# Good Friends in Bad places

Author: assilsasta
Tags: Blackmail, Chichilla, Drunk, Kangaroo Mouse, Liger, Otter, Shady dealings

The rain had been falling for the past three hours, the
precipitation mixed with the puddle of three day old urine and sweat. She could
feel the drenched uniform sticking to her fur beneath the body armor and gilly
suit. Lightning flashed in the distance, causing the green of the night vision
scope to go white and useless for several seconds at a time. She sucked more
water through the tubing coming from the buried container. The wet sand ground
into her hard as it settled deep into every section of her clothing. The past
three days had been filled with dust storms and rain yet they had not moved.
The sight was trained on a building one thousand meters out. "Target spotted,
third floor, fifth window. Wind speed forty-five kilometers per hour." PFC
Heartken recited, looking through his rangefinder. Lifting the ballistic
goggles from her face, she moved the scope to the intended location. "Four
targets confirmed. One primary, in red turban, all others tertiary. Ignore
unless you have a clear shot."
 
"I can take three, now." she said charging the bolt on her
Lapua Magnum Sniper rifle.
 
"Range clear, fire when ready." Following the order the
mechanical sounds of gunfire and charging are heard four times in rapid
succession, followed by a flash of light, and a deafening boom of thunder.
 
---
 
(June 11th 05:00)
 
Cecily awoke with the first crash of thunder. She wanted so
badly to run; instead she questioned herself as she climbed out of her queen
sized bed and into bed with Lilly. She seemed to still be asleep, yet she was
shivering, but her body was so warm. Cecily curled up as close as she could.
With every crash she felt the large liger jerk and shiver. The thought of her
being so close to someone who had killed people scared Cecily, but the strength
and concern she saw that day put those fears to the back of her mind. This was
different, she was different, and the conflicting emotions swirled in her head.
Then a bible verse from the one time she was taken to church floated through
her mind, 'If he is with us, who can stand against us.' Maybe that was what
Lilly was to Cecily, the strength and courage she never had.
 
Lilliana jerked awake, eyes instantly wide and alert.
Another flash of lightning outside the hotel windows brought her into the
present. She was shivering, the old memories triggered by the weather, and
perhaps relieving the others in her mind. She laid on her side with a small,
warm body huddled next to her chest. Looking down at the bed she saw Cecily the
undersized kangaroo mouse, curled into a ball, shivering as if she were ice
cold. Lilliana reached around the tiny form, which must have crawled into the
bed with her when the storm started, and pulled her close. She whispered into
her ear, "Don't be scared, I won't let anything hurt you ever again." The feel
of those powerful, yet gentle arms surged through her small body. The warmth
from the liger drove out the shivers and fear. Cecily laid there, slowly
drifting back to sleep
 
Lillyana awoke from what felt like eons of sleep, looking
down she saw Cecily wrapped in her arms. A smile crossed her face; this was the
best she had felt in years. As gently as she could, Lilliana reached for the
pocket watch on the bedside table. When she snapped it open her eyes went wide,
11:30AM. She immediately jumped out of the bed, "Sorry to wake you like this,
but we have thirty minutes to checkout. We're going to have to skip the
primping today, Sisy." Without complaint or contest, Cecily followed the order
and moved swiftly to ready herself to go.
 
---
 
(06:30 somewhere in the mountains of Oregon)
 
Susan's Jeep bounced down the dirt road bordered by tall
pines. She always loved the drive out there, the country was so beautiful. What
she dreaded was the arrival at her destination. She had fallen for Hank Heartken
back in the service, but everything changed on that fateful day back in Iraq.
Their final mission as a team had not gone as planned. They had lost seven of
their team mates to a mortar attack, and it was not looking good for the rest
of them. Lilly and Hank were the only ones able to hold the enemy at bay. That
effort saved the remainder of the team, but at the cost of both Hank and Lilly.
After that, Hank was put out for psychological trauma, while Lilly had finished
her enlistment and just did not re-up. Susan and Alex were assigned to new
units, and the Dark Riders were dissolved.
 
Hank had not been doing well for the past month; the
flashbacks were getting worse, as was the drinking. He blamed himself for what
had happened to him and Lilly, though Lilly reserved the anguish for the others
all to herself. Their first two years out of the service, Hank and Lilly stayed
together. Lilly spent the time trying to do what she could for him, but in the
end he pushed her away.
 
It was only three years ago he moved to the secluded
mountain cabin, the year after Lilly's contract with the State National Guard
ended. Susan had been in Oregon for four years now, and try as she might, she
never could find the connection she had with him before that day. Every week for
two years after Lilly had left; Susan went up to the cabin to try getting
through to him. But every time he was either drunk, or off in the woods. It
broke her heart to see him like this; this would get through to him. Lilly
needed his help. Sure he did not have the government connections she had built
up over the years, but that's not what she needed from him.
 
As the cabin came into view through the trees, she saw Hank
sitting on the porch, rifle in one hand, bottle of Jimmy in the other. Honking
the horn with their agreed signal, she pulled in and came a stop. Susan sat in
the jeep waiting for him to put down the rifle. When he did, the chinchilla
hopped out and ran to the porch. "Hank" she yelled, "You will never believe who
is on their way here."
 
