“Last year.”
“So you’ve only been dead a year. That makes you either thirty-three or a one-year-old. My bet’s on the latter.”
“What are you saying? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you are a child, and I don’t need your help.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Val said. “You’re older than dirt. Click on one of the squares.”
I grinned at his exasperated tone. “Which one of the squares?”
“Icons,” Lu said.
“Icons,” I repeated. “Which one lets me search the thing?”
“The internet,” Val said. “You’re searching the internet.”
“I know it’s called the internet. I’ve been mostly dead, not deaf.”
“Google,” Lu said. “It looks like a G.”
“All right. Let’s see.” I poked and swiped, muttered under my breath and snicked air through my teeth as I swiped again. “G. Got it. Press like a button. There it is. Think I should just type rabbit?”
“No,” Lu said. “Too broad of a search term. Something more specific.”
“Rabbit of the gods?”
“Brogan.”
“Rabbits in Missouri? Rabbits on the Route? Famous Rabbits Cupid has athingfor?”
“Type in Missouri and landmark and rabbit.”
“It’s not doing anything.”
“Tap the magnifying glass symbol.”
I did so.
“There’s a Kung Fu Rabbit in St. Louis. It’s a statue. Earth Bunny in Webster Groves. Also a statue. Something called an Ecovillage and another statue. This one’s two white bunnies, titled: Two Rabbits. Well, that’s original.”
“Ask Val if any of that is what we’re looking for.”
“I don’t think any of those statues are what we’re looking for,” he said. “But I won’t know until I see them, right?”
We were just outside Rolla now. We couldn’t put off getting gas. Just ahead was a truck stop that advertised “Home Cookin’ From Scratch Try The Gravy.” It had a gravel lot, a carwash in the back, and a good grassy area for Lorde.
The whole place looked deserted.
Lu pulled off the road, down the dusty side street, and into the empty parking lot.
“Val says he’ll know it when he sees it,” I said. “Again, not a lot of help.” I set the phone on the dash.
Lu pulled up to the pump.
“I’m plenty of help. If you listened to me, jackass.” Val sniffed and stared out the side window.
“Good enough,” Lu said. “Three sets of eyes are better than two. Do you mind taking Lorde for her walk?”
