Eli

The door opened, letting in a gust of hot air followed by the two bikers she had spotted heading her way. Niki was trying to determine if the taller of the two was a man or a woman. As they approached the counter, scruffy razor stubble and unabashed crotch scratching cleared up the gender question for her.

"You be Nikita Travis?"

The gruff voice seemed to come from nowhere, but since she had been busily admiring the collection of jewelry and piercings decorating the taller man's head, she assumed the speaker was his companion.

"I'm Nikita. Why?"

"Eli sent us."

Eli? Her Eli? She pictured a fourteen-year-old, sandy-blonde youngster who preferred studying bugs or stars to human companionship. Her junior by eighteen months, they were worlds apart in personality, but had been as close as any brother and sister could be when it came to supporting each other in the months after their mother had walked out, leaving them to care for their old man.

"He sent me to get you."

"How do I know that? I haven't heard from him in years."

"Lenny?"

The lanky stranger with the piercings and facial makeup removed the saddlebag from his shoulder and slapped it down on the counter. The other man flipped it open, removed a well-worn bible, and opened the front cover.

Staring back at Niki was her own handwriting. To Eli: May you stay safe and return home soon. Niki. She had given the bible to Eli on the day he'd left for boot camp.