Ten
Cara decided she needed some fries too, so she rode along in Molly’s car while Norah drove Dash’s SUV to Bubbles. She didn’t want to mess up his settings for such a short trip, so she perched on the edge of the driver’s seat, stretching her leg to reach the pedals. It reminded her just how big Dash was, and she found herself flushing for absolutely no sensible reason for the entire drive.
As she parked in the diner’s small lot, she blew out a relieved breath and turned off the engine. She’d worried that something would happen while she was responsible for the vehicle, but she’d managed to get it here without adding any dents or scratches.
As she climbed out of the driver’s seat, she looked around, trying to be subtle about it but probably failing. Not only was she extra paranoid lately thanks to Leifsen, but now she had to worry about whether Detective Mill was lying in wait somewhere, ready to leap out when he saw her and Dash together.
The only other people in the lot were an older couple slowly making their way to their car. Norah gave them her usual awkward stranger-greeting smile before hurrying toward the entrance. She knew she wouldn’t relax until she was inside, away from all sorts of spying eyes—whether real or imaginary.
The bell on the door jangled as she pushed inside, relieved to see that the small restaurant was mostly empty. It was a strange time—midafternoon—to be having a meal, and she figured it was late enough for most of the lunch crowd to have finished and left. She spotted Dash and her sisters at a table in the corner, and she smiled reflexively at the sight of him.
Dash watched her approach. His scowl and intense stare would’ve frightened off just about anyone else, but she found it oddly comforting. That was just how Dash looked. He had resting grump face.
He stood as she arrived at the table and pulled out the chair next to him for her. She eyed him sideways as she sat. “Is this like a not-swearing or car-door-opening thing?”
“Manners, you mean?” The corner of his mouth twitched up as he took his seat. “Yeah, my gran’s ghost would smack me on the back of the head if I wasn’t polite.”
Fighting an answering smile, she glanced across the table at her sisters, who were watching, fascinated. “What?” she asked self-consciously.
Molly and Cara exchanged a look before chorusing, “Nothing.”
Wanting the attention off her, Norah grabbed the small menu from the holder in the center of the table.
“Don’t you have that memorized?” Molly asked good-naturedly, turning her chair a little so she had a better view of the room. “We come here enough that I bet I could recite it word for word.” Pseudo casually, she glanced around, taking in the room. Molly hated having her back to strangers.
For a moment, Norah was surprised that Molly hadn’t taken her seat, but then she realized that her sisters had left it open for her because it was next to Dash. Flushing at the thought that this was sort of like a date—a well-chaperoned one—she studied the very familiar menu even more thoroughly. “They might have added something new,” she answered as her face heated even more. She knew without looking up that her sisters were smirking at her down-bent head.
“Mm-hmm,” was all Molly said, but Norah could feel her amusement from across the table.
“Oh, here.” Remembering she still had Dash’s keys, she pulled them from her pocket and handed them to him. Feeling the devil on her shoulder give her a bit of a poke with his pitchfork, she added, “Tell Bruiser thanks for lending it to me.”
With a look that just about set her hair on fire, Dash wrapped his fingers over not only the keys but her entire hand. “I’ll do that.”
The threatened retribution in the growled words made her want to squirm, but she forced herself to hold still. The feel of his hand enveloping hers sent a buzzing prickle along the length of her spine, and her heart beat quickly in her chest. It was a scary feeling but safe at the same time, like watching a horror movie or riding a roller coaster. She knew in her gut that Dashiell Porter would never hurt her.
Molly’s voice reminded her that they weren’t alone. “Since I don’t have popcorn, I’m going to need some fries.”
Norah tried to pull free of Dash’s grip, but he had her hand fully and utterly caught. Very slowly, he released her and snagged his keys from her now-exposed palm. It took her a few seconds before she dropped her hand.
Her sisters were both grinning at her. Cara opened her mouth to say something, and Norah braced herself for the teasing comment that was coming. Cara had been channeling her twin’s sense of humor lately. Luckily, their server, Taren, arrived at their table just in time.
“The usual?” she asked, taking them in. The three of them nodded as Taren scribbled on her order pad, her bejeweled nails catching the late afternoon sunlight. Looking at Dash, she sighed. “You want more ?”
