Page 24 of Cannon

“Hey, I haven’t joked about the damn thing. I just want to know what it is I’m looking for.” Vortex holds his hands up.

“It’s longer than your arm span, easily. I’d put money on twelve feet or more. Its head looked to be a bit smaller than my hand. On the internet, that says it could be up to sixteen feet. Some say it could be as much as twenty feet. I don’t know how fast they can move, but a twenty-foot snake would have had to move quickly to disappear like it did.”

“This is starting to sound serious, Cannon. A snake that size could be extremely dangerous. It’s in the right place to stay warm and active, too. What about water? Got any wet areas that it could drink from?” Vortex is thinking outside of any box I may have had here.

“That’s a good thought, Vortex, but I’m not aware of anywhere within the building that it could get water, unless it can turn a tap on. I don’t know how often it would have to drink. Maybe it gets water from its meals?”

“I’ve got an idea. At the end of the day, crank the heat up in here. Leave a big bowl of water in front of the camera and see if it comes calling. Whisky wasn’t such a big meal for Percy if he’s as big as you think, so he should be able to move around okay. What do you think?” Vortex seems pleased with his idea, and I’ve got nothing to bring to the table, so what the hell.

“Hell, yeah. I’ll get the others up to speed, and we can see if we can find out where he is.”

Finding the others in the office, I run Vortex’s plan by them. Winger comes up with an add-on of his own.

“If we throw flour or sugar or something on the floor, we’ll be able to see better where he comes from and goes off to.”

“That’s not like you, Winger, but that’s a good idea. You guys can sort this out when you lock up later.” I give them a nod and turn to leave.

“Surprise, surprise. You’re not going to be around today, then?” Prophet asks.

“I can hang around and get under your feet all day if that’s what you want? I don’t do manual labor, but I’m sure I can walk around and make a list of jobs to keep you guys busy.”

“Oh, no. I’ve seen your lists. They need a freaking Giant Redwood cut down to make enough paper. You wander off with Vortex and see if you can find your pickup. Give them guys who stole it a list of things to do to make up for it.” Prophet waves at the door as though dismissing me.

“They won’t need a list when I’m done with them,” I say.

“Ah, ah, ah. None of that now. Remember what Pres told you. No going off half-cocked. Find them and report in. No action to be taken without consulting him first. You know he’s only saying that shit because he wants in on the action. We all know how bloodthirsty he gets when nothing has happened for a while.” Vortex has everyone nodding in agreement with that statement. “I have an idea. Let’s go see what Fury and Mateo are up to with this new bar they’re opening.”

“Hell, yeah. Fury won’t take much to have him falling out with us. I haven’t given him any shit in ages.” This could pass a couple of hours if we’re lucky.

“I’ll drive this time, and you can watch out for that scumbag with the crutches.” If Vortex thinks he can fool me with that old trick, he can think again.

“Oh, no. I’m driving. You’re the chaperone, not me.”

“It was worth a shot.” He grins at me and I move my hand that is holding the keys just as his hand shoots out.

“You’re getting slow and predictable in your old age, Vortex.” I give him a grin back.

“I’ll tell you someone who isn’t. That woman of yours. She’s going to give you a run for your money, If I don’t miss my guess. You’ve done well there, brother.” Vortex gives me a nod as we set off.

“I know it. She’s going to be a handful in every way. She will certainly keep me on my toes.” I smile as I’m going to be up for any shenanigans she comes up with.

“When Tracker finds himself a woman, she’s going to have to be something special. Your old lady has the rest of the old ladies and the club women eating out of her hand. That idea of hers for personal training in self-defense and weapons has been a huge hit. They’re all into that big style. Pattie was like a damn machine on their first training session, apparently. Ghost was extremely impressed with how she performed.”

“I know Pattie’s been a firecracker since she wasted Fury’s dad with that shotgun. No nightmares for that lady. She makes me laugh when she racks and fires her ‘air shotgun’ at people. I wonder how many times she’s been to the gun range with the one that Jamie bought her?”

Thinking back to how she could have wasted half the brothers in the rec room when Jamie handed it to her and she was pointing it around and the damn thing was loaded. I wish I’d been there when Fury took it off her and blew a hole in the rec room ceiling.

Pulling up in the lot behind the bar, there are a few bikes already here, and one of the construction crew’s pickups too. Looks like they are on the ball.

Entering the bar, everyone is busy with something. I notice Fury and Mateo at a table with paperwork strewn across it. Seeing Vortex and myself marching determinedly towards them, Fury says something to Mateo, who looks up, nods, and walks away.

“Cannon. Vortex. What can I do for you guys? If you’re here to play ‘Wind Fury up’, you can fuck off right now. I don’t have time for your games. We have put a tight schedule on getting this place open, so if you’re here to help, great. Anything else, like I said, fuck off.” He turns back to his paperwork, and I see that it is a set of blueprints for changes they have planned.

Looking them over, I see a few changes but nothing structural or any huge projects. Everything looks minimal, and I ask him why he’s bothering.

“Well, Mateo has been studying a lot of information since he was being trusted with such a position for a prospect, and he came up with a hell of a lot of good stuff. Customer flow being one. He got the bug when he watched some ‘Bar Rescue’ program and it really piqued his interest. He got to studying all about it and it clicked in his head. You know how some things just come naturally to some people? Well, he tried explaining it to me and I followed him to a point, and then just told him to go ahead and do what he thought the layout should be. He drew up some plans to explain it all better, and that made me see what he was saying. When Guardrail saw his drawings, he was like a dog with two dicks. He made a couple of suggestions of his own, and I just left them to it. Even Molly saw a potential issue with the original plans, and that was a good spot, too. We want to get the place open as soon as possible, so it’s all hands on deck. Are you up for helping, or do you want to help by getting out of the way?”

Fury is serious about getting the place done fast, so I nod and ask where he wants me. He points to where Mateo is working, and I head over there. I hear him tell Vortex to work with Hellion, and that’s how we spend the rest of the day.