He laughed, a soft sound shared by just the two of us. I saw, he said. Christy boxed you in, and you skated through as gracefully as possible. Dont worry, love, this was just round one, and she had the advantage with that shiner on the side of her face to gather sympathy. My moneys on you for the finish.
4
That bad, eh? said Tad when he came through the door of the shop that next morning.
She made breakfast, I told him, looking down at the parts order I was putting together to hide my expression until I could make it more cheery. I turned two sets of spark plugs into four, stretched my mouth into an appropriate shape, and looked up at Tad. Homemade blueberry muffins. I brought you some. I nodded to the basket on the counter next to the till.
He shook his head. Lots of teeth in that expression for a smile, Mercy. He snagged one out of the top, took a quick bite, and paused. Gave me a humorfilled sympathetic look and took another, bigger bite. When he finished, he looked at me and snatched another muffin. How long is she going to be here? And would she be interested in dating a halffae younger man who is currently working for minimum wage?
And the horse you rode in on, I groused at him without heat. Until shes safe, I supposethough shes making noises about moving here. I hope she was just saying that to torment
me, but I shrugged. I dont think shell be looking for anyoneother than Adamfor a while. This guy shes on the run from beat her up, and it is seriously looking like he killed another man she was dating, then burned down the building her condo was in.
Tad took a third muffin and ate it in two bites. His voice was muffled with food when he said, Nasty piece of work, him. Are you up for this?
I shrugged. Sure. If it gets too bad how would you like a roommate?
If she can cook like this, okay by me.
I was talking about me, I told him. I was joking. But there was a cold knot in my stomach anyway.
He came around the counter and kissed the top of my head. Poor Mercy. Lets go fix something you know how to fix. Itll make you feel better.
When Id met Tad, a little over ten years ago, hed only been a kid, and hed been running this shop himself because his dad had gone on a twomonth drinking binge after Tads mom had died of cancer. Hed been nine going on fifty then, and the only thing that had changed since was that someone had rubbed off the bright and shiny cheer that had been his gift to the world. If I ever found out who had done it, I might sic a werewolf pack on them.
So it didnt surprise me that Tad was right. I found the short that kept a 62 Bus from ChittyChittyBangBanging along the road in an hour and a half. Electrical shortscommon in old carswere a bugger to hunt down. Id once spent forty hours to find one that had taken me two minutes to fix after I found it. An hour and a half was good news. By the time I buttoned the Bus up, I was nearly upbeat.
Still no calls from anyone who might know how to reach Coyote. If I didnt hear from them by tonight, Id drive over tomorrow and leave Tad to keep the shop going. Losing some production time would suckbut not as much as whatever would happen if Beauclaire came looking for his walking stick, and I didnt have it for him.
Just after lunch, one of my car guys stopped in. Keeping old cars running is my living, but there are hobbyists out there, too. I have a couple of guys and a grandmother who liked to come in and talk shop. Most of the time, they have questions for me, and sometimes I learn something, too. But really, it was about people who had car addictions looking for someone to talk with about their passion.
Joel Arocha showed up while I was elbowdeep in grease working on a Jetta that had been going through as much oil as gas for about ten years. Joel (pronounced Hoe el in the Spanish style) was Hispanic, but his accent was Southwestern USA. He was my age, more or less, but the sun had weathered his skin so he looked a little older. He was about my size and weight, too. One of those tough, tough men who were all muscle and rawhide.
He worked in the vineyards, tenhour days this time of year, with random days off. In the winter, he worked reduced hours and took other jobs to fill in. Last year Id introduced him to Adam, and hed done some fillin security jobs. In his notsocopious spare time, Joel was restoring a Thing, VWs version of a jeep, and he liked to chat with me while I worked.
Usually, Joel and I talked cars, but today he had other things on his mind.
so this guy comes by my house this morning, knocks on my door to see if we had any pit bulls for saleand then he points at my wifes prizewinning bitch, and says, Like that one. Joel set the part hed come to pick up on the nearest counter and leaned against it while he watched me work.
Thats a problem? I asked, because he was obviously pretty hot about it. I knew werewolves, not dogs, at least not at his level.
He nodded. It told me right up front I was dealing with someone who didnt know anything about dogs. Arubathat is Arochas White Princess Aruba to youis an American Staffordshire terrier. Amstaffs look a bit like the American pit bull, but any dog fancier can tell the difference. Someone had apparently told him we had pit bulls, and he needed one to guard his house and do some fighting for himand he gives me a wink. Joel grimaced. A wink. Freaking dog fighters. They think it makes them macho to take their loyal dogs and get them all chewed up. To me, it just shows that they arent worthy of having a dog. I told him not right now and asked him for his number, in case something turned up. Joel handed me an extension for my ratchet before I could reach for it.