“Yes, it was ready last night. I left you a message. I wondered— What happened to her?”
“She was shot.”
You would have thought Lu had brought the gun with her and was waving it around.
The three men working in the garage all strode out, wiping hands on rags, a sort of protective swagger shared between them, as if they were brothers more than co-workers.
“When?” Jo was all motion, too, moving along with Lu who was carrying a very alert tail-wagging Lorde toward the main door to the building.
“Yesterday.”
“Out by Dot’s place?” Sunshine asked. “I heard there’d been gunshots, but didn’t know anyone had been hurt. Poor girl. Who would shoot a pretty girl like you?”
“An asshole,” Jo said. She’d made it to the door before any of us and opened it. She stepped inside the little lobby, looking for a place for Lu to set down Lorde.
“I hope you called the cops on whoever did this,” Sunshine said. “But if you didn’t, just give me a description, and I’ll do a little civil disobedience.”
“Okay,” I said, “maybe he has his good points.”
“Where can I set her down?” Lu asked.
Jo glanced at Sunshine, then they both said, “the office,” at the same time. Calvin headed out into the work bay while Jo ushered Lu down the hall to the office. She open the door and Calvin reappeared with a couple heavy moving blankets and spread them on the floor in the corner.
Lu knelt. Lorde stepped out of her arms and stood there for a moment, her head tipped up, that black tongue out as she panted, tail wagging, happy to be there.
“Ray,” Sunshine asked one of the guys lingering in the doorway. “Get us some water for her?”
“You got it, boss.” He left, and the other two men crowded up the doorframe, but didn’t step into the small space.
“You need anything else?” the taller of the two asked.
“No, we’re good,” Sunshine said.
“You didn’t even ask Lu,” Jo said.
He glared at her. She glared back.
“Here we go,” I said, settling in near the old file cabinet. “A match made in heaven. Don’t they look like they can’t wait to write love sonnets?”
Lu threw a look my way.
I chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’m just saying that truck is never gonna be called Silver.”
“Coffee would be nice,” Lu said.
“Decent name, but doesn’t really do it for me,” I said.
Jo and Sunshine broke off the staring contest and turned to her. It didn’t take a genius to see that Lu was exhausted and pale. Jo caught on first.
“How do you like it?” Jo asked. “They have one of those nice, single-serve machines in the break room.”
“You think it’s nice?” Sunshine asked. He quickly shut his mouth, as if surprised he’d even spoken.
“It’s, well, it’s the kind that doesn’t use those little pots that can’t be recycled.”
“I think those pots are the dumbest things,” he said. “Why not use a pot that can be used for fresh grounds every time? We don’t need to add more waste to the dumps.”
Jo nodded. “What do you do with the grounds?”
