Vagabonding.1 [COMPLETE]

7. The Vanishing Act

"Kid! Kid Jones!" I called out as soon as I opened the back door to the restaurant.

When no response was given, I made my way to her office when she immediately flung it open, making me stumble backwards to avoid being smacked by the door.

"Jim, just the person I wanted to see! Any good news?" She said as she ran a hand through her dreaded hair before roughly tying it back.

"He said no," I said as I gained my balance, "He said that you already owe him as is."

"...Not even when I mentioned that his own brother was coming?" She said curiously as her voice went soft, "The man's gone cold."

I let out a sigh and wiped my sweaty hands on my clothing, "What about Rotem? Is he still showing up to pick me up?"

Kid Jones seemed to be dazing off in her thoughts before replying with an anxious shrug, "Yes, he should be arriving early and... he'll be here in around fifteen minutes or so. The man's eager when it comes to things going his way."

"Aren't we all like that?" I asked.

Kid Jones shrugged, "Right, well... I'll be in my office making some other calls, maybe I'll give the cemetery a ring to reserve my spot. Ask Rotem to stick around for me, won't you, Jim?"

I nodded and saw her slink away towards her office with the look of complete defeat. When the world wants to kick you down, it really does.

I went over to an empty chair and turned my back to the window as I impatiently tapped my feet on the ground. I decided that fifteen minutes was more than enough to wait before making my way out of town without them. I would take it as a sign that I needed to get out while I still can if my own time limit expired. But before a minute more could pass on the clock, someone opened the door near the back.

Surge popped his head in between the door's gap before signaling to follow him. I quietly gathered more water bottles for the road before slipping past Kid Jones' office and made it outside undetected.

"You a good runner?" Surge asked quietly as we hurriedly walked out from behind the restaurant.

"I'm going to say no," I said quickly as I struggled to hold all the bottles of water steady.

"Yet another thing we don't have in common," Surge replied back with a high level of sass. "Good thing we parked nearby."

A few buildings down from the restaurant, I spotted the familiar hunk of red tin on wheels with Rotem leaning on the driver's open window, with yet another cigarette hanging barely on his lips, and a cellphone pressed firmly against his ear. As I got closer I could hear his voice coming in perfectly as he spoke up suddenly.

"Why didn't you just bring it up with Dio first?" Rotem said before falling into silence and immediately responding, "Well, don't get upset at me just because he's the tight ass! Alright, look—you need to clearly get out of town for the next few days, pack up your stuff and just take a vacation for a month or six. Just be sure to lock up your store tightly and take all the important findings with you. I'll see if I can convince the boys to help me camp out for the rest of the week to take care of your place until we get the all clear. If you'd like..."

Surge immediately groaned and made a giant cross with his arms, "Come on! Really? Can't we just get to the base for once and take a proper break for ourselves?"

Rotem sat up straighter, giving a spiteful look over at Surge before he began to talk into the phone again, "Hold on, Kid, I'll call you back in a bit."