Page 65 of Reading Between the Lines
“Are you lost?”
I jumped and spun, coming face to face with Constable Hercules.
“I… Yes. Took a wrong turn.”
He stepped aside and motioned down the hall where I’d come. It was a silent demand that I move my ass. I didn’t argue and hustled, finding the front lobby and racing outside as fast as my feet could go.
Diem had one leg out of the Jeep when he spotted me. “Where the fuck were you?”
“I was… discombobulated. Probably lightheaded from a lack of food. Took a wrong turn, witnessed a brutal murder, and couldn’t unstick my feet from the floor. You know how I get with cases. Love me some real-life CSI stuff. My god, her fingernails. Eww. That must have hurt.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Cheeseburgers.”
Diem’s confusion pinched his features. He opened his mouth twice and closed it again, seemingly unsure how to respond.
“Look at the time.” I referenced my nonexistent watch. “It’s gotta be after two, Guns. Can we find food? I’m starving.”
Instead of asking me to clarify, Diem nodded and got into the Jeep. I followed but didn’t miss the frequent side-eyes as he took us to a fast-food burger joint nearby. I wanted to tell him what I’d seen but knew he would reprimand me for getting caught being a snoop, and the strangled woman with the missing fingernails was not another teen like Weston who had suffered anaccident.
16
Diem
By the time we finished lunch, it was closing in on three o’clock. I figured we had time to check out the kennel before touching base with Delaney and calling it a night. The sun set early this time of year, and I wasn’t interested in running around the woods again in the dark.
After a chat with Nicholas, we could head back to the B&B to sort out where Londyn and Loyal lived. Intercepting the teens before school the following day was a priority. Loyal could choose to come clean about the Murder Club and give us information, or I would report it to the English teacher. I was sure their morbid extension of the Whodunnits? didn’t gel with school policies.
“Can we find a coffee place and get me a latte?” Tallus asked when we left the burger joint.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“But why? I need caffeine. I run on caffeine. The tank is empty. It needs to be replenished.”
“No.”
“Diem, you are not my mother. Coffee. Now.”
“You’ve had two already today, and you once told me any more than that risks you getting migraines. If we’re going to figure this shit out, then we can’t have you bedridden for days. I’ve seen you suffer, and it’s not pretty.”
“Aww. You’re looking out for my health. That’s so sweet.”
I growled under my breath.
“I hear you cuddle bear. Man, I wish I hadn’t drunk the coffee at the police station. It was gross. What a rip-off.”
“How about decaf? Will that hurt you?”
“Um, it hurts that you even have to ask, Guns. For the good of our relationship, never offer me decaf again.”
I tried and failed to suppress a chuckle.
Tallus rested a hand on my thigh and squeezed. “It’s getting easier to make you laugh. I like it.”
