Night had
just rolled in. I had made all the preparations I could. All of the gear I
dared take, much good it would do me, scattered across my desk in the office. I
fast approached the point of no return. When I left, that would be it, I was
committed.
I pulled
out my cell and dialed a Florida number. They
might be in bed by now, but—
I cut the
thought off as a woman answered the phone with a somewhat sleepy “Hello?”
“Ma, it’s
Matt. Did I wake you?”
“Matt? No,
no. I was just watching a Matlock re-run with Dad. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s
fine. I just, well, I wanted to tell you thanks, Ma.”
“Thanks,
for what?”
“For
raising me.”
“It’s not
Mother’s Day, Matt. Or Christmas. You never say those things except on
holidays. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I
just wanted you to know. I mean, I know you don’t really understand or approve of
what I do, but I deal with some pretty bad people.” The mobsters aren’t the worst part by far. Vampires, megalomaniacal
witches, possessive spirits, and worse. “Because of you I—well, I don’t
always make the right choice at the time, but I like to think I make up for it
and do right by the end. And that’s because of you.”
“Thank you,
Matt. That’s always nice to hear. Now, you’re sure you’re all right? I can put
Dad on the phone for you if you need something.”
“Everything
is pretty normal, Ma. I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you. I’ll
call another day to talk to Dad. Bye, Ma. Love you.”
“All right.
Love you, too, Matt.”
I clicked
my phone off. A mother needs to know her
son loves her before he might end up dead.