“Make sure that everyone lives through the next ten minutes,” Gideon answered in a clipped tone.
“Works for me, motherfucker,” Candy Vargo said with the machine gun still aimed at the door.
“Dip,” I called through the door. “It’s me. Daisy. I’m going to let you in. Keep your gun in the holster.”
“What?” he yelled, confused and freaking out. The man was hyperventilating.
I didn’t answer him. Pressing my lips together, I unlocked the door and turned the handle. The second he entered the house, he was tackled to the ground by Gideon and Zander and surrounded by Demons. The Demons had guns trained on him and were ready to shoot. Dip Doody was terrified.
Gideon put his hand over Dip’s mouth and leaned in. “Dip, you’ve walked into something you shouldn’t see. What I need you to do is follow my directions. No more, no less. Am I clear?”
Dip’s eyes were huge as he nodded jerkily, or as much as he could considering Gideon’s hand was over his mouth and two large men were straddling him. Jennifer whimpered in the background but didn’t move to stop the action.
“I’m going to take my hand off your mouth and you’re going to answer a question,” Gideon continued as he slowly removed his hand. “What’s the TV show that you watch and made Jennifer swear on her wine to keep it a secret?”
He waited.
“What are you? Cartel? Mafia? Spies?” Dip shouted. “What in tarnation is goin’ on here? I’m gonna arrest every single one of you. You hear me?”
“I hear you, Dip,” Gideon told him flatly. “The question is, did you hear me? Candy Vargo has a gun aimed at your head, along with a few others who possess itchy trigger fingers. You need to answer the question so I know it’s the real you.”
Dip’s face was blood red, and he was sweating profusely. It was a terrible thing to watch.
“It’s him,” Jennifer said. “I see him. It’s Dip.”
“Jennifer?” he cried out. “Are you okay, babe?”
As she moved towards him, I held up a hand and shook my head. “Not until we know for sure.”
She stopped. Tears streamed down her face. I realized I was crying too. Humans were not supposed to get messed up in our world. This was bad.
“Dip,” Gideon said. “I’m going to give you one more chance. Answer my question. Now.”
Dip was pissed. He was embarrassed and getting more worked up by the second. “Lemme tell you something, Gideon. You’re real close to getting arrested for committing a felony. But to answer your question… It’sLittle House on the Prairie,” he snarled.
Zander took over and ripped open Dip’s shirt. As expected, and hoped for, the man had three nipples. Satisfied, Gideon got off of Dip and helped him to his feet.
“I’m sorry,” Gideon said. “It had to be done.”
Dip buttoned his shirt back up with the two buttons that were left. Most of them had popped off. He glared at Gideon. “Would you like to tell me what the hell is going on here? Looks like a goddamn horror movie out there. If that’s what you call home security, then I’m predicting that you’re gonna spend a good long time in the slammer.”
“Dip,” Jennifer said, running to him and hugging him tight. “I’m so sorry. Don’t be mad at Gideon. Those people out on the lawn are trying to kill us.”
Dip did not fuck around. He pulled his police radio from his belt and went to call for backup. Candy wiggled her fingers and rendered the radio dead. What we didn’t need was more humans on the scene. Having Dip here was bad enough.
“What the…” he muttered, shaking the radio to fix it.
Shaking it wouldn’t help.
“Here’s the deal, Dip,” Gideon said.
“No sir,” Dip shot back. “I’m making the deals here. Everyone in this house is comin’ down to the station. Now. The weapons will be confiscated, and I’m sorry to say, you people are in a heap of trouble.”
I had to give it to him. There were multiple guns pointed at him, and he was still trying to do his duty.
“Do you want the truth, Dip?” Gideon asked, getting impatient. There were zombies outside, and having to deal with Dip had added another layer of bad to an already terrible situation.
“Lemme hear your version of the truth,” Dip ground out. “It’d better be good.”
