Well, it had been a good life while it lasted.I could go on the run.I could try to hide.But I was fairly sure that at some point, Mr.Cheek and/or Fox would track me down.
I took out my phone and called Bobby.
“Hey,” he said.“How’s your day going?”
“Would you avenge my death?”
“Yes.”(This is why I love Bobby.) And then, without missing a beat, he asked, “What happened?”
As I got in line at Crepe You Very Much (the best crepes in the solar system), I told Bobby what had happened.And then I asked, “Also, do you think Mr.Cheek might have been planning on biting me?”
Bobby’s hesitation was answer enough.
“Oh my God,” I said.
“I’m not saying he wasgoingto do it,” Bobby said.“But there is a precedent.”
“That’s it,” I said.“I’m done.I’m moving to Canada.No, too cold.Venezuela.Nope, too hot.Where do fugitives who want to be comfortable go?”
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Bobby said.
Sure enough, he rolled up in his sheriff’s office cruiser exactly five minutes later.(Tourists or no tourists, Bobby believed that punctuality was next to, um, cleanliness?I don’t know—it’s pretty high up there, anyway.) He opened the door for me, and I slid into the seat next to him.
He was giving me that pragmatic, assessing cop look, so I said, “I’m fine.”
“You’re flushed.”
“I was running.”
Bobbyliterallyperked up.(He loves running.)
“It was awful,” I said.“And I hated it.”
For some reason, that threw a hint of a smile across his mouth, but all he said was “Why don’t we drive around?See if we can find your wigs.”
“They’re notmywigs.”
“Right.”
“They’re Fox’s.Or Mr.Cheek’s.I’m not really sure where the question of ownership falls—it’s in transition.”
Bobby’s “Uh-huh” sounded like he might not really be listening.
“I don’t evenlikewigs.”
“Hmm.”
“But they were a sacred trust, and my honor is my life.”
He cocked his head as though seeing me again.“You know what?I think it’s time you return all those dragon books to the library.”
“Bobby!”
He has the absolutegoofiestgrin, by the way.
We drove slowly around town, and Bobby did what any good law enforcement officer would do: he conducted a grid search, dividing the town into sections and working his way methodically through them.It wasn’t fast, but itwasthorough.We moved outward from downtown, driving more quickly as the crowds of tourists thinned and the streets emptied.
“Since I so rudely forgot to ask earlier,” I said as we reached the end of another block and Bobby turned, “what were you doing before I called?”
