I stabbed another piece of waffle. “Will be.” I would never trust a Banachi, but it was nice to know that Apollo could apologize and try to make up for things in his own way. Killing his family wasn’t necessary, but it was what it was.
“I did not expect a show while we ate waffles, but that was fucking entertaining.” Zig clapped and let out a hoot.
“Encore,” Zag laughed. “What other dirty laundry can we air out while we eat?”
“None,” Bristol called. “I think that was enough for one morning.” She flipped two waffles onto a plate and gave them to Ransom. “Maybe we should get back to maybe looking at the yearbooks again? I can give them a glance, if you want. I didn’t run in the same circles as these guys so I could maybe see something they don’t.”
Ransom shrugged and picked up his fork. “You can give it a try. At this point, Bear and I are open to anything.” He nodded to the butter in front of me. “Send that down here.”
I handed it to Zag who slid it down to Ransom.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and saw it was a message from Greta.
Two hours in and I’m going strong. I did take a paw to the gut that about knocked me out.
I chuckled and shook my head. Need me to add him to the list of people I need to take out for hurting you?
I laid my phone on the counter and picked up my fork.
“Did you just smile at your phone?” Zag asked.
“No,” I grunted. I shoved the last of my waffle in my mouth and pushed away my plate. My phone buzzed again, and Zag tried to grab it.
He had his hand on it, but I wrapped my hand around his. “Drop. The. Phone.” I squeezed Zag’s hand, and he let out a whimper.
“Who are you texting?” he gasped.
“If I wanted you to know that, I would have fucking told you.”
“Sweet, the second round of entertainment is starting,” Zig laughed.
“You’re gonna break my hand,” Zag whined.
“Let go of my phone,” I repeated.
“Kind of hard to do when you’re crushing his hand around it,” Ransom called.
“And in comes Ransom with the voice of reason,” Zig whispered.
“You guys are like little kids,” Bristol tsked. She grabbed a wooden spoon and whacked Zag’s arm. “Drop the phone.”
Zag gritted his teeth but nodded. “Fine, fine.”
I felt his hand relax under mine, and I loosened my grip. He snatched his hand away, and I grabbed my phone.
Zag massaged his hand and glared at me. “You really don’t have a sense of humor, Bear.”
I grunted and opened the message from Greta.
I think I can let Mickey the golden retriever off the hook this time.
“Is that Greta?” Bristol asked,
I looked up, and all eyes were on me.
Zag held up his hands. “I don’t give a fuck who you are texting. Could be fucking Ted Bundy and I would not care.”
“He’s dead, numb nuts,” Zig laughed.
“Yeah, it’s Greta.” I didn’t have a reason to deny it. I was just a little annoyed by Zag trying to take my phone when he could have just asked in the first place who I was texting.
“I asked you that same question and instead of answering, you crushed my hand,” Zag moaned.
“That’s because you grabbed my phone before you asked me that question.” I nodded to Bristol. “You might want to take a lesson in manners from her.”
Zag muttered under his breath and stood. “Well, whatever. I’m gonna hit the john.” He strutted out of the kitchen and down the long hallway.
Other than the sucker punch to the gut, you okay? I typed out.
All good. How about you?
Getting ready to kick Zag’s ass.
“Can I get a coffee?” Ransom asked.
I nodded to Bristol. “Me, too, if it’s not too much of a hassle.”
Bristol waved her hand at me. “No problem at all.”
That’s what normally happens if you talk to Zag. He’s a smart idiot.
I scoffed and shook my head.
“What’s up?” Ransom asked.
“Greta just said Zag was a smart idiot. I have yet to see any smart come out of that kid.”
Bristol set a cup of steaming black coffee in front of me.
“He is pretty smart,” Zig interrupted. “He just doesn’t have much common sense.” Zig shrugged. “And we’re also immature as fuck.”
“Amen to that,” Pie muttered.
I’ll take your word on that one.
Later, lumberjack. A Westie is about to walk in.
Later.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and grabbed my coffee.
“Do you have the yearbooks with you?’ Bristol asked. “Pie showed me his picture, but I want to look through the whole thing. I find it really hard to believe that he wasn’t in any other pictures.”
Ransom nodded. “I’ve got a set back at the station.”
“Zag brought his to the clubhouse yesterday. She can look at them there,” Pie added. “That way, you don’t have to run back to the station and back out here.”
Ransom shrugged. “Don’t care whose she looks at or where. I’ll pay you a hundred bucks if you can find him in another photo.”
“Now I’m even more motivated to find him,” Bristol laughed. “But I really just want to help.”
We all did.
Today, Ransom and I were going to get back to clearing all of the empty houses and buildings in Rockton. It was a boring task, but it needed to be done.
With no good clues on where to look for Conner, we needed to eliminate places one by one.
Leonard Conner Luther was out there, and we were going to find him.