Page 41 of The Hard Way

“Just getting a lay of the land.”

“He had this whole list.” She took another list down and handed it over. “He stuck to mostly stews and breads. Oatmeal. That sort of thing. I can send you what I sent the FDA. They made us do the food diary. I can send you that.”

“That would be helpful.”

“Is there some question it wasn’t the cheese? Or…some other question?”

“Just doing verification.”

Thor regarded her with a pleasant expression, but I knew he was looking at her hard. “What did you think about Rhonda? His business partner?”

Nancy shrugged. “We never quite got along. She’s a bit…betterthan everyone. Not exactly very nice. Why? Is there some…question about Rhonda?”

Thor gave a small French shrug. “Oh, just getting a sense of things.”

We had her email us her food diary, and we headed out.

“Interesting,” Zeus said as we swung into the car.

“Veryfucking-ginteresting.”

I shut my door and buckled up. “What?”

Zeus pulled out and smiled at me in the rearview mirror. Taunting. “You want to know what we found interesting?”

“Fuck you,” I said. “Don’t tell me, fine. How about if I tell you what I found interesting? What I noticed that you didn’t notice?”

“You think you noticed something we didn’t notice?”

“I do.”

Thor grinned at me. It was rare that I noticed things they didn’t. “Tell us.”

“I don’t want to bruise your elite spy egos.”

He tickled me, and I screamed. “Fuck! Stop it!”

“Tell us!”

“She lied,” I said proudly, pushing Thor off me.

Zeus turned back, impressed. “How so?”

“I think she knew we were coming. I believe she was expecting us.”

“How do you know, goddess?”

“Didyouknow?” I asked. “That she was expecting somebody?”

“I wondered,” Zeus said.

“I knew for sure.” Thor snaked a hand around my belly at my most ticklish part, and I screamed. “Okay! She was wearing a bra under that turtleneck. If you’re at home in hibernation mode not expecting visitors, you’re not wearing a bra, and you’re not wearing that turtleneck, either. Especially if you have small boobs like her. No fucking way. And she came to the door too fast to have changed clothes when we knocked.”

Thor smiled at me, impressed. “That’s good, Ice.”

“Very good,” Zeus said. “I agree, I had the distinct sense she was expecting us. But I didn’t have that physical clue. A bra?”

“Most women don’t wear bras when they’re alone.”

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