48. Two's Company

But, of course, I didn’t. Know, that is. I did know that Mr D had gone to a lot of trouble to get J-Rod on that plane and me saddled with Margarita Cansino. I was as earthbound as I could possibly be without actually being one of the Earthbound. I figured the plan did not really revolve around diverting attention from the airplane theft. It was about delaying me. I just hoped the love-bomb was on a heading for Washington. Maybe that was it. Perhaps the lovedust only hung in the air long enough to affect those it fell on. Maybe by the time I got back to Washington – and Flotus – I’d be unaffected. Unless, that is, the effects of Love Potion #9 were contagious.

The redhead snapped her fingers under my nose.

‘We just walked out the gates of Dreamland, Sugar. No need to go back so soon. Not even in your head.’

‘We’ve got to move. Confucius he say, if you keep moving, they can’t get you.’

‘I can get with that. Where to and how?’

‘Confucius never mentioned that. We’ll figure it out after we get outside.’

I paid the bill and left a 10 dollar tip. Calamity June was walking from the bar to the stage so I gave her a twenty and advised her to buy a hat that fit.

Outside, Ms Cansino was in conversation with a familiar figure, one easy enough for me to recognise even from behind. She turned toward me,

‘Hey Gabe, will ya lookit that? I found a wild goose.’

Sam Sara’s thumb jerked backwards. Margaret wasn’t too crazy about being called a goose or she had indigestion.

‘Got wheels?’ I asked.

Sam pointed at a Harley a few yards away.

‘Not enough.’

Ms. Cansino stamped a foot. ‘We’ll go in that.’ She was pointing at a Lexus. A black limo with tinted windows, the kind of car a rapper used when attempting discretion.

‘You can’t boost that. Don’t they start with thumb-prints?’ Sam Sara said.

‘I can do ‘it’, Gabe knows that.’

‘IT? I read your card, how will that help?’

‘You didn’t read it right.’ The redhead had the door open.

‘What about my ride?’ Sam Sara looked at me.

‘You can try to follow us or leave it behind,’ Margarita said.

Sam didn’t look happy. I was still trying to figure out whether to sit in the front or the back. It was harder than getting the fox and the chicken across the river. Guess who felt like the burlap full of barley. In the end I rode shotgun. Sam didn’t look any happier in the rear view mirror.