Page 18 of Loki's Flame

“Yeah, a few. Why?” He turned to me, brows raised in question.

“Ivy’s sister OD’d on heroin 3 months ago. I want to collect intel on the circumstances.” I said, moving to the stool by the island and sat down. The first taste of coffee on my tongue smoothing out the rough edges.

“Alright,” Bones said and cut off the stove. He moved the bacon to a paper towel to drain and then worked on getting the scrambled eggs onto a plate.

“Have you seen her?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

“Who? Ivy?” Bones asked.

“Yeah.”

“No, the last time I saw her was when she came here last night.” Bones confirmed.

“Any idea where Taz might be this morning?” I asked as Bones took plates out of the cabinet for us.

“He mentioned he was going to the barn to work out.”

After eating and getting the full cup of coffee into my system, I headed through the kitchen door and out onto the back screened-in porch. The sun was bright and the sky a rich blue with large white billowing clouds. The air was already heavy with humidity as I surveyed the yard. Someone had mowed the grass recently, and I heard some birds calling out from the tree line. I walked back past our outbuilding toward the barn. We’d reconfigured the space. It had a boxing ring, a couple of treadmills, a stair climber, some benches and free weights. Taz was hitting the hanging boxing bag when I entered. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the change in lighting.

“Taz, did you see Ivy leave?” I asked.

“Good morning to you too, Prez,” he said with an edge. “No, I didn’t see her leave.”

“We have a problem?”

“No.” Taz continued to change his hands as he beat the bag. It swayed back and forth on its hinge. The thud echoed in the space as his fists affected it.

“Alrighty then,” I turned to go, and the thuds stopped.

“She just looked so damn sad last night. I wanted to see her smile,” he said as I turned toward him again.

“I found out her sister died of an overdose.” I crossed my arms in front of me.

“That explains a lot,” he said, wiping sweat off his forehead.

“Yeah, even when she’s giving you shit, she still had a look in her eyes like she wasn’t fully engaged.”

“Pretty much, we gonna help her with it?”

“Yep!”

“Good deal,” he said and started hitting the back again.

“She’s mine,” I called out as I turned back to the door to leave.

“Knew that one already, Prez,” he said with a grunt.

Walking back to the house, I pulled my cell from my pocket and dialed Malcolm.

“Yo Loki, what can I do you for?” Malcolm said. I could tell he was smiling.

“You sound chipper.”

“The twins surprised me with brunch.”

“Nice! I just need a quick favor. What’s Ivy’s number and address?”

“I’ll get Melody to text you the details. She’s already in the office.”

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