Bridget

"I didn't lie!" I told my friend. I was about to say more, but Ashlee quickly came to my defense.

"He's not lying, Bridget. That's one of the things I've always loved about Marcus: The man's incapable of lying."

It's not that I couldn't lie if I had to...I just never wanted to. I had lied once to my father when I was younger, and he saw right through it. I learned my lesson from that incident and decided that it was far better to admit my shortcomings and endure the eventual consequences.

"Well, if that's the case, then what is your occupation?" Bridget asked.

I cleared my throat as my eyes went back and forth between each woman. I finally told the beautiful brunette, "I guess the easiest way to explain it is that I'm something of an investigative journalist...something akin to a detective."

Even though the situation was undeniably serious, Ashlee couldn't help but smile as she cooed, "Oooh! A private dick!"

I tried to keep our conversation professional as I told the lovely ladies, "I couldn't call myself a straight up detective, but I have a similar skillset and do a lot of the same things..."

"So...you're a detective," Bridget flatly said since she didn't think I was making a good argument against it. She shook her head as she mumbled, "Damn it, Marcus! Why didn't you say something sooner? Why the hell are you working in such a dangerous occupation?"

I know I had tried to get Ashlee to be serious just seconds before, but I tried my best to jest, "Well, to be perfectly honest, I've seen how the guys act at the Treasure Chest, Bridget. I think your job may be a little more dangerous than mine..."

She playfully hit my left arm. "Come on! I'm trying to be serious!"

"I'm sorry!" I chuckled as I slid away from her to retreat from her "attack."

Ashlee decided to walk over and joined us by pushing me back toward Bridget and sitting on my right side. "I had no idea you had chosen such a dangerous occupation, Marcus. I have to say that I'm in agreement with Bridget on this one. Why did you choose such a frightening profession to go into...especially knowing how many people there are out there who love and care about you?"

"I didn't really choose it...it kind of fell in my lap."

Bridget didn't seem to care much for my frivolity. "After seeing that man out there in the woods...I don't think this is something you should stick with, Marcus."

"What did you see that made you drag us back to the truck?" Ashlee cut in since she wanted an answer. "There was something out there that spooked you, Marcus. I could actually see it in your eyes...and it terrified me!"

I lowered my head while shaking it as I answered, "Honestly, Ashlee...I don't know. You know how the hair on the back of your neck stands on end or the way you get goose bumps when you feel a presence or something you can't explain?"

Ashlee remained silent while nodding.

"Well, there was something out in those woods watching us. Something we couldn't see...and something I sure as hell couldn't begin to explain. As menacing as I believed Nick to be, whatever was lurking out in those woods was ten times worse."

"Was Nick the hooded guy?" Ashlee asked.

"I can't be sure, but I think so. And if it wasn't, maybe it was someone working for him and what I felt in the woods was the actual Nick. I just don't know."

"Why do you think he wanted my necklace?" Bridget threw in a question of her own.

"I couldn't tell you that either," I answered as I glanced at the beautiful brunette. "Actually, I was really hoping you could tell me that."

"I have no idea!" My gracious hostess replied. "Like most of the stuff in my house, it was something that's been handed down throughout the generations of my family. I never heard any kind of story behind it that made it special...I just always thought it was pretty!"

"We never did find it on that cloaked nutjob's body," Ashlee chimed in. "Do you suppose we just didn't look hard enough, or..."

I ran a hand through my hair as I conflictedly muttered, "I think whoever - or whatever - was in the woods took it." I hoped my assessment wouldn't upset Bridget too much.

The bountiful brunette remained strong and tried not to care too much about the necklace as she caught something else I had said and inquired, "If it wasn't a person who had left that man in such a mess, what could it have possibly been?"

"I'm not sure, but it wasn't something I would care to meet head-on."

"Hell no, you wouldn't!" Ashlee called out. "Just look at what it did to that asshole!"

Upon hearing what the goth babe had called her attacker, Bridget shivered as she ran her hands over her opposite arms as if to warm them. When she thought about the enigmatic individual, she mumbled, "When he lunged at me to steal the necklace, the hood obscured most of his face...but I could see his eyes. There was so much hate behind them." She paused for a minute before gazing directly into mine. "They were the complete opposite of yours, Marcus. When I look into yours, I see sensitivity and unlimited compassion."

I placed an arm around the wonderful woman and pulled her in close. I gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before doing the same with Ashlee. I could see that they both enjoyed the gesture.

The gothic beauty was the first to speak when she finally inquired, "So now what? What do we do now?"

