Free The Surge - 03 by Joe Nobody Page A

make any sense. Were you late with the payment or something?”
    “No, not at all. I thought it was a mistake. When I went to talk to the banker, he got all shitty and then made me an … err … interesting offer. I think these guys are some sort of con artists or something. Given the proposition he made me, I have to wonder if this is a tactic to prey on unsuspecting women.”
    Zach knew Cheyenne wasn’t one to overreact in most situations. This, however, was the first time financial matters had ever entered their relationship. Still, what she was describing didn’t sound legit.
    “Damn it, Chey, you know good and well that they don’t bury bankers after they die – they screw them into the ground. They are all shysters, but legal ones for the most part. Where are you?”
    “I’m in Abilene, sitting outside the bank. I needed to settle down a little bit after the meeting I just had. I’m shaking so badly I am afraid I am going to wreck my new car. These guys are scaring the crap out of me, Zach.”
    The ranger asked a few more questions, the answers more and more troubling. Finally, he decided Chey needed him, if not his badge. She sounded like a little moral support would go a long way, and besides, they weren’t making much headway on the massacre case. “I’m about an hour and a half out. I can head that way. Let’s talk this over in person.”
    “I don’t want to interfere. I know you guys are right in the middle of a nasty situation… I just didn’t know who else to call,” she said, a sniffle punctuating the last sentence.
    Zach’s concern was growing. Chey didn’t cry. He’d never seen her cry. These collection people must really be pushing her hard. “Meet us at the mall at that restaurant on the south side. You know the one…. We had a steak there a few months ago.”
    “Okay, Zach. And thanks. This really means a lot to me. I’ll make it up to you; I promise.”

    The two rangers headed north, travelling mostly in silence after Zach relayed the pervious conversation. Eventually, they arrived at the lot of the specified shopping mall.
    “There she is,” Zach nodded.
    Cheyenne saw them park at the same moment and began the process of uncoiling her gangly frame from the small, all-electric sedan. “I’ve got gun cases bigger than that car,” Zach noted. “I wish she’d picked something with a little more meat on its bones. She’s going to get herself killed in that cracker box.”
    Sam snorted. “You carry a weapon and chase down some of the most violent men the species has to offer, and you’re worried about the sheet metal surrounding your girlfriend? I wonder about you sometimes, Zachariah Bass. How hard did that Middle Eastern ghost thump that noggin of yours?”
    The reference to his arch nemesis was like a sucker punch to Zach’s gut. “Not to mention the fact that some of my armed coworkers are the ill-tempered sort who threaten to shoot a man at the slightest provocation,” sounded his snide comeback.
    With her cheeks blushing red hot, Sam inhaled deeply, preparing to launch a significant verbal assault. Zach was saved by Cheyenne opening the truck’s rear door and stepping up into the backseat. “Hi, guys! I feel so much better now that you’re here,” she sang with a cheery tone. “How are my two favorite white hats this afternoon?”
    “Hey, Chey,” Sam responded. Leaning toward the back and exchanging a quick hug with the new passenger. Zach was next, pivoting in the driver’s seat to kiss the new arrival on the cheek. “I filled Sam in on the way up here,” he began. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, just to make sure we’re both up to speed?”
    “Sure,” Cheyenne responded, instantly deflated by the need to relive past events. “This is kind of embarrassing. A friend of mine recently got a loan, and her interest rate was really low. She was saving all kinds of money, so I decided I would do the same thing … pay off my credit cards. Cut