I didn’t see Thomas, but as I turned the knob to leave I heard Dru clear her throat from behind me.
“What?” I spun around to face her, leaning back against the front door hard enough to make it creak. “I’m going to Murphy’s Law. I already cleared it with the prison matron, even though her panties were in a wad about it.”
“Work? I know what I would do in your situation.” She scanned my outfit, then handed me my cell phone and her keys. “Don’t make me regret this. And stop insulting my husband.”
I took the keys and gave her a quick hug. “You’re going to be such an excellent mother.”
“If you were my child, I would staple you to your bedroom wall.”
I blew her a kiss and shut the door softly behind me.
Chapter 31
I couldn’t get in touch with Michael—his cell phone kept bouncing straight to voice mail. I drove like a maniac to Murphy’s Law, parking illegally at the curb. The pickup line for orders snaked almost to the front door. Lily threw me an apron as I walked behind the counter and then did a double take.
“Wow,” she said, giving me the once-over. “Okay. Wow. What are you going for with this look? Are you headed for a Playboy Bunny convention? Because whatever you’re doing, I can guess it’s not making coffee.”
“I’m throwing my hat in the ring, staking a claim, making my intentions known. It’s kind of like … a dog peeing on a fire hydrant.”
“I could’ve done without that visual.” She assessed my outfit as I tied on the apron. “Why do you feel the need to put all your goodies on the front line for a man?”
“It’s more for the competition,” I answered, twisting my hair up and sticking a pencil in it to keep it out of my way.
Lily shook her head and added a shot of espresso to a latte.
I threw up my hands. “What? Do I look that bad?”
“No, you look that good,” she said, spooning foam into a mug. “I just want your self-respect to be intact when all this is over. I assume Michael is your fire hydrant?”
“Yes.” I picked up the order pad to see what was next and then poured milk into a metal cup before attaching it to a steamer. “I’m sorry for bailing on you yesterday,” I said over the hissing noise. “You’ve been here two mornings in a row, haven’t you?”
“No worries. Vanilla latte?” she called out to the crowd before turning back to start the next drink. “Just help me get through these orders, and I’ll forgive you.”
We worked in silence for a few minutes until the crowd dissipated. Lily picked up a glass of ice water and downed half of it before asking, “Where are you headed?”
“I don’t know exactly. There are a couple of places I think he might be. Or he could be someplace else altogether. That’s why I came to talk to you.” I was done with secrets. My best friend needed to come clean. Even if it meant I had to do the same. “I wanted to ask you to help me.”
“Help you?” she asked, crunching down on a piece of ice and narrowing her eyes.
“Help me … find him.” I wouldn’t chicken out. I wanted everything out in the open. “The way you find things.”
Lily choked on her ice before seizing my arm and dragging me toward the back office. She yanked me into the room and slammed the door behind us.
“What the hell, Lily?” I rubbed my arm where she’d grabbed it.
“How do you know?” Lily’s breath came out unevenly.
“I don’t know anything specific,” I confessed. “I just had an idea.”
“I’ve tried so hard to keep it a secret.” She stared at me with wide eyes. “When you asked me my opinion about the supernatural the other day, I got the feeling you were on to me.”
“Actually, I asked you the question about the supernatural stuff because of me.” I opened the door, sticking my head out to check the shop for customers. Only a couple of people sat in the orange chairs by the front window. I pulled my head back in and shut the door.
Lily sat down on the edge of the desk. “Please don’t tell me you’re a vampire. Vampires are so overdone.”
“I swear on every coffee bean in the universe that I’m not a vampire,” I promised her, laughing. “But … I can … sort of … see people from the past. Talk to them.”
though my body had reached the point of exhaustion, my brain wouldn’t shut down. So many thoughts kept my mind whirling: Jack, and who, not to mention what, he really was. Lily, and the secrets between us. Michael, and where he was. What he was doing. And with whom.