Page 9 of Dead Rattled
Ten nodded. “I’ve been so far down that I hadn’t noticed Carson was struggling too.”
“I’ll have a little chat with him. We had a meeting with Cisco last week about what happened to you and what our response would be if someone wanted to press charges against a psychic here in Salem.”
“What’s Cisco’s plan?”
“No psychic is going to be arrested for giving readings that fail to come true. Vance and the Danvers police department twisted the fraud by psychic statute to have you charged and arrested, but, from now on, Cisco is going to make sure it’s used properly, like in cases of extortion or theft.”
“That’s good news. All the psychics will be happy to hear that. Maybe you could come by and talk to all of us.”
“I’d be happy to, if that means all of you sleep better at night.” Ronan got up from the table and pulled Ten to his feet. “Speaking of sleeping better, I know the perfect cure to make sure you get some real rest.”
“Does it have anything to do with Huge Jackman?” Ten waggled his eyebrows.
Ronan would never admit it, but he loved when Ten used that nickname for his dick. “Uh, huh. Maybe we skip bath time tonight and put the kids to sleep earlier.”
Ten snickered. “We can’t send our kids to school dirty. Let’s give them quick showers, one story, one song, one drink of water and then it’s game on.”
“Works for me!” Ronan squeezed Ten tight.
The last few weeks had been some of the hardest in Ronan’s marriage. He’d watch Ten suffer and lose his spark, but now, after the promise of a visit from Huge Jackman, Ten seemed to be on the road to recovery.
4
Tennyson
Tennyson woke up feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed for the first time since his arrest. He wasn’t sure if his mood had to do with Carson apologizing for being a dick lately, going two rounds with Ronan the night before, or the fact that he felt as if he was in the middle of an important investigation. If his hunch was right, he would be able to help right a fifty-four year old wrong.
The smell of bacon had greeted Ten when he got out of the shower. He knew Ronan was on breakfast duty for the kids. Everly was coming with them to the cemetery and Ezra was getting dropped off with Jude and Cope who would get him and Lizzie to preschool.
“Good morning, everyone!”
“You’re just in time, babe.” Ronan set a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and crisp bacon at his seat. Everly and Ezra were happily eating their breakfast.
“ROAR!” Ezra shouted, before jamming a slice of bacon into his mouth.
“We’re gonna need to do something about our little Tyrannosaurus wreck,” Ten said. “Ezzie can’t keep roaring like that through every meal.”
Ezra reached for his spoon and scooped up a mouthful of eggs. “ROAR!”
“Damn,” Ronan said, looking guilty. “I meant to tell you I got a call yesterday from Mrs. Jamison, Ezzie’s teacher. She said that thanks to Ezra, all of the kids in his class are now roaring through lunch and snack time.”
“What does she want us to do?” Ten imagined it had been hilarious the first time all fifteen kids in Ezra’s class roared in unison, but as Ten had quickly learned, the roaring got old fast.
“Find some way to stop it, I guess.” Ronan shrugged. “Hey, Ezzie, do you want to go to get a new truck after school today?”
“Me fuck!” Ezra announced. “Me love fucks!”
Ten snorted. “I have a feeling Mrs. Jamison will soon be yearning for the days when her biggest problem was a class full of roaring kids.”
“Here’s the deal, buddy,” Ronan said, sounding as if he was about to crack up, “we’ll go get you a new truck after schoolifMrs. Jamison says you stopped roaring. Got it?”
“Two fucks, Dada!” Ezra held up two greasy fingers. “Then me no roar. Got it?”
Ronan barked a laugh, quickly covering it with a cough. “You drive a hard bargain, little man. You’ve got a deal. No roaring equals two trucks.”
“Deal! Two hard fucks!” Ezra said, happily, before quietly digging back into his breakfast.
“We’re gonna have to apologize to Mrs. Jamison in advance.” Ten snickered, as the doorbell rang.
