Page 54 of In the Nick of Time
From where Doug sat, it looked to be a one-story house built from cinder blocks. He couldn’t tell if anyone was inside, butthere was a long driveway that curved around the back of the house. If cars were there, they were parked in the back.
“Are we flying or driving?”
“Excuse me?”
“I said—” began Tim.
“I heard what you said. I swore I’d never use any of my powers again.”
“I believe it wasnever use them to kill againand don’t you want to save Agent Sedgewick? The exact opposite of killing, I’d say. And it seems to me you like him.”
Was an endangered tortoise employing innuendo? Yes. The answer was yes, causing Doug to wonder where in his life he’d made a wrong turn. Although, if he was being truthful, he felt like he’d laughed and had more fun in the past week than he had in the past twenty years and the reason was Agent Sedgewick.
He hated it, but if they wanted to get to the isolated house unseen and save Nick—if he was there—Doug was going to have to use some of his powers.
“Fine.” Doug moved to open the car door.
“You’re not leaving me here. You might need me.”
Doug started to ask Tim just how he thought he could help but then realized he was about to start an argument with a reptile, and could the day get any weirder? Probably, the answer was yes.
He got out of the car, stomped around to the passenger side, opened the door, and grabbed Tim from the front seat.
“Do not drop me.”
“Oh, Tim, it’s tempting, it really is.”
“Nick would be very upset.”
Nickwouldbe very upset. Doug slammed the door shut again and locked it for good measure.
Figuring the car would be fine if he left it where it was parked and replaceable if it wasn’t, Doug glanced around to make surethat there really was no one in sight. The Pontiac would be safe, for sure—who in their right mind would want to steal it? Doug was still surprised it had made the trip without mechanical issue.
Holding onto Tim—who was muttering something under his breath—Doug lifted one arm, pointed at the cloudless sky, and shot upward.
“Yeeeee haaawww,” Tim shouted. “I’ve always dreamed of flying.”
“Well, I’m glad I’ve made someone’s dream come true today. Let’s see if together we can save Nick.”
“I suspect that Agent Sedgewick is perfectly capable of saving himself but regardless, he will be happy to know you raced to the rescue.”
It took lessthan three minutes for them to arrive at the isolated house.
“There’s the Expedition,” Tim said.
The tortoise was right. A dusty SUV with a damaged right front fender was parked at the end of the driveway around the back of the structure. Along with a shiny black hearse.
“What the hell.”
Hoping to stay out of sight, Doug touched down at the back of the property line, managing to avoid several huge cacti, a mammoth wad of tumbleweeds, and a rusted-out farm truck. What passed for a backyard was filled in with faded red lava rocks and, inexplicably, a water fountain.
“What is this place?” Doug asked aloud.
The question was rhetorical because, obviously, it was a lair. He wondered if police or SPAM agents had come out here after discovering Agent Schoenhut in the coffin. He thought it was possible the structure was shrouded in some way that made itmore difficult for normals to find. Those kinds of things had never worked on Doug though. He suspected it had something to do with his supernatural eyesight. Too bad it didn’t work for reading fine print.
“Put me down. I’ll do some recon.”
“No offense, but any recon needs to be done immediately, not—you know, whenever.” Doug waved a hand indicating the end of the week, month, year.
