28. Ozrik
Ozrik
Agust of wind rolled through the restaurant door when Olivia opened it, drawing my attention from the conversation around the table. It sent napkins fluttering to the ground. Lex scrambled after them as customers turned their heads to the windows and the coming storm.
Gale entered behind his sister, and our gazes caught.
We exchanged a brief smile before he looked away, cheeks reddening.
He’d avoided me all day, and I understood.
He was freaked out, and rightfully so. Between the sex and the close call, he had a lot to process.
We needed to be more careful, for Gale’s sake.
I purposefully took the spot at the end of the table, anticipating his arrival. I had space to drag an extra chair over, so he could sit near me if he wanted. The only other spot was near Jazz, and Gale’s hatred for Jazz wasn’t exactly a secret.
“There’s a spot here.” I motioned, hoping Olivia wouldn’t jump at the opportunity.
She didn’t and motioned for Gale to take the seat while she aimed for the one between Jazz and Roe. I assumed by the look she gave me that she had learned Gale’s secret. I was glad. The more people he opened up to, the more comfortable he would feel.
Gale sat and eyed everyone before addressing me with a quiet, “Hey.”
“Hey. How did your interview go with Hugh?”
Gale rolled his eyes. “It was fine. The guy’s a jerk.”
I eyed the camera crew, who had followed us to the restaurant. Hugh’s lens was focused on Gale and me.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
I studied Gale, but he was locked tight. My interview had consisted of taunting questions about the fight I’d nearly had with Jazz and inquiries about other team members and how I planned to come out on top. I’d played their game.
The waitress arrived and took Gale and Olivia’s food orders before refreshing drinks. When she wandered away, I caught Gale’s eye again, and he smiled and ducked his chin.
“I know what you’re thinking about,” I sing-songed under my breath.
He kicked me, and I smothered a laugh.
Sobering, he glanced around before whispering, “Olivia knows.”
“I figured. Is that okay?”
He nodded, and I wanted to drag him into my arms and hug him. I bumped his leg where no one could see in silent support instead. I was glad. If Olivia hadn’t been supportive, I’d have lost it.
The chatter around the table regarded the upcoming chase. We had high hopes that the systems moving in would produce, though one had shifted and changed over the past two hours, and the potential threat level had been downgraded.
“Oz, are you taking your car again?” Lex asked from the other end of the table.
“I thought so.” I glanced at Gale. The apprehension on his face answered the question. “Yeah. Why?”
“Can you take one or two more passengers?”
“No.”
“The fuck. Why not?”
“Because it’s not a chase vehicle and the point was for it to be less crowded, not more.”
“Don’t push it,” Jazz said to Lex, “or you’ll make Gale cry.”
“You know what? I changed my mind. I’ll take Jazz and leave him on the side of the fucking road in the path of an EF5 and hope he gets sent right to hell.”
“Fuck you,” Jazz spat.
Olivia slapped Jazz’s arm. “Stop being a dick.”
“But we’re up a person,” Lex countered. “We’ve got Elliott now.”
“And originally, we were squishing ten people into two cars, so technically, you’re down two. You can make it work. The answer is no.”
“Fine.” Lex turned to Olivia.
My phone buzzed, but not with an incoming text, which I would have ignored. The steady pulse against my thigh indicated a phone call. I pulled it out and read my mother’s name on the screen.
“Fuck me.” When was the last time I’d talked to her? The previous night before bed. I was playing with fire.
“Everything okay?” Gale asked.
I showed him the screen. “My mother.”
“Uh-oh. The next installment of microfiction horror?”
I laughed. “Something like that.”
The waitress arrived with our food as I debated what to do. At this rate, we’d be on the road, and I wouldn’t be able to touch base until morning. I didn’t think she would call the Tulsa police department, but this was Stella Devereaux. Anything was possible.
“I’d better take it.” The ringing stopped, but I asked the server to pack my food in a to-go box and told Gale I was heading outside to return the call.
“Hey, Vern.” I had to shout his name twice since he was so engrossed in a conversation with Maggie, he didn’t hear me. I held up my phone. “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, for the love of god, rescue me.”