I wasn't sure what the raven-tressed woman was referring to. "Well, for starters, I suppose we should head back to the inn and collect your belongings..."

"I'm not talking about that, Marcus!" Ashlee inadvertently cut me off since she was so worked up about recent events. "I'm talking about what we found out in that huge forest! Should we report it to the authorities here in town?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat since what I was about to say scared me to death. Ignoring Ashlee's question since it led to something more important, I sternly told my ravishing companions, "Girls, I know what you're both going to say, but after what went down out there, I have to hit the road again. I have to find out what did this, and I have to be sure that the remains we discovered did in fact belong to Nick. I have to know that what I saw..."

"We're going with you, then," Bridget cut me off immediately.

Ashlee nodded her head. "I'm dropping everything for you, Marcus Veovin...so you can bet that sweet ass of yours that I'll be tagging along as well!"

"Maybe you can make us secret agents like you or something!" Bridget added with a giggle.

I wanted the two women to be serious since I knew the road ahead was going to be fraught with peril. As much as I enjoyed their carefree attitudes, this was certainly not a time for wisecracks. I faced my brown-haired friend first as I told her, "In order to do what I have to do, I'm going to be doing some traveling; and by traveling, I mean I'm going to be going pretty damn far. Bridget, you have such a nice house here..."

"It's paid for and will be here waiting for me when we come back," the beautiful brunette informed me.

I raised an eyebrow as I pointed out, "When we first met, you told me you worked two jobs because you needed the money..."

"Everybody needs money, Marcus."

I guess I had assumed she needed the coin in order to pay for her house. Perhaps Bridget had other reasons she needed the money for, and if that was the case, it wasn't my place to pry. Still, I also thought about the brunette's occupations as I reminded her, "And you have your jobs..."

"First of all," the brown-haired babe cut me off, "If you plan on leaving any time soon, I'm going with you. If I have to leave my jobs...so be it. Besides, this may be an opportunity for me to get out and see a bit of the world!" Bridget paused for only a moment before her voice became somewhat meek and she pointed out, "And I'm not about to lose you, Marcus."

"Me neither," Ashlee chimed in since she didn't want me to forget that she was there. "I've already told you that I'd leave everything to be with you...and I meant it. I don't care how fucking dangerous you claim the road in front of you is...the three of us will meet it together. If we need to, I'm sure Bridget and I can pay our own ways, but regardless, we're going with you. So, what do you say?"

I think both women thought I was going to make up some kind of excuse in order to convince them to remain behind. God knows I wanted to, but I felt the same way both of them did...I couldn't go on without them. I had been on the road by myself long enough. I wanted someone to share those adventures with. I wanted someone special to watch my back the same way I would hers. I wanted two partners whom I trusted more than anyone else in the world.

I had two pairs of eyes on me that were awaiting answers.

Placing my right hand on Ashlee's left knee, I glanced over at Bridget and finally said, "I wouldn't ask you to pack up your life and everything you have here to come with me...but if you would, I sure as hell would do everything in my power to protect you from all evil and make sure that your first time out in the world went without a hitch."

Bridget's smile became larger than I had ever seen it.

I then faced Ashlee as I told her, "And if you'd still like to follow me into the unknown, I want you to know that I sure as hell wouldn't turn you away. I'll do everything I can to shield you from all the wickedness out there as well...although after the way you handled yourself back in the club last night, there's a very real possibly that you might end up protecting me!" I smiled when thinking about the look on the man's face who had been kicked right in the balls.

Ashlee threw her arms around me as she gave me one of the biggest and warmest hugs I had ever received. It didn't take long for Bridget to join in from the other side. I savored the moment for all it was worth since I knew things weren't going to be easy for us once we hit the road. No matter how prepared we were, there were bound to be formidable challenges before us.

Even though I knew we faced many ups and downs in the days, weeks, and months ahead, I'm happy to say that for the time being, I can finally end one of my tales on a happy note. In conclusion, I actually ended up with the girl for a nice change of pace...in fact, two of them! I certainly wanted to enjoy the moment while it lasted because from past experience, I knew that things had a way of going south in a hurry when I was involved. That's a pessimistic attitude to have for sure, but we all know that history has a way of repeating itself.

However, I was ready to face any challenge head-on. I now had two wonderful cohorts to share in my adventures, and after I was sure that they were rested up and ready to hit the dusty trail, I knew there was nothing I wouldn't do or stoop to in order to see to their safety. As long as I was alive and kicking, they would be too.

And there wasn't a soul out there who wanted to fuck with Marcus Veovin when his ladies were involved.

END OF BRIDGET'S TALE