Chapter 13 Invisible Man
THIRTEEN
INVISIBLE MAN
“So, we have a plan. Gemma in the car. Shanti on patrol. And Willow and I are going in,” Raye stated.
There was a bang in the kitchen. It was alarming. But since it wasn’t the first during our briefing, we all ignored it.
“I still think I should go in,” Shanti said.
“I brought the gloves,” I reminded her.
“Gabe gave you those gloves,” she reminded me.
“You can do the next house search,” Raye assured Shanti.
And there was another bang in the kitchen.
Cap’s inner caveman was now his outer caveman, and we were all pretty happy he couldn’t get his hands on a club.
“Right, we ready to roll out?” Raye asked.
“Ready,” I said.
“Absolutely,” Shanti said.
“Since I’m just sitting in a car, sure,” Gemma said. “And don’t take that as a complaint. I’m the new girl on the block. But I call dibs on the next search too.”
Another bang.
We got up to go, but we all stopped to watch in wonder and awe as Raye approached the beast in the kitchen.
She got close and tipped her head back for a kiss.
Even though Cap made no bones he wasn’t thrilled about our evening activities, he didn’t hesitate to touch his lips to hers.
Aw!
They were so cute!
“Later,” we heard her whisper.
“Later,” we heard him grunt.
Raye was smiling a happy, private smile to herself. One that stated she had the ring of such a good man on her finger. A man who was protective and honest, but he was not about to stop her from being who she was even if he wasn’t entirely at one with it.
And I got how she felt.
Which made me smile a happy, private smile.
We were almost out the door when Cap called, “Remember.”
We turned back.
“Full circle drive around, once,” he instructed “You don’t want anyone seeing you casing the house, so even if you’re nervous, don’t go around again.
All four of you keep your eyes out for someone watching it on the first go.
Park a discreet distance away, but not too far you can’t hoof it flat out to get back to the car. ”
He so knew none of us went to the gym.
He also wasn’t done.
“Listen to your guts, plural. If one of you gets a bad vibe, all of you haul ass. Yeah?”
“Yeah, honey,” Raye said.
Cap jerked up his chin, then put away a skillet with a forceful clatter.
We left.
We all then piled into Raye’s bright-yellow Juke she called Tweety (me and Raye in the front, Shanti and Gem in the back) to head to the storage units to switch out to the Kia Sportage, one of the three vehicles Arthur had provided to go incognito for missions.
We were on the road when Gemma said, “How is it cute when a man is essentially throwing a hissy fit in the kitchen?”
“I don’t know,” Shanti said. “Maybe it’s because he cooked Raye dinner in that kitchen.
Then also did the dishes while Raye sat with her girls in the living room, making plans to commit their upcoming felony.
And he managed to do that by tossing around some cookware and not tying her to the bed and sending us all packing. ”
“Yeah, that must be how he pulled it off,” Gemma agreed.
“You know, if you want me to, I’m all in to make your wedding cake,” I told Raye.
“I’d hoped you’d say that, because I couldn’t imagine getting married without knowing one of your wedding cake extravaganzas was waiting for us at the reception,” Raye replied.
How much did I love every single member of my posse?
Allow me to answer that.
A ton!
“So I’m all in if you’re all in,” she continued. “But it’s not a gift, babe. We’ll be paying you.”
“On no,” I said. “It’d be my pleasure.”
“I know, babe,” she responded. “But Cap and I called Dad and Debbie yesterday to give them the news. When we did, Dad told me they’ve set aside some money for us to get married, and the amount is larger than a down payment for a house.
I was floored. I lost it. Cried almost as much as you did this morning.
It was so bad, we had to call them back. So we’re totally paying you.”
Raye had only recently reunited with her dad.
And, as this latest (further) proved, it was going really well.
“I love that they did that for you,” I said.
“No presh, but I’m bummed that means you’ll probably pick some swank venue and not do it in the courtyard,” Shanti put in. “The plans Bill and Zach put together for Alexis and Jacob were pimp.”
“Oh, we’re so totally doing it in the courtyard of the Oasis,” Raye announced.
Three cheers rang out in Tweety, and Raye was smiling again.
“And I see you’re not fighting it with Gabe anymore,” Raye noted, obviously to me, as the cheers died away.
“Nope,” I confirmed. “And it’s not that I couldn’t hold up against a hot guy onslaught.
It’s because he’s a super good guy. I could get into how super good he is, but we have business to do, and me listing all his attributes would take all night.
Though I’ll hint at it by saying, he rinses his own whiskers from the sink. ”
“Good Lord,” Gem breathed from the back seat like I told her I ran into the Holy Grail at a vintage store.
