23 - Lane
Lane
Two brief, polite honks from her old Camry announced her arrival, and I quickly grabbed a jacket, two cups of coffee and my tote before speeding out the door. She gave me a huge grin as I slid into the passenger seat and handed her one of the mugs.
“Thanks, Laney,” she said, taking a sip despite the steam still rolling off the rim. “And you got my order exactly right, too.”
“After how long we’ve been friends, I would personally have fired myself from the position if I didn’t know how you like your coffee,” I pointed out, letting the tote drop into the footwell as I shut the car door.
Then I took a deep breath, nervous butterflies in my stomach.
“I still can’t believe we’re doing this. ”
“Welcome to my domain,” she said mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows. “The wonderful world of espionage.”
“A tad dramatic, no?”
“How else would you describe a stakeout?” she challenged me.
Nance pulled away from the curb and jerked her head over her shoulder to a bag in the backseat. “Have a look.”
I reached back and pulled it onto my lap, my eyes widening in surprise when I opened it up. “What is all this stuff?”
“Supplies,” she said simply, her eyes still fixed on the road ahead. “How do you think I get the dirty work done?”
“You’re telling me that every time I task you with finding out some info for me, you’re driving around the city with a little vigilante bag?” I asked incredulously, reaching inside and bringing out a clipboard and long-lens DSLR camera. “This is insane.”
“The work isn’t easy,” she said with a theatrical flourish. “But it’s honest.”
“For the most part,” I shot back with a snort.
“Hey. That subscription I have to the public records database is paid for. That’s as honest as it’s gonna get,” she replied.
I laughed, leaning back into my seat and turning on the radio for some background music. As I rooted through the stations, she stopped me when “Outta Love” blared on.
“Oh, that’s my song. Let it play,” she said, and I turned up the volume. Nance proceeded to belt the chorus out, staying somewhat in key but the confidence is what really sold the performance.
“You and Sy would be besties,” I said, shaking my head with an amused smile on my face.
Nance raised an eyebrow and sent a quick sidelong glance my way. “Sy?”
“Silas,” I corrected myself, my face heating up. “The, uh…”
“Hmm, yes, the blond,” Nance interrupted. “I remember. I just didn’t think you were on a nickname basis already. Interesting, that.”
“Not as interesting as chasing my landlord around town,” I said airily, trying to redirect the conversation back to less intimate matters. “Speaking of which, where’s our first stop?”
“The Kedzie Hearth,” Nance answered without missing a beat. But I could tell from the subtle gleam in her eyes that she wasn’t done with the topic just yet. “He’s meeting a developer contact.”
“And how did you find this out again?” I asked, genuinely perplexed.
Nance shrugged, turning left. “He uses a basic, unencrypted Google calendar for HOA business. I just took a little purview of your HOA portal login and checked the master calendar metadata. It was right there, 12:00PM -K.H. brunch.”
My mouth fell open. I knew that Nance was amazing at her job and I always held respect for her resourcefulness and intellect. But this level of industriousness blew my mind and the respect I already had deepened.
“Very impressive, Nance,” I told her. “I’d be willing to bet there’s not a single paralegal in the entire country who can do what you do. And probably even fewer friends who’d be willing to try.”
She gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “Oh. Lane. Is that sentimentality I see leaking?”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
Yes, actually. But I wasn’t about to start professing my platonic love for her out of nowhere. She’d probably drive me straight to the hospital if I did.
“You said the brunch was at twelve, though. What are we gonna do with the next three hours?” I asked.
She grinned. “Fuel up and wait.”
*
“This is significantly less exciting than it was made out to be, you know,” I said, nibbling on the last of my fries. The empty, greasy burger packaging had already been discarded.
Nance had parked the Camry in the perfect vantage point, close enough for us to have a decent view of Sandy’s pre-booked outdoor table—I didn’t even bother asking her how she managed to figure that one out—but far enough to not rouse suspicion.
The cold outside meant that hours of cramped boredom had fogged up the windows.
“Patience,” she waved me off. “That’s rule number one. Sometimes all it takes is a little waiting period.”
“You should’ve considered being a PI. You’d make a killing,” I said, licking the salt off my fingers.
“Believe it or not, I was actually considering it before I started working at the Daley,” she shrugged.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Actually, I did apply for a fellowship program for legal investigators. But that’s been kind of dead in the water for a while.”
“Are you kidding me? Nance, there’s no one who’d be a better fit for that than you. Why the standstill?” I said.
