The guy jumped, shoulders hunching as he turned toward me. “Oh, Grayden. Hey. Been a few days.”
Geez, he seemed tightly wound today. “It has. Funny story, except not so funny…”
Milo grimaced. “Dude, I heard all about it. I came down with a brutal stomach bug on Monday and was out of commission until yesterday. Finally poked my head out of my own house, and bam, heard the news about what happened to Danny Carmichael and you being questioned by the police.”
So that explained why he looked so pale. At least I didn’t have to catch him up.
“I was going to call you and see how you’re doing,” he said guiltily.
“Nah, you get a pass if you were sick. It’s been a tough week so far. But it’s been getting better.”
I’d been spending every moment possible with Piper and Ollie. Yesterday had been his first day back at school, and Piperand I had been able to forget the world and just be together for a while.
Then, after school, we’d had dinner together at their house. Roasted chicken and potatoes. Ollie had shown me his favorite comic books before bedtime, and then Piper and I relaxed and watched a movie on her couch. Well,watchwas a loose term. Mostly, we’d made out like teenagers.
All in all, a pretty much perfect day. Except for the part where I went back to my place to sleep. I was seeing the benefits of Ollie’s suggestion that I move in. But we weren’t quite there yet.
Soon, I hoped.
With Piper’s okay, I’d given Ollie my number to program into his phone. So far, he’d texted me a meme this morning that I couldn’t understand. I’d smiled so big when that notification popped up.
I’d spent my morning working on my mural. I had plans with Piper and Ollie later this afternoon. We would meet up for Ollie’s after-school martial arts class, which promised to be a good time. Best of all, Ashford was the teacher.
My relationship with Ashford had a long way to go. But being able to hang out with him, to just be brothers again, was the best feeling in the world.
“Anyway, thought I’d stop by to say hello,” I said. “Could I take another look at that Ninja you loaned me? It’s still for sale, right?”
A smile broke over Milo’s face, making him look more like his usual self. “Yeah, man. Come on. Let’s talk.”
We walked to the next row of bikes, and we batted around some numbers. I wasn’t ready yet to make a big purchase, not until my studio was open. But I had ideas about taking Piper out on another ride before long.
Maybe we’d even hit up the Mangy Moose for more of those mocktails.
Milo rested a hand on a nearby sport bike. “So I hear Danny’s recovering?”
“He’s doing as well as can be expected. Or so the doctors say. Piper’s been there for him at the hospital far more than he deserves.”
“And the attack? Does Danny remember what happened?”
That tense, distracted look had reappeared on Milo’s face.
“If he does, he’s not talking,” I said. “But Piper thinks he knows a lot more than he’s saying. She suspected Danny was up to something even before the attack.”
“Right. You said he broke into your place.”
“He did, at least once.” I scrubbed my hand over my beard. “Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about the day I met you. When Earl and Zach found the drugs?”
Milo laughed nervously. “The fake drugs, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
This was my other reason for stopping by the motorcycle shop today. My brain had been turning over the events of the last several weeks. Chewing on those details like a piece of gristle.
Something had been bugging me, and it just wouldn’t go away.
We now knew Danny hadn’t broken into Piper’s garage. That had been someone else. The would-be killer, who’d stolen the knife used to stab Danny. We also knew my Seattle sweatshirt had wound up in the hands of that same attacker.
The question was,how? Had Danny really planted the fake drugs at my place?
