Page 82 of Fluke
She must turn on the sink because water running fills the background. Dishes clatter, a drawer rolls, and silverware being dropped into a dishwasher basket rings through the line.
“I saw Chuck at work today,” she says. “He was very non-Chuck-like. Nodded my way and kept on going.”
“Good.”
“Oh, also, I booked us a few things to do because I have to for work—that’s the point of it to begin with. But I left a lot of downtime for us to do what we want.”
“Is that an innuendo?” I ask, peering out the blinds again. Banks leaves Mom’s house with a box.
“Maybe.”
“Don’t forget to pack Vibe Jess.”
She laughs.
“I mean it,” I say, grinning. “I want to see what Vibe Jess can do.”
“He’s already in my bag.”
My eyes go wide as I nod appreciatively.Nice.
I start to nail down a time to pick her up when a car pulls in front of my house. Banks walks up to the side of it and chats with whoever is driving. The camera angle is too low to get a good view of what the car looks like but the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“I’ll call you back later, Pip.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I …” I pause as the door opens and feet hit the asphalt. And then the man and Banks make their way toward my walkway. “Someone is here with Banks.”
“He’s back?”
I roll my eyes. “He’s never really gone.”
The men get closer until, finally, I make out who it is with Banks.Skylar Schultz.
What the fuck? “I gotta go. I’ll call you right back.”
“Jess—”
I end the call, grimacing that I accidentally hung up on her but figuring I’ll make it up to her tomorrow in oral favors.
They ring the doorbell before I can reach the door. I tug it open to see Banks and his box standing beside Officer Schultz.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Banks gestures toward me. “Ah, man. He’s fine.”
“What the fuck is going on, Sparkles?”
“Can you not call me that in front of people?”
I glare at him and then look at the cop. “What are you doing here?”
Skylar Schultz went to high school with Maddox. I don’t really know him, just knowof him. And I know that he can be a prick when he wants to be.
As we all can.
“I’m just here doing a well check,” Skylar says. “We got a call that you weren’t responding and someone needed to make sure you were okay.”