The last word had a disbelieving edge, making Norah glance at him with a raised brow. How much had he already eaten to faze the typically unflappable Taren?
Dash gave a short shake of his head. “Coffee. Thanks.”
With a nod, Taren hurried off, and Norah tried to put her menu back in the most inconspicuous way possible. When her sisters started laughing, she sighed. She should’ve known they would notice. Wanting the attention off her, she turned to Dash. “So how much have you eaten?”
“A couple burgers.”
That didn’t seem like much. He was a huge guy who worked out all the time.
“Fries.”
Still, that wasn’t an unreasonable amount of food.
“A few milkshakes.”
Okay, the milkshakes were enormous. How had he managed to finish a few ?
“Onion rings.”
Norah just blinked at him.
“A salad.”
She didn’t even know they offered salad, and she’d just been burning holes in the menu with her eyeballs.
“Flatbread pizza.”
He had to be messing with her. She studied his deadpan expression, wishing she knew his tell for when he was joking. The problem was he’d have to joke for her to notice it, and that was very, very rare so far.
“Pie.”
Now things were getting ridiculous. “A whole pie?”
“No, a slice.”
That was at least a little more reasonable.
“A few slices.”
From the snorts and chortles coming from across the table, Molly and Cara thought this was hilarious, but Norah couldn’t stop staring at Dash.
“And a cupcake. Forgot about that. It was small.” He reached up and rubbed his cheek. The movement was seemingly casual, but Norah saw the slightest crinkle at the corners of his eyes and knew he was hiding a smile behind his hand.
“You’re just messing with me.” She was almost disappointed. Consuming that amount of food would’ve been an impressive feat.
“No, I ate all that.” Dropping his hand, he let her see his smile. “The look on your face is entertaining.”
She was back to staring at him with a sort of disgusted awe. “How are you still alive? Shouldn’t you be having a heart attack right now?”
Lifting his shoulder in a shrug, he said, “I’ll burn it all off tomorrow.”
“That’s true.” The thought of him working out at the gym made her gaze drift to his bowling-ball-size biceps, but she caught herself mid-gawk and abruptly turned to face her sisters. They were both grinning knowingly at her. Although she felt her cheeks grow warm for what felt like the thousandth time just that day, Norah managed to not drop her gaze. “Should we…um…discuss…” She trailed off as everything—Leifsen, Chloe, Zach Fridley, Mr. P, Detective Mill—churned around in her thoughts. With all that was happening, she didn’t know where to start. Finally, she just spread her hands and went with “Everything?”
“First off, let’s go over what happened with Detective Mill.”
When Molly spoke, Norah let out a relieved huff of air. This was why Molly was in charge of the business and Norah was happy to just be a research monkey in the background.
After a glance around the diner to make sure there weren’t any nearby eavesdroppers, Molly fixed Dash with her bossy big-sister look and asked, “Are you clear on the story in case he contacts you?”
Although he tipped his chin in a nod, Dash looked annoyed. Norah figured it was because he was being ordered around until he spoke. “Norah’s dating Davies.” His expression grew even more thunderous. “ Bruiser Davies. My employee. Who drives around in my car. That I’m paying for. I barely know Norah, and only as a member of my gym. That it?” It seemed it wasn’t Molly’s questioning that had rankled but that Dash was still irrationally hostile about her imaginary boyfriend.
“Pretty much, yeah.” Giving him an approving look, Molly asked, “Did you let Davies know? Is he willing to play along?”
Still looking immensely grumpy, Dash grunted an affirmative. “If Mills contacts him, Davies’ll confirm our story.”
“Perfect.” Appearing satisfied, Molly continued, “Cara and I also might have implied that you’re stalking Norah because you want to steal her away from Bruiser, but you can save that card in case the whole coincidental just-happened-to-be-running-by thing falls through.”
Except for crossing his arms over his chest, Dash didn’t outwardly react to that nugget of information.
“Okay!” Molly slapped the table lightly. “One thing down. Let’s talk about that slimy weasel Zach Fridley next.”
