“I can manage for a few minutes,” I replied. “Care to make a bet on which Miracle twin can behave the longest?”
“Maybe another day when Andy doesn’t look so devastatingly handsome in his light blue polo shirt. I didn’t think his eyes could look bluer, but I was wrong.”
Had there been a bet, I would’ve won because Milo found ways to touch Andy all the time. I adored how happy my brother was, so I didn’t even tease him about it.
After breakfast, I checked my phone to see if Memphis responded to my text.
“Still nothing?” Andy asked.
“Nope. I’m worried about him,” I said. Milo agreed by nodding his head.
“Come on,” Elijah said, scooting his chair back and standing up. “I’m sure everything is fine, but we’ll go check on him.”
“We can take him some rolls,” Milo suggested.
“Let’s not get crazy,” Andy said.
When we arrived at Memphis’s house, I assumed the old black truck in the driveway belonged to someone visiting one of the ladies known as the Matrons of Maple Lane. Imagine our surprise when we peered through the window in his kitchen door and saw the reason why Memphis canceled his brunch plans with us. Lyric Willows had finally shown up in town, and Memphis didn’t look too pleased we had interrupted.
“WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT, partner?” Adrian asked when he joined me at the coffee pot on Monday morning. “I mean, I could guess.” His rueful expression said he thought Maegan was on my mind. While she wasn’t foremost right then, she was never far off. The reason for this particular smile wouldn’t exist without Maegan and her friendship with Memphis Sullivan.
I was the first to spot Lyric Willows through the kitchen door and tried my best to steer the meddling Miracles off the deck, letting Memphis get back to doing whatever it was that made him cancel his appearance at brunch. I knew how much he crushed on Lyric, so the last thing I wanted to do was ruin his morning even though I was eager for Lyric to either calm Anthony down or help speed him along to his peaceful afterlife.
Milo and Maegan didn’t take the hint, and in fact, doubled down on their attempts to get Memphis to open the door. Lyric must have said something to Memphis because he turned his head to look at his overnight guest. That’s when Maegan and Milo strained their necks to see who the hell he was talking to. Memphis let us in, and Lyric made an excuse to leave which felt awkward. Later we learned why. Memphis had left his dildo, accurately named Big Bob, suctioned to the shower wall because he wasn’t expecting Lyric’s arrival the previous evening. He’d forgotten all about it until he started cleaning the bathroom the following morning and saw Lyric had hung his washcloth over it after taking a shower. Memphis was horrified, but the rest of us laughed until we nearly pissed ourselves. So, yeah, greeting Bob O’Malley, our desk sergeant, the next morning made me smile as I recalled the conversation in Memphis’s kitchen.
“Something like that,” was how I responded to Adrian. “How was your weekend?”
“We had a great time,” he replied. “My parents watched the kids for us so we could spend the night in Cincinnati. Sally Ann bought me Diamond Club tickets to Saturday’s Reds game for my fortieth birthday.”
I let out a whistle of appreciation. “Are those the premium seats behind home plate?”
“Yeah,” Adrian replied wistfully. “The entire experience was amazing. We ate a fancy dinner in the lounge prepared by a chef I’d seen compete onChopped, and then we had a private waiter throughout the game who brought us as much food and drink as we could handle.”
“Did you have to pay for the food and drinks?”
“Nope, all of it was included with the tickets. You just tipped your server after the last call. Let me tell you, the snacks available to us were much better than what you can get in the regular seats. Sally Ann got these pretzel sticks and queso cheese I’ve never found in the stadium before. And the seats were incredible. I felt like I was part of the action.” Adrian chuckled. “Do you know what my wife had the nerve to say?”
“I’m not sure I want to guess, partner.”
“She said, and I quote, ‘This is the closest I’ll ever get to Joey Votto without getting arrested.’ Then she started snapping pictures and sending them to Josh.”
“My husband knows nothing about baseball except he likes the way Joey Votto looks in baseball pants,” Captain Roman-Wyatt said from behind me. “He likes the contrast between the red jerseys and white pants.” Adrian and I were so involved in our conversation we hadn’t heard him sneak up. He sure was stealthy for a big guy.
We both turned at once to face our captain. Luckily, the good-natured smile on his face said he wasn’t too upset about Josh and Sally Ann swapping texts about how hot they found the baseball player.
“Elijah, can you come to my office once you get settled in?” he asked me. I noticed the jovial smile from seconds before was replaced with a strained one.
“Be right there, Captain.” I could see Adrian looking between us out of the corner of his eye and sensed his curiosity. I had a pretty good idea about what the captain wanted to discuss with me. Afterward, it would be time to come clean to Adrian too. After all, as my partner, he had a right to know about anything that was a threat to him. Axel Washington was dangerous to anyone who came in contact with me. “We’ll chat later,” I said to Adrian before I followed Gabe to his office.
“I suspect you know why I wanted to see you,” he said as soon as we were seated on either side of his large desk. Gabe Roman-Wyatt wore responsibility and dedication well. He appeared broader and taller behind his captain’s desk.
“Is it regarding a previous case I worked on?”
“Does my husband make the best country fried chicken you’ve ever had?”
I only had eaten it once when Gabe invited me to dinner after I first moved to Blissville, but it was enough to answer with a resounding, “Yes.”
“Tell me what’s going on,” Gabe said firmly. “More importantly, I’d like to know why I’m just now hearing about it, Detective.”
