Ascending Mage 6 Hold The Line: A Modern Fantasy Thriller by Frank Hurt & RaeLea Hurt

Author:Frank Hurt & RaeLea Hurt [Hurt, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hurtdidit
Published: 2019-12-21T16:00:00+00:00

17

Show’s Over

It was a perfectly fine Sunday afternoon in July, one where the meadowlarks and blackbirds exchanged songs along the wooded perimeter of a brilliant yellow canola field. Volunteer alfalfa growing in the ditch along the gravel driveway buzzed with pollinators, attracted to the purple and white flowers’ inviting scent.

As lovely as the day was, the occupant of the Queen Anne style house at the end of the driveway was relegated to mindlessly soaking up radiation from an old cathode ray tube. The phosphorescent screen flickered as the attached DVD player translated ones and zeroes into electrons of digitized Technicolor images.

The black duck with a white-ringed neck was busily waylaying a determined adversary. It was a recurring theme among the old cartoons, and one that Moraff’s cloned presence delighted in observing.

Daffy Duck was minding his own business, swimming in a primordial pond. He was the target of a fur-clad caveman whose voice vaguely resembled Humphrey Bogart’s. The caveman and his pet brontosaurus fixated on hunting the duck, but the wily waterfowl always managed to stay one step ahead of the hunter.

“Couldn’t he have gotten hooked on porn instead?” Elton Two whined. His hair was matted and greasy, the whiskers on his face well beyond a five o’clock shadow. “If I was still capable of sleep, I’m sure I’d be hearing the Looney Tunes theme in my dreams.”

With the appearance of his imaginary twin, Elton was satisfied that the implanted clone was suitably distracted. He flipped open the phone and dialed the switchboard of the Malvern Hills spa. The bored-sounding voice at the other end of the line patched him through after he satisfied her cryptic questions.

“Longbow speaking,” a hoarse voice declared.

“Dick, how are ya?” Elton grinned wide as he cradled the phone against his shoulder.

“This is Richard Longbow,” the man said, an edge to his tone. “To whom do I speak?”

“Come now, sourpuss. You know it’s me. Your buddy, Elton. Honestly, why does the girl ask for my name if she’s not going to pass it along?”

“Higginbotham,” the man said, as though every syllable caused him incredible pain. “What could you possibly want?”

Does he already know? Elton narrowed his gaze. “I just thought I’d give you a status update. There’s been a development this morning.”

“I see.”

“Your boy, Jimmy, fucked up.” Elton couldn’t help but get a jab in. “He made a real mess of things over here.”

“I see.”

The caveman on the television used his sling, releasing a stone at Daffy’s head. The duck outmaneuvered the projectile, despite it following him regardless of his direction.

“He and his men are still alive, but just barely.” Elton rocked himself in the aged banker’s chair. The spring squeaked the same note repeatedly. “It seems he took your instructions to target Ember at his earliest opportunity meant turning a park in Minot into World War II.”

“They did the best that they could with the limited support you are providing.”

So he does know already. That pissant Jimmy called him before he called me. Elton cleared his throat.

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