“He’s been arrested, but he’ll likely make bail tomorrow,” Cara said before waving a subtle hand toward the approaching server. They waited until Taren had unloaded their drinks from her tray and had walked out of earshot before picking up the subject again.
“Can you keep tabs on that situation?” Molly asked Cara, who nodded as she took a drink of her water. “Let us know when he’s out. I have a feeling he’s going to be annoyed with us.” Turning to Dash, Molly added, “Especially you. Be prepared for retaliation, possibly from two idiots named Dane Sanders and Eddie Cord. He likes to send his minions to do his dirty work.”
Dash just gave Molly a slight nod, looking less bothered by the fact that there could soon be any number of people out to get revenge on him than he was by Norah fake dating Davies.
Molly’s mention of Zach’s dislike of getting his hands dirty made Norah frown in thought. “Why do you think he broke in?” she asked, immediately gaining everyone’s attention, which made her try to inhale and talk at the same time. The sound that came out was almost a quack, and she quickly cleared her throat as she felt heat creeping up her neck. “Rather than sending someone else I mean? And why did he come alone? He was with Mom up until just a few days ago. Think they started fighting again?”
Both her sisters appeared thoughtful as they considered that. Dash seemed…more intense than usual? Maybe? Although she was getting better at reading his expressions and body language, she still felt like she couldn’t tell what he was thinking most of the time. Glancing back at her sisters, Norah saw someone entering the diner. Her eyes widened as she recognized the woman, and she bit back a panicked squeak that wanted to escape.
“Could he ha—” Cara, who was oblivious to the horror that had just arrived, started to say, but Norah interrupted.
“Cara,” she hissed under her breath, drawing her sister’s startled gaze. “Switch places with me! Hurry!”
To her credit, Cara didn’t hesitate, quickly sliding out of her seat. Before the swap could take place though, Laken Albee spotted them. With an enthusiastic wave and huge smile, she made a beeline toward their table.
“Too late,” Norah sighed, settling back into her chair next to Dash. “Thanks though.”
Cara took her seat again, twisting around to see what had caused Norah’s panic. “Ugh.”
“What is… Oh.” Molly had turned to look as well. “That woman again? What’s her deal? Is she stalking you too?”
“Stalking Norah does seem to be the rage recently,” Cara said quietly so that a quickly approaching Laken didn’t overhear.
Norah just sighed.
“Who’s that?” Dash asked, his scowl firmly back in place.
“Someone who used to bully Norah back in high school.” Molly positively growled the words.
“Junior high,” Norah corrected weakly, knowing there was going to be a horribly uncomfortable confrontation in just a few seconds. “She outgrew it by high school. I’m giving her a chance to show that she’s changed.”
Despite her denial, Dash looked at Laken with an ice-cold gaze. Norah thought it was interesting how his indifference appeared even more intimidating than his usual scowl.
“Norah!” Laken cooed. She came right up to the table, either braver than Norah had thought or oblivious to the three people who wanted to rip every strand of hair out of her head. “I’m so glad I ran into you! I wanted to get together again, but I forgot to get your cell number.” She finally glanced around the table, but her smile didn’t waver. “Sorry if I’m interrupting. How about I join you?”
She turned as if searching for a chair to pull over, and Norah held back a groan. If she didn’t do something, Laken was going to be murdered.
“Sorry, but this is a business meeting,” Norah rushed out.
“Aren’t these your sisters?” Laken gave a trill of laughter that made Norah wince. “You still live with them, don’t you? Doesn’t that make every meal a business meeting? You need some relaxation time. Remember, all work and no play makes Norah a dull girl.”
Molly opened her mouth to say something, and Norah hurried to give her leg a warning kick. It wasn’t a hard bump, but Molly still appeared shocked enough by the uncharacteristically aggressive move from Norah that she didn’t say a word.
Laken paused, her gaze scanning over Dash, lingering on his broad chest. “Mm-hmm. I wish I had this kind of business .” Reaching across the table, she offered her hand to Dash, her voice dropping to a low, husky tone. “Laken Albee. And you are?”
Norah stared at Laken’s outstretched arm, trying her hardest to remember that she was giving the woman the benefit of the doubt.
Glancing at Laken’s hand with utter indifference, Dash didn’t make any move to shake it as he met her eyes. “I’m in a meeting.”
