“What’s up?” Kyle asked when she’d climbed the steps. Alex had his eyes on her, too.
She waved her cell phone. “Work. Just need to make a call.” She headed into the house, grabbed her tote in case she needed to leave, then went down the hall from the great room. She opened a door on her left and stepped into a bedroom. Out the window, she had a view of the back yard, and the tree Arden decorated for Christmas every year. She hit Carla’s number.
“Whatcha got for me?”
“What happened at your doggie class?” Carla sounded shaken. “Frank went in to talk to Stan, came out and banged a bunch of shit around on his desk, then stormed out the door.”
“Oh, shit. Stan must have told him already that he’s probably not making the Unit.”
“Really? Did Stan like, shoot Betty or something, because that’s how mad Frank’s acting.”
“That’s not like him.” Frank tended to show a lot of patience and calm.
“I know. He’s usually pretty Zen.”
“Maybe it was something else? He didn’t carry out a box like he’d cleared his desk, did he?”
“Nope.”
Sylvie sighed. She didn’t want hard feelings between the two of them over this.But if he’s going to act like a baby about it, I have no choice. “Maybe I’ll give him a call later.”
“I wouldn’t. I’d let him simmer dow…hang on, Tom just came in.” Sylvie heard Carla put her phone down on her desk, then muffled voices. Carla finally picked the phone back up. “Tom just asked if I’d seen you. I told him I thought you’d gone home after your class.”
“Great. So, Frank’s sending his partner to talk to me?”
“Who knows?” Carla huffed out a breath. “Tom will use any excuse to flirt with me, even though I’ve told him no way, José.”
“Annoying.” Sylvie shook her head. “How long you gonna be there?”
“Just until I finish this paperwork.”
“So forever.”
Carla chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. Hey, and I guess this means congratulations are in order?”
“Not quite yet, but yeah.” She couldn’t help but smile and feel warm inside.
“Oh! And while I have you on the phone, could you check the car for something? You know how I scribble shit down on napkins—”
“And I tell you that you’ll lose it?” Sylvie smirked.
“Old habits are hard to break.”
“Don’t tell me. You want me to look for a napkin you lost with something important on it so that you can finish your paperwork and go home.”
“The sooner you help me out, Cookie, the less time I get to spend with Tom.”
“On it.” Sylvie picked her tote up, opened the guest bedroom door, and hurried down the hall. Kyle and Alex were standing in the great room.
“Something wrong?” Kyle asked as she headed for the door.
“Nope. Just need to check the car for something.”I hope nothing’s going on there. Alex looked tense. She hurried out the door to the car and opened the passenger side.
“Where you at?” Carla asked.
“Arden Voelker’s ranch.”
“Ah.”
