“I should have been on the stage, really.”
“Dad would have loved that,” Brad said, which set the Geldermans laughing again.
“So what is the plan?” Lani asked.
“The plan for you is that you stay in the car. We,” he pointed from him to the Geldermans, “will break in and look around the place.”
“Do you know what you’re looking for?”
“I know what those lab tests came back with and can read labels.”
“Right. So it will just be there in a bottle marked ‘stuff to lace marijuana with so it messes with people’ right there on a shelf for you to find.”
“I didn’t say that.” Noah’s patience was clearly being tested. “I’ve wanted to see inside those houses for a while now, and this is the chance. If I find evidence someone in there is also tampering with the marijuana and selling it to locals, that would be a win in my book.”
“My best friend is a scientist. I used to spend time in her lab. She told me all kinds of things while I was writing up her notes. I could probably find what you’re looking for better than you can.”
“No.”
Lani could feel the Texans looking from her to Noah.
“Being bullheaded is helping no one and won’t get us any closer to finding who nearly put Mikey in a hospital.”
“She has a point, to be fair,” Brad said.
“No, she doesn’t. We’re intelligent men, we can do this without her help.”
“Okay, so this is about the male ego then, and not actually getting the facts you need.”
“Shut up, Lani.”
“Sorry, he’s cranky.” Tex smiled. It was a really nice smile, she had to concede.
“I’m not cranky, and she shouldn’t even be in this car!”
“You sound cranky.”
“You should park further down the road and we’ll double back,” Brad said.
“You think?”
“Now, now, Noah. Only trying to help. After all, we’re here, aren’t we, because Newman said he couldn’t afford bail if Cubby arrested him, plus Hope has a stomach bug. Jake is on call, and Buster can’t leave Willow.”
“Just how wealthy are you two?” Lani looked at the brothers. “I’ve heard rumors.”
“Obscenely so.”
Brad shook his head at his brother’s words. They stopped talking as the car slowed about hundred yards on from the shade houses.
“I won’t see anything from here,” Lani said, getting out of the car. “I’ll follow you to the perimeter fence.”
Noah made a sound in his throat but didn’t add any words. Soon they were creeping along the road with the bag he’d retrieved from the trunk. They then moved down the fence line away from the road to the rear, away from the security lights.
The facility was set up like a compound with security gates. The fence was tall and would be hard to scale.
“What is the penalty for breaking and entering?” she whispered to Brad.
“Not sure, but I think as it’s our first offence we’d likely get off.”
