“I don’t want ice cream.”
“You only ate half of your lunch. You need ice cream, stat.”
By the time Ryder had arrived with pizza, I hadn’t had much of an appetite. The unproductive conversation we’d skirted around of how we might find Ben and what we might use to fight Lavius had ended any remaining desire for lunch.
We were running out of time, Ben was running out of time. We needed a plan.
“Taking me out for fresh air is really some kind of secret pact between you and Myra to babysit me, isn’t it?”
“Wow,” she said. “It’s like you’re a cop or something. Nice work, detective. You caught us. Your reward for breaking the case wide open is chocolate sprinkles and a waffle cone.”
I grinned despite myself. She was a pain in the neck, but I knew she loved me. “I am your boss, Jean. I can take care of myself. Without ice cream.”
“Weird. That didn’t sound like ‘thank-you, Jean, my stunningly gorgeous sister’.”
“Listen to your bossy old sister, Jean. Take me home.”
“No way. I want caramel corn.”
“What happened to ice cream?”
“I changed my mind. Want something crunchy now because someone was harshing all over my ice cream buzz.”
“I just want to go home.”
“So you can pout in the dark? Nope.”
“I don’t pout.”
She laughed. “Right. Hey, when we get the caramel corn, I’ll let you ring the lucky bell.”
She sure was set on keeping me away from my house.“Why aren’t you taking me home, Jean?”
“How about some music?” She pressed a few buttons and classic rock spilled out of her truck’s speakers.
I turned the volume down. “That’s not suspicious at all. What’s really going on? What aren’t you telling me?”
She turned the volume back up, but not as loud as before. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Nice dodge.”
“Not a dodge. There’s a lot going on, Delaney. Which thing are you talking about?”
“Whichever thing you’re not telling me about.” Okay, this was getting a little ridiculous. Maybe it was time for some leading questions. “Are you and Hogan okay?”
“Stop it.”
“What?”
“Worrying.” Jean’s blue eyes seemed darker with the new hair color. She’d gone for white with pale orange tips this week. It was gorgeous and a little wild, just like her.
“Why can’t I be home in my pajamas?”
“We agreed you needed fresh air.”
“You agreed I needed fresh air, then bullied me into the truck before I even got a shower.”
She flashed a gleeful smile. “The sun is shining, you big grouch. Enjoy it.”
