Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas

Author:Wendall Thomas [Thomas, Wendall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2017-06-30T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

“Ms. Redondo, put down the gun.” I turned to see Cassandra holding a .357. I held mine steady.

“It’s not real,” Roger said.

“It is too real,” I said. “I cut a cobra in half with it this morning.”

“Cyd, please. There’s no need to keep up the pretense. We’re among friends.”

“Maybe you are.”

He stood right in front of me and shook his head. Finally, I loosened my grip and he put the gun in the back of his cargo pants. His belt was hemp, of course.

“Sorry everyone,” he said to the guests gathered in the doorway. “Just a little good-natured African gun play, Hemingway style.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes but lowered her gun. Roger reached for that one too. “It’s my fault. I told her never to admit it wasn’t real. No harm, no foul?”

Cassandra smiled at him, then turned to me. “Ms. Redondo, it seems you are not entering into the spirit of our lodge. Perhaps in the morning, as you are a travel agent, you can make other arrangements for yourself.”

Although I had every intention of doing just that, there was no way she was winning this fight.

“Ms. Phoenix, frankly I’m shocked that you would pull a live weapon on an unarmed guest. It’s a good thing I was able to document your behavior,” I said, having used my last shred of phone battery to snap a photo of her with gun aloft, looking completely deranged. Everyone nodded soberly when they saw the clear digital image of the gun pointed right at me.

“As Mr. Claymore always says, I’m just an orphaned Tupperware tart from Brooklyn, hardly a threat to someone with a loaded weapon. It is loaded, isn’t it Roger?” Everyone watched as he checked Cassandra’s gun and nodded. “I have prepaid an extremely high premium for this safari,” I lied. “I am a member in good standing of every major international travel organization and have twice been the president of The Bay Ridge Third Avenue Businessperson’s Association. I have acted in good faith and yet have already been denied the upgrade I paid for. And now, within an hour of my arrival, and while having a personal conversation with one of my clients, you have threatened me with live ammunition. I’m sure Fodors, The Rough Guide, The Lonely Planet, and Let’s Go! Africa will be grateful for this documented information, should this argument go any further. Now, I’m sure dinner will be delicious. Let’s eat, shall we?”

Cassandra gave a small nod and moved toward the table, apologizing to the other guests on the way. Roger and I followed.

“Gun, please,” I said.

“No.”

“People are after me,” I said. He kept walking. “People from the government.” He ignored me. “I’ll start screaming.” Finally, he handed it over.

“Keep the safety on, for God’s sake. I’ll find you after dinner.”

We all sat down. I was starving. In fact, I could have used an enormous piece of undercooked meat, but this was, of course, at Roger’s request, a vegetarian tour. I muttered an obscenity under my breath and reached for the mashed yams.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.