Looking up in a half drunken stupor, the five foot five
otter shouted back, "Unless it is Jesus Christ come to take me home, or Satan
to take me to Hell, I don't give a shit." He sat in a wooden rocker he made
from the local timber, wearing only overalls. His disheveled hair told her he
had not bathed in weeks, if not months.
 
Walking up to the porch now even more angry at him than the situation he put himself in, she
grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to
the door, "Stop talking like that you jackass. We need to get you inside and
cleaned up, we only have three weeks."
 
Having been pulled beyond his control, "Three weeks for
what? And why do we have to get ready for it now."
 
"Because, do you really want Lilly to see you like this?"
She snapped at him. She had come to realize she may have fallen for him, but
after that day, the only person in the world he saw was Lilly.
 
"W-what about Lilly?"
 
"She is on her way back here from out east, and she and
Cecily are going to need a place to stay." She said to him as she started up
the generator to get the well pump working, "And if you think they are going to
stay here with this place and you in this condition, you're out of your mind."
 
"C-Cecily? Who is Cecily?"
 
"If your drunk ass didn't isolate yourself out here and you
kept this damned phone charged.. " tossing the cell phone off the table at him
"... or better yet, came back into town and stayed with me, you might know what
the fuck is going on in this world." She
sat on a wooden bucket Hank often used as a chair, "Lilliana is trying to adopt
a runaway she found in D.C. You know how she is, trying to save everyone but
herself. Why the hell you pushed her away like that when she offered to take
you with her is beyond me."
 
"I like it here, I didn't want to leave." thinking for a
moment, the alcohol dimming his wit, "Why would she need to come here about a
runaway from D.C.?"
 
"You fucking jackass, you're drinking you brain cells away.
The girl ran away from here. They are coming back to get some paperwork done. I
am going to do what I can to push it through as fast as I can. I'm probably
going to lose my job over this, but it's for Lilly, we owe her that much."
 
Hanging his head low, Hank sat in silence for several long
moments. "Is... is she really coming here?" Looking up at Susan, "It's been three
years. I can't see her like this."
 
"That's what I am trying to tell you, she is coming here
with her soon to be daughter. You look like shit, this place looks like shit.
And I don't have room for them to stay in my apartment." Standing up and
turning to the door, "Now charge your fucking cell phone, she could be trying
to call you right now, and clean this place up like you think she deserves."
 
Closing the door behind her she stopped on the porch, tears
forming in her eyes, "I'm sorry for that Hank, but you need to see her more
than I do." Straightening up her jacket
and wiping the tears from her eyes, she glanced at her watch; she had just
enough time to get out of the mountains and into the office.
 
---
 
(08:30 Portland, OR)
 
Susan sat in the jeep outside the City Auditor's office
changing out of her hiking boots into high heel shoes. She had been working
with the City Auditor for a month now. She had used the many contacts she made
over the past years working as the county court clerk, to get her foot in the
door after getting certified as an auditor. Now she found herself using that
network again for what was a much more
important issue in her mind.
 
This past weekend Lilliana Fargo, the one person Susan owed
more to than anyone, asked her for a favor. Lilly never asks for favors, so
when she called, Susan jumped at the opportunity to do something for the person
who is responsible for her still being alive. The favor was out of her
jurisdiction, but with her new position she had access to much of the
information, and contacts in the right places.
The prospect of adopting a child in the state of Oregon was often a two
year process. Their plan was to get past the most difficult issues in less than
thirty days.
 
Today Susan was going to put her career on the line, and
bend her own moral rules to speed the process along. as she walked into her
office building, she pulled a prepaid cellphone from her purse and punched in a
number. She strutted through the hall as the phone picked up on the other side,
"You know who it is. Use simple yes and no answers. Do you understand?... Good.
Did you get my message?... Do you understand what I am asking for?... Do you understand what is in it for you?...
Good. Can you meet me tonight?... You understand that we are both ruined if
this gets out... Good. Don't try to call me at this number." As she pressed the
off button ending the call, she slipped the battery cover off the phone and
removed the battery and SIM card and stuffed them in her pocket, then dropped
the phone in the trash by the receptionist's desk. Susan stepped into her office and closed the
door, and locked it behind her. She sat in the chair behind the desk and rested
her face in the palms of her hands, "What the fuck am I doing? I can't pull
this off." She sighed, "My God, Lilly, why not just ask me to cover up a
murder, I think I can handle that. But this shit is hard."
 
