On a yawn, Riley fished Nick’s jeans out from under his desk and handed them to him. He stepped into them, then used the shirt he found hanging from an open file drawer to wipe the smudges off her face.
“Aww, sweet,” she said on another yawn.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick in the ten seconds since I woke up and Brian said you guys didn’t come home last night.”
“After the fire, we ran into your parents, and then I needed comfort food, so we called a Lyft and took our new friend Jim out to a diner. I ate six pancakes. Are those candy wrappers?” she asked, scanning the office.
“What fire?” Kellen asked.
“My mother has that effect on people,” Nick said. He kicked one of the empty candy bags in the direction of the trash can.
Riley put her hands on her hips. “Did you eat all our Halloween candy? Trick or treat is tonight!”
“We had to keep our brains fueled,” he said.
“By the way, in case anyone is wondering, if you eat an entire bag of glitter gummy worms, you get a blinding headache,” Brian cut in.
“What fire?” Kellen demanded. His hair was sticking out in tufts all over his head. After a second mostly sleepless night, his eyes were so red he could have passed for a vampire.
“You look like shit,” Jasmine observed. “Don’t you ever shower?”
Riley shook her head at Nick. “I can’t believe I have to go out and buy more candy. You couldn’t have…I don’t know, made everyone sandwiches or something?”
“Okay. Everyone is tired and grumpy, so here’s what we’re gonna do,” Nick announced. “We’re taking five minutes to get everyone up to speed. Then we’re all going to our separate homes to shower and sleep. We’ll reconvene back here at five and figure out what to do next. Deal?”
“Deal,” everyone echoed wearily.
“Great. I’ll start,” Nick insisted. He plucked a printout off the floor and held it up. “Wilson Trots was a Food and Drug Administration auditor in Arizona who reviewed data from clinical drug trials. I saywasbecause it was his finger Igor the Henchman delivered yesterday. Trots was reported missing yesterday when he didn’t show at work. Local authorities found his place trashed. Odds are he’s punching the big time clock in the sky. Take it away, Brian.”
His cousin stretched his arms overhead and gave a loud yawn. “We dug into Lucore Laboratories. What we could glean legally”—he paused and shot a pointed look at Kellen—“was that they’re a brand-new company in the pharmaceutical sector. Founded in Arizona. They don’t seem to have any kind of online presence. But I did find a list of corporate officers. Lurlene and Royce Lionworth and Sesame and Tommy Hemsworth.”
“Do you think Lucore is linked to the vials?”
“What vials? What fire?” Kellen demanded. He turned and stared at Jasmine for a beat. “Did we kiss?”
“Did we kiss?Did we kiss?” Jasmine repeated. “I gave you the best kiss of your sad life to piss off your mother, and you ask if we kissed.”
“I was drunk! What vials? What fire?”
“Speaking of the vials,” Riley said, pulling her phone out of her sweatshirt pocket.
“Whose shirt is that?” Nick asked, not liking the fact that she was definitely wearing another man’s clothes.
“Jim’s,” Josie said as if that explained anything.
“Mrs. Penny’s lab tech turned out to be not only easily bribed but also great at her job,” Riley continued. “She worked overnight and isolated the compounds from the vial I gave her. She said it’s an organic herbal formula with exotic plant extracts. It’s not something that exists on the market. But it’s also not liquid cocaine.”
“Who’s Jim?” Nick demanded.
“Your parents’ neighbor,” Riley said. “We met him and definitely did not set anything on fire.”
“I’m going to ask one more time about the vials and the fire, and if someone doesn’t answer me, I’m going to start arresting people,” Kellen announced.
“You’re suspended. You can’t arrest anyone,” Nick said without looking at him. “Big, buff Jim from the gym? Never eats carbs? Carries two tiny dogs around like they’re teddy bears?”
“That’s the guy. He says hi, by the way. I had to borrow a sweatshirt because Lance threw up on me after I dragged him out of his house fire. But now your mom thinks I’m having an affair.”
“She’s definitely not though,” Jasmine cut in. “You’re not, right?”
