Armchair_Detective: I’d pay money to see Reid confronting a random man in a strip mall parking lot at eight in the morning.
ReidingRainbow: That is absolutely not what happened.
Armchair_Detective: That’s how I’m choosing to picture it.
ReidingRainbow: Moving on. I had Hazel reach out to the police officer who took her report to see if they could help her get access to the footage, but they just gave her a generic, “We’ll look into it.”
Armchair_Detective: Damn cops. Why can’t they take a stolen pet seriously?
ReidingRainbow: I don’t know, but I’ll figure out a way to get that footage one way or another. Meanwhile, we should move on to looking at other suspects.
WhiteKnight31: Like the boyfriend.
Armchair_Detective: It’s always the boyfriend.
ReidingRainbow: EX-boyfriend
Armchair_Detective: Do I sense a little hostility in that “EX”?
WhiteKnight31: You were quick to correct that one.
Armchair_Detective: Does someone have a crush?
ReidingRainbow: I’m simply correcting a fact. This is an investigation, after all.
A loud clangfrom somewhere in my house had me ripping off my headphones. I bolted out of my chair and jogged into the hallway, my racing heart slowing as soon as I spotted my sister, Regan. She walked over to my sofa holding a bag of chips, not looking guilty in the slightest.
“Sorry. I knocked a pan over trying to get to these.” She shook the bag. “You really shouldn’t keep your snacks in such a high cabinet.”
“It’s not high up for me,” I pointed out. “You know, the person who actually lives here? That key is for emergencies.” I might as well be a broken record at this point.
“Itwasan emergency. Mom and Dad are driving me nuts.” She flung herself across my sofa and picked up the TV remote.
“Shouldn’t you be job hunting or something?” I asked. I was seriously considering changing my locks andnotgiving an extra key to every single one of my family members this time around. Clearly, I was too generous in assuming they could handle a few simple boundaries.
Regan groaned. “Ugh, not you too. I filled out some applications this morning. It’s not like the job market for a liberal arts major with zero work experience is super-hot right now.”
“Can you keep it down at least? I’m busy.”
“It’s past six. I know you’re not working.”
I moved into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge before nabbing a soda water. “It’s not with work.”
“Ohh, right.” She snapped her fingers. “This is about the catnapping.”
Hearing her call it that made something simmer inside me. It made it sound like a joke, which it absolutely was not to Hazel. It was her life, and she was really struggling right now.
“It’s not funny,” I said, resigning myself to the fact that I probably wasn’t going to convince Regan to go anywhere. I settled into the leather armchair positioned perpendicular to the couch.
“I didn’t say it was.” She held up her hands defensively. Regan was the least serious one in the family. A ‘free spirit,’ as my mom always called her. She lacked a strong sense of responsibility and loved to try new things. Living at our parents’ house probably stifled her, but it wasn’t my fault she hadn’t made a concrete plan. We’d all warned her not to just skate by in college, and to spend more time focusing on her future.
My front door rattled before swinging open. Ruby and West sauntered through like they also lived here.
“Excuse me. Did I know you two were coming?” There wasn’t any bite to my words. While I wished my family could at least shoot me a warning text, I liked how close we all were. I’d take an unexpected visit over not seeing my sisters at all, any day. They’d recently started stopping by a lot more. I knew why. It was one hundred percent due to my divorce.
“Regan said she was here,” Ruby said unapologetically.
West shrugged. “And Ruby texted me to head over.”
