11. He had a chill pill yesterday.
ELEVEN
He had a chill pill yesterday.
Bailey
A long drive while sick sucked. At one point, I unbuckled my seat belt and did my best to curl up on the floorboard so the heat keeping our feet warm might somehow permeate the rest of my body. By some miracle, I fit, although my feet ended up on the seat.
Perkette pulled over long enough to move the seat back to give me more space and dump a blanket on me.
Somehow, she managed to stuff a pillow into my new nest for my enjoyment.
“That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen you do, and that’s saying a lot.
If you were cold, you could’ve just asked me to turn the heat up. ”
“You would’ve started gagging because it’s too hot in the car,” I mumbled.
“While true, I would’ve done it. Don’t suffocate down there, okay? And if you feel up for it, you can give your husband a call. He’s probably not driving.”
“He’s not? Why? He usually drives.”
“He had a chill pill yesterday because he’s an anxious man. Think of him like one of those puppies who whines when separated from its owner.”
I patted around for my phone and found it crammed in a pocket, and I relocated it to the seat. “This SUV is surprisingly spacious.”
“That it is. So, your husband has sent me on a mission to acquire a Christmas present for you. Ironically, we’d already decided to do this on our own.
First, we’re headed south. Probably New Mexico, possibly Texas.
I’m to take you to two dealerships. First, we’re to find you the biggest, manliest truck Sam’s money can buy. ”
“Nope.”
“Nope?”
“I want to see his face when I pick the truck.”
Perkette laughed. “But I can’t haul one of those camper trailer things with this SUV.”
“Nope. Same reason.”
“I need a travel lab, Bailey.”
“Rent a trailer. Put it in that. Rent a truck if it’s not one of those box trailers. I want him to take me. Non-negotiable.”
“I’m not sure I can stomach much more of the disgusting sweetness levels you two produce. I’m setting your kitten up on the seat, and Blizzard is taking a hard-earned nap. I do believe he was on guard duty last night. I’m proud of you, Bailey. You managed to charm both of your husband’s pets.”
“He’ll walk into the room and they’ll forget I exist,” I muttered.
“And you’ll walk into the room and he’ll forget they exist. It all works out, so don’t worry about it. If you’re not going to let me take you to a car dealership—”
“I didn’t say that.”
Perkette was quiet for a moment. “But you don’t want a truck or a trailer.”
I smiled, and while I considered myself to be a very bad wife, I knew what Quinn liked, and it was red and it currently sat in Perkette’s garage. “I never said you couldn’t talk me into going to a car dealership to pick out something for him.”
“You’re going to buy him a new convertible, aren’t you?
Bailey, I swear, I love how you can just go with the flow, but there should be limits on how flighty you can be.
You were all over the truck and trailer idea yesterday.
Granted, you said you thought he’d kill you for it, but you were all into the idea.
Now we’re on to buying him a convertible? ”
“One I’m not scared of driving. If I buy it, I won’t be afraid of driving it. The red one has history.”
“Right. And he’s going to abandon it the instant you give him his new one. I’m just warning you that is what will happen. And it will.”
“No. He will keep it, and he can give it to one of the whelps when they’re older.”
“Now that’s what I’m calling thinking ahead. You’re going to need a bigger house with extra garage spots. You’re also going to need to get a second convertible for the other whelp, of a similar make and model as the red one.”
“Truck can sit in the driveway. It’s a big, manly truck. Cruiser can sit in the driveway, too. Convertibles go into the garage,” I announced. The only flaw in my plan was the lack of a third spot, but I supposed we could get the second convertible for the second child when they were older.
“Okay. We’ll go convertible shopping, and once you pick one you like, we can have it made and delivered to New York. That still leaves me with the problem of the lab.”
“Vegas.”
“Vegas?”
“We’re having Christmas in Vegas. Do we have time to get to Vegas and get the car ordered?”
“We could just blitz straight to Vegas,” Tiffany said.
“I could turn a hotel room into a lab. I’ve never tried to make a compact lab before.
If we stop only to sleep and walk the pets, we can be there in two days.
You can sleep it off at our hotel. I’ll have to get our reservation changed.
We’d given ourselves until right before Christmas to get there, as we don’t know your true endurance as a unicorn. ”
“We’ll hotel crawl. That’s a Vegas thing, right? We just go hotel to hotel?”
