Page 224 of The Seven Rings
“Deletelittle.”
She grinned. “Okay. But you need to be proud of her, and Cleo, too. They handled that twisted butthole of a bitch. I wanted you to know that before you go in. I love her, too, right? It’s way weird because I don’t feel like a grandma, but I really love her with all I got. And Cleo, too. We’re doing all we can to help, I promise.”
“It’s time to stop it. To stop her.”
After brushing back her hair, Clover leaned on the windowsill like a chatty neighbor. “Time’s like, you know, different for me, but yeah, I get that. Something’s happening, but I don’t know…”
She shook her head, lifted her shoulders.
“Something’s changing, but it started changing as soon as she got here. I feel more… I just feel more. You’re a good guy, Trey. Strong and steady. That’s what she needs. You, and your strong and steady. I just wanted you to know. Here comes Owen.”
She shot out another smile. “He’s a good guy, too. None of us feel so alone since you all came. Don’t go away, okay? Don’t give up on us. We need you.”
She faded away; the window closed.
“Damn it.” He rubbed at the tension in the back of his neck as Owen pulled up. “Goddamn it.”
She’d hit the target, and he couldn’t deny it. Nothing pushed his buttons more firmly than someone asking for help.
“Are we making an entrance?” Owen asked as he and Jones walked over.
“Clover interrupted mine.”
Owen glanced up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Let’s go find out what the fuck Dobbs pulled this time.”
“How pissed are you? I ask because on my gauge, you’re hitting about seven out of ten. High for you.”
“It was heading for nine before Clover. Seven’s about right. I’m in court handling a nuisance suit against my client while Dobbs goes after them.”
Trey paused at the door. “You’re not pissed?”
“I’m waiting to be pissed when I get the details. Hey, are we doing a Freaky Friday deal?”
Trey didn’t really want to laugh, but he did. “Okay, level down to six.”
The dogs rushed out to greet them and Jones. Mookie bounded with joy as if Trey had left town for a month. So the adoration and goofiness took Trey down to level five.
Until they got to the kitchen.
Cleo stirred something in a pot. Sonya chopped something at the island.
And she had a bruise on her face.
Before he could speak, Sonya slid off the stool and went to put her arms around him.
“I could’ve hid it with makeup.”
“Because I’m blind or because I’m stupid?”
“Neither. Because I’m really good with makeup. But I didn’t.”
After giving Sonya one long look, Owen stepped over. He turned Cleo’s face to his, studied it.
“Never laid a hand on me,” she told him. “Pour us some wine, get a beer if you’d rather that. We need to get this going, then we’ll tell you everything that happened, start to finish.”
“It was a hell of a finish.” Sonya grinned.