“I was supposed to get a letter of recommendation from Judge Vance but I’ve essentially been ghosted,” she explained, crumpling up the last of her fast food wrappers. “And if I can’t get him to sign off the recommendation by Friday, then the application locks.”
I scoffed. “Vance? He’s not ghosting you. He’s just seventy, uses a desktop computer from 2004 and ignores emails that don’t have “Motion” in the subject line.”
Nance laughed, then groaned. “The man is scary.” She slouched against the steering wheel. “I’m not scared of much but there’s something about his scowl that just raises the hair on the back of my neck.”
“It’s probably indigestion.”
“Lane.”
I sighed, pulling up my legs and turning around in the seat so I could face her properly.
“Okay. There’s nothing to be afraid of, I promise.
Vance is harmless. And, he owes me a personal favor from the Lawrence appeal last winter.
Give me your statement of intent. I’ll corner him in his chambers tomorrow before his coffee kicks in and have him write you that recommendation letter. ”
Nance’s eyes lit up. “You’d really do that for me?”
“Given everything you always do for me? In a heartbeat. Besides, I think the Investigative Division could do with your skills and talent. I can’t be the only person who benefits from them. Screws up my karma,” I said.
Nance reached over and gave me a hug. I was startled only for a moment before my arms went around her. I’d never been someone who was very good at any kind of affection, physical or otherwise. But Nance was the closest thing I had to family left. I tightened my embrace.
“You’re actually a big old softie inside, aren’t you?” she teased as we broke apart.
“See, this is why I don’t do sentiment,” I said.
“I mean, if you really want to showcase your affection in other ways, feel free to finally fill me in on what’s been happening with the boys,” she said casually.
“No.”
“Please, Lane?”
“Why does the conversation always turn back to my love life?” I complained.
“Because it’s been dead for the past five years and now you have three sexy men on your roster,” she said simply.
Fair, but ouch.
I took a long-suffering breath. I suppose this is what I missed out on by not having siblings.
“Fine. I like them, Nance. All of them, I do. I thought this might just have been a bit of fun at first, but there’s more to them than that.
They make me feel safer than I have in a long time.
And I…I’ve officially slept with all three of them. ”
“Ooh,” Nance’s face was glowing with excitement. “At the same time?”
“No!” I shook my head. “Well not quite. Not all of them at the same time.”
She gasped but before I could tell her about the threesome with Dax and Bear, my phone started ringing.
“Speak of the devils,” Nance mumbled, taking a sip of coffee.
And she was absolutely right. It was Bear.
“Hey,” he said, his deep voice coming through the speaker and causing Nance to quietly giggle. “I just thought I’d call to check in on how things are going with you two bounty hunters.”
“Well, I guess,” I answered. “Nance and I parked outside of his brunch meetup spot. He’s due to show up any second now.”
I could hear Silas and Dax arguing in the background and realized we were on speaker too.
“Did you guys eat something?” Silas asked once Bear got them to settle down. “If you’re set on following him around, it’ll make for a long day.”
“Already got our bases covered,” I said, touched that he was thoughtful enough to even bring it up. “But thanks for worrying, Sy.”
Sy? Nance mouth quietly and I shushed her.
“Hey, Lane, I was thinking,” Dax said, his voice dry. “If Sandy spots you, don’t run. That Camry I saw this morning won’t make it past thirty.”
“Excuse me!” Nance couldn’t help herself, affronted by the comment. The line went quiet. “This baby has a V6 and pure spite. Which one are you, the biker, probably? Yeah, at least my car doesn’t require three months’ worth of rent every time it needs an oil change.”
“Just a heavy-duty zip-tie for the front bumper.”
“Shut up,” Bear said, but I could hear the amusement he was trying his best to strain from his voice. “Look, we’ll leave you ladies to do your thing and report back, okay? Remember to keep us updated.”
“Shoot, Lane, he just arrived,” Nance said, pulling out her camera.
“I promise. We’ll see you guys later,” I said, then hung up. It was go-time.
*
Hours later, we were back at home with our spoils of knowledge plotted out on a cheap, cork-backed dartboard that I’d flipped over and hung on the wall of my home office. Or soon to be, which was the next renovation project in the line-up.
The guys were sprawled out on beanbags or wrapped in a throw blanket, and Silas was busy laying out a massive and chaotic spread consisting of a cheddar block, Ritz crackers, pepperoni slices and a bowl of grapes.