“Materfamilias?”
“Yeah.”
“Gotcha. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
I gave him the finger.
Outside, I found shelter from the spitting rain and wind at the side of the building. The churning clouds foretold a busy night. We might not see tornado action, but a brewing tempest lurked on the horizon.
The phone rang twice before she picked up. “Not dead in a ditch,” I said when it connected.
“I don’t like it when you’re away from home this long and don’t keep in touch.”
“I know. What are you going to do when I move out?”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Mom. I’m twenty-four. It’s going to happen.” It should have happened already. “I can’t live at home forever.”
“You’ll catch your death being out in all that weather.”
I sighed. She would not entertain that line of conversation. “Colds and flus are caused by bacteria, not standing in the rain.”
“Standing in the rain for long periods of time lowers your body temperature, which can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to viruses.”
“Touché.”
“I bet you aren’t sleeping properly either.”
I considered the minimal hours I’d managed to grab the previous night, cringed, and lied. “Full eight hours.”
“Even after talking to your mother on the phone half the night?”
“Oops. I forgot about that. Well, I’m staying warm and dry. I brought a raincoat.”
“You didn’t bring your vitamins.”
“I bought some at the pharmacy when I got here.” Another lie.
“Have you been checking your temperature regularly?”
“No, Mom, I’m fine. Fit as a fiddle.”
“Are you coughing or sniffling?”
“Nope. Strong lungs.”
“How’s your throat? A sore throat is the first sign of a cold.”
“I’m feeling great. Drinking plenty of fluids, too. Lemon tea with honey to be safe.”
“Good.” She seemed to have let the leukemia drama go. It wasn’t serving her purpose. Ignoring or getting angry didn’t always work. It usually left me feeling guilty, but Stella could be suffocating when she spiraled.
“I should be back in a couple of days.”
“I’ll make soup.”
I tipped my head back against the concrete wall and closed my eyes on a sigh. “I won’t eat it.”
“Yes, you will.”
“Hey, Mom?”
“Yeah, sweetie.”
“Why don’t you call Dr. Jacob and see if he can fit you in?”
Silence, then, “Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“It couldn’t hurt. Things haven’t been good lately. We can’t keep going like this. I love you, but you’re driving me away.”
She remained silent.
I let it go. The last time I convinced her to see Dr. Jacob, he wanted to commit her. Stella refused, opting for medication instead. Medication she never took. One day, I would get her the help she needed.
Or die trying.
Vern poked his head around the corner of the building. Gale appeared at his side. Vern waved and pointed at the motel across the street, then made the motion of driving.
I nodded, letting him know I understood.
Vern headed off, and Gale approached, seeming tentative.
“Mom, I have to go. The guys are waiting.”
“I don’t like that you put yourself in danger.”
“I know.”
“You’ll get yourself killed.”
“I’m careful.”
“Then I’ll be alone.”
“No you won’t.”
“Dress warm and stay dry.”
“I will, Mom.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. We’re going to talk about Dr. Jacob when I get home. It’s time.”
“Call me tomorrow.” She disconnected.
The second I was off the phone, Gale offered me a takeout container. “Your food.”
“Thanks.” Exhaustion pulled at my body. Lack of sleep was catching up, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to head out into the storm. I wanted to crawl into bed and forget the reality of my life. All this chasing was getting me nowhere. I was running in circles.
“Is your mom okay?”
I huffed humorlessly. “Define okay? She’s fine,” I amended, glancing beyond Gale to the motel. “Are we leaving?”
“I guess.”
“Are we chasing anything promising or dancing like puppets in the rain again?”
“The second supercell, the smaller one, has a rear flank downdraft that’s wrapping. If the updraft catches it, we’ll have a proper hook echo. The plan is to land inside it.”
“Fingers crossed.” I pocketed my phone and tugged keys out, dangling them from a finger. “Want to drive so I can eat?”
“Sure.”
Around the corner of the restaurant, I could make out the tail end of the motel, part of the parking lot, and none of the team. We were partially protected from view. “Where’s the camera crew?”
