Page 65 of Bones

“Not yet, but it definitely needs to be done.” I stepped over to his desk. “Shouldn’t be hard to find his banking information. Just need to see where the city deposits his check.”

“Already on it.”

Big started typing away at his keyboard, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he had access to all of Bruton’s accounts. Cotton and I were watching him work when there was a tap at the door. I walked over and opened it, and I was surprised to find Elsie standing in the hallway. She was wearing jeans and a hoodie, and she had her backpack on her shoulder. A warm smile crossed her face as she said, “Hey. I hate to bother you, but I wanted to let you know I was heading out. I have to get to class.”

“You got a prospect or brother going with you?”

“Yeah, Torch and Alto are following me over.”

“When’s your class?”

“I have one at eleven and another at two. We should be back around four.”

“And these are classes you can’t miss?”

“No.” Her brows furrowed. “I’m too close to the end of the term to be skipping.”

“Understood.” I stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me. “Go straight to class and stay close to Torch. I don’t want you taking any chances.”

“I’m gonna be fine, Wyatt. It’s just a couple of classes. And they are on campus with tons of people.”

“Yeah, well, the tons of people isn’t exactly a positive.”

“It’s the same people who are always there.”

“Again, not exactly a positive.”

“Well, Torch and Alto will be there to keep an eye on things, so stop worrying.” She eased up on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll see you when I see you. Don’t work too hard.”

With that, she turned and started towards the back door. As soon as she was out of sight, I stuck my head back into the office and announced, “I’m going to grab a cup of coffee. You guys need anything?”

“I’m good,” Big answered.

“I’ll take a refill.” Cotton reached over and grabbed his empty cup from the table. “Black. Two sugars.”

“You got it.”

I grabbed his cup, then headed to the kitchen. When I walked in, I was pleased to see that someone had just brewed a fresh pot. I refilled Cotton’s cup, then filled one of my own. I was about to head back to the office when I heard Lacy say, “Hey, Bones. How’s it going?”

“It’s going. You?”

“The same.” She stepped over and started pouring herself some coffee. “You seen Elsie?”

“She just left for class.”

“Oh, she went?” she asked, sounding surprised. “I wouldn’t have thought you guys would let her go with the lockdown and all.”

“She didn’t go alone.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Lacy studied me for a moment, then asked, “So, you and her are kind of a thing now, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Good.” A somber look crossed her face as she said, “I always thought you guys would end up together.”

“Seems you aren’t the only one.”

“I wouldn’t figure so... You know, she deserves someone who will be good to her.” Lacy’s eyes narrowed. “So, be good to her 'cause we know she’ll be good to you.”

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