War-N-Wit, Inc. – Resurrection (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

I walked over and looked down at Legion, sprawled on the
gleaming black and white chessboard marble tile of the foyer. Little mewling
sounds came out of his mouth as the one loop of memory I’d planted in his brain
played on, over and over and over again.

 
“Livia six,” I said.
“Tiberius zero.”

I walked into the drawing room, over to the case holding the
Tear, and lifted it out. I held it up and it twinkled back at me.

“You don’t belong here,” I told it. “Time for you to return
to the good guys.”

I walked outside to check on Ollie. And it was about time
for Chad
to show up, too.

 
“My dear!” Ollie
rushed up the walkway toward me. “I’m so relieved you’re safe! Hurry, over here
in the side bushes! Robert—he’ll be after us!”

“No, he won’t,” I said. “He’s had a stroke.”

“A stroke?”

“Seemed that way to me,” I said. I looked down the street
and saw headlights, coming at too fast a clip to be a casual driver. “And you
need to move over behind those bushes till I can tell my husband you aren’t
that
Hedgepath.”

Tires screamed as they braked. Our SUV cut to the curb. Chad left the
rear-end sticking out in the street and the driver’s door standing wide open. I
rushed out and into his arms. I was fine, of course, but he didn’t know that. He
was scared to death.

“Hey, ease up! You’re goin’ break my ribs!”

He whooshed out a long expelled breath.

“You’re okay? You’re
sure
you’re okay? Hedgepath, whatever the fuck name he’s using—he didn’t hurt you?”

“I’m
fine
.”

“He’s not gonna be fine much longer, I promise you that!” He
turned me loose and headed for the house.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Down, boy! Taken care of. Complicated. Right now, though, I
need you to meet the real Oliver Hedgepath. He’s fine, and he’s the good guy.
Okay, Ollie, you can come out now!”

Ollie emerged from the shadows and I did the honors.
 
“Chad, this is the real one.
 
Ollie, this is my husband, Chad Garrett.”

Ollie offered his hand. “Oh, my. Your husband’s the
legendary Magic Man? So pleased to meet you.”

“Don’t give him the big head, Ollie,” I said as they shook.

“Well, I’m happy to meet you, sir,” said Chad. “And glad
you’re alive, though I’ve got to say that surprises me.”

“Oh, but Robert needed me alive to keep using the glamour. I
was quite safe as long as he needed the identity.”

“Robert?”

“Robert Robertson,” I said. “You believe that’s the best he
could come up with?”

“So where is he now?”

“Com’on. I’ll show you.”

 
We walked back in.
Legion, sprawled on the floor, was still making those mewling sounds that would
have broken my heart had they been coming from anyone else.

“He’s had a stroke,” I said.

“But not really,” Chad said.

“Nope. He’s caught in a memory loop. He’s Tiberius Maximus.
Tied behind his own war chariot. For the rest of this lifetime.”

Chad
smiled. He reached out and took my face between his hands and kissed me.

“Waited two thousand years to tell you how proud I was of
you. Of Livia. The Scourge of Rome.”

“I always hoped you’d seen that.”

“I saw.”

 
“Well, I don’t fully
comprehend the reference,” Ollie said, “but that’s all right since you two do.
And wherever he is, he deserves it.”
 

“Absolute.”

“So what now?” I asked.

“Find a house phone,” Chad said. “Preferably a portable.
He knew he was in trouble and just managed to dial 911 before he collapsed. And
then we’re outta here.”

“Oh, dear, but I don’t have my wallet or checkbook or car—”

“Ollie,” I said. “Don’t be silly. You’re coming with us.”

“Don’t you want to find your cat?”

“What cat?” asked Chad.

“Micah,” I said. “We won’t find him, Ollie. He’s already
gone back home.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

We dropped Ollie off the next afternoon at his home in
Rebecca. I think I was almost as relieved as he was to find it still intact,
still un-sold, and the utilities still in working order. Dusty though, and he’d
been heading for the furniture polish and Mr. Clean when we’d left him. We
 
assumed Legion kept it as a fallback, just in
case he needed a hidey-hole. I’d become very fond of Ollie and knew we’d found
a new member of our rapidly growing extended magical family. We were almost to
the turn-in to Pine Whisper Planation when Chad laughed suddenly.

“Whatcha’ laughin’ at?”

“Myself. Just remembered what I told you on the way to the
airport when we were flying out to Vegas.”

“And what was that?”

“That I thought you might have a ‘tad bit of mind control.’
Understatement much?”

“Just a little, maybe. I never did get to see the show at
Club One, either.”

“We’ll go back to Savannah,
baby girl. I love Savannah.
In spite of Legion.”

“Yeah, I do, too. Glad G didn’t think that memory loop thing
was a misuse of power. Sorta worried me after I thought about it. Not at the
time, of course, but afterwards.”

In fact, G had been delighted when we reported in and said
he couldn’t have done it better himself. That was a relief. Didn’t wanta start
out on the wrong foot with the Guardians. On our way to Ollie’s house, he’d
called and reported the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department was
delighted with the excuse to assume control of Robert Robertson and the Jones
Street House. Seemed he’d been under investigation due to a large number of
complaints. Apparently, some of Savannah’s
richer denizens were discovering large transfers of money from their accounts
to his and had no recollection at all of how that might have happened.

We turned into our driveway that qualified in length as a
country road. “I’m glad to be home,” I said.

“Me, too.”

Chad
pulled up in the yard and parked. As I got out, I spotted Micah. He was sitting
on top of the deck rail, keeping watch. When he saw me, he nodded his head and
leapt over into the tree branches.

“That’s okay,” I called after him. “We’ll be talkin’,
darlin’! ‘Cause you can run—but you can’t hide!”

The End.

About the Author

Gail Roughton is a native of small town Georgia. Her Deep
South heritage features prominently in much of her work. She’s written for over
twenty years while raising a family and pursuing a career as a Paralegal/Legal
Assistant.

War-N-Wit, Inc. -
Resurrection
from Books We Love is the second of a series starring the
magical duo of Chad Garrett and Ariel Anson. Keep an eye open for
War-N-Wit, Inc. – The Coven
, the third
book in the
War-N-Wit
series. This
War-N-Wit
, like the first and all future
War-N-Wit
’s, is dedicated to Magic
Man. Wherever he is.

From the Publisher

http://bookswelove.net

We hope you have enjoyed your reading experience. Books We
Love and the author

would very much appreciate you returning to the online
retailer where you purchased this

book and leaving a review.
Happy Reading Jamie and Jude

Top quality books loved by readers,

Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Young
Adult,

Vampires, Werewolves, Cops, Lovers.

If you're looking for something
Spicier, visit

http://spicewelove.com