She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “If either of them misbehaves, you call me. I’ll set them straight.”
They both protested at the same time.
“Mom! Not okay!”
“Why would you say that?”
I wasn't sure who said what, but we both ignored the men.
“Thanks, Amara,” I said. “I think we’re going to become good friends.”
Her eyes misted over a little. “I’d like that.”
“I don’t think you need to give Bec any ideas, Mom!” Marduk said.
“Time to go!” Danzig said, jumping up from the table. “We’ve got a lot of investigating to do today, right brother?”
Marduk gave a comically rapid nod. “Yes, a lot of questions to ask. Houses to look at.”
“Wait, we need to clean up,” I protested. “We can’t leave it for Amara. She cooked, and I want her to cook again. That means we do the dishes and everything.”
Marduk pushed his chair away and stood also. “Mom, don’t pick up a single fork. We’ll do that when we get back later.”
“We’re going to be gone for a long time,” Danzig said. “Probably all day. You’ll want to head home while we’re gone. It would be boring to wait for us here.”
“Love you, Mom,” Marduk said.
“Can’t wait to see you later,” Danzig said.
Each brother grabbed an arm and lifted me up and over the back of the chair. My feet didn’t touch the floor as they walked toward the front door.
“I need to get dressed first!” I said, trying hard to hold back my laughter.
“Fine,” Danzig said, and they changed direction to walk up the stairs, still carrying me.
“Love all of you too,” she called after us. I heard her laughing even as they shoved me in my room.
“Get dressed,” Marduk said as Danzig shut the door.
I grinned as I pulled out clothes for the day. It was fun to have a new friend, especially if she made the guys nervous.
Chapter 21
Bec
Gale’s house was in a nice neighborhood and the house was much larger than I expected. I knew real estate agents could make good money, but I didn’t expect something big enough to handle a sizable family.
“Where was Jim’s car parked?” I asked, setting my helmet on the seat of Marduk’s motorcycle.
Marduk pointed a little further down the street. “Under that tree.”
He would’ve been parked pointing at her place and with a good view of her front door.
“I wish we knew what he was trying to get pictures of,” I said. “Maybe he was looking for Leif?”
Danzig nodded. “Maybