“This is it,” he says. “I have had enough, and I want to speak to whoever is in charge of this place.”
“That would be us,” Dalton says, his voice a low growl as he walks over, holding Rory.
“I mean the peopleyouwork for.Yourbosses.”
“That would be us.”
“For fuck’s sake. Really? No wonder you can’t handle one simple issue. The people in charge are younger than me and busy looking after a baby. You need to start disclosing that, because if I had any idea what kind of amateur hour—”
“If you have another human-resources problem,” I say, “take it up with Phil. We’re busy.”
“Playing house. I can see that. While Muriel just keeps breaking the rules, and no one gives a shit.”
“Muriel will be leaving soon.”
“Oh, she already left. Traipsed off into the forest a few minutes ago.”
“Into the forest?” I turn to Dalton, who’s already cursing under his breath. I look back at Arturo. “We’ll handle this.”
“You better!” he shouts as I start to close the door. Then Istop. “Wait right there. You need to show us where you last saw her.”
Dalton will go with Arturo while I take Rory and speak to the person who was supposed to be escorting Muriel back to her solitary-confinement apartment.
“You asked April?” I whisper to Dalton as I pull on my boots.
Dalton throws up his hands. “We’re a little short-handed. Will and Yolanda are getting some sleep. Kenny is guarding Gretchen. Kendra and Gunnar are on patrol. I was figuring out who I could put on Muriel-duty when I ran into April coming back from taking dinner to Kenny and Gretchen, and she volunteered.”
We encounter April before we even reach town. She’s marching toward our chalet, her mouth set in a firm line, her shoulders tense. I murmur to Dalton, and he takes Arturo down another path while I catch up with April.
“Muriel evaded me,” she says, her eyes brimming with humiliation.
“Are you okay?” I say. “Did she hurt you?”
“Did she club me on the head and flee? That would be less embarrassing.”
“What happened?” I bounce Rory, the baby fussing from being woken mid-nap.
“I was guarding the apartment when she asked to retrieve herbs from the greenhouse. She’d grown lemongrass at the restaurant’s request, and Arturo wouldn’t know where tofind it. She’d promised it to the restaurant by tomorrow. I followed her to the greenhouse, where she found the herbs, which were—as she said—not with the others. I watched her harvest them and then, like a gullible fool, I escorted her to the kitchen.”
“That wasn’t gullible or foolish. It sounds like a legitimate request.”
Another tightening of April’s lips. “A legitimateexcuse. She asked me to wait at the kitchen door. Being escorted in there would seem odd, and she didn’t want everyone gossiping. I decided to allow it.”
“Ah. She ducked out the other door.”
“I was not aware therewasanother door. Which isn’t a defense. Only last month I read a mystery where the suspect escapes through the bathroom window, and I rolled my eyes at the thought that any police officer wouldn’t have checked for a window.”
“You’re not the police officer in the family,” I say gently.
“But I agreed to guard Muriel, and I should not have done so if I could not do it correctly.”
I want to hug her. I know better, so I only pat her arm. “It’s fine. Everyone’s exhausted and being pulled twenty different ways. This is a minor hiccup. There’s no place for Muriel to go.”
“If you need Storm to track her, a very brief walk would be acceptable but not ideal.”
“We’ll be fine without her help. The only thing I need you to do is take this one.” I bounce Rory.
“You may not wish me to do that, as I have proven myself a poor guardian.”
