“You won’t love it so much when you come to my birthday, and I’ll teach you some manners.”
“In your dreams, little brother, in your dreams.”
“As much as I enjoy your brotherly banter, George and I wanted to eat. Can you get to the point of your unexpected call?” Andi winked at George, who gave him a thumbs up.
“Ha. If you keep it up, Andi, you’ll fit right in. And that’s not necessarily a compliment.”
“We’re still waiting, Daniel.” George started tapping the table with an impatient rhythm.
“Fine. I don’t want to be accused of starving my new brother. It’s about your birthday. Do you have a plan of action?”
George furrowed his brow, and his electric fields wavered. “No. Why are you asking?”
“Well, you better get one pronto because Mom is making lists. If you don’t want your birthday to be a string of let’s grill Andi at every turn until he breaks, you should have an idea what you want to do. Ideally, you can include some activities that distract her from your partner/roommate/boyfriend.”
“You just had to say all three, didn’t you?” Flashes of gold and orange, happiness because Andi was all three, perfect, as well as blue and a hint of rust, worry and readiness to defend Andi.
“Of course I had. This is simply too good to not ride it to death.” Daniel did some laugh-snort that made him sound like a truffle pig that had just found the world’s largest truffle.
“Then why warn me at all?” Amusement, evident in the pheromones filling the space above the table, mixed with the scents of food.
“I like Andi. Don’t get me wrong, brother, I would have loved seeing you twist like a worm on a hook, but Andi is comparatively innocent in all this and needs to be protected until you have nailed him down without a chance to escape.”
Andi stared at the phone. If only Daniel knew that it was exactly the opposite.
“You make me sound like such a catch.” Sarcasm, heavy, and mixed with laughter.
“You are a catch. Do you hear me, Andi? My little brother is a catch. Not as fine as his older brother, obviously, but you could do worse. Don’t let Mom and Dad chase you away.”
“Here’s an idea, Daniel.” Andi winked at George. “Why don’t you bring somebody with you to George’s birthday? That would take the heat from me and my man and show what a dedicated brother you are.”
For a moment, Daniel seemed stunned. No sound came through the connection. Then there was a heavy sigh. “I’m too much of a gift to the female population to be tied down by one woman alone. I have to decline. Too many hearts are on the line here.”
“You’re an absolute idiot. Thanks for the warning though. See you in three and a half weeks.” George ended the call. “What an idiot.”
“He’s your brotherly idiot though.”
“Yeah, I still believe he was mixed up at the hospital as a baby and my true brother is still out there.” Gold and orange and red and green, pure love was coming in waves from his man. “Let’s eat and then see if there’s a game on.”
This was George-speak for an evening of cuddling, something Andi never declined. He grabbed his fork to attack the vegetable lasagna before it got cold.
CHAPTER 17
AN ACCURATE MEMORY
The next morning, they got a call from Randy Kaustrowitz before they had gotten ready to drive to the precinct. It was perfect timing because neither George nor Andi were overly keen to go there and meet Agent DeCapristo or Chief Savalle. No matter how inevitable it was, they both had a silent understanding that in this case, procrastination was a good thing. Randy had performed a small miracle and got a permit from Rosalie to talk to her mother though she hadn’t been overly happy about it. “I think she hopes her mother has a bad day and you won’t get anything from her.” Randy’s voice was a little hard to understand over the background of passing cars.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to the precinct.”
“What about the director? Shelby Delaine? Can we meet her as well?” George was still determined to talk to both women as soon as possible. Preferably one after the other.
“She has time for you this morning at ten. After meeting her, you can go to Tamika Byrnes. Lunch is at twelve, so you have to be done by then.”
“Thank you, Randy. You’re a lifesaver here.”
“I know. I thought I’d go and talk to Rosalie, Suzie, and Isabelle’s neighbors. Perhaps they had seen or heard something.”
