Moon - New Moon Part 74

"So... everything's okay here..." he managed to say.

"Yes. Just a misunderstanding," Mrs. Marshall said, using the same words as her husband.

Jake nodded. He should ask more questions. But somehow the things he'd wanted to know had evaporated from his brain.

Marshall s.h.i.+fted his weight from one foot to the other.

"What?"

"I've been thinking about what you told me about the Easy Shopper, about the invisible men."

"You still think they're from another... universe?"

Marshall winced. "I guess I've been watching too many science fiction shows, and my imagination started running away with me. But what if a bunch of druggies were burning some kind of hallucinogen in the woods, and, you know, you breathed some of it in."

Jake had thought of something like that himself.

"My cousin, Adam, is a forest ranger in Georgia, and he encountered something similar," Marshall continued. "A bunch of retro hippies were having parties in the park. That would explain what happened to you. Maybe that big white bird you saw was a figment of the smoke."

"Uh huh," Jake muttered. He still wasn't sure what had happened, but he'd lost the urgency to find out. And he was still feeling a little confused.

"Thanks for your time," he said, then turned and left the Marshall house, thinking what a nice couple they were.

AS they stood at the window watching the detective climb into his car and drive away, Logan slung his arm around Rinna.

"You did good. Does your head hurt?" he asked.

"A little. But not much. That wasn't... a big job. I just had to push him in the right direction. And your drug story was good."

She leaned her head against his shoulder.

He stroked her arm. "It helped that you bought us a couple of extra days to get the ID. And a birth certificate to match." He swallowed, "And a marriage certificate."

She nodded against his shoulder. "He was suspicious. And my fingerprints must be in that house."

"But they're not on file anywhere. And I guess we took care of the prints at the house where we broke in."

"Yes."

"We'll just have to stay out of trouble in the future."

He cleared his throat. "About the marriage certificate. It looks legal. But I want to have a ceremony. Where we stand up in front of a minister and tell the world we belong to each other."

She swallowed. "It's still hard to believe... that I'm here living with you."

"Believe it. We can fly to Las Vegas with Ross and Megan and Lance and Savannah and some of the others... when you feel comfortable enough to fly in an airplane."

"Give me a little time." She rushed ahead. "I mean... about the flying. I'm sure about the marriage part."

"That's progress."

She gave him a serious look. "Megan and Savannah helped me a lot."

"Good."

"Not just about being married to you. They got me to the point where I felt like I could face that detective and not fall apart."

"You could have done it without them."

"Maybe not."

"You did a wonderful job with him. You looked like you've lived here for years."

She turned to him, and raised her face to his, and he saw the moisture s.h.i.+mmering in her eyes.

He touched her cheek with a finger. "Don't cry."

"It's hard not to. I feel so... blessed by the Great Mother. In a thousand years, I never could have imagined finding you, living with you."

His own vision blurred. "You'll get used to it. We both will."

She swallowed. "I wish Haig could have lived to see this."

"He betrayed you."

"Falcone forced him. And..."

"What?"

"The badlands changed him. He couldn't live that way. I wish you had known him years ago. When he was himself. He was a good man. He kept me going when I was in school."

"Keep the good memories of him, And share them with me."

"I will. I'll share everything with you."

"Everything."

He kissed her cheek and held her close. When her arms crept around his neck, he smiled, then slid his own arms around her back and down to her hips.

"I think we should celebrate," he murmured. "I mean, celebrate getting that cop off our backs."

"He knows we were involved with Falcone... somehow."

"But he can't prove it. And he'll leave us alone."

"Yes."

She captured the back of his head and brought his mouth down to hers for a long, hungry kiss. When he broke the contact, he was as hard as one of the soldiers' spears.