“Okay, then, what’s the plan?” I interrupt my thoughts.
“Checked in with the boss,” Ryker takes a sip of his coffee. “We need to go to Virginia.”
I frown. “What’s in Virginia?”
He places his coffee cup on the table and leans toward me. “Now, I need you to please stay calm.”
I blink a couple of times at him. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but nine out of ten scientists have found - FUCK YOU for telling me to calm down.”
“I didn’ttellyou to calm down,” Ryker sighs. “Iaskedyou tostaycalm.”
I dump sugar a little too aggressively into my coffee. “How’s that working for you?”
“You know, there are times when you seem like an intelligent human being, capable of having a conversation with a member of the opposite sex. Then, you open your mouth, and all bets are off,” Ryker leans back in the booth.
Now I’m seeing red and unscrewing the top of the sugar shaker. “What in the 1955 bullshit did you just say?”
“I said, you’re smart until you open your mouth to talk,” the corner of Ryker’s mouth goes up. “And look at you, proving me right.”
“For the love of Carlos Ray Norris!” I dump the entire sugar shaker over his head.
“What the hell?” Ryker jumps up, spilling sugar everywhere.
Lulu is beside us in a second. “Heavens to Betsy!”
“She - she,” Ryker sputters.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him flustered. This greatly entertains me, and I laugh so hard that I might have peed a little bit.
Fine. Nomightabout it. I peed a little bit.
What? You try getting to your mid-40s without having questionable bladder control.
Lulu rushes off to find a broom. Ryker stands next to the booth staring daggers at me. I sip my coffee, pleased as punch.
“I was trying to get you in the right frame of mind to hear this, but since you poured extra bitchiness into your coffee, I’ll come out and say it,” Ryker leans into my face. “Your best pal - Sheila - gave away the convoy’s location. She was working with someone. And it got her killed.”
With that, Ryker turns on his heel and heads toward the bathrooms.
The coffee in my stomach churns and threatens to add to the mess on the table.
Sheila?
No way.
I couldn’t fucking believe it.
I worked with Sheila for years. Decades. There was no way she actively worked to set two murderers free. There’s got to be some mistake.
But the tiny voice in the back of my head that has gotten me out of more scrapes than I can count wondered:How well do we know the people we work with?
Unfortunately, I had no answer to that voice today. And I was afraid of what waited for us in Virginia.
Chapter 20
“Can anyone recommend a good dentist?”
-Ryker