“I know,” I agreed.
“I think we all get what a super good guy he is,” Raye put in, a smile in her tone. “And I’m happy you opened up enough after what Kev did to you to give it a shot.”
I was too.
Absolutely.
“Not a lot of women would have that kind of strength, Will,” she went on, making my heart warm and reminding me (again) how much I loved Raye. “I’m not surprised you do, but I’m glad it didn’t take very long.”
“Thanks, babe,” I said quietly.
“I’m glad too,” Gemma added.
Shanti just reached forward from where she was sitting behind me and gave my biceps a squeeze.
Okay…
Totally the best friend posse evah!
“There hasn’t been a definitive winner announced in the pool,” Raye prompted.
Translation: she wanted to know if we’d done it.
“Gabe wants us to have the time to do it right, and I agree. So far, that time has not arrived,” I told her. Then I asked curiously, “What’s your day?”
“We don’t have days, we have timeslots,” Raye answered. “Tex said that these guys ‘move so fast’ it’d be a waste of a bet if it wasn’t broken up into timeslots.”
“This morning was my morning,” Gemma said. “So I’m out.”
“I have Thursday by eleven,” Raye said. “At first, I refused to buy in, doing it in protest at the beginning, then I saw how much fun everyone was having, and I caved. So I got in on the action late.”
“I have by tomorrow morning. My timeslot is eleven to seven,” Shanti shared, and I twisted to look at her and watched her conclude, “So, since we’re doing what we’re doing, I’m fucked.”
“You bought in?” I demanded.
“There’s, like, twenty-five hundred dollars on the line,” she replied.
Two thousand five hundred dollars!?!
“I thought it was three thousand,” Gemma noted.
Three thousand?!?
“How many people have bet?” I asked.
“Everybody,” Raye said. “Including Lucia and Shirleen, and then Martha, Bill and Zach, Patsy, Rhea and Sally bought in. Cap told me Marjorie threw a humongous shit fit about the whole thing. He said it was so bad, he, Brady, Knox and even Mace cleared out and left Shirleen to deal with it. It sounded hilarious.”
None of this sounded hilarious.
Now even the Oasis Square crew were getting in on it!
I harrumphed to sitting straight in my seat.
“It’s not like it’s not gonna happen,” Raye said.
“I get it. What you’re feeling. That’s why I protested.
Then I realized, mostly, it’s just an indication that everyone thinks you guys should be together.
It’s like a weird, warped, somewhat perverse sign the crew approves of you two being together. ”
“It’s good you can look at it that way,” I retorted. “People aren’t betting on when you’re gonna get laid.”
“Will, babe, like I said, I get it,” Raye returned. “It happened to me and Cap. And yeah, when it was happening, I thought it was way weird. In the end, it was just a lot of people lost a little money, someone got lucky, but most importantly, I got luckiest of all.”
Too true.
I’d seen her approach the beast that night.
And I couldn’t stop looking at her ring (which she wasn’t wearing right then, due to our current activities, but when she was wearing it…dang). It was so beautiful. Just a step down from too much, but it made a definite statement.
It was just…her.
And from our kiss and Gabe’s confidence, when the time came, I figured I’d get mega lucky too.
We hit the storage units, did the switch out, this time with Gem driving, Raye in front with her, and Shanti and me in the back.
On the way to Duane’s place, there was silence.
We were getting our game faces on.
Gemma drove around the block, not fast, not slow, like she’d done this a million times before (Arthur totally had the skills when it came to Angels recruits), and we all kept a keen eye out for anyone loitering about or sitting in a car or gazing around some curtains or taking a walk but doing it seething with malice.
Nothing.
In fact, if there was a person alive on either side of his block, I’d be surprised, it was that dead.
Adding to the feel, like most of the houses, Duane’s place was dark as pitch.
Gemma pulled in about a half a block around the corner to where Duane’s place was half a block down.
“This okay?” she whispered as she cut the lights and ignition.
“Great, sister,” Raye said. Then she looked back at Shanti and me. “Ready?”
I reached to touch the gloves in my back pocket.
Check.
I touched my phone in my other pocket.
Check.
Another touch to the Taser strapped to my hip.
And check.
I’d already pulled Gabe’s cap over my head and meticulously tucked my hair in.
Another check.
I nabbed the Maglite.
Last check.
“Ready,” I said.
“Me too,” Shanti said.
“Let’s roll,” Raye said.
We did, sauntering down the street looking like cat burglars armed with Tasers.