I shook my head. “You kept far more than you gave, Goober. I’ll let you think about that for a bit. Maybe if your ego hadn’t consumed you in the beginning, you could have ruled with Uriel and Chamuel and you’d still be the top dog. But times change, dude. You were vengeance personified and it’s finally caught up with you.”
Goober’s brows shot up. It was clear I’d hit a nerve. I had no clue what nerve that might be, but I needed to get back to Gideon, Candy Vargo and Tim. We had a little info. It waspossible that the rest of the group could make more sense of it than Shitty Ritchie and I could.
“You will be back,” Goober bellowed. “You will set me free.”
I rolled my neck and sighed. “That’s not entirely up to me. It’s up to the true Higher Power. And until they’re safe, you’re fucked.”
I waited for a beat to see if It would say anything else. It didn’t.
Shitty Ritchie placed his little hand in mine and squeezed.
I smiled at him. He was nuts, but he was mine.
It was time to leave.
And we did.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gideon had communicatedwith Charlie and the Goddess Cecily through the Archangel Gabriel in the five minutes of real time Shitty Ritchie and I had been gone. Alana Catherine and Jennifer had not come back. Everyone was made aware that Shitty Ritchie was alive and with us. Our people knew I was mind diving into Shitty Ritchie to try to reach Fake Tom Hanks. Candy, Gideon, Tim and I had found far more than our friends, considering they’d found nothing yet. On a hunch from the Keeper of Fate, everyone would continue on the path they were on at the moment, but would be on standby to back up whoever hit paydirt first.
“NO,” Shitty Ritchie cried out as he peeked into his pants. “It’s gone. I mean, not gone-gone, but gone.”
Candy, Gideon and Tim glanced over at me in confusion.
I held up my hands. “Don’t ask. Trust me on that.”
“Roger that, friend,” Tim said with a pained chuckle.
The field was slightly different than it was before I’d taken a trip into Shitty Ritchie’s mind. The riotous wild flowers, bunny rabbits and birds were still here, but there was the addition of four motorcycles.
It was my turn to look at Candy, Tim and Gideon in confusion. “Did the Fonzies come back?”
Candy shrugged. “Nope. Them bikes appeared out of nowhere right after you left. I’m guessin’ they’re for us.”
“To go where?” I asked.
Gideon shook his head. “Unclear.”
“Was hopin’ you’d be able to shed some light on that,” Candy added.
Walking over to the motorcycles, I ran my fingertips over the leather seats and hoped they’d tell me a secret. They didn’t.
“Talk, Daisy,” Gideon said, taking my hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s possible we can figure it out together. Four minds are stronger than one.”
“Five. Five minds,” Shitty Ritchie reminded the group. “Shitty Ritchie has an excellent mind.”
“Debatable,” Candy muttered.
Gideon kissed the top of my head. “You’ve got this, and we’ve got you.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” I said leaning into his warm and grounding strength.
I spilled all the details, trying to leave nothing out.
Tim took copious notes. Candy went through a box and a half of toothpicks while I paced and spoke. Gideon stood as still as a statue and listened. Shitty Ritchie, realizing I wasn’t going to share the part about the dong deal, filled our friends in on that part of the adventure.
No one said much about that. There wasn’t much to say.