“I’m not even going to ask how you know that, but yes. We can do that until our check-in date at the Venetian. That still leaves me the problem of my lab, Bailey.”
As Perkette was a mad scientist, I had faith she could figure out how to handle her lab with her new restrictions, so I ignored the issue. “I’m not completely ignorant about the perversions of Vegas.”
“I’m turning you into a Vegas showgirl for Quinn’s amusement. This is revenge for you thwarting my lab plans. Consider yourself warned.”
I thought about that. “But only in private, and you have to watch the kids and pets.”
“Deal.” Perkette got back behind the wheel where she belonged. “I’d say fasten your seatbelt, but if you feel better there, I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Quinn
“What do you mean Janet is missing?” I demanded, and everyone in the room froze, including Sunny and the whelps.
Perkins recovered first, and he sighed, setting his phone on the desk.
We were within five minutes of leaving, but what should have been a standard inquiry had turned my already hectic morning upside down. If I hadn’t known about John Winfield’s behavior—and his grudge—I would’ve stuck to the protocols.
But I knew, and knowledge was power as much as it was a dangerous weapon.
“She didn’t show up for work yesterday, and no one has been able to get a hold of her. She was scheduled for work this morning, too. Commissioner Dowry had been informed right before I called him. Once she’s found, he’s going to approve the transfer, however.”
My brows rose at that. “He doesn’t even know why she’s missing.”
“He’s not a uniformed cop anymore, but he knows his business—and he knows Janet. He suspects foul play. And he has more than just some suspicions. He thinks he knows who. Janet filed an official complaint a week ago.”
I tensed. “Against?”
“Her chief. She was scheduled for a transfer. Dowry was going to ask you about her, ironically. Because of Bailey.”
Right. “I don’t believe in coincidences like this. What was the complaint about?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
I forced myself to relax. “All right. I need you to call your wife about that prescription, because by the end of the day, I have a feeling I’m going to need it.
” Even admitting that pissed me off, but I recognized when too much was too much, and I’d need something to calm me down without Bailey nearby.
Bailey liked telling me how I was utterly incapable of handling threats to my people. She was right.
Maybe Janet didn’t work in my station yet, but she was still mine.
She’d been mine from the moment she’d gone up with Bailey into that wretched building on Wall Street.
I smothered my territorial instincts, but I’d been considering raiding the Hamptons for several officers, and Janet topped my list.
“All right. I’ll call her, and I’ll make sure we swing by a pharmacy. I’ll ask her for non-medicinal recommendations, too.”
“She’s going to make me drink tea again, isn’t she?” I complained.
Perkins laughed. “Probably. She’s good at that, and you have to admit, her tea blends help.”
“She was probably spiking them with chill pills,” I grumbled. Once I had better control over my temper, I gave myself a shake and resumed herding the whelps out the door. “We’re getting laptops, we’re swinging by a station to get into the networks, and I’m going to ask Bailey for a favor.”
“To find Janet?”
“Yes.”
“Even when she’s sick?”
“If Winfield has anything to do with Janet’s disappearance, waiting for her to get better might be a lethal mistake.”
Perkins cursed. “You’re right. Let’s get this show on the road. Dowry is expecting you to call him later.”
“You drive, we’ll get laptops, and I’ll talk to him.” I turned to the whelps and crouched so I was at their level. “All right, kids. Things are going to be busy for a while, so I’m going to need you to read while we work. Is that going to be a problem?”
Sylvester shook his head, and Beauty’s eyes widened. She hesitated, but then she asked, “Can we help?”
Her offer startled me, and I considered her question.
How had their father and hive raised them?
Most gorgon children often became self-absorbed, focused on making sure they didn’t incur parental wrath—or break any of the rules.
For all gorgons could give humans a run for their money in the humanity department, it was a learned trait, not a natural one.
Her question made me wonder about them—and about the man who’d been so desperate for a surrogate he’d go beyond the limits of the sane for his children.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d made a severe error of judgment about how I thought of their father.
“If I can think of some way you can help, I will ask you for help,” I promised.
“We know how to use computers, we can read maps, and we can do basic research,” Beauty announced.
With their love of books, I bet they could research like champions. “I’ll keep that in mind. For now, I have to do basic footwork, which is something only a police officer can do. I also need to get jurisdiction permissions, another thing only I can do. But if you can help, I’ll ask you.”
Beauty smiled. “Okay.”