There is a memory snippet in here that comes from my story The Truth Will Out.
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CHAPTER 15
Reckoning
Jim Skookum showed up just after lunch had been cleared away. At the sound of tires on gravel all of the wolves paused. Abby didn't wait to see who was coming, she just hustled back into the nearest RV.
Ewen leaned casually next to the door to the RV and quietly announced. "It must be Jim Skookum." He had noticed the happy expression on Keme's face.
"Sure, and who else would it be? It strains the imagination to think how you could fit one more stranger into this situation." Abby sounded exasperated but she kissed Ewen on the cheek as she came down the shorts steps carrying a sandwich with chips on a plate and a cup of coffee just in case the new wolf wanted something to eat.
Abby stood to the side with Ewen and waited while Eliot and his team greeted the Alpha of northern Alaska. Eliot made introductions and after hands were shaken Eliot stepped a half step back and to Parker's left.
Parker smiled at Skookum. "Mr. Skookum, we understand that Keme was a part of your pack for a very long time and now he and his brother are both looking for a pack to belong to. Will you take them?"
"Call me Jim, please. Our pack has felt Keme's loss greatly. We would be thrilled to have him back. And to know that he brings family with him only adds to our happiness." Jim smiled at Parker with a twinkle in his eye.
"Eliot had to make Mattie a part of our pack so that we could free him of a curse but we know he would be happier with his brother. Our pack is just us and we like it that way." Parker continued to smile.
Hardison fought back a nervous chuckle at Parker's tactless statement and Eliot rolled his eyes heavenward. Ewen put a hand over his face in preparation for the awkward moment that would surely follow and Keme turned a reproachful look at Parker.
Jim let out a booming laugh. "My Daisy would have liked you! My daughter was also one to present strong opinions with no veneer. You are welcome to visit me and mine any time little sister." With that the building tension relaxed.
Eliot, Jim, Keme, and Mattie walked a little distance away to take care of the business of making Mattie a part of Jim's pack and no longer a part of Eliot's pack.
Parker challenged Hardison to a card game to take up the time while they waited on the werewolf business. After a couple of hands of cards, Hardison noticed a flutter sensation in his chest. He looked across the small table in the RV and noticed Parker put a hand to her chest. "He's gone." Hardison hadn't really noticed Mattie's presence after the initial shock of it but now he could tell that Mattie was missing.
While Hardison was distracted with these inner musings Parker filched three of his cards from his hand and used them to present a royal flush, winning their game.
After the last of their things were packed and goodbyes were said Keme and Mattie went with Jim. As their car made the turn at the end of the long drive way Eliot let out a sigh.
"Well done Eliot." Ewen clapped a hand on Eliot's shoulder. "You've handled this whole thing better than I ever could have."
Eliot turned to see Abby hustling Hardison and Parker through breaking camp and getting ready to go. "It wasn't without help." A smirk played at the corner of his mouth as he thought of some of the things that had happened in the last few days.
Within the hour both RVs were packed and ready to go. Abby and Ewen took one RV and Lucille, and headed back to the rental place in Elkhorn. The team was supposed to be right behind them but something was delaying Parker.
"Come on Parker let's go!" Eliot yelled out the window and honked the vehicle's horn for emphasis. "What is taking so long?" Eliot turned to glare at Hardison.
"Like I have any idea what the girl is up to!" Hardison put both hands in the air for a moment as if to prove that he had no part in whatever Parker was up to. After a moment he went back to tapping at the screen on his tablet.
"Parker I'm about ready to leave without you!" Eliot yelled out the window again.
Parker stepped out from behind the rundown house and dusted off her pants. "Just hold your horses!" After a little more dusting and a tug to straighten her shirt Parker tossed her hair over her shoulder and practically skipped back to the RV. "Okay Sparky lets go." Parker settled herself into the passenger seat and adjusted the radio. "I don't know what's taking you so long to get us back to town."
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Paperwork to return the RVs was simple and Hardison took care of it all in a flash. The young man working the desk looked past Hardison at the van that Ewen had driven to town. "Don't worry kid I didn't rent that one here." Hardison smirked as he finished with the paper work.
In no time the five of them were back in the van and headed out of town. Eliot pulled onto hwy 11 keeping the battered Lucille at speed limit. He figured that with the battered look of the van it was best not to attract further attention by speeding. Eliot glanced at Parker who was smiling dreamily out the window. "What's on your mind Parker?" Eliot might have been comforted by her sweet expression if he didn't know her so well. "Is there something we should know?"
"Don't worry Sparky, everything will be made clear." Parker's smile intensified and she turned more toward the window as they passed the driveway to the property they had rented.
Suddenly the roar and percussive wave of an explosion rocked the van. Eliot fought the steering for a moment before he had the van and his heart rate back under control. "What the hell Parker?!"
"Oh holy mother…" The rest of Ewen's exclamation/prayer seemed to fade on his lips.
"Babe what did you just do?" Hardison grabbed his nearest tablet and started monitoring the emergency systems to see just how much trouble was headed their way.
Parker turned a cold glare in Eliot's direction. "Shooting you is not a plan and never will be a plan. You should remember that."
"What the… That was my 50 cal wasn't it?" Eliot growled and flexed his grip on the steering wheel until he heard something crack.
Hardison covered his grin with his fist as he continued scanning emergency systems. Ewen looked stunned for a moment and stared at Parker in fear and wonder. Abby rolled her eyes and elbowed Ewen. "You're just lucky there was nothing of yours worth blowing up Ewen McEllen. 'Cause believe me when I tell you, that if I ever hear of another plan that involves killing you or Eliot, you will live to regret it and regret it bitterly." Some of the stern tone of Abby's voice was robbed by the tears in her eyes but Ewen believed her just the same.
"Parker I can't believe you!" Eliot glared at her and just barely kept the van stead in his lane. "We talked about this." He had thought that she understood. Parker was the one to think the most like him and he was sure that she would have seen the reason, the necessity, of his plan.
"We also talked about how we are more than just a team. So that means you can't just come up with some stupid plan to get yourself killed." Parker crossed her arms and tried to glare, but her glare was a little watery, since she was teetering on the edge of tears.
"She's right E. And it's going to be a long time before we get past it. I heard your explanations before and I see your point but you didn't consider what that dumb ass plan, would have done to the rest of us." Hardison locked eyes with Eliot in the rearview mirror for a moment.
"Fine." Eliot growled. He loved them too and if the only way the Parker could express that was with C4 then so be it.
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Hardison had arranged their travel plans home with the same efficiency that he handled all the other details. Ewen and Abby would head home from the airport instead of traveling back to Portland with the team. Hardison had everyone's tickets arranged and everyone could have headed for their terminals while Hardison returned the van but all of them wanted to see how Hardison would explain the damage to the vehicle.
Hardison stepped up to the counter with the keys in hand. "I'm Joseph Miller. I'm here to return up my van."
The young man at the counter had a bright smile that helped distract from the pimples on his cheek. "I'd be glad to help you with that sir. We'll need to start with a quick walk around of the vehicle." As he stepped around from behind the counter Hardison got a closer look at the kid's nametag. In clear computer print it read Greg and had a cartoon rabbit on it that matched the company logo. "If you just follow me. This will only take a minute."
Hardison glanced at his audience that was standing against the opposite wall. He noticed the grin on Eliot's face and the raised eyebrow on Ewen's. Hardison figured there must be some kind of bet going. Fine, in that case he would see what he could do to make this interesting.
Greg walked out the door with his clipboard, crossed the parking lot and stopped at the front of the van. "The hoods got a bit of a dent there doesn't it?" Greg glanced at the paperwork. "Looks like you purchased the extra coverage so that shouldn't cost you anything extra." Greg sounded perky and professional and he checked a couple of boxes on the clip board. "Head lights and windshield are in good shape." Greg scribbled a few notes on his clip board and stepped around to the driver's side. "Well, um, ah…"
Greg stared somewhat bug eyed at the large dents that had merged more or less into one giant dent that seemed to have consumed that entire side of the van. "This, um, this might be a little outside of your coverage, but, um, we'll sort that out in a minute." The perkiness in his voice sounded slightly more forced but he soldiered on and stepped around to the back of the van.
"This is… were you in some kind of accident?" Greg sounding more distressed scribbled more notes.
Hardison looked at the dents and scratches in the back doors and thought that the damage so far could be explained as some kind of car accident. "I guess you could say that." Hardison followed Greg around to the passenger side.
"What the..? Okay this looks intentional. Your policy covers accidents but not intentional modifications or damage."
Hardison looked at the tears and claw marks in the side panel and sliding door along with a number of smaller dents and scratches. "Intentional? You think ANY of this was intentional?!" Hardison waved a hand to encompass all of the damage to the van. "I came out here with a few friends to enjoy the country side, maybe eat some cheese, boost tourism, that kinda thing. Nobody told us, Greg, nobody told us…" Hardison covered his face with his hand and shook his head.
"Nobody told you what?" Greg looked confused.
"Exactly!" Hardison threw his hands in the air. "There we are headed down a little country road. You know the kind you see on postcards with wildflowers and cute cows and all that. Then out of nowhere…" Hardison walked quickly to the front gesturing at the hood. "BAM…Something just darts out in front of the van. There wasn't even time to swerve!" Hardison throws his head back as though beseeching help from on high.
"What was it?" Greg is looking with anticipation at Hardison, getting caught up in the story.
"Well that was the question right? So I tell everyone to stay in the van while I go take a look. 'Cause I was pretty sure I saw some white fur or somethin' and my girlfriend has a big ol' white dog and she would be just devastated if we had hit a big ol' white dog. So there I am doin' the manly thing, ya know, and I walk around the van and what do you think I find there?"
"Was it a dog?" Greg is still entranced.
"All I see is this great big lump of white fur and I just know the dog's gonna be dead but I gotta make sure 'cause I just can't stand the thought of any creature suffering in anyway. So get a little closer and I realize it's breathing. I panic 'cause, what am I gonna do now? I mean I don't want the animal to suffer but I'm not like a vet or anything. I took a CPR class once in cub scouts 'cause my Nanna wanted me to. She was always saying 'Joey it's important to know these kinda things.' She called me Joey when I was little, 'course she calls me Joe or Joseph now but that's…"
Greg interrupted Hardison's meandering speech. "So what happened to the dog?"
