“Just. Do. It,” he hissed, as a gust of wind kicked up andblew the snow sideways. They all steeled themselves until it passed.
“The more you protest, ma’am, the likelier we’re going to have to call in reinforcement,” the older one said. He adjusted his pants, which were both too tight and too loose. Frankie wondered if his wife nagged him to be less slovenly. Maybe his wife didn’t care about things like that. Maybe he didn’t have a wife. Maybe he sat home each night drinking Budweiser and flipping through basic cable. She wondered if he couldn’t inspire a song for Paxton Sunshine. She wished she had a pencil and paper to take notes, to write down a riff or a lyric, an instinct that hadn’t tugged at her for years. She felt herself inhale, a short little hiccup, at the notion: that she could write again, that she should play again.
“Forgive my wife,” Ezra replied, turning his swollen, stony face into a sincere one. “She had her heart set on revisiting the place where we first met.” His hand landed on her arm like a clamp. “Empty your pockets, darling. Then I’m sure they’ll see that this was just a harmless trip down memory lane.” He smiled at the officers. “Hopeless romantic, you know? You should see her on our anniversary. Balloons, wine, Barry Manilow on the stereo.”
Frankie tutted.Barry Manilow?She had a lot to say about that. Still, it wasn’t lost on her that Ezra remembered what she remembered: that Lemonhead had been where they’d met, where it all started.
“Darling?” he said, releasing his grip. “Come on. I’m sure they have other places to be. It’s New Year’s Eve, after all. Let’s not make them wait all day.”
Frankie sighed and fished out her pockets, which proved to be as mundane as she knew they’d be. She didn’t know why she had made such a fuss in the first place. They could have wrapped this up ten minutes ago if she’d just acquiesced.
“Step aside, then. We’ll take a look inside. Do not leave the premises. Understood?” The older guard looked from one to the other. “Even a trip down memory lane can constitute trespassing.”
Frankie started to protest, but Ezra bugged his eyes at her, so she nodded.
“Yes, fine. We’ll be here.”
As soon as they disappeared inside, Ezra turned to Frankie. Or she turned to him. It didn’t really matter. The pretense was gone.
“Your wife?” she whispered.
“Would it have killed you to just follow instructions?” he said at the same time.
They each scowled at the other. Ezra folded his arms. Frankie thrust her hands onto her hips.
“This was your idea,” he said finally. “The brick, the... whole thing!We need to start at Lemonhead, you said.”
“If you want to get something done, send a woman to do it.” As soon as it was out of her mouth, she realized it was not really the defense she’d hoped to mount.
“If I want to get something done, I tend to do it legally, regardless of gender,” he retorted.
“Please,” she said. “I heard the stories about the card counting.”
“It wasonce.” He leaned in close to her face.
“Twice,” she said.
“Fine! It was twice.”
“You gotcaughttwice.” Frankie couldn’t cite other examples of when he’d been anything less than a Boy Scout, so she hoped they changed the subject soon.
Ezra threw his hands into the air. “Look, can we just agree to stand here in silence before you make this any worse? Because I do not feel like landing in a squad car when I have plenty of other shit to deal with right now.”
“They’re not arresting us! They’re campus security! I don’t even think they have that authority!” Frankie prepared to launch into a story of this one time, in Nashville, with Paxton Sunshine, but Ezra cut her off.
“How do you have any idea what they’re doing? Are you the lawyer now? Did you not see his Taser? My God, this is not the time to deal with your issues with authority.”
“Well.” She pouted. “I would not say that your legal skills did us any good.”
“You are the most infuriating person who has ever walked the planet.”
She was about to point out thathewas in fact the most infuriating person to ever walk the planet, and she’d circled the globe more than a few times so she would know, but one of the guards called to the other inside, and both Ezra and Frankie fell quiet.
Frankie tapped her foot. Her toes were getting cold, but that wasn’t the reason why. What were they doing here? Why were they wasting time? Whocaredwhat campus security threatened them with? Frankie had tangled with real cops in Bangkok (not the same trip as the concussion); she’d talked her way out ofsituationsin cities across Europe. This was pettycrime shit, and she wasn’t going to wait around to see if they ticketed her for a broken window.
She felt Ezra staring at her.
“No,” he said. “Do not.No.”
