Page 50 of Midnight Creed

The old man started searching for and grabbing a backpack that looked pathetically limp and empty. Creed wanted to drive him home, but home was through those dark woods behind them. He couldn’t insult the man.

“I owe you one, Jarhead.” Sully smiled at him as he found his hat and plopped it on his head.

Creed glanced around. The three men were gone. The parking lot was a little emptier.

“They only had hors d’oeuvres,” he told Sully. “Miniature bites on toothpicks. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving” He thumbed back to the Waffle House. “How about you join me for a late dinner?”

“Oh no, they won’t let me have Gunner in there. And I won’t leave her outside by herself.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Some places make a fuss even when I have a K9 working vest on one of mine. How about we eat in my Jeep? Gunner can eat in the back. I have a blanket and a water bowl.”

“I don’t know.” Sully looked around, as if wanting to escape. He couldn’t afford a meal. He’d already accepted one favor. Two might be too much.

“Waffles on me tonight,” Creed offered. He had to try.

“No, I can’t let you do that.” He looked at the ground and shook his head.

This was harder to figure out than taking down those three bullies. But Creed understood. Sully was a man used to reciprocating, paying his way. No matter his circumstances. In his place, Creed suspected he’d be the same way.

“Okay, how about this? I buy you and Gunner dinner and you make me lunch sometime at your...camp.”

“I make you lunch?”

“Yeah, I actually wouldn’t mind having some wicked good rice and beans.”

Sully’s head bobbed, but Creed couldn’t tell if it was in agreement. The brim of his hat kept his face shadowed. When his eyes came back to meet Creed’s, he was smiling.

“You got yourself a deal.” He stood, using his hands to push himself up off the ground, then he slung the backpack over his shoulder.

“By the way, you could use some boxing lessons,” Sully told him, pointing at Creed’s jaw.

“He just got lucky.” He fingered the tender spot.

“Got more than lucky with me.” The old man checked the corner of his mouth again. “I guess we both need a brush up.”

“Three against one is never fair.”

“Except that loud-mouth blond kid didn’t really count.”

“True. I expected him to trip over those flip-flops.”

“Hey, you need to teach me that leg sweep thing. That some kind of ninja karate move?”

“Nope. It’s really all about balance. I’ll show you.”

They walked shoulder-to-shoulder to Creed’s Jeep, like soldiers surviving the latest battle. Gunner kept close to Sully’s side, brushing against his pant leg.

“I need to tell you something.” Sully’s tone was serious. He stopped and waited for Creed. “I owe you this.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“No, I do. That boy...that teenager you and the sheriff were looking for. There was a young fella about two or three weeks ago. Hard to measure time anymore. He didn’t tell me his name. But it could have been your teenager. Had a big ole black eye where his daddy walloped him good. I’m not a prude about disciplining children, though I never laid a hand on my girl. He had bruises in other places, too. He stayed with me and Gunner for a couple of nights. And then left. I figured he went back home.”

“Did you tell the sheriff?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You saw the photo. Do you think it was Caleb?”