"The dog? The dog?! It wasn't no dog, man! It was a rabbit!" Hardison's eyes went wide and he waved his arms to the side to indicate the size of the rabbit. "I never knew rabbits could get that big in the wild. On the nature shows they're always these small fluffy things. Kinda cute you know? But this thing, well, this thing was HUGE! It was like the size of a Saint Bernard or something. Nobody told us to be on the lookout for horse sized rabbits. Nobody told us we might hit a rabbit on the road and total our car. Nobody told us this was the kinda thing you could expect to happen on some quaint country lane!" Hardison delivered the whole diatribe with the passion of a fire-and-brimstone preacher.
"No way! It couldn't have been a rabbit." Greg was sounding skeptical.
"Oh it was a rabbit! The biggest rabbit I ever seen! Maybe the mother of all rabbits. This thing, it hopped up off the ground and charged at me. I tried to run back around the side of the van but it caught up with me and knocked me into the door. I tried to pull the door handle but the lock thing must have engaged when the door slammed shut. You boys should look into fixing the locks on this, by the way. So there I am struggling with the door handle and all I can assume is that my friends are still dealing with the shock of seeing the giant rabbit 'cause no one opened the door. Then all of a sudden BAM this thing kicks me and knocks me right into the van!" Hardison rushed to the driver side of the van gesturing at the massive dents. "I screamed. I won't even lie, I screamed like a little girl. I dodge to the side and this thing just keeps commin' at me! I'm dodgin' it and it just keeps throwing it self at me!" Hardison pantomimes the attack on the side of the van. "Finally I see my chance and I take it. I sprint around to the other side of the van." Hardison runs to the other side leaving Greg to chase him. "So I'm screamin' 'Let me in! Let me in!' and beating on the side of the van. So, I mean, a couple of these might be my fault but could ya really blame me? All of a sudden the door slides open and hands grab me and drag me in. By the way…" Hardison suddenly switches tones of voice to something much calmer. "I wanted to complement you all on how quiet that side door is. I used to have this other van and every time I used the side door it made this horrible screeching-grinding sound. Yalls door is whisper quiet." Hardison paused with a contemplative look on his face.
"What happened?" Greg all but pleaded.
"To my other van? It got blown up actually. It was so sad." Hardison shook his head.
"Not the van the rabbit?!"
"Oh, well… So once I was in and we got the door closed, it started just tearing at the van. We could all hear the sound of its giant claws just ripping through the side of the van like butter. I was so scared! I mean I was sure it was gonna get in and kill us all!" Hardison put a hand to his chest as though to steady his breathing.
"Rabbits don't have claws." Greg was back to sounding skeptical again.
"Oh sure, when you're looking at cute little Peter Cottontail in the Cincinnati petting zoo you don't really pay attention to his little bitty nails cuz he's just so cute. But when Bugs Bunny is suddenly the size of a car I guarantee you'll notice those claws then." Hardison sounded affronted at not being believed.
"Okay. Go on." Greg made a move it along gesture.
"So anyway, there we are, fearing for our very lives. Prayin', cryin, I'm tellin' you this was some emotional stuff. I might never be the same again." Hardison paused to make sure Greg was back on track with him. "Finally, it's silent for a few moments, and I'm thinking maybe it's over, maybe we survived. Then all of a sudden the van lurches forward. I scramble up and make a dive for the driver seat, to get the hell outa there! That crazy beast was attacking the back of the van! I got us out of there as quick as I could, while still obeying all traffic laws and regulations. After that we just holed up in our hotel until I could work up the nerve to come back here."
"Why didn't you contact us right away?"
"The rabbit man! The rabbit." Hardison burst into loud fake sobbing and jabbed a finger at the rabbit on Greg's name tag.
Greg tried to pat Hardison on the shoulder but Hardison just wailed louder. Greg yanked his hand back. "Um, why don't you just take a minute, and you can meet me back inside." Greg all but sprinted away from Hardison.
The moment the office door closed the others stepped out from between the other cars stifling chuckles. Eliot applauded Hardison's performance for a moment before he held out a hand toward Ewen. "Fifty bucks, man. I told you. I told you it would be good!" Eliot laughed as he tucked Ewen's money into his pocket.
In the end Hardison only had to pay an additional five hundred dollars to cover the damage to the van, which was far less than he had been prepared for. He did his best not to smile in satisfaction until they were out of site of the rental offices.
At the central terminal the team bid Ewen and Abby farewell. Ewen hugged Eliot and Hardison in the manly fashion that seemed to require hammering on each other for a moment. When Ewen got to Parker he put his hand out to shake, remembering her dislike of touching. Parker pulled him into a sudden brief hug and all but pushed him away. She then turned to Abby and did the same thing.
Abby patted Parker's shoulder. "I will miss you more than you know. I hope you keep in touch and maybe come out for a visit some time."
"Okay. We'll see." Parker smiled and leaned back into Hardison.