Interstate Blues

Chapter Thirty: Doctor Sleep

January 18th, 2020
Alamosa, Colorado

Jack jumped a little, his heart skipping a beat, when Ash's cell phone rang in the seat next to him. He said he'd only be in the gas station for a few minutes to grab snacks and pay for their gas, but it had been almost ten. Keeping one eye on the obscured front doors, he reached over and grabbed the device, pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?" He hadn't even bothered to check the caller I.D.

"Jack? Does Ash not believe in phones anymore? What the fuck is wrong with that guy?"

"Oh. Hey, Charley. What's up?" Hearing her familiar snappy voice, he immediately relaxed back into his seat, not once moving his gaze, except to occasionally check to make sure they hadn't picked up a tail.

"Your asshole of a brother left this morning and hasn't come back yet. He said he was going after the other Interstate Blues dude that Roger told you guys about."

Jack held in a sigh of relief when he spotted Ash casually turning the corner and heading for the truck, his arms filled with bags, before he realized what she'd said. "Did he go by himself? Why did you let him leave?"

"Calm down, Shirley. He must've left after you talked to him. I woke up this morning and Roger was holding a note that Will told him to give me. Goddammit, Jack! When are you coming back?" Charley whined, as Ash pulled open his door and jumped into the driver's seat.

"Who's that?" He motioned for the phone while Charley spoke up again.

"Piper won't quit bossing me around, and there are people building that stupid house day and night, and Marley's scary sometimes." She didn't even take a breath.

Jack laughed. He couldn't help it. The laughter sputtered up and once he got started, he couldn't stop. He didn't even fight it when Ash snatched the phone from his hands.

He listened silently to Charley's long-winded rant before saying, "Chill out, Char. I'm sure he's fine. Tell Piper if she doesn't cool it, I won't take her out for her birthday this year. And Marley... well, just make sure she eases up on the spell work. At least until Jack and I get back."

Jack's laughter tapered out as Ash hung up the phone, having calmed his best friend down until she was no longer a murderous time bomb. "You really think Will's gonna be fine hunting that leech on his own?"

Ash tossed two bags full of snacks into Jack's lap. "I went on my first solo job at twenty... I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a Slayer, right? Exterminating's in his blood."

Jack smirked. "So, if I wanted to take a job by myself you'd be cool with it?"

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because you asked. Will didn't." He lifted his shoulders in a half-assed shrug as if his answer was the most obvious thing he could've said.

"Fine. Do you even know where you're going?" Jack glanced around curiously, when he realized they were no longer heading back the way they came. Ash switched lanes and took an exit leading in almost the exact opposite direction of their original destination.

"When Ari's in trouble, she always goes to the same stupid place. No matter how many times I tell her to hit up one of our safehouses."

"Where?" Jack dug through the snacks and opened a bag of trail mix that almost tasted freezer-burnt. He ate it anyway.

"There's an old mine off the railroad tracks outside Cripple Creek. It's where Ari and her sister used to hide out whenever someone was getting close to catching up to them. I hate when she goes there too." Ash visibly shuddered, making Jack laugh a little.