Page 23 of Diamond in the Rough

“In case he’s been charged with something, his family needs to know.”

“Who is Carl’s next of kin?”

“Tom, his brother, I think.”

Jake snorted and shook his head, then he frowned and looked down at his feet. “Who’s my next of kin?”

“I am.”

“So if something’s wrong with me, you phone yourself?”

“Look!” Rachel shouted. “There he is.”

Carl walked inside holding a bakery box. “Aw, you guys waited.”

“Where the hell have you been?” Jake demanded.

Carl raised his eyebrow. “I thought that was kind of obvious, or did you miss the seven-foot tall policeman who came in earlier?”

Sam stepped in front of Jake. “What he’s trying to say is are you all right? What did the police want with you?”

Carl placed the box down on the counter. “I’m fine. There was some trouble down my street last night, and they thought I might have seen something.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “That it?”

“Yep.” Carl flipped the lid on the box, and a sugary scent took to the air. “Éclairs.”

Rachel took one and shot Carl a smile. “We were worried about you, Jake in particular.”

“He paced a trench into the floor,” Sam added.

They laughed, but Jake couldn’t fake it. Carl was avoiding his gaze, and it was putting him on edge. Sam bit into an éclair, and the smacking lip noise and the sickly-sweet scent was almost too much.

Carl squeezed Jake’s shoulder, distracting him from his need to vomit. “Worried about me, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“I’ll give you a ride home, but for now, take an éclair.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Eat.”

Jake begrudgingly took an éclair and forced it down. Carl smiled as if proud of himself, and Jake thought there was no better revenge than vomiting in Carl’s car.

He forced smiles as the three of them chatted and Carl entertained them with his boring day at the station.

“So thanks for making sure I was okay, but no need,” Carl announced. He checked his watch, then turned to Jake, still not making eye contact. “We better be going.”

Jake couldn’t get out the shop fast enough.

Carl waved at Sam and Rachel, then hurried after him. “Slow down.”

“You’ve been gone all day. I’ve been going out of my mind wondering if they know we—”

“Shut it.”

Jake held up his hands. “Sorry.”

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