“Maybe? I don’t know. Do you want to talk to her? She loves it when Shipwreck shitheads—ah, residents—need things from her.” Her eyes twinkle as she grins at me. “Oops. Don’t tell Grady I slipped.”
As if she won’t tell him herself.
And as if she didn’t do it on purpose.
“I would love to visit your mama.”
“Me too,” a voice says behind me.
I shriek.
Annika shrieks.
Sue leaps to his hooves, bleats in terror, and takes off running down the alley.
And Davis stands there stone-faced, looking for all the world like he has no idea why we’d be shrieking about being snuck up on from behind a dumpster.
I press a hand to my hammering heart. “Where the hell did you come from, and how long have you been standing there?”
“You aresonot my favorite boy bander anymore,” Annika says. “Dammit. I have to pee. You scared the pee out of me, and I was having a good pee day. The baby’s not sitting on my bladder for once, but now I have to pee.”
Davis gestures to the bakery back door. “Apologies. Don’t let me stop you.”
“No, no, I can hold it for a minute. What are you doing here?”
“Taking a walk.”
“Down an alley instead of on the main roads?” I ask.
“More private.”
Or he was spying on me again.
Or guarding me.
My stomach flutters, but it’s also growling a bit.
“Why do you think Thorny Rock’s treasure is real?” Annika asks him.
He studies her briefly before looking back at me. “Do you have any museum artifacts stored at your house?”
“Rude,” Annika mutters.
“Agreed.”
He flicks a glance back at her. “Real or not real is irrelevant when perception is reality. The public believes it exists. The perception is that someone can find it.”
Annika’s no longer amused.
She’s former military. And both risk-aware and risk-averse, which means she’s likely now thinking about how many people could get hurt looking for the treasure.
She’s mentioned it before a time or two as well.
“Sloane?” she says. “Doyou?”
I don’t want to answer that question. Mostly because there’s not a good answer to it.
The bakery back door opens, and Grady sticks his head out, Miles still on his shoulders. “Everything okay? I heard almost screaming.”
