“It’s not all that different either,” I pointed out. “Be nice. Here he comes.”
Cam emerged from the basement carrying Arnold under one arm and his backpack over the other. He twirled the keys to theEggplant, tossing them and catching them as he walked. There was a spring in the step of his Doc Martens as they strode toward us.
“Took you long enough,” Vero muttered.
“I borrowed one of Ramón’s shirts,” he said, smoothing down his collar. “I wasn’t sure if I should go with the blue one or the black one.”
“You look very nice,” I assured him, elbowing Vero before she could say something snide.
“Let’s go,” Vero said. “We have a party to get to.”
“Okay, but first I have to stop at the sorority house to pick up Zoey.”
Vero frowned. “No one said anything about bringing Zoey.”
“She said she needed a ride.”
“When was that?”
“This afternoon, when we were texting.”
I threw Vero anI told you solook.
Vero bit her tongue. She jerked open the front door and froze.
Officer Oates stood on the stoop, her hand poised to knock. She looked down her nose at Vero and her bulky sweater. Her scrutinizing gaze slid past her to Cam, Arnold, and me, then to the Fantastic Four in the living room, and finally to Javi. She frowned at the odd makeup of the gathering as the Fantastic Four argued over pizza toppings and who got to pick the TV show.
“Having a party?” Officer Oates asked.
“Are parties against the rules?” Vero’s tone was a little aggressive, and I poked her in the back. The last thing we needed was to piss this woman off.
“Not as long as they don’t get out of hand. What happened to him?” she asked, jutting her chin at Javi’s cast. His mouth was hanging open in his sleep, and his face was still covered in bruises from his fight.
“Climbing accident,” Vero said quickly. “He’s a friend of the family. All the neighbors came over to keep him company. It was a pretty nasty fall.”
Officer Oates looked suspicious. “Is that so?” she asked thoughtfully.
“As you can see, I’m home,” Vero said scornfully. She swept an arm around her, gesturing to her neighbors. “We were just about to order pizza and watch a really terrible movie. Maybe after that, we’ll get really rowdy and play a round of Go Fish. If you came here to check up on me expecting booze, drugs, and strippers, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Joan snapped to attention. “Did someone order strippers?”
Wendell perked up. “I’d like some, too.”
Vero heaved a sigh. “No strippers tonight. Go back to your TV show.”
“That sucks,” Eugene said.
Cam patted him on the back. “I get it. I’d be disappointed, too.”
“I didn’t come to check up on you,” Officer Oates said. “I came to check on an acquaintance of yours… Theodore Sideris?” Officer Oates studied Vero’s blank face as if she were searching for a reaction. “Mr. Sideris was reported missing by his employer yesterday. They say he hasn’t called in to work in a few days and he’s not answering his phone. The number appears to have been disconnected, and no one’s answering at his home address. His boss mentioned there was an altercation at the bar where he worked a few days ago, during his most recent shift. The investigator from Missing Persons who was assigned to Mr. Sideris’s case pulled up his records, and lo and behold, his name was cross-referenced in a list of potential witnesses with yours. That seemed like an awfully surprising connection to me, so I offered to come here and see if you might know anything about Mr. Sideris’s whereabouts.”
“I haven’t seen or talked to Mr. Sideris since the night my charges were filed,” Vero said. “He hasn’t bothered to show up for me, so if you came here to see if I care about the fact that he can’t be bothered to show up for his employer, I’m going to have to disappoint you again. I have no idea where Theo is or how to get in touch with him. If you find him, feel free to bring him here for a slice of pizza. I have plenty of questions I’ve been dying to ask him.”
Officer Oates and Vero stared at each other, neither one of them blinking.
After a long moment, Officer Oates looked around the room and gave a curt nod. “Enjoy your party. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” She tipped an imaginary hat to Vero’s neighbors and walked back to her car.
Vero slammed the door and threw the dead bolt. She pressed her face to the peephole and stared outside. “That’s just great,” she said irritably. “She’s just sitting out there in her car.”
