”—Nathan Everett, Municipal BlondesI SWAM UP into consciousness and tried to will myself back to the land of bliss. I wasn’t ready to meet what ...was waiting for me. My first conscious thought was simply, “Pey.” She wasn’t yet eleven years old and she was gone. I’d known her only two and a half years and she was gone. She wasn’t finished with fifth grade and she was gone. If I ever found those bastard powers that be, I’d do my best to kill them all.I sensed hands before I actually felt them in. "I've got some things to tend to," he gave his excuse for leaving. "I should be about an hour. Will you be okay until I get back?" I'll be fine," she assured him, her tone a lot warmer than ever before. "What should I tell BethAnn if she wakes up?" How do you mean, what should you tell her?" he couldn't figure out."She's going to want to know where you are," Brianna explained herself. "So what should I tell her?" Tell her that I went to check on Rocky and Pepé, and if I can find him, Frontenac.. ‘Jeez, Diane, where did you find that gorgeous piece of…oh, shit…sorry, I didn’t realize it was Shannon under there,’ said a familiar voice. I fumed. I couldn’t see him but I knew it was Marty, club owner, ‘president’ of our wrestling federation and weasel extraordinaire. Not to mention the sonofabitch that got me into this situation. Diane’s hips rocked back and forth on my face as she acknowledged Marty. ‘Oh, hello, Marty. Who’s your friend?’ ‘This is, ahh, Cruiser. Cruiser, this is Diane and. " Mandy! I was going to tell him later! Oh well, I guess now is jsut as good as later. Jack, if you want it, I have a job as a roving reporter for you. You will get your articles published in all of my newspapers. Of course your wages will be quite a bit higher too. It amounts to about double what you earn now."Jack and Betty looked at each other. Neither gave a thought to the adulterous things that had just happened. Betty jumped into her husband's arms and kissed him deeply. Mandy had gotten.