Chapter 9
Tiguan
“What do you mean she’s not here?” Chaos asked the young woman holding Lyrical’s tell-me-when-to-breathe notebook.
“She went home early.”
“I understood that,” Chaos said. He was trying to be patient, but his tone wasn’t communicating that well. “Let me rephrase the question. Why did she go home?”
When the four of us first walked in, she could barely speak, tripping over her tongue. Her powers of speech had not improved. “Um, well, she said she wasn’t feeling well.”
He sighed. “Lyrical wouldn’t leave just because she wasn’t feeling well. She’d have to be really sick.”
He turned to me. “How was she when you were here?”
I replied, “She seemed fine. A little tired. Not surprising since she’s been running herself into the ground with the festival.”
“Um… well… she had a visitor after Tiguan left,” the girl acknowledged. “There were some raised voices, and shortly after that is when she left.”
“Fuck!” Chaos said with an exhale. “Let me guess. About six foot two, two hundred twenty pounds, gray, slicked-back hair, and an expensive-looking gray suit? Looked like an older version of me?”
The girl’s eyes went wide. “Yeah, now that you say that, he looked a bit like you. How did you know?”
He looked at me. “My fucking father. How much do you wanna bet he wasn’t here to apologize and ask her to the celebration today?”
The girl inserted, “He was kind of a dick. Even slammed the door on his way out.”
“How did Lyrical react?” I asked the girl.
“She was pretty pale when I saw her. Unsteady. Her face was flushed, but I figured it was because she’d been out in the cold and hadn’t warmed up yet.
He wasn’t here very long. A few minutes afterward, she came out of her office with her trash bag tied up and put it out back in the dumpster.
It was kind of weird, but since she was leaving for the day, I figured maybe the can was full, and she was just being nice. ”
Chaos jogged out back to the dumpster. When he opened it, there was a single white trash can liner sitting on top of all the other garbage. He opened it, then quickly sealed it.
“She vomited. She’s made of sterner stuff than that. He must have said something really awful.”
The girl had followed us out the door and was hugging herself against the cold. “To be honest, she didn’t look good. Her assistant was out with the flu today. Maybe Lyrical got it too.”
You should go check on her.
“We should go check on her,” I said to Chaos.
He stood, hands on his hips, contemplating me. “We’re gonna stay here and help clean up.” He pointed his finger at me. “You are going to check on her.”
“Me?” My voice might have squeaked. “By myself?”
Sapo snorted. “What's the matter? Afraid of her now?”
“No, I’m not afraid of her,” I protested. “But she barely knows me. She’s not going to let me into her place.”
“She will,” Chaos said, tapping keys on his phone.
My phone chirped with a text, and when I looked at it, it was an address.
“That’s her house. She rents a place in Fox Point.
” He tossed the rental truck keys at me.
“Take the SUV and stay with her. If she’s ill, she shouldn’t be alone.
We’ll hold down the fort here. When we’re done, I’ll check on the two of you. ”
“But—”
“But nothing. That’s my sister-in-law. Take care of her.”
“Shouldn’t you—”
“You wanted a date with her. I’m handing you something even better.”
Now it was Oz’s turn to react. “She’s got the flu, dude. Hardly romantic times coming his way.”
“No,” he said slyly, his eyes sliding to me again, his smirk full-blown. “But she needs coddling and care. Who better to give it to her than the nice guy who wants to treat her like a princess?”
He’s got your number, buddy.