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It was ti people to react to s Screw the bastards, indeed "You still have that GPS navigation unit?"

"Yeah It’s down in my truck"

"Any chance I could borrow it for a couple days?"

"Sure Why?"

"I have to find an island" Specifically, I needed to find the Isle of Serenity If the queen was annoyed I hadn’t dropped byit was tio find out who didn’t want me to ain, Bubba liked to deep-sea fish Every tile a couple of days off he was out on the water in his boat, Mona’s Rival, so na that caood-sized vessel, too, big enough to hold five in reasonable comfort That was convenient, since that’s exactly howI didn’t knohat Bubba would charge me, but it had to be less than one of the commercial rentals Despite what I’d told Gran, I wasn’t broke yet, but I was going through capital at a truly alar rate That refund froet it" Bubba rose with a lazy grace and meandered downstairs

I closed my office door and locked it I stripped down toout of the comfy-but-not-practical-for-business workout clothes and into the things I’d picked up froran’s I hadn’t had a lot to choose from and oth" teenage period I pulled on black low-rise jeans and was pleased to discover that they still fit perfectly Yay Let’s hear it for the all-liquid dietat least until the next time I craved a pizza

The cropped black tee with the ht across the bust but not enough to be uncoht froh and cover enough that I wouldn’t look slutty in the tight top Which left o with the white sneakers: practical but not terribly stylish; the lace-up, heavy-duty, steel-toed Frankenstein’s work boots, which would certainly make a fashion statement but were a little extreme; or the dress pumps I’d worn to court Not the puht in heels, but I’m not one of them The Frankenboots were fun but heavy So I ith the sneakers

Once I was decent, I opened the door Bubba would be back in a er, I spread it out flat on the desktop and openedto a foreign country, after all Then I began ar for my Colt when I heard Bubba’s tread on the stairs I checked the gun, going with silver-jacketed loads Not cheap and not necessary for dealing with ordinary baddies, but damned near essential if you want to do more than annoy the monsters In my case, better safe than sorry

I put a pair of One Shot water pistols, filled with holy water, in the snap loops Isaac had sewn into the jacket lining to hold theer When Bubba reachedwhat else I should take I have quite a few preset spells, little ceramic disks like the one Bruno had used at the courthouse You don’t have to be a ic It would be very cool if Creede really could put a full binding spell in a disk Not knohat I’d be up against, I couldn’t knohat spells Ifor bear" Bubba set the GPS unit on the desk and picked up the beer bottle he’d set there earlier

"I’m in the middle of a situation"

"This is about what Dottie saw in those bugs, isn’t it?" Bubba opened the beer and took a seat, leaning forward, elbows on his knees

I sighed and glanced at the Wadjeti, visible on the shelf of rab a handful of boos, the size of a quarter, that were spelled to e sound when broken They’re useful in any number of situations I popped a few in each of the front jacket pockets

"You’re going to need backup" Bubba’s voice was flat When I turned to look at hi to slits "And you’ll need a boat to get to that island"

I really wanted hiht be facing Not that I knewto get ugly"

He smiled and the chipped tooth was proof of his next words "I can do ugly"

He probably could He was definitely a tough ole boy He stood up, grabbing the beer "Give me a couple minutes I need to let Mona know and call Stew"

12

Stew is Bubba’s brother-in-law He has the saood looks as Bubba’s wife, Mona, but none of her fire Mona’s ambitious, driven in both her career and her ho, cad He has a bail bondsman’s license, but the only ti for Bubba Mostly he pays bass in a band, h es off of the s who think that his being in a band le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>