Page 71 of Deadly Conflicts

“I don’t think that’s right to do when I have a hangover and am not really ill.”

“No one would know but me, and you have like twenty days a year and only use half of them.”

Ally pursed her lips as she considered the suggestion. “Are you going to play hooky with me?”

Jake grinned. “I will play at least partial hooky with you,” he said. “We’re still waiting on information from Vince’s car. I’ll text James and tell him I’m sticking close to you this morning. That’s not really a lie.”

“Whatever will we do with our extra time together?” Ally asked, making her eyes as wide as possible. “My mind is a total blank for options.”

Jake snickered as he rolled them, making sure he was on top of her but not squashing her with his weight. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips as she giggled and caught her breath. “I have a few ideas, angel. Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?”

“I’m only fake sick,” Ally replied. “I’m totally in love with you, though, so I think we can work it out.”

“That’s exactly the answer I was looking for, angel. Prepare yourself. I’m a master at playing hooky.”

“Somehow I think I already knew that.”

“JAKE CLAIMShe’s sick this morning so he won’t be here until later,” James said the next morning, glaring at the car in the middle of the garage as Sven and Rodrigo diligently worked and Grady ate a doughnut and pretended he was interested in what they were doing.

“It’s not like we need him here,” Grady said. “The two of us can watch Rodrigo and Sven do all of the work just as easily as three of us could.” Grady was boastful and proud, but he was also aware of his limitations. “It’s not a big deal.”

“He’s not sick, though.”

“You’ve called in sick at least ten times that I can think of offhand and you weren’t sick either,” Grady pointed out. “You once called in with a hangnail and I could hear Mandy splashing around in the hot tub.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the boss,” James said. “I’m allowed to call in sick for a hangnail.”

“I don’t understand how you get anything done at all,” Sven said, wiping his hands on his coveralls. “There is absolutely nothing odd about this car. It’s not missing any pieces. Nothing has been tampered with. It’s just a car.”

“Well, that’s a bummer,” Grady said. “I was really hoping we could find something to nail Vince to the wall.”

“What were you expecting to find that could do that?”

Grady shrugged. “If you found cocaine or something under the hood, that would be great.”

“We could always plant it,” Rodrigo suggested.

“We’re not planting cocaine,” James said. “He’s a dirtbag. We just need to figure out what pies he has his fingers in.”

“And they’d better not be my sister’s,” Grady added, realizing what he said when it was too late to take it back. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

“And gross,” James said, smacking the back of Grady’s head. “I just don’t get it. Who steals a car and drives it twenty miles to an empty garage just to dump it? No stolen parts. No crimes committed in the car. We’ve got nothing.”

“Maybe whoever stole it thought better about what they did after the fact,” Sven suggested. “Maybe they changed their mind and ran instead of profiting.”

“That would indicate a novice and I don’t think a novice would steal a car in broad daylight,” Grady said.

“Unless the individual was drunk or high,” Rodrigo said. “Maybe the guy was lit and thought it was a great idea at the time.”

“We don’t even know if it was a guy,” James said. “That reminds me … where is Maverick?”

“He’s inside,” Grady replied. “Mom is making him pancakes.”

“Oh, good grief,” James muttered, stalking toward the door. “She’s fawning all over that kid. I almost think she likes him better than Avery.”

“That’s only because she hasn’t seen very much of Avery,” Grady said. “With Finn and Jeff recuperating, Emma has been something of a homebody. I don’t blame her. Still, Mom and Dad came all of this way and they’ve barely seen the baby.”

“Yes, but they’ve seen plenty of my naked wife,” James said. “She’s still complaining about that.”