Specter's Gamble - 32. EPILOGUE

4 Months Later

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“Next time when I say ‘I am driving,’ just give me the damn keys,” Desmond said shortly, his expression gloomier than ever. “Plus, it’s my damn car!”

Rayhe glanced at him briefly.

“You drive like a maniac,” he said calmly. “Call me crazy, but I would like to live long enough to celebrate my thirty-third birthday.”

“By the time we get there, you’ll turn seventy-five,” Desmond snorted. “Seriously, step on it already!”

“Stop whining,” Rayhe muttered without taking his eyes off the road.

“I am not whining,” Desmond said sharply and rolled down the window. “This is not whining, this is common sense. You drive worse than an old lady, I swear! Whining...” he muttered and lit a cigarette. “I am not a whiner...”

“Yeah,” Sam said solemnly in a back seat. “You are a moaner...”

Rayhe started to cough, and Desmond slowly turned his head to look at the kid. Sam met his stare and shrugged.

“I am not deaf,” he said. “And I am a very light sleeper... Sorry,” he added after Desmond just kept staring at him without blinking.

Finally, Desmond blinked and looked at Rayhe who was biting the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from laughing.

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Desmond said in a low voice. “And stop by a drug store.”

Sam immediately straightened up.

“You gonna buy me sleeping pills?!” he asked incredulously, and Desmond shot him a dirty look.

“No,” he said in the same low voice. “I am going to buy you ear plugs... Shut up, Rayhe!”

“I didn’t say anything!” Gabriel protested.

“Shut up, Rayhe!” Desmond repeated without even a hint of a smile. “If you would only listen to me once in a while, we wouldn’t have to do this, you know... There was that wonderful house -- great deal, available right now... But nooooo.... ‘It’s too expensive... It doesn’t have a good view... It’s too far from everything...’ Ugh!”

“All those statements were true and you know it!”

“The bedrooms, genius! The bloody bedrooms were five hundred miles apart from each other! I would’ve paid more! Goddammit! It’s not like we don’t have the money!”

“The one we’ve got is better... And it has a skylight.”

“You know what you should do with that skylight?”

“I have an idea...”

“Good. Go ahead and do just that!”

“You know guys, we could get a dog or something...”

“I am allergic.”

“No, you are not... I know for sure! I've seen you around all kinds of animals... You are fine...!”

“Shut up, Sam!”

“This is ironic... Finally, both of you are agreeing on something and it’s...”

“Shut up, Sam!”

“Yeah, that...”

“Oh, hey... Is that a drug store?”

“Yup, pull over; it’ll take me a couple of minutes.”

“Desmond, knock it off... I am not going to wear those damn ear plugs...”

“Oh yes, you will...”

“Oh hey, get two boxes, will you?”

“Gabriel!”

“Anything else?”

“Ummm... There is that new coconut flavor ge...”

“Ugh, get three boxes, will you?”

“You got it, kid!”

****

THE END