Ogreness, Black Lake-book5

Chapter 41
~

Quiet slowly flowed through Pops, with a few stragglers unable to see the gun pressed against Klow’s head catchin’ on a little late.

“Come with me, old man,” the human hissed.

“Don’t move,” I said.

“First off,” Klow said. “I’m not a man, ya idjit. Second. Ya’re surrounded by irritated trolls. Ya think ya’re gettin’ out of here alive?”

“Grandpa. Don’t go with him.”

“Or I’ll lose any leverage of the moment. I’m not as stupid as him.”

“I said, get up,” the human repeated.

“Ya shoot me and three ogres and five trolls will rip ya to bloody shreds, long before ya lose consciousness. Ya’ll die in agony ya can’t begin to imagine.”

Evidently Grand had it under control.

“If ya don’t shoot me, ya’ll be pressed to the floor gently, and the police will come,” Grand continued. “Ya might see a night in jail. Which is it gonna be?”

“I will shoot you if you don’t get up.” The guy was a broken MP3 file.

“Do I need to explain yar situation to ya again?” Klow asked.

A troll fist wrapped around the man’s neck. The human quickly moved the gun from Klow’s forehead to my temple.

“He has a hard head,” Klow said. “Ya can’t hurt ’im there.”

The guy looked really stricken by that. He was takin’ Grand’s bluster seriously. A troll’s fingers closed around the guy’s throat.

“Should I rip his head off?” vibrated from one of Grand’s guys.

Someone turned off the juke. Toward the bar, a voice could be heard clearly talkin’ to 9-1-1.

“Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger,” a bunch of oilfield rednecks began to chant.

Really? That was downright rude. I might diversify out of the energy sector. I looked toward the dance floor. The two humans who had been used as a distraction had passed out from the troll fists still holdin’ them in the air. Should I mention they might set ’em down? I decided against it. I met Wizper and Darshee’s fearful stares.

Not the way I ever expected to go.

“Shut up, before I kill all of you,” one of our troll friends roared at the cheerin’ section. It took a couple more refrains before it ended.

“Ya know ya’re in deep doo, yes, young man?” Grand asked the guy.

Sirens wafted through walls, or maybe it was just my blood flowin’ in my ears.

“You are so dead, human.” I think that was Ponwr, but wasn’t sure. I was keepin’ my eye on the little black hole at the end of the gun at this point.

Our guy was about to pass out with the live noose around his throat. Would he pull his trigger before—he slumped, and Grand’s bodyguard ripped him away, the gun flippin’ in the air.

No way the guy’s neck survived that whip. The body flopped through the air, then crunched as Grand’s guy slammed it into the floor. If his neck wasn’t already broken, his back definitely was mush now. Along with most of his other bones.

The bar area was emptyin’. A few screams and gags etched from nearby tables. Grand stood and strode to Wizper and Darshee, foldin’ them into his chest.

Frip and one of Grand’s guys dropped the two distractions. I figgered by this time they were toast too. Maybe not. But no one was rushin’ to perform CPR.

I almost got out of the booth. Enough to take in the guy who threatened us. His head dangled by a slip of flesh. Face looked up at the far corner of the room at about a hundred and sixty-degree angle. Blood flowed from the gapin’ chasm between his shoulders. Maybe a little leaked out of his neck. Both arms were twisted unnaturally backward. Yeah. He was definitely toast.

A broad hand pressed down on my shoulder. Ponwr. “Stay put. Safest place. The cops will demand a statement, but ya’re not going anywhere.”

I nodded. Relaxed back into my seat. That’s when I realized the gun sat in what was left of the gnarled bones of my meal. The ceramic platter had cracked into five pie slices.

Someone had just tried to abduct my grandfather. Wow. It was sinkin’ in a little. A human, had just tried— Pointed a stinkin’ gun in my face. Never experienced that before. Well. Yes, I had, but it wasn’t as scary the other day. Maybe because I was angrier than I was scared.

