She winced. “Yeah. I don’t think I have much more left in the tank tonight.”
I eyed her thigh and the portrait of her abuela that was slowly coming to life. “Okay, but do you think you can last through me finishing this section?”
She glanced down at where I’d paused. “How much longer?”
“Five minutes, I promise.”
She laid back, looking resigned. “I can do it.”
I rolled over, pulling on a fresh set of gloves. “What a brave woman. Next up, asking out a man who knows his way around a dead body.”
She waggled her brows. “Hopefully he knows his way around live ones, too.”
I laughed and got back to work.
Vern was, luckily, my last appointment of the evening, and once I was finished checking her out, I tried to call Blake.
He sent me to voicemail and texted me a location instead.Meet me in thirty.
Not until you tell me what this is about.
I can’t explain it over the phone. Just please. I’m asking you to trust me.
Normally, I wouldn’t have hesitated, but between the whole gambling-away-his-entire-inheritance thing and how moody and aloof he’d acted since (no matter how muchIapologized), I wasn’t sure I knew my brother as well as I’d once believed. And him not telling me where we were going felt like a giant red flag.
Was it even him?
Where did we hide Cordy’s pug statue?
In the suit of armor by the front entrance of her townhouse. Why?
Just checking.
It’s ME. Blake. The little brother you’ll thank by the end of tonight because I’m fixing the problem I created.
Unease twisted my stomach. Uh... what the fuck was he talking about?
There’s nothing left to “fix,”I texted back.I’m free.
No. You’re not. None of us are. And I’m about to prove it to you. Half an hour, Stella. Be there.
I tried texting him back several times, but he’d gone radio silent.
Shit. What the hell was he up to? I hadjustgotten clear of Theo’s blackmail, had finally gotten onto his good—scratch that—less bad side. If Blake did something to mess with him, I worried we’d wind up right back where we started. Or worse.
I rushed to Derrick’s booth. He was closing tonight because I’d decided to actually start taking care of myself by limiting my hours to a more manageable work schedule.
“Heyyy,” I said, hanging off his doorframe. Thankfully, he was in between clients.
“Yes?” he drawled, raising one bushy white eyebrow.
“I have to head out for a bit, but I can be available if anything pops up.”
“It won’t,” he said, and from his tone, I had a feeling that even if something did, he’d handle it himself.
I raced upstairs.
“Treaaat?” Amos called.
