She hadn’t noticed that they smelled, and part of her wondered if they were just saying these things to make her feel better.
But it worked.
They headed outside, and she winced as the bright light of the sun hit her eyes. Ow.
Cash wrapped his hand around hers, and Ralen stood close to her other side as they headed toward his pickup. There was a big black truck parked behind them. As they grew closer, she saw that Butch was sitting behind the steering wheel.
That truck suited him.
“That’s exactly the sort of vehicle I thought he’d be driving,” Cash said. “Something large and soulless.”
Ralen snorted.
That was maybe a bit harsh. Then again, Butch had basically accused her of making everything up, maybe it wasn’t so harsh after all.
Ralen opened the passenger door, and she moved closer. She let out a squeal of shock as Cash wrapped his hands around her hips and lifted her into the cab.
She glared over her shoulder at him. Would it hurt him to give her a bit of a heads-up before he did that sort of thing?
He grinned and, to her shock, lightly tapped the tip of her nose. “Be careful. If the wind changes, it will leave your face in that position. You don’t want to be a Frowny Franny all the time, do you?”
“Frowny Fanny?” Ralen asked, “What are you? Ninety-five? No one uses the word ‘fanny’ anymore.”
“Yes, they do.”
“No, they don’t. Not unless you’ve got gray hair, a zillion wrinkles, and use a walking stick to get around.”
Cash just shook his head and walked around to get into the driver’s side. He started up the truck as Ralen got in. When they didn’t move, she turned to look at him, and he gazed pointedly down at her.
What was wrong?
“Seatbelt.”
Oops. However, before she could grab it to buckle herself in, Cash did it for her, his arm brushing against her breasts.
Do not react.
She thought about reaching into her backpack to get Snaggles, but decided just to leave him where he was for the moment. She was relying too much on him.
She turned to Ralen and tugged on his sleeve until he turned to look down at her.
“Were there any cameras where the m-man with the body was?”
“There was one,” he told her. “On that big building next to the bar. It was aimed right down onto the parking lot.”
Right. Well, that was good news, wasn’t it? So why didn’t he look happy?
“It wasn’t working last night, though,” he added. “Unfortunately, that ended up a dead end, and we couldn’tsee any others. Brody’s going to try and see if there are other cameras that might have caught the car leaving. But it’s a bit of a long shot.”
She nodded. “Thanks for trying.”
At least she knew her sisters were all right. That was the most important thing, making sure that they were okay. She wondered how they’d ended up at the police station. Maybe they’d gotten arrested during the brawl. Why hadn’t she thought to check there?
“Brody is also trying to get access to the camera footage at the hotel where you’re staying. Unfortunately, the hotel isn’t cooperating with us,” Ralen added. “Ink wants to talk to you about whether you want to get the police involved.”
She rubbed her head. A few hours of sleep hadn’t really helped her. She couldn’t seem to think clearly, and she didn’t know what to do.
“How about we just concentrate on getting your sisters first?” Cash said to her. She nodded. Dotty would know what to do. Dotty always knew what to do.
