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“You mean like the insurance policies that you’ve taken out on your family?I’m sorry, but I won’t help you with that.I’ll help you with your phone bill.I figure you need it to get prospective jobs to call you back.Though I don’t think that’s ever going to happen since you’ve never so much as applied to any place that I know of.”Tommy couldn’t speak.All he heard was policies, and his world just stopped moving.He asked him what he was talking about but feared it was too late now to think he was getting away with anything.“The four one million dollar policies that you took out on your family.I did wonder about why you didn’t take one out on your mom, but I figured you’d get around to it sooner or later.You’re sort of lazy when it comes to you following through on shit, aren’t you?”

“What the hell do you think you know about me?My family been telling lies on me?That’s the only way that you’d know anything about me since I’ve never met you.”He was pissed off now that he had time to think about it.How he found out was beyond him, but he wasn’t going to confirm nor deny whatever the man thought was going on.“You just stay the fuck away from my sister and the rest of my family.And don’t be spreading lies either, or you’ll be the next one to get on my hit list.”

“I’m not worried about you at all, Thomas James Reader.I’ve gotten about all the information on you as one could get on a lazy, cheap fuck.And that’s what you are.”The man laughed, and it made his hair dance on his neck and arms again.“Stay away from your family, Tommy boy, or the next time you have to look around to see who is following you, you might well see that you’ve pissed off a dragon, and he’ll have you for a snack.Do you understand me, jackass?I’m coming for you, and you’d better be ready when I do.”

He had no idea how long he held the phone to his ear after the man hung up.Tommy didn’t know what else he might have said either after he commented on him being watched.The man knew too much.Looking around the room, he put his cell phone back on the table with a shaky hand and backed away from it.The man knew too much.And Tommy couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten the information that he had.The man knew entirely too much information about him, and it scared him todeath.

It was nearly dark when he left his apartment again.He’d sat around the place for the last few hours trying his best to figure out what had happened that Walsh found out about his working on killing off his family.Going back through his mail, he found the other three policies that were for his niece, brother, and father, and they said the same thing.Without a payment on the policies, there would be no payout.And something about the policies and rules he’d not known about was that if there was a claim on the policies within ninety days of being taken out, the police would be notified of wrongdoings on his part.People, it seemed to him, were out to get him.

Tonight, he was picking up a gun.He’d traded his PlayStation gaming set for it, and he thought that he was getting the best deal.It had been months since he’d played on the game and had been about to toss it in the trash.Lucky for him, the guy had said he’d take something that he had out in trade.

The deal was for them to meet at the new chicken place on MacIntyre.Tommy was early by thirty minutes but was surprised by the three men in police uniforms who were at the place.They were talking to a man who looked like the person he was to meet.

A man in a yellow sweatshirt and dark jeans with him having bright yellow hair.Looking at his phone on the arrangements that he’d made, it did indeed say that they were to meet at the right place.He’d nearly been screwed by it being a scam from the police.He’d said this before.People weren’t all that trusting nowadays.Walking back to his apartment to get rid of his gaming system, he tried to think how they’d known about him meeting Mr.Gunz when he was supposed to.

As soon as he was inside, he closed all his curtains and turned off all his lights.He’d not given Mr.Gunz his address, but now that he thought about it, the man was persistent on getting something from him, like a name or his home address.Sitting on his couch in the dark, Tommy didn’t know what to do now.

The laughter woke him up.Tommy hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but now that he was awake, he had to look around his place for whoever was in there with him.The laughter continued until he heard a small voice talking to him.It told him that his name was Fred and that he was sent to watch over him.

“Who sent you?”Fred said that he should be able to guess that.“I don’t know who you’re talking about.I don’t know people that would send out someone to keep an eye on me.”

“Sure, and you do, Mr.Tommy.My lord Edgar sent me to you to keep an eye on you for trouble.I’ve been told that I can talk to you now.I’m not supposed to let you see me, they being afraid that you’d try and harm me somehow.But that’s all right with me.I’ve been given a great gift to watch over one such as yourself.”He told him to show himself, or he’d not believe him.“Well, now that’s a lie, isn’t it?You’re talking to me, so you know you have to believe in me.Nah, I’ll not show myself to you.You being the kind of man that you are.And I called the police on you when you went looking for a gun.Even set it up so that Mr.Gunz—what a clever name that is—was a police officer to catch you.Now, all I have to do is wait for you to mess up again.Next time, they’ll catch you for sure.”

“I’ll pay you double what Edgar is—that’s my sister’s supposed husband—isn’t it?He’s paying you something to lie to my family about me.”Fred said that there were no lies from him.That he’d taken out the policy and that he was trying for a gun to kill them with.Besides, he didn’t have any money to double anything for him.“I do, too, have money.Or I will as soon as I can get into the offices.I’ll go there now and show you how easy it is for someone like me to get money whenever I want it.”

“You can go there, but you’ll never get inside the place.Lady Tabby’s place, either.It’s been worth it to miss out on all the pretties that she has been giving away at the grandiose opening of her new, fresh place.You know, I’ve never thought that it would be such a big deal to eat and to deal with fresh stuff before.That’s all I eat is fresh.I know you don’t like anything green on your plate, and you’ll have some health issues, more than you have now for not taking fresh vegetables and other good things into your diet.”Tommy decided that he wasn’t going to talk to the person anymore.“Ah well, that’s all right with me if you don’t want to talk to me.I’ve been given special powers that allow me to read your mind for trouble.Speaking to me or not, it makes little difference to me.I’ll get the information that is needed to keep the other family safe.”

“You stay the hell out of my mind.”He felt the little nudge to his mind and put his hands over his head so nothing could be put into it.That was the only way that he knew of that someone could probe his mind.“I want you to show yourself to me, or I’m going to call the police.”

The laughter again.“You go on telling them that someone is talking to you and getting into your mind and see what that gets you.More than likely, you’ll be at the funny farm with a lot of other people who think I’m not real.”He asked him what he was.“Faerie.A blue one, too.”

That made him laugh.A faerie, a blue faerie?There wasn’t any such thing as a faerie, much less a blue one.As he started to tell him how he’d come to be, someone knocked on his door.Going to get it, he was surprised and displeased to find the police there.Tommy told him that he was talking to a faerie and he’d have to wait for whatever he wanted.

“A faerie?Is that right?You got little people running around here that only you can see, sir?”Tommy asked the cop what he was talking about.“Little people are the faeries, Mr.Reader.But that’s not what I’m here for.I’m here because you were talking to a person by the handle of Mr.Gunz.You had an appointment with him an hour ago, and you didn’t show up.I’m here to tell you that we’ve been watching you and know that you’re out looking for a gun.I don’t suppose you’d tell me what it is you plan to do with said gun, would you?”

“I don’t know what it is you’re talking about.”He asked why his PlayStation was lying in the bag on the floor.“That’s none of your business, now is it?”

He felt pretty good about his answer to the cop about his toys.The man was barking up the wrong tree if he thought that he was going to just confess to having him tell him what he’d been up to.Here he thought that cops were supposed to be smart, and he couldn’t believe how stupid this guy was being.Like Tommy was some dumbass that would actually confess to getting a gun for his toys.Stupid man wasn’t going to get him to do anything where he’d be in trouble.He’d just have to find another way to get himself a gun and not have the police following him around to get himself in trouble.

“He’ll catch you, Mr.Tommy, because I’m going to be telling him all your plans when you have one.You’re not all that smart, you know.Dumber than a brownie that’s been out of the bud too long.They get to be a little silly when they think that they can work in the big people world.”He put both his hands on his head when Fred started talking again.“Won’t do you a bit of good doing that.It just makes you look silly.A man holding his head like you’re doing can only reflect badly on someone who already thinks there is something off about you.”

“Is there something bothering you, Tommy?Something that I can help you with?”He said that the faerie was talking to him about his plans.“Oh, so he’s going to know them too.You tell him that if he finds out that you’re up to no good, he can surely call me.If that’s possible anyway.Yes, I’ll take the information to keep your family safe.”

Tommy didn’t want to talk to anyone anymore and asked the officer if he had any more questions.When he said that he didn’t, he closed the door on him and turned to look around the room.There wasn’t anyone around him.Not a person, little or big, was in the room with him.But the voice was still there, telling him that he knew now who to talk to in the station house if he was going to continue on the same path that he was on now.

“Just leave me alone, will you?I have nothing to say to you.And stay out of my thoughts; they’re mine, and I won’t have you getting me in trouble with them.”He thought of what the cop had said, he’d given him his name and email address for the little person, if there was a little person around to call him when he knew what Tommy had been up to.“You’re messing with the wrong guy, Fred.I’m telling you right now that you’re messing with the wrong man when you mess with me.I’ll get you.You can be assured of that.”

For the rest of the evening and into the early hours of the next morning, Fred told him every thought that went through his head.He even told him that the meds he took for his head aching weren’t going to stop him.Tommy was ready to call it all off, but he had a feeling that was just what they wanted.For him to call off the killing of his family, and he wasn’t that far gone as yet.

~*~

Edgar kept an eye on the Reader family.Mostly Tabby, but he watched the other four as well.He was glad that they were taking it so well that they had a faerie around them all the time.In fact, he’d been told by the little faerie that was with Sheppard that he had found out that his little person could play a good game of chess, and the two of them were doing that every evening.Gina was also having a good time with her little man.He was helping her in the garden, knowing which one of the things in her garden were weeds, flowers, or herbs.She’d been having such a wonderful time with him that Crockery had asked if he could have a couple of seeds from the palace so that she could see what they grew in the gardens there.He did wonder if Earl and his little faerie were a good match when he saw him talking to him about the fresh items and how she could help with keeping them fresh for longer so long as he approved it.It was working out well better than he thought.Edgar was very excited.

“You look very happy.What have you been up to?”He told Gina, Sheppard’s wife, that he’d been keeping an eye on everyone for them.“I know that you have been Edgar, and you’ve no idea how much that means to me.I believe that I’ve enjoyed my day much more simply because I feel like you’ve taken a great burden from our shoulders.I know that Tabby is happy, too.”

“It’s good to be appreciated in times like this, but I want to make sure that the four of you are around for a good long time for Tabby.”She nodded, then turned and asked him why they were telling people they were married.“It’s been filed in the courthouse that we have been so that no one will be the wiser about us only living together.My mom is happy for that, too.But that doesn’t mean that we won’t be married some other time if Tabby wants to.Or Mandy wants us to.It’s just now, with everything going on, I can keep her safe and not have to worry about Tommy or whatever he’s up to.”

“Is he up to something?”He simply nodded.“I want to ask you what he’s been doing, but I have a feeling that you’d tell me straight up and without any kind of niceties.Don’t get me wrong, I love you for that, but I’m having—just tell me what he’s been doing while we’re all here.”