Which I also don’t need to do. “Good for them.”
She grins at me. “You’re picturing it, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Liar. Pack up. We’re headed to the museum. I want to look at a map and a couple of the letters that we haven’t put on display yet.”
That’s a plan I can get behind.
I make sure there’s enough food for the cat, then head into the bedroom to grab an extra flannel.
I can mind-over-matter being cold on my bike, but I can also wear extra layers to mitigate how much I have to. And Sloane’s getting the jacket.
Right thing to do.
But when I duck back out of the bedroom, she has the outside door cracked and she’s talking to Chuck, Giselle’s relief partner.
So we’re getting a ride in a car.
Great.
Fantastic.
Favorite thing ever to be at the mercy of someone else for transportation.
I grunt to myself.
Apparently I kept half of my Zen attitude in my manbun, and that’s fucking gone now.
“Anybody watching the camper?” I ask Chuck.
He gives me a look.
It’s theyou want security, get it yourself, my orders are to guard the ladylook.
Thought so.
It’s basically what the wall of texts that I finally caught up with confirmed for me this morning.
Davis can take care of himself. Sloane deserves to feel safe. Giselle’s the best. I’m sending Giselle.
And that was from Ingrid.
Not Levi.
I text Beck and ask to borrow one of his people to guard Sloane’s cat. I’m not leaving her alone when we don’t know if the raccoons will come back, and they’re actually the least of my worries, given what’s already been done to Sloane’s house.
Then I gather what I need for a treasure hunt.
Trail mix. Water. Compass. Emergency space blankets. Spare flashlight. Pocket knife. Backup pocket knife if I lose the first. Battery for my phone. Backup phone that doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi or cell towers anymore, but that has a copy of Thorny Rock’s diary.
And itisThorny Rock’s diary.
Handwriting matches. Details that only Thorny should’ve known match.
Which means Pop, descendant of Walter Bombeck, somehow came into possession of the real Thorny Rock’s diary.
Or someone up his genealogical line did.