Gale checked over his shoulder. “Not sure.”
I approached Gale, and we exchanged keys for food. Lowering my voice in case someone was lingering around the corner, I said, “I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
“Me neither.”
“No regrets?”
“No. Unless you count falling asleep in your bed by accident.”
“That was risky, but we got through it.”
Alerts flashed across the iPad screen as Gale followed Olivia’s car out of town, our destination being a smaller storm cell where Gale predicted a strong chance of a hook echo.
The other system, a larger cell to the north, the one that had been breaking apart, seemed to be developing a minor, although unstable, hook.
Although it interested us, it would take another fifteen or twenty minutes to get there.
I monitored the screen, but felt a stronger pull to the smaller system nearby, which was where the team was headed.
As we closed in on our destination, Gale leaned forward and examined the sky from the windshield. “What’s the radar say?”
“No hook echo yet.”
“It’ll happen.” He pointed to the sky, indicating the shifting patterns of the clouds. “Look at that. It wants to catch that current. You can almost see the forming horseshoe. Trust me.”
“Oh, I do.” I had a sixth sense about these things. My bones vibrated and rattled promisingly. Gale was right.
Over the radio, Maggie’s staticky voice reported a touchdown in the northern cell. “We’re detouring,” she said.
“What is she talking about?” I checked the iPad, but the alert system we monitored wasn’t broadcasting a tornado. I did quick math in my head. It would take upwards of fifteen minutes to get there.
I thumbed the radio button, hoping Vern could hear me since I knew he and Roe were the ones making decisions.
“Where are you getting your information? Even if you’re right, she’ll be dead by the time we arrive.
I vote we stay on course. This supercell is stirring.
Look at the rotation ahead. I have a feeling it’s going to be huge. ”
Olivia cut in. “You aren’t the navigator, Oz.”
“Vern,” I shouted into the radio. “You know I’m right. That tornado will be gone by the time you arrive. Stay the course.”
Vern’s voice came through a moment later. “Nothing is happening here.”
“Read the radar, for fuck’s sake.”
“We have a touchdown in the northern cell. We can be there in five minutes.”
“We can’t.”
Olivia’s brake lights came on as Lex turned the bug onto a new road.
“You fucking idiot,” I said to no one, punching the dashboard.
Gale slowed, flashing his attention from the road to me. “What am I doing? Am I following?”
I threw the radio aside and looked at the green-black, promising sky swirling on the horizon. “Fuck. I don’t know. If we don’t follow them, someone will have my ass, and I’m too tired to argue.”
Gale turned, keeping pace with Olivia’s car. More than once, he glanced out his side window at what we were leaving behind.
“Are you smiling?” I asked, noticing a distinct upward twist in his lips.
He moved his attention to the dashcam and shook his head.
“Liar.”
“You’re tired? Didn’t you sleep well last night?” he asked with all the innocence in the world. “That’s too bad.”
“Ah. I see how it is.” I rested a hand on his thigh and squeezed. “Hey, Gale?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s it feel to be a shit sometimes?”
“Good. Refreshing.”
“Imagine that. Question. Does a God-loving man like yourself ever get the urge to break the rules?”
He peered in my direction, curiosity dancing in his eyes as he kept pace with Olivia. “Why do I get the sense you want to corrupt me?”
“Can the innocent be corrupted?”
Another poorly hidden smile curled his lips, and he shrugged.
That decided it.
In one swift move, I tore the dashcam from where it was adhered to the windshield, lowered my window, and sent it flying. The handheld radio followed. Next, I ripped off my headcam and grabbed Gale’s. The expensive pieces of equipment joined them, bouncing and breaking on the road behind us.
I brushed my hands together, all too self-satisfied.
Gale’s jaw dropped as he peered in the rearview mirror. “Oh, wow. Charles is going to have your head on a platter. You’re in so much shit.”
“Yep. Might as well go for broke. Turn this car around, trouble. We’re going back to that cell. I’m here to chase tornadoes, not take a leisurely country drive.”