Henry drove toward the address Coreen had given to them. Coreen and Charlie followed in her car. Hesitantly, at the last moment, Mike had decided to ride with him. He kept stealing glances in Henry's direction and noticed how tense and steely his gaze seemed to be.
"Fitzroy, if you're not the father then.." Henry cut him off.
"Detective, let's not assume something a mad woman has spat out to be verbatim," Henry told him firmly.
Mike tried a different approach, "Look, if she is pregnant, whether it's yours or not, you've proven with Coreen that you can love anyone's child, does it matter?"
Henry ground his teeth, his jaw twitched and his hands gripped the steeringwheel so tight his alabaster knuckles became almost transluscent.
"Again, I'm not assuming anything, besides, does Vicki seem the motherly type to you? You know her better than I do," Henry offered.
Mike openly shuddered, "A pregnant Vicki..now that's frightening." Mike chuckled and realized Henry was serious.
"You're serious, you're wondering if she's pregnant could she be a good mother?"
Henry said nothing in effect telling Mike yes, that's exactly what he meant. Mike rubbed his chin thoughtfully before answering.
"Actually, yeah, I think she'd make a great mother. Protective, strong and deep inside of her, there is a very loving person. That is, if you can get through those walls she throws up so easily," Mike shook his head. He knew all too well about those walls. As soon as he and Vicki had become close, she began to throw them up when she felt vulnerable and open. Vicki never let anyone see her soft side and Mike always hated that part of their relationship. He wanted so much for her to open up, to be happy and to give herself to him but she just couldn't. By walling up, she kept herself safe.
"I know," Henry agreed with Mike's assessment of Vicki's emotional stalemate.
"But, good luck to you. If you think you can do it, then so be it," Mike faux saluted him.
"We are not together, we haven't been for a month," Henry finally told Mike.
"Ouch," Mike hissed.
Henry knew that Mike might suspect Vicki had been with someone else too, just as he did, when he told Mike he and Vicki were not together.
"I understand man," Mike put his hand on Henry's shoulder, a touching gesture that Henry found to be somewhat comforting in an odd sort of way.
"Thank you," Henry nodded, ever the regal prince he truly was. They arrived at a rundown factory.
"Look," Mike pointed to an old car parked in front of the factory.
"This is it, I can feel it, something big is going to happen. A ritual is being performed," Henry growled.
"Then we'd better get inside," Mike started to open the door and stopped, "by the way, you are a stand up guy, taking on Coreen's baby and all. I.." Mike struggled to say something apologetic, "I...uh..well..that's a good thing you're doing." Mike smiled weakly and exited Henry's car. Henry smiled after him, that was as close to an apology as he'd get. It felt good and gave him the extra umph to fight for Vicki, no matter what the outcome tonight.
The outcome might leave a few dead bodies in the end. Inside the factory, Vicki watched as Fatima put the finishing touches on her homeade altar and summoning spell.
"There, pretty huh? Norman is going to love it," she clapped her hands.
"We sent him back, you do know that right?" Vicki tried to prolong the conversation.
"Yes, but..you see, he's been such a good ..." Fatima looked thoughtfully, "I guess that should be bad boy, yes, he's been such a bad boy his boss promoted him and said if he could find a way, he could come back to earth to have his own little reign here. Isn't that great?"
"Newsflash, big bad demon bosses don't let little pion demons just come on over, did you think about that? I have a feeling things aren't going to turn out like you want," Vicki shook her head.
Nothing would turn out like they wanted...