I noted Frip and the other three trolls were usherin’ Darshee, Wizper, and Grand out the front of the restaurant. The three ogres didn’t appear real excited about leavin’, but when a troll wants ya somewhere ya’ll end up there. And there was a troll assistin’ each of them.

Something white caught my attention on the floor. The dead guy’s foot was in view. Just the foot. He’d been jerked right out of his shoe.

I glanced around, curious where the shoe might have landed. Through the front glass I could make out mostly an empty parking lot. The sirens were close. Would they try to stop anyone from leavin’? I would wager a big bet our troll buddies would get the hens and Grand out of here without a problem.

Ponwr sat across from me. “How was yar meal?” he asked.

“Oh, better than the entertainment.”

“They’ll want to take me away to take my statement. I’m only gonna look at ya. Tell them I’m yar bodyguard and not going anywhere. I won’t spread apart my lips. Not for anything. I’m serious. Understand?”

“Completely.”

“Ya can tell them anything ya want, but I’d suggest ya keep it simple. Best. Tell them yar lawyer will deliver a statement in the morning. I won’t be letting them take ya out that door. Under no circumstances go with them if they insist. If they use force, I’ll take care of them.”

A shiver started in my ears and radiated throughout the rest of my body, and didn’t end for a good five-count.

“Do not go with them,” he repeated. Guess he thought an ogre needed to be told more than once.

I nodded, and speed dialed my attorney. Took me five seconds to explain that I was in a bar with three dead humans and would need her services again. She knew Pops. Didn’t have to look up the address. Said she’d be here in thirty minutes.

By this time there was no one else in the restaurant but the bartender, who was still on the phone. Doubted the cooks were even in the back. The servers had definitely split.

Ten minutes later two cops, humans, walked slowly in the front door, guns drawn. The barman pointed at the dead guy on the floor near our booth. I guess the other two were pretty obvious from their angle of view.

The two slowly made their way toward us, checkin’ out the rest of the restaurant as they worked around the room, but didn’t speak to us as they neared. They didn’t bother checkin’ on the headless guy. They did search for a pulse for the two on the dance floor.

“Please come with me,” one of the officers said.

“My attorney is on the way. She advised me not to move.”

“I said—”

My chest did its ogre thing. The guy twitched and stepped back. “I said. I’m not movin’.”

“Who are you?” the other officer snapped at Ponwr.

“He’s my bodyguard, and he’s not goin’ anywhere either.”

The two cops looked at each other. The first turned back to me, gun relaxin’ a bit to his waist, which made me feel a whole lot better.

“What are you, to need a bodyguard?”

“I’m First Ogre Council,” I said, makin’ up a title. Doke wouldn’t mind. Humans like titles. We ogres are more about physical intimidation. I’m not proud to say that, but it’s stinkin’ true.

More cops showed up, and more over the next hour, without a whole lot of anything happenin’. Ponwr had his eyes closed. Might have been asleep. I wasn’t sure. But he wasn’t concerned at this point, so it helped me to relax, all except for the nearly decapitated guy whose blood pretty much encircled our booth now. I would have expected it to soak into the old wood floor more. Maybe it’s faux veneer. Fake old. Go figger.

Detectives, they at least acted like they detected, and they weren’t in uniforms, showed up and walked around for about twenty minutes. One walked up to me.

“You want to make a statement?” she asked.

“My attorney—”

“Yeah. She’s outside. I thought it was worth a shot. You’re free to go for now, but I’d prefer if you not track through the blood.”

Ponwr smirked.

I was happy not to walk through the gore, even if it meant climbin’ over the back of the booth.

~ Nuel ~

I went to bed feeling like a high school teen, let down because the sexy quarterback hadn’t called me. I hadn’t stuck to the front of the house watching Ike’s place, but I found a lot of reasons to glance through the blinds.

I know Wizper would tell him I’m leaving soon. I expected a call. If he thought anything about me, he would have called. Even as a friend. I wasn’t fooling myself that we were anything more than that.

~