I agreed and Slash hung up, although I suspect he let me deliberately listen in so I could hear how much fun they were having.
I put my cell in the cup holder on the car door. “We interrupted their man party,” I said, stating the obvious.
Basia shook a box of fries at me from the front seat. “I hope Xavier is not drunk.”
“Xavier never gets drunk,” Gwen said. She held a small pup cup full of whipped cream, which Ginger was delicately licking clean. “Elvis doesn’t, either, except for the time he proposed to me. I still think that was weird.”
I cringed, remembering how I’d hidden in the shower while Elvis proposed to Gwen in the bathroom where I’d been trying to sober him up. In fact, I could picture them all—Slash, Elvis, Xavier, Hands, Finn, Beau, and Rock—sitting at my dining room table surrounded by beer, chips, chocolate cake, and other snacks that probably violated food safety laws. They’d be having a blast.
“I bet they were neck-deep in a poker hand, probably nearing the end of some marathon session when I called,” I mused. “Someone, probably Hands and Slash, was preparing for the face-off for the grand poker finale. I only named those two as finalists because Xavier and Elvis have terrible poker faces and Finn and my brothers suck at card games in general. They’re only there for the food, alcohol, and male bonding, if you believe in such a thing. However, since my call, I think they will have abandoned the finale, at least for the time being. My guess is Slash, Elvis, and Xavier are currently in our office, laser-focused and digging through databases on the lab. Beau is checking police reports, and Rock is combing news archives for anything weird about them.”
The car was silent and then Gwen snorted. “Not too bad, Lexi. I can see that. It sounds about right.”
Gray looked at me over her shoulder from the driver’s seat. “Okay, Sherlock, what are Hands and Finn doing?”
“Operational planning,” I said automatically. “In case it’s needed.”
“Yeah,” Gray decided and then sighed. “That’s exactly what they’re doing.”
A smile crossed my face. I didn’t say it out loud, but there was something comforting in knowing my friends well enough to predict their chaos patterns. Unfortunately, it was the uncontrolled variables of human behavior that always seemed to throw a wrench into my life.
Slash called back forty minutes later, and I put him on speaker. “You still behind the McDonald’s?”
“Yes,” I said. “Safe, sound, and smelling like fries.”
“Good. We found some information.”
“Great,” I said. “But before you say anything more, you don’t need to come up here. So tell Hands and Finn to stop packing the cars.”
There was a surprised pause. “Excuse me?”
“We’re fine, Slash,” I said. “We’re in no immediate danger. We have the dog. We’ll turn her over to a shelter tomorrow, but we just want to dig a little more into this lab before we hand her over. We need to make sure Ginger is safe and the lab is not engaging in harmful or unlawful activities, which is what we suspect. We don’t need rescuing and it’s not that big of a deal. We just require a place to sleep tonight that isn’t the hotel and whatever useful intel you may have found.”
“First, who’s Ginger?” Slash asked.
“The dog,” I said. “Ginger, the dog.”
“You…named the stray?” he asked slowly.
“Yes. Of course we named her. We couldn’t just keep calling her ‘the dog.’”
There was a long silence. “Slash, are you still there?” I asked.
He finally responded, “I’m here. I’m just processing the favorable tone you’re using while talking about an animal. Hopefully you’re not under the influence of alcohol. Or perhaps this is just an elaborate ruse to convince me and the other guys that you girls are having more fun?”
“I’m drinking McDonald’s coffee,” I protested. “That’s hardly under the influence, unless you’re worried about the caffeine keeping me awake all night so that I can maximize my fun. And technically, hanging with a dog isn’t exactly what I’d consider fun.”
“Fine, then let’s get back to the real topic,” he said, his voice brisk. “Clarify this for me. Someone threatened my wife and her friends at her hotel room and in a dark alley, and you’re saying you don’t want backup? You want us to stay here…and have fun?”
“Yes,” I said. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Two of the guys were really small, Slash. They didn’t have guns or guts. Basia stepped hard on one guy’s foot, and he howled like a baby. Another one looked like he was about to cry. And the third one was really skinny and shook so hard when we confronted him, I thought he might pass out. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the four of us could have taken them easily, and that includes a seven-month-pregnant woman. My guess is they’re scientists from the lab, and not enforcer types. Except for the bald guy. But even he seemed a bit out of his depth. Maybe he’s a manager or something. All bluster and no real capability.”
“That describes pretty much every lab manager I’ve ever had,” Gwen confirmed.
“Seriously, take it from the pregnant woman,” Basia called out. “The guy party can continue. We’re completely fine.”
Slash didn’t say anything.
“Slash, come on. You know we’re capable,” Gray said after a minute. “We’d tell you if we needed you. We can handle keeping one dog and ourselves alive until the morning. Lexi is right. These guys didn’t pose a real threat.”
