Robert Asprin - Dragons Wild

“Like I said, I remembered you had a sister here, so that’s where I looked for you.” Jerome smiled. “Figured you’d want to talk things over with her once you were enlightened. After that, it was just a matter of cruising until I spotted the Goblin. Man, if you want to move around without bein’ noticed, you’ve got to get a different set of wheels. That ride of yours is way too easy to spot.”

While he knew Jerome was right, Griffen bristled at the thought of giving up his beloved Goblin.

“So it’s distinctive,” he said. “What are the odds of someone being in my vicinity to spot it if they don’t know where to look? If you hadn’t known about Valerie, would you be here looking?”

Jerome threw back his head and laughed.

“Man, you have no idea what you’re up against,” he said. “I said our crew was small and weak compared to the big boys. Let me give you an idea of what can be done. One of the top dragons on this continent is Stoner. You know what he does for his nine to five? He’s one of the high lords of the new Homeland Security. That means that if he wants, he can put your name, description, and the description of your car out on the computers as ‘suspected terrorist associate—do not detain but report location and movement’ and every cop and federal agent will be keeping their eyes peeled for you.”

An image suddenly appeared in Griffen’s mind. A picture of a state police car pulling up beside the Goblin and looking it over.

“And you can forget using credit cards,” Jerome was continuing. “For that matter, there are rumors that cell phones—”

“Wait a minute, Jer,” Griffen interrupted. “Do you know this Stoner guy?”

“Only by reputation.” His friend shrugged. “Like I say, we don’t travel in the same circles.”

“In your opinion,” Griffen said, “is he the type to arrange a car accident for someone he’s got a problem with?”

“That sounds kinda specific,” Jerome said, cocking an eyebrow. “Anything in particular you have in mind?”

Griffen filled him in on the morning’s highway skirmish.

“I dunno,” Jerome said when he had finished. “That doesn’t really sound like Stoner’s style. Dragons, particularly big ones like Stoner, tend to avoid open confrontations. Too high profile. I’ll tell you what it might be, though.”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice.

“Even though law-enforcement types are supposed to cooperate when called on, the truth of the matter is they don’t like anyone trespassing on their personal jurisdiction…especially not Feds. If Stoner did put out a tracker on you as a terrorist associate, I’d say there’s an even chance that while the boys in uniform would follow the letter of the law, they wouldn’t be above calling some of their buddies, maybe retired buddies, to take an unofficial hand. That would be especially true down here in the South. The good old boy right wingers would love to get a bead on a terrorist…especially since 9/11.”

“Doesn’t sound like someone who would slide a card under the door of my motel room,” Griffen said almost to himself.

“A card?” Jerome said. “You mean like a business card?”

“No, I mean like a tarot card,” Griffen said, and produced the card from the motel, which he was still carrying in his wallet.

Jerome leaned forward and studied the card, then leaned back with a scowl.

“I don’t know for sure,” he said carefully. “I just hope that isn’t what I think it is.”

“What’s that?” Griffen said.

Jerome shook his head.

“I think you should wait and talk to Mose about that,” he said firmly. “He knows more about that stuff than I do. Last thing I want to do right now is to give you bad information.”

“Speaking of information, let me ask you something else.” Griffen said uneasily. “When my uncle Malcolm first told me about being a dragon, he said something about how my secondary powers should be appearing soon. I think that’s what might have happened this morning.”

“Could be,” Jerome said. “Sounds like it took some pretty fancy driving to get out from under all that. ’Course, faster reflexes and above-average strength are part of the normal package deal.”

“That isn’t what I was talking about,” Griffen said. “I was thinking more about my temper. I mean, it should have been over, Jerome. I drove my way out and was sitting safe on the soft shoulder. I could have just let them drive away. Instead, it was like something clicked in my head, and I took off after them. I really don’t remember clearly what all happened after that, but one of them ended upside down on the median with the other backing up to try to help. That just isn’t like me.”

“I don’t know if dragons have tempers any worse than anyone else,” Jerome said, shaking his head. “The problem is, with their powers, they can’t afford to give in to it. You’d better start learnin’ to get a handle on yours, Grifter. If you start drawing too much attention to yourself, then you’re gonna have the whole pack of ’em down on your case. The one thing nobody wants is to have the humans get wise to the fact there are dragons walkin’ around among ’em.”

“Which brings us to another interesting point,” Griffen said, leaning back in his chair. “Or rather, it brings us back to the original point. You keep talking about Mose and your crew. Just what is it that you want, Jerome? You said he sent you to look for me. Is this another of those ‘recruit him or kill him’ deals?”

“Actually, it’s the other way around.” Jerome grinned. “It’ll be better when you hear about it from Mose in person, but the skinny is that we want to sign on with you.”

That caught Griffen totally by surprise.

“Come again?” he said.

Jerome laughed.

“Remember when I told you that the big guys who were fat and sassy with the status quo would assume any change was bad? Well, my crew have been bottom dwellers so long, we figure any change will have to be an improvement for us. Especially if we line up early on the side of the one doin’ the changin’.”

“But I don’t know anything at this point,” Griffen protested. “And there’s sure no guarantee that these so-called powers of mine are going to develop at all.”

“Mose knows all that,” Jerome said. “We’ve talked it over and we’re willing to take the chance. Look, right now there are a lot of things you need: a place to hole up, time to decide what you’re gonna do, and information to base your decision on. Eventually, you’re also gonna need some financing and manpower to back up whatever it is you decide. We can provide all that. All we ask is that when all is said and done, you remember who it was that stepped forward first to side with you.”

“Yeah, but what if I come up empty?” Griffen said. “Then you’ll have taken sides against the big dragons and lost.”

“We’re already pretty much bottom of the heap.” Jerome shrugged. “It’s kinda like an oh-and-twelve football team gambling on a new coach. We got nowhere to go but up. So, what do you say, Coach? Is it at least worth a listen?”

Griffen hesitated. Even if listening wasn’t an actual commitment, it was still a big step. Besides, he was feeling more than a little hurt that Jerome had initiated a friendship under false pretenses. It rubbed the wound of what Mai had done. A very fresh and raw wound.

On the other hand, what were his choices? Was he ready to face more shadowy figures in dark parking lots alone? He had just been considering the fact that he and Valerie had nowhere specific to go and no plan to follow. At least Jerome was offering a base of operation and even some financing. It sounded better than the alternatives…especially since he didn’t have any.