going up against dark magic, demons, and monsters, but I’ll take it.

They dumped bags of candy into a huge bowl, ready for the onslaught.

“It’s time,” Simon said at six. “Bring on the madness.”

For the next several hours, a parade of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and robots came to the door, ranging from pre-schoolers to lanky college kids. Vic had to give props to the harried parents who shepherded groups of sugar-wired children while stealing a bit of grown-up camaraderie and conversation amid the madness.

“These are for the adults.” Vic walked up to the parents with a bowl of better chocolate, which was gratefully raided. “I hope you have something warm and alcoholic in your future.”

The night turned cool enough that Vic was happy for a sweatshirt, and he took over handing out candy to give Simon a chance to grab a jacket. The cold didn’t dim the enthusiasm of the pint-sized ghosts and goblins who swarmed the steps for candy.

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