She held up a large paper bag with handles. “Thought you could use some dinner, and since all the sushi ended up smashed in Jasmine’s purse yesterday, I figured I’d try a do-over.”
“You’re a goddess.” There was something that seriously didn’t suck about being in love with a woman who remembered all your favorite sushi rolls. “That settles it. I definitely love you,” he said, reaching for a pair of chopsticks.
“My mom always used to say that the way to a man’s heart is through a giant glob of wasabi.”
“What’s the occasion?” he asked, splitting the chopsticks apart and pouncing on the rainbow roll.
She shrugged and popped a piece of sashimi into her mouth. “We haven’t had much time to ourselves. Figured we could make a date of surveillance. Who are we surveilling anyway?”
Nick pointed through the windshield at the brick townhouse. “We’re looking for a mid-forties white guy with blond hair.”
“Well, that narrows it down. What did Blond White Guy do?”
“Custody agreement violation. According to the agreement, his son and daughter are supposed to spend the night here in Dad’s place when he has custody every other weekend. My client heard through the kids that Dad is dating and he’s been stashing the kids at Grandma’s place so he can spend time with his nineteen-year-old hand-model girlfriend.”
“Gross.”
“How did it go with Drunk Weber?” he asked.
She sighed. “It was…funny and sad and weird.”
“That sounds about right.”
She filled him in on Kellen’s drunk funk and his confrontation with his mother.
“How did ol’ Constance handle that?” he asked when she told him about Jasmine kissing Kellen on the front steps.
“Not well. There was some two-sided disowning after Constance told him it was better for the family image if everyone thought Beth was dead rather than living in sin on the West Coast.”
Nick shook his head. “That’s fucking cold. I knew her Frosty the Snow Witch routine was a little off even for her when Bethame came back.”
“Always listen to your gut,” Riley said. “I ended up leaving Kellen with Lily and Fred for happy hour because he insisted he wasn’t drunk enough yet. He’ll be hungover as hell tomorrow. How was your day?”
“The security gig was fine. Some vice president of whatever who thinks he’s a bigger deal than he is likes to show up to business meetings with armed security to make a statement.”
“Aww! You were a trophy bodyguard,” she teased.
“Josie should have been the trophy,” Nick grumbled.
“I think it’s sweet that she’s so invested in an old lady and her clown collection.”
“Except ‘sweet’ means I have to do all the work,” he complained, showing Riley Josie’s selfie.
“I can’t decide if that’s hilarious or horrifying.” She aimed those big brown eyes at him. “It’s nice of you to let them finish their cases.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m a nice guy with employees workingpro bonocases.”
“I believe the word we all agreed on wasprimo. And I’m going to choose not to point out whose fault that is.”
“I blame Penny. That woman is a hazard to my mental health.”
“Speaking of Mrs. Penny. I saw her taking pictures of her ‘evidence’ in the parking lot because Lily wouldn’t let her catalog it inside the house.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“Two dozen bags of poop.”
Nick snorted.
