now.” “It's not like we finished
you off,” Zook said. “Dude, it was only a matter of time. And
Scorch is an animal. Scorch comes on, and I can smell sulfur.” “So,
you're the griefer,” Morelli said. “How'd that happen?” Mooner
shrugged. “Destiny, dude.” “What are you going to do now?” Zook
asked Mooner. “You still have a powerful PC.” "Yeah, but not as
powerful as yours. You could go all the way.
You could be the Mega Mage of wizards. You could rule
Minionfire.“ ”Do you really think so?“ ”Yeah, but you'd have to
make a deal with the wood elves.“ ”I don't like the wood elves.“
”They're okay. They're misunderstood.“ ”Maybe we could form an
alliance, and then you could deal with the wood elves,“ Zook said.
”An alliance would be cool,“ Mooner said. ”We'd need an awesome
name... like the Legion of Q.“ ”What's Q?“ Zook asked. ”It's
everything. It's the big Q. It's, like... wind, man.“ Mooner
dragged his backpack in from the front porch and took his laptop
out. ”I'll send a pigeon to the king of the wood elves.“ ”You're
going to need a drug test before you run an alliance from my
house,“ Morelli said to Mooner. ”Hey, I'm clean. Swear to God. You
gotta be sharp to be a griefer of my magnitude.“ We let Mooner send
a pigeon, and then we kicked him out, and we all went to bed. I was
so relieved to be off the Brenda job that I fell asleep instantly
and slept like the dead. I didn't wake up until Morelli kissed me
good-bye the next morning. ”I set the alarm,“ he said. ”You can't
oversleep today. You have to get Zook off to school.“ I listened to
his tread on the stairs and heard the front door open and close.
And then two shots from a high-powered rifle shattered the early
morning quiet. I flew out of bed and ran to the window. Morelli's
SUV was still at the curb, but I didn't see Morelli. I grabbed some
clothes off the floor, rammed myself into them, and ran to the
stairs. I was halfway down the stairs when I realized Morelli was
back in the house, in the foyer, talking on his cell phone. ”What
the heck was that?“ I asked him. ”Are you okay?“ Morelli slid his
phone into his pocket. ”Yeah, I'm okay. That was crazy Dom. I saw
him. He stepped right out where I could see him and opened fire on
me! I don't know if he's a lousy shot or if he just meant to scare
me. Anyway, he fired two rounds and took off. I called it in to
dispatch. If he stays in that same car, there's a good chance
someone will pick him up.“ I looked up the stairs. No sign of Zook.
”I guess the Legion of Q isn't bothered by gunfire,“ Morelli said.
”He probably sleeps wearing earbuds hooked to his computer so he
can listen for the wood elves.“ I dropped Zook off at school and
went home to my apartment. I gave Rex fresh water, a bowl of
hamster crunchies, and a potato chip. He rushed out of his soup
can, twitched his whiskers at me, stuffed the potato chip into his
cheek pouch, and scurried back into his soup can. It's easy to have
a decent relationship with a hamster. So little is required. I took
a shower and changed into clean clothes. No more Rangeman black.
That job was done. I was about to get a pot of coffee going when
Connie called. ”You need to come to the office,“ she said. ”We have
a situation.“ ”What does that mean? What's a situation?“ ”You have
to see for yourself.“ I locked up my apartment and went down to the
lot to the Zook car. I checked the sky. No clouds. That meant no
rain. The paint wouldn't get washed away again today. When I picked
Zook up from school, I was going to make him wash my car. And then
I'd have him scrub my mom's door and sidewalk. Ten minutes later, I
cruised by the office. Lula's Firebird was parked curbside behind a
black stretch limo and a TV news van. Just keep driving, I told
myself. This smells like Brenda. I was two blocks away when my
phone rang. ”We saw you drive by,“ Connie said. ”Maybe it wasn't
me.“
you off,” Zook said. “Dude, it was only a matter of time. And
Scorch is an animal. Scorch comes on, and I can smell sulfur.” “So,
you're the griefer,” Morelli said. “How'd that happen?” Mooner
shrugged. “Destiny, dude.” “What are you going to do now?” Zook
asked Mooner. “You still have a powerful PC.” "Yeah, but not as
powerful as yours. You could go all the way.
You could be the Mega Mage of wizards. You could rule
Minionfire.“ ”Do you really think so?“ ”Yeah, but you'd have to
make a deal with the wood elves.“ ”I don't like the wood elves.“
”They're okay. They're misunderstood.“ ”Maybe we could form an
alliance, and then you could deal with the wood elves,“ Zook said.
”An alliance would be cool,“ Mooner said. ”We'd need an awesome
name... like the Legion of Q.“ ”What's Q?“ Zook asked. ”It's
everything. It's the big Q. It's, like... wind, man.“ Mooner
dragged his backpack in from the front porch and took his laptop
out. ”I'll send a pigeon to the king of the wood elves.“ ”You're
going to need a drug test before you run an alliance from my
house,“ Morelli said to Mooner. ”Hey, I'm clean. Swear to God. You
gotta be sharp to be a griefer of my magnitude.“ We let Mooner send
a pigeon, and then we kicked him out, and we all went to bed. I was
so relieved to be off the Brenda job that I fell asleep instantly
and slept like the dead. I didn't wake up until Morelli kissed me
good-bye the next morning. ”I set the alarm,“ he said. ”You can't
oversleep today. You have to get Zook off to school.“ I listened to
his tread on the stairs and heard the front door open and close.
And then two shots from a high-powered rifle shattered the early
morning quiet. I flew out of bed and ran to the window. Morelli's
SUV was still at the curb, but I didn't see Morelli. I grabbed some
clothes off the floor, rammed myself into them, and ran to the
stairs. I was halfway down the stairs when I realized Morelli was
back in the house, in the foyer, talking on his cell phone. ”What
the heck was that?“ I asked him. ”Are you okay?“ Morelli slid his
phone into his pocket. ”Yeah, I'm okay. That was crazy Dom. I saw
him. He stepped right out where I could see him and opened fire on
me! I don't know if he's a lousy shot or if he just meant to scare
me. Anyway, he fired two rounds and took off. I called it in to
dispatch. If he stays in that same car, there's a good chance
someone will pick him up.“ I looked up the stairs. No sign of Zook.
”I guess the Legion of Q isn't bothered by gunfire,“ Morelli said.
”He probably sleeps wearing earbuds hooked to his computer so he
can listen for the wood elves.“ I dropped Zook off at school and
went home to my apartment. I gave Rex fresh water, a bowl of
hamster crunchies, and a potato chip. He rushed out of his soup
can, twitched his whiskers at me, stuffed the potato chip into his
cheek pouch, and scurried back into his soup can. It's easy to have
a decent relationship with a hamster. So little is required. I took
a shower and changed into clean clothes. No more Rangeman black.
That job was done. I was about to get a pot of coffee going when
Connie called. ”You need to come to the office,“ she said. ”We have
a situation.“ ”What does that mean? What's a situation?“ ”You have
to see for yourself.“ I locked up my apartment and went down to the
lot to the Zook car. I checked the sky. No clouds. That meant no
rain. The paint wouldn't get washed away again today. When I picked
Zook up from school, I was going to make him wash my car. And then
I'd have him scrub my mom's door and sidewalk. Ten minutes later, I
cruised by the office. Lula's Firebird was parked curbside behind a
black stretch limo and a TV news van. Just keep driving, I told
myself. This smells like Brenda. I was two blocks away when my
phone rang. ”We saw you drive by,“ Connie said. ”Maybe it wasn't
me.“
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