Page 77 of Ghostlighted
The relief that swept me made my knees threaten to fold. “I’ll be there.”
She climbed into the car, but leaned out before closing the door. “And Maz? Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Beside me, Avi snorted. Since I was still trying not to butt-plant in front of the deputies, I waited until the cruiser pulled away from the curb and turned onto Iris Lane.
I turned to him. “What was that snort for?”
“Yourno problemcomment. Clearly, your definition ofproblemneeds work, Mr. Ghostwriter, because this whole day has been nothing but one of them stacked on top of another.”
He had a point. “I was just being polite.”
“In cases of police investigation, you might want to aim for precision over politeness, but at the moment, you’ve got another… shall we say, difficulty to add to the mix.”
My belly jolted. I wasn’t sure I could handle anything else right now, because although Liam had been apprehended before he could do Sofia even more harm, and Ricky was about to be freed, Gil was still missing.
“What other difficulty?”
“You told Kamilla you’d pick Ricky up.”
“Yeah?”
He inclined his head at the yellow tape that fluttered in the slight breeze. “That could be a challenge.”
I grimaced. “Right. My car’s a part of the crime scene. Awkward.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant.” Avi flicked his fingers over my shoulder. “Given your rather disorienting exit from the car and the subsequent excitement, I’m not certain you’ve taken in the full magnitude of the scene.”
“Hunh?”
“Look behind you, Maz. The only way you’re getting to Richdale is if you hitch a ride on a tow truck.”
I turned slowly and sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. I knew that sudden traumatic events could interfere with short-term memory, but how inblazeshad I missed this? Denial, maybe?
Because the front of my poor Civic was completely crumpled, Liam’s Porsche embedded in its bumper and grill. I wasn’t a mechanical expert, but even I could recognize a total when I saw one. Although I’d managed to remain upright while the policewere here, I sank to the ground and dropped my head into my hands.
“Well, crap,” I muttered. “I guess I’m getting a new car after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ihanded Ricky a glass of iced tea as he stood at the window in my breakfast nook, looking out through the blinds at where Sofia sat on her porch.
He accepted the glass. “Gracias.”
It had been three days since Liam’s arrest, two since Sofia’s ablation. Maria hadn’t told her about it before the procedure. She’d left it to Ricky to break the news afterward, which had kind of pissed me off until Ricky had told me it had been his choice.
We were all in a holding pattern now, even Avi and I. I’d postponed the dinner with the Vlahoses, because Avi was having trouble assimilating the changes to his existence over the last few days.
“Even if I could, I’m not ready to talk to somebody new yet,” he’d said. Then, with a wry smile, he’d added, “I’m not sure I want to talk to you right now either. I need a little… space. Time to get a handle on all of this. If that’s all right with you.”
“Sure, Avi. Take all the time you need.”
He’d offered to just stay in the attic while they were there, but that didn’t seem right to me, so I’d canceled, and the Vlahoses were very gracious about it.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Dominik had said. “There’s no rush.”
Ricky was still shaken too, not just by his own experience, but by Sofia’s close calls at Liam’s hands. Although he put a good face on it, claiming to be fine, I knew he was more affected than he appeared because he hadn’t once mentioned taking me to visit his cousin the car dealer.