She leaned back in her chair, and picked up the phone,
"Please connect me to the Family services office for Midway... Hello this is Miss
Shelby with the Portland City Auditor's office. Could you please connect me
with your director?... Hello sir, this is Miss Shelby with the Portland
Auditor's office... Yes I understand that you are outside my jurisdiction, I have
a favor to ask you. I would like you to collect all the case files and data for
Cecily Silvana..." She trailed off for a moment as she was interrupted by the
individual on the other side of the phone. "Under investigation?... I have news
that might make your job a bit easier... I know where Cecily is... She is safer
than she has ever been... A friend of mine found her in Washington D.C... She is
driving out here now, but it will take her awhile... She will refuse to cooperate
with that option... Do you want this ... oversight ...to go away?... Right now I
can guarantee that things will look really bad for you and your office as they
are... I want you to transfer all the case files to the Portland Family Services office...
Attention Miss Shelby & Dr. Sooner... I will handle the justification through
the city courthouse... Thank you Mr. Drakens... No need. This is exactly my
intention in calling you. It just worked out better for both of us this way...
Have a nice day." She hung the receiver back in its cradle and spun in her
chair to look out the window. "You have the devil's luck Lilly. Why do you get
everything you ask for and more, when all I want is one otter to notice me?"
Grabbing the headset off the "L" of her desk and putting it on, she pressed the
button on the side, "Yes, could you please connect me with Dr. Sooner's office
at Family Services... Hey there Doc, I need to chat with you about a file that is
coming your way... First, the child is not in the state at this time, but she is
safe and on her way back... That's what I want to discuss... How is the wife?...
and your other young lady?... "
 
---
 
(16:00 Lynchburg, TN)
 
Lilliana and Cecily walked into the Bar-B-Que Caboose Cafe,
even thirty minutes before closing the place was packed. Seeing the new
customers, a Siberian husky waitress with a hand full of small serving baskets
said, "Welcome to Caboose. Take a seat anywhere; I will be with you in a
moment. I believe there are some spots on the 'Back Porch'"
 
She looked across the room and spotted a black poodle come
in through a back door and head to the restroom. "Come on, Squeaky. I think
it's this way." Then she lead the way through the small dining room. Once they
stepped through the door, they saw six tables, only one had three seats, the
remainder was taken up by a family of white poodles. Lilly walked up to the table and took hold of one
seat, "These spots taken?" she asked looking over at what she assumed was the
father of the group.
 
The older poodle pointed to the two seats at one side of the
table, "Those two are free, the other is taken by the boy's date." with a
friendly smile on his face he continued, "Have a seat, they're busy today."
 
Sitting in the seat nearest the family, Lilliana left the
other seat for Cecily. "Thanks." Reaching across the table toward the older
poodle, "Hi there, I'm Lilly, this one here is Sisy. We're passing through on
our trip to Oregon. Glad to see there is still some hospitality left in the
small parts of the world."
 
The poodle took hold of Lilly's hand, "I'm Allan, this is
Francis my wife and these three are our kids."
As he finished going through the introductions the black poodle from
earlier came to the table and sat next to the oldest pup with a quizzical look
on her face. "And that there is Kevin's girlfriend." The boy broke in with an annoyed
growl "DAD!" He continues, releasing her
hand, "Oregon, eh? What brings you through Lynchburg?"
 
"Lemonade ingredients."
She replied with a smile.
 
With that the waitress that greeted them came to the table,
"Sorry about the crowd, it's bustlin' today. Almost everything on the menu is
still available; however we are out of baked potatoes. Our soup of the day is
clam chowder, the sauces are described on the card there, what can I get you
two to drink?"
 
Lilly picked up two of the laminated cardstock menus,
handing one to Cecily, "Well I have a lot of driving ahead of us, so I am
thinking sweet tea for both of us. How
is the pork barbecue plate?"
 
Allan piped up, "Best plate in the state if you're up for
good pit smoked."
 
"Ok, then I'll take a pork plate with a side salad and ranch
dressing. You see what you want, Short stack?" Lilliana asked looking over to
the kangaroo mouse.
 
Speaking barely above a whisper, "Chicken sandwich, please."
Cecily ordered as she set the menu down.
 
"I'll put this into the kitchen and be right back with your
drinks." The waitress said snatching up two empty cups and walking back into
the cafe.
 
Allan looked over at the duo, "So, you two make an odd pair.
Mind telling your story?" His wife looked
at him with a scowl on her face, "Allan, what are you doing?"
"Being a nosey reporter and asking questions, what do you
expect after twelve years together?"
 
"Ha! Now there is a man I could see being a drinking buddy.
Don't worry Frany. I wish there were more people like us in the world." Looking
over at the poodle Lilliana said, "I found Cecily here in a bad place in her
life, and I'm helping her get home."
 
Just then the husky came back with their drinks and placed
the check for the poodle family at the other end of the table. Allan stood up,
"Well damn, that sounds like it is an interesting story, but we need to go."
Holding out his paw with a business card, "I am looking into writing a
collection of stories like yours, and would be willing to pay for your tale if
you're interested. Give me a call sometime."
 
Taking the card, Lilliana told him, "That's an interesting
Idea. We'll think about it."
 
As the family left the table, Allan gave one final comment,
"You two have a safe trip."
 
Now alone at the large table, Cecily looked over at her,
"How do you do that? You're so confident and forward. I could never have talked
to them like that." She spoke in a normal tone, no longer shy.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/607528