“Oh!” As little as Norah’s attempt at a brush-off affected Laken, it seemed to make a much bigger impact when Dash delivered the snub. Laken pulled back her hand, her fake smile faltering for the first time since she’d bustled over. “Well, I’ll just grab Norah’s number and get out of your hair then.”
“Or you can just f—” Molly broke off as Norah kicked her again. She was going to have to use the kicking technique more often to silence her sisters. It seemed to be surprisingly effective.
Norah held her hand out for Laken’s phone and quickly entered her number. As she went to hand it back, she saw that the woman’s flirtatious gaze had settled on Dash again, despite the fact that he looked completely disinterested.
“Here,” Norah said a little too loudly, making Laken’s attention snap back to her.
“Perfect.” Laken tapped at her phone, and a buzz came from Norah’s pocket. With a satisfied nod, Laken tucked the phone back into her purse. “Now you have my number. Feel free to share it with any business associates .” She winked at Dash—actually winked —as if she were starring in a rom-com.
A tiny part of Norah actually admired her utter confidence, although the rest of her was simmering with steadily growing annoyance. A possessiveness she didn’t even know existed inside her ballooned to enormous proportions, and she resisted the urge to grunt mine like a jealous cavewoman.
“Why? I can’t imagine any reason we’d need to contact you,” Cara said, her words chilly.
“Sure, she can talk without getting kicked,” Molly muttered.
“Bye, Laken,” Norah said, her teeth showing in what she hoped passed as a smile.
“See you soon, Norah,” Laken said with a tiny wave before her voice dropped to that husky tone she reserved for Dash. “Goodbye, Mr. Mysterious.” She walked toward the door much more slowly than she’d approached their table, and she added a sway to her round hips.
Their table stayed silent until the door swung closed behind Laken.
“She didn’t eat,” Molly said, scowling. “Why was she even here?”
“That is odd.” Cara cocked her head. “How could she know we’d be here? Maybe she secretly chipped Norah?”
The idea, ridiculous as it was, made her stiffen. “Why would you even say that? Do you never want me to sleep again?” she asked Cara, who gave a rough laugh.
“Sorry.” Twisting around in her seat, Cara glanced at the diner door again as if she was expecting Laken to come flying back in, guns blazing. “I just can’t figure out what she wants.”
“What everyone wants,” Norah said with a small shrug. The small hope that Laken actually wanted to be friends had pretty much been snuffed out. “The necklace.”
Dash was still scowling heavily even though Laken was gone. “Why’d you give her your number?”
“Seemed like the fastest way to get rid of her.” Norah didn’t care what happened to Laken, but she didn’t want to cap off this endless day by bailing her sisters out of jail. “Besides, this way, I can dodge her calls.”
“That’s true,” Molly said, and then her face lit up as Taren carried a loaded tray toward their table. “Food. Finally.”
They were all quiet for a bit while they dug in. Glancing at Dash, who just had his coffee mug, Norah nudged her plate toward him. Even though he’d just eaten three-quarters of the diner’s menu, she still felt bad eating in front of him when he didn’t have any food…especially since he’d been stuck there for hours in order to help her and her sisters out. Giving her a crooked smile, he grabbed one of her fries.
“So…” Cara wiped greasy fingers on her napkin and then took a drink. “What were we talking about before Miss Mean Girl interrupted? Leifsen?”
“I’d like to talk about Norah kicking me under the table to shut me up,” Molly said through a mouthful of burger.
Norah put on her most innocent expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Norah kicked you?” Cara looked doubtful. “Are you sure it wasn’t…” Taking in Dash’s raised eyebrow, she stuttered to a halt. “Uh… Norah ! How could you?”
Norah gave a small shrug. “If I’d known how well it worked, I would’ve done it before.”
Molly tried to pretend as if she were offended but then gave the game away by laughing. “Why do you think the rest of us do it all the time?”
“Back to Leifsen,” Cara reminded them.
“Dash wants me to make friends with Chloe,” Norah blurted. In all the excitement following their abbreviated stakeout that morning, she’d temporarily forgotten about that plan. Now, the mention of Leifsen brought it all back, and anxiety rose in her again.
