CHAPTER 6: A CLOSE CALL

“WELL,” a voice boomed over me.

My eyes fluttered open.  It’s bright.  For a moment I think about the most bizarre dream I’ve just had.  But I know better.  My body still aches.  I still smell the strong leather aroma around me.  I feel like I’ve been unconscious for hours.  I need to get my bearings… I run the back of my hand across my eyes, willing my vision to adjust.  Then, I freeze.  Green eyes.  Dangerous ones.  Jayne.

Running would be pointless.  I simply stare up at her.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS,” she says.

I peer up at her massive form.  Absolutely helpless.  I could see her thumbs from both hands resting on either side of the handbag’s opening.  I trace her arms to her supple yet powerful frame, which brandished modest yet lovely endowments, still encased in the snug tank top she was wearing when I first saw her at the Lonely Tavern.  Her brown hair was tied in a single ponytail past her right ear.  Resigned, I looked into her green eyes again, awaiting my fate.  Then, I cock my head to the side as I realize… she’s not looking at me.

“SERIOUSLY,” she says.  “HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GONNA CALL ME?”

Her enormous right hand lurches past me like a locomotive and seizes the phone that can’t be more than ten feet away.  I hardly noticed the red light blinking on the phone, indicating another message.  I must have been tired if I slept through that phone going off.  Both Jayne and the phone disappeared from sight.  Before I had a chance to savor my good fortune (yet again), the handbag was on the move again.  My stomach dropped out from under me as she flung her purse onto another surface.  It was softer, whatever it was, which was nice since a whole dump truck of miscellaneous cosmetics, a wallet, and my chapstick bed crashed all about me.  Ouch.

But the purse was on its side now.  I could get to the opening without having to climb upwards.  I had tempted fate a little too much, I think.  After hearing her threaten to crush and eat Hotshot, and hearing her delight in his subsequent terror, I had a feeling I was in the wrong room.  Where were those guys, anyways?  I limped towards the light, and I saw Jayne’s midsection flash past me.  She had changed to sweatpants now.  She was dialing her phone with her right hand and chewing at the thumbnail of her left.  Suddenly she stopped.

“Leila,” Jayne blurted.  “What do you want?  I already got your text.  I texted you back.  We got ‘em all.  And no, you probably aren’t going to get one this time after what you did.”

I recalled her text apologizing about what she “did” to Kyle.  Jayne started pacing the room again as she continued to speak to Leila, my double-crossing client.

“No… five of them, just like before.  We always do five; you know that… what do you mean, ‘a sixth guy,’?  There was nobody else there,” Jayne stopped pacing with her back turned to me.  Now was my chance.

I sprinted out of the handbag and onto a down comforter that was larger than a football field.  I didn’t have time to survey the room much, I simply needed to get to safe place.  I darted towards the side of the bed, which wasn’t easy on this surface.  Peering over the edge, I could see the hardwood floors.  It was a long drop.

“Slow down, Lei,” Jayne was saying, “you’re telling me you sent a sixth guy over to the bar?”

I saw a spot where the comforter touched the floor and rested outward, just a bit.  If I could get over there, I could probably climb it.  I could actually fit my hands between the threads of this thing.  Definitely doable.

“Well, he wasn’t there when we got there.  Maybe he took your money and ran, stupid,” said Jayne.  “Oh, you’re there right now?  He opened a tab, huh?  Maybe he did see us.  So what?  You already know who he is.  You have his credit card there, we can figure out where he lives…”

Son of a…

“His car was still there?  I guess it’s possible we shrunk him.  If he was watching us from somewhere… if he saw the light then that’s it, he’s toast.”

Interesting, I thought.  But I still had work to do.  These girls might actually piece this together, and I had better not be standing on Jayne’s bed when they figure it out.  I climbed.  It was easier than I thought it would be.

“Lei, you know what?  After we… released the barkeep from his services… I had to get a towel from the closet.  Now that I think about it, that door was already open a little.  Maybe he was in there.  Check there.”

Now I was on the floor.  Jayne whipped around and walked in my direction.  Her legs were titanic columns of pure feminine power and destruction.  Her bare feet delicately came closer with each step.  The hardwood plank beneath me reacted by bending and creaking each time her foot landed on it.  I pushed my back into the comforter as far as it would allow.

“His car’s still there, so he didn’t leave.  Not at his normal size at least.  Look around one more time.  If he made it outside somehow, you’re in the middle of nowhere.  Nature will naturally select his puny ass in no time.  Just come back, you’ve got a couple hours.  Don’t tell anyone.   And while I appreciate the gesture, you still owe me for what you did with Kyle… No, no I won’t tell Angel.  But that’s two you owe me, now,” she teased.

Her left foot came crashing down in front of me and she stopped.  I stared literally within arm’s reach of a big toe whose nail came up to my chin.

“Hurry up and come back.  We’re about to start, so I’ll talk to you when you get here,” Jayne said and hung up the phone.

She turned and ran out of the room.  Now what?  And what on earth happened to Kyle?  Was he even the client’s brother?