"First of all, I have faith in Harlow and Archer," Boner said, completely unapologetic.
"Second of all, it only took half a minute to be nice. Weren't you just saying we never knew when we'd need good karma? I just bought us a whole bunch of it."
I sighed and turned away to resume the push through the crowds toward the address Archer gave.
Was my father there? Was he still alive? If he was, I might rip his head off myself. I didn't consider myself a killer, but I'd make an exception if I had to.
"It's over there," Boner said, pointing across the road.
The restaurant looked half-derelict, sitting on the corner with paint chipping off the facade. The name was missing a few letters. Instead of Farah's Table it read Far T.
That was unfortunate.
"We shouldn't go running in half-cocked." I waited for the lights to turn so we could cross the street. The last thing we needed was to get this close, only to be run over by a cab.
I hadn't gotten the image of Yvette flying through the air all the way out of my mind. It was quick, but I doubted I'd be that lucky. I'd probably be badly injured and in pain for the rest of my life. No thanks.
"I never do anything half-cocked," Boner said. "Anything I do is full-cocked, with a couple of oversized balls thrown in for good measure."
"I've seen your balls; they aren't oversized," I said.
"You've looked that closely?" He grinned. "I'm flattered."
"Don't be. I might have been looking because they were so small, wrinkled and old, like my great-grandmother." She was dead, but I sent her a mental apology anyway for comparing her face to his testicles. Although, if she knew, she would have laughed her ass off.
He shoved his shoulder into mine.
"Admit it, you were looking. It's okay to look, I don't mind."
Would the universe judge me too harshly if I pushed him into the path of a cab? Probably not, but Harlow would. I could always say he tripped.
"I know what you're thinking," he said.
"Probably not." I scratched behind my ear. Why were these lights taking so long to change?
"You're thinking, when we've dealt with you-know-who, you want to have another look at my balls," he said gleefully.
"I'm definitely not thinking that," I said.
"But now you are," he grinned.
"Absolutely not."
Finally the light changed, giving us the chance to dart over the street.
"Wait a minute before we—" I don't think Boner heard a word before he was running straight through the door into the restaurant.
"Fuck," I said under my breath, before following him in.
"Looks like we got here just in time," he said cheerfully.
Forrest stood to the side of the room. Cass and Harlow were a few feet away. Archer was just emerging from the direction of what looked like the kitchen.
No one was dead.
Or maimed.
No one was missing any fingers as far as I could tell. Everyone's feet looked intact.