“Wait…what?” Molly asked.
She and Cara stared at Norah as Dash gave an amused grunt and took another one of her fries. Glancing down, she saw that he’d eaten all but four of them while she’d focused on the conversation with her sisters. She looked pointedly at her plate and then him, and he stopped with the purloined fry halfway to his mouth.
“I’ll get you some more,” he said, sliding out of his chair, presumably so he could track down Taren and replace her missing fries.
When Norah looked away from his retreating back, returning her attention to her sisters, she found they were both watching her with matching gleeful expressions.
“Let’s put the Chloe explanation aside for a moment,” Molly said, leaning forward. “I want to hear about that.” She gestured between Norah and where Dash had just been.
“What about it?” Norah asked warily, wishing for Dash to make a speedy return. Suddenly, a refill on fries didn’t seem as critical as ending this conversation.
“Everything!” Cara tossed her hands up as if encompassing the whole universe, and Norah swallowed hard as her mind blanked. “This came out of the blue, so while you two are busy exchanging secret smiles and private jokes, we’re flummoxed on this side of the table.”
“ Flummoxed ,” Molly repeated with a nod.
Norah struggled to find words to explain when she herself didn’t really know what was happening between her and Dash. All she managed were a few squeaks and various vaguely monkey-like noises. Finally, she just settled on, “I don’t know?”
That didn’t seem to satisfy her sisters. “How’d it start?” Molly pushed. “Did he make the first move? Did you? This is blowing our minds here, Norah. You need to throw us a bone.”
“Make a move?” The thought of instigating something with Dash made her entire body cold with panic. “Noooooo, there was no move made. There haven’t been any moves.”
“No moves?” Cara sounded rather disappointed by that. “But there’s something happening between you two. It’s obvious.”
“So obvious,” Molly chimed in.
Norah eyed her sisters. “Why are you doing the twin thing when you’re not twins?”
With a shrug, Cara said, “Charlie’s been gone a lot lately. I needed a fill-in twin.”
“No changing the subject.” Molly rerouted the conversation back to its original, unpleasant path. “Do you and Dash… Ah, here you are, Dash! I was just wondering if you’d found…um…fries.”
Dash had reappeared next to their table like the supersize ninja that he was. Tilting his head slightly, he eyed Molly, and Norah felt her face heat up as she wondered how much of their mortifying conversation he’d overheard. Without commenting on Molly’s clunky attempt to cover up the fact that they’d been talking about him, Dash took his seat and slid a basket of fresh fries in front of Norah.
“Thanks,” she said, still feeling incredibly awkward, and then jammed a couple fries in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to say anything else. They were hot enough to make her eyes water, but she just chewed determinedly. The slight pain was better than explaining what they’d been talking about.
“So…Chloe Ballister,” Cara said, and Norah could’ve kissed her for tossing out a safe topic. “What’d you find out?”
***
By the time Norah had almost finished her second order of fries, with Dash only stealing about a third this time, everyone was caught up on their surveillance and the burglary in progress they’d interrupted. Dash had paid the entire bill over their objections, simply handing his card to Taren before they had time to pull out their money.
“I think it’s a good idea to make friends with Chloe,” Molly said, turning her empty water glass in circles. Her gaze was focused on what her hands were doing, but it was obvious her thoughts were elsewhere, working out the next steps in their plan to bring in Leifsen. “Even though it’s doubtful she has anything to do with Leifsen anymore, she’s really our only lead right now. Do you know what her day job is or if she has one?”
“Not yet.” Norah hadn’t investigated Chloe much beyond her connection with Leifsen, just basic details like her home address and her band’s venues.
“See if you can find out more about her schedule so you can arrange another accidental meeting.”
Cara chuckled. “Your turn to be a stalker, Norah.”
With a grimace, Norah dropped the last fry back on her plate. With the renewed churning happening in her stomach, she didn’t want to eat any more. Dash snatched it up almost before it hit the plate.
“Norah?” Molly prodded.
Although she heaved a deep sigh, Norah nodded, resigned to the plan. A part of her had hoped she could have Chloe as a true friend, but it was critical to bring in Devon Leifsen before he hurt anyone else. Molly and Cara had packed schedules, and it seemed like her sisters were fine with Norah doing fieldwork now that she had her own beefy bodyguard.
