Slater groans, throwing his arms up in the air. “Fine. You’re lucky I don’t have any appointments today. But remember, you owe mebig,and I already have an idea of what I want.”
“Great. We can discuss it on the way. Ruby, I’m probably not going to be back until Wednesday or Thursday since my van won’t be done. Can you?—”
“Yeah, I can. I’ve got it. But you owe me big, too.”
“Deal. Anything you want.”
I leave them alone while I grab a backpack full of necessities from my office—I came prepared in case the opportunity arose—then head back out. Slater and Ruby are in some weird stare off when I come back out. My presence seems to shake them out of it.
“All right, Cupid. Let’s go.”
Halfway to Salem,I pull my phone out of my pocket to see if I have any messages from Mikey. I usually keep my phone on silent while I’m working the counter so I don’t get distracted, and up until recently, all the people I cared about were within a three mile radius, so I didn’t need to have it on.
When I try to click the button and nothing happens, I frown. Did I forget to charge it last night?
“Can I borrow your charger?” I ask Slater.
“Go ahead. Your phone died?”
“I guess so. I must have fallen asleep without I plugging it in.” Mikey texted me before she went to work, and I figured since I didn’t feel my phone buzz in my pocket, she was busy.
Now, I’m worried she’s been trying to reach me, and I haven’t gotten the message.
I plug in my phone and tap my foot while I wait for it to turn on, my stomach sinking when I see I have no service. I shouldn’t be surprised considering it’s always spotty in the mountains, but I want to see if she messaged menow.I don’t want to wait until there’s service.
“You gonna call her and tell her we’re coming?” Slater asks, glancing over.
“No, I was checking to see if she messaged me. No service.”
“We’re almost out of the thick of it.”
Ten minutes later, we finally get to a stretch with service, and my phone starts buzzing like crazy.
There are three missed calls from Mikey and a slew of texts.
MIKEY: I hope you’re having a good day!
MIKEY: Do you have a minute to talk?
MIKEY: I have some questions for you.
MIKEY: Are you ignoring me?
MIKEY: Saint?
MIKEY: Call me when you can.
Then one text,sent about an hour after the others that makes my heart fall to my ass.
MIKEY: I know about the van.
“Oh shit,”I whisper. I can’t tell her tone through the phone, but she has every right to be upset. To feel betrayed. To be weirded out.
“What happened?”
“Mikey knows about the van.”
“Oh shit indeed.”
