“How’s work?” Violet asked Elana. “Any exciting cases to share?”
“You said you had gossip,” Spencer grumbled, his voice low. “It’s the only reason I’m here.”
“No, it’s not,” she countered, elbowing him in the shoulder. “You’re here because you don’t have anyone to play with.”
“How do you know?”
“If you did,” Elana spoke up, “you wouldn’t be here.”
Spencer’s eyes narrowed. “You two talk about how to gang up on me when I’m not around?”
“We absolutely do,” Violet deadpanned before turning her attention back to Elana. “Work? Exciting shit. Go.”
“There isn’t any. Thank God,” Elana huffed as she sipped her drink. “It’s slow for the moment. After … you know…”
Ah. Right. After the kidnapping.
“HowisJJ doin’?” Spencer inquired, referring to Jessica James, Elana’s boss, a.k.a. the Off the Books Task Force’s hacker extraordinaire.
Violet didn’t know JJ well, although they were both born and raised in Coyote Ridge. JJ was a few years older, so their paths hadn’t crossed much growing up. Most of what she’d learned about the woman had come from the Coyote Ridge Gazette and then from Elana after she started working for the task force.
“Better,” Elana answered. “Physically. But just as bossy.”
Violet stirred her drink. “I heard the doctor gave her a clean bill of health.”
“He did,” Elana confirmed.
One of Violet’s favorite things these days was to listen to Elana tell stories about the cases the task force worked on. Especially since JJ had become a hot topic of conversation. Almost two years ago, JJ had first made front page news whenher house blew up and then again a few weeks ago when she was kidnapped outside the bakery.
“The babies are good?” JJ was pregnant with twins, a fact JJ and her boyfriend, Baz, hadn’t been aware of until after her last harrowing ordeal. Up to that point, they’d thought they were well on their way to bringing only one baby into the world.
That was just one of those phenomena that didn’t make sense to Violet—like Big Foot or déjà vu. Seriously. How could anyone have apersongrowing inside their body and not know it was there?
“They are,” Elana answered. “Doctor wants her to take it easy—”
“But this is JJ,” Violet and Spencer finished for her.
Elana giggled. “Exactly.”
“And Holly?” Spencer asked.
“She’s good.” Elana leaned in. “I think she’s datin’ someone.”
Violet’s inner gossip sat up straight and clapped for the potential news. Trying to play it cool on the outside, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Who? Anyone we know?”
“She won’t tell me.”
Figured. The good stuff didn’t come freely. “Kinda like my sister not tellin’ me she’s datin’ Holly’s brother?”
Elana’s eyes widened, as did her smile. “Exactly like that.”
“That’s a fluke,” Spencer said, taking a pull on his beer. “No way your sister ends up with a crazy redneck who’s more than a decade older than her.”
Violet had thought the same thing, but that was before she’d caught Honor making out with Luca Switzer in the bookstore. They’d been going at it like a couple of teenagers. If it weren’t for the fact the store had been busy that night, who knew how far those two would’ve gone.
“Who do you think it is?” Spencer asked, returning to the subject of Holly. “She’s kinda picky.”
Elana opened her mouth but then closed it quickly.