As if she’d read Norah’s mind, Molly gave her a stern look. “Research only unless one of us—or Dash—is with you.”
“Yes, Mom.” At Molly’s pained expression, Norah hurried to clarify. “I didn’t mean Jane but an actual mom-type mom. A good mom.” She didn’t think she’d actually made sense, but Molly was grinning at her, so at least she wasn’t offended.
“Okay!” Molly stood up. “Good meeting, team. Dash, thanks again for everything today and especially for watching out for Norah. If you hurt her in the slightest, we’ll kill you slowly and painfully.” She delivered that last bit in the same cheery tone as the first, and Dash acknowledged the threat with a relaxed nod. “We’ll leave first and check the area, just in case Detective Mill doesn’t have anything better to do with his Sunday than follow us around. We wouldn’t want him to see you driving off in Bruiser’s SUV.”
Dash hadn’t blinked an eye at the idea of her sisters torturing him to death, but the mention of Bruiser had his lips tightening into a straight line. Molly and Cara headed toward the door, but Norah felt like she should say something. Dash, being Dash, didn’t help smooth over the awkward moment but just watched her with those intense eyes.
“So…um…see you Tuesday?” She realized she was playing with her medical alert bracelet and dropped her arms to her sides. At his affirmative grunt, she gave a stiff wave and then hurried after her sisters. Knowing he was watching her leave made it impossible to walk normally. Was she swaying her hips too much…or not enough? She was so focused on not looking ridiculous that she barely managed to avoid running into the corner of a table. Refusing to look behind her to see if Dash had seen that graceless maneuver, she scuttled for the door instead.
As she stepped out of the diner, she rolled her eyes at how silly she was acting. She’d always considered herself a logical, reasonable person, but Dash flustered her. She knew she could never again make fun of the way Molly, Cara, and Felicity mooned over their guys.
Their guys? Her brain stuttered over the phrase. Does that mean I consider Dash my guy? She stopped walking, the idea taking her breath away. The beep of Molly’s car horn reminded her of where she was and got her moving again, but her thoughts continued to churn. It wasn’t a bad thought, keeping Dash as her very own. In fact, it made warmth spread from her middle all through her body.
Mine. With a smile she quickly erased before her sisters could see and question her about the cause, she hurried to climb into the back of Molly’s car.
The drive home was fairly quiet. Instead of trying to wheedle more Dash details out of Norah, Molly and Cara were focused on making sure no detectives—or stalkers—were staking out the diner or following them home.
Once they arrived at the house, Norah hurried inside. After greeting Warrant, she jogged up the stairs, wanting to get started on her Chloe research. As soon as she stepped into her bedroom, she froze, knowing something wasn’t right. Standing stiffly, her heart racing, she scanned the room. Even though there was nowhere to hide in the tiny space and she knew that plastic storage bins filled the space under her twin bed, not leaving enough room for a squirrel, much less a fully grown human, she still couldn’t slow her breathing. All her instincts were screaming that someone had invaded her space.
When she spotted what didn’t belong, it should’ve been innocuous. A single pen sat in the center of her neatly made bed. Even without seeing the writing utensil up close, she knew it wasn’t her pen. The unfamiliarity made it terrifying.
Forcing herself to take a step closer to the bed, she glanced down at her feet. An illogical part of her brain, one that had been molded by childhood nightmares and horror movies, was determined that a hand was going to reach out from under the bed and latch on to her ankle if she dared look away.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she told herself, forcing her gaze back to the pen. “No one is in here but me.”
But someone else had been there earlier.
Had it been Zach, or did he have an accomplice after all?
With fingers that wouldn’t stop shaking no matter how many times she told herself she was being silly, Norah picked up the pen. She realized she was holding her breath and let it out in an audible puff. That unreasonable part of her refused to believe that it was just a pen and not a trigger for explosives or a miniature gun.
As she moved it closer to her face, she realized it was a promotional item with the name of a business printed on it. Spinning it around so she could make out the words, her breath caught in her chest again.
“Porter Sports,” she whispered. Dash’s gym.