Brody plucked my hand from the console to kiss it. “I have a great location. Away from the city, not many farms or houses around. We can fly as much as we want to.”
An almost sexual excitement sent a thrill through my nerve endings. “Do other dragons go there to fly?”
“Not that I’ve seen,” he replied. “But we all need to stretch our wings, get away from the droll lives as ordinary folks. Answer the call of the wind and stars.”
“How do we meet other dragons?” I asked, glancing sidelong at him. “Can we?”
“Well, we can,” he said slowly. “I have a few friends who are dragons. Two are currently in Greece with their cats. I’d love for you to meet them.”
“I’d like that.”
While Brody walked the lot with a salesman, talking, looking at various trucks, I took a moment to update Detective Skinner. He answered the phone with a chuckle.
“I hope you’re not calling to say you’ve got a corpse in your living room.”
“In the kitchen,” I replied, smiling.
“No way.”
“No, just stringing you along, dude. I’m calling to tell you the letterman’s jacket is a dead end.”
“How so?”
“The kid who originally stole it from Brody owned up to it. Apologized. Tossed it to a thrift store a long time ago.”
I heard Skinner writing notes. “Can I get his name and address? Just to get an affidavit from him. Dot all my Ts and cross all my Is.”
“Name’s Avery Armstrong,” I said, then gave his address. “Watch his mutt. The thing will seriously lick all the skin from your face.”
“I like dogs. They’re generally good judges of character. I trust you’re behaving yourself?”
I sighed. “Jeez, man, you sound like my mother. Brody is buying a truck while I’m courteously giving you an update.”
“I love you when you’re courteous, Lindsey. And thank you for the heads up. You’re making my job so much easier.”
“We want Rivers arrested as much as you do.”
“We’re looking for him, girl. And we’ll get him.”
You’d better, Skinner, before we do. He may not live too long if we catch him first.
Brody wended his way amid the rows of trucks to me. “We have an hour or so to kill,” he said. “They’re going to put new tires on the one I’m taking. Should we get some lunch?”
“Only if you’re buying.”
“I am.”
In the rental Ford, I drove us down a busy thoroughfare toward a restaurant Brody suggested. On the way, he told me about the Ram truck he planned to buy.
“A sweet ride, I’m telling you,” he said, excited. “All the bells and whistles, at the perfect price. I’m getting a sweetheart of a deal.”
“I hope you can trust what they’re telling you.’
“There you go with the trust issues.”
I scowled. “You can trust a car dealer? Since when?”
“These guys have a good rep. It’s why I chose them.”
