“I figured. Is that okay?”
He nodded, and I wanted to drag him into my arms and hug him. I bumped his leg where no one could see in silent support instead. I was glad. If Olivia hadn’t been supportive, I’d have lost it.
The chatter around the table regarded the upcoming chase. We had high hopes that the systems moving in would produce,though one had shifted and changed over the past two hours, and the potential threat level had been downgraded.
“Oz, are you taking your car again?” Lex asked from the other end of the table.
“I thought so.” I glanced at Gale. The apprehension on his face answered the question. “Yeah. Why?”
“Can you take one or two more passengers?”
“No.”
“The fuck. Why not?”
“Because it’s not a chase vehicle and the point was for it to be less crowded, not more.”
“Don’t push it,” Jazz said to Lex, “or you’ll make Gale cry.”
“You know what? I changed my mind. I’ll take Jazz and leave him on the side of the fucking road in the path of an EF5 and hope he gets sent right to hell.”
“Fuck you,” Jazz spat.
Olivia slapped Jazz’s arm. “Stop being a dick.”
“But we’re up a person,” Lex countered. “We’ve got Elliott now.”
“And originally, we were squishing ten people into two cars, so technically, you’re down two. You can make it work. The answer is no.”
“Fine.” Lex turned to Olivia.
My phone buzzed, but not with an incoming text, which I would have ignored. The steady pulse against my thigh indicated a phone call. I pulled it out and read my mother’s name on the screen.
“Fuck me.” When was the last time I’d talked to her? The previous night before bed. I was playing with fire.
“Everything okay?” Gale asked.
I showed him the screen. “My mother.”
“Uh-oh. The next installment of microfiction horror?”
I laughed. “Something like that.”
The waitress arrived with our food as I debated what to do. At this rate, we’d be on the road, and I wouldn’t be able to touch base until morning. I didn’t think she would call the Tulsa police department, but this was Stella Devereaux. Anything was possible.
“I’d better take it.” The ringing stopped, but I asked the server to pack my food in a to-go box and told Gale I was heading outside to return the call.
“Hey, Vern.” I had to shout his name twice since he was so engrossed in a conversation with Maggie, he didn’t hear me. I held up my phone. “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, for the love of god, rescue me.”
“Materfamilias?”
“Yeah.”
“Gotcha. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
I gave him the finger.
Outside, I found shelter from the spitting rain and wind at the side of the building. The churning clouds foretold a busy night. We might not see tornado action, but a brewing tempest lurked on the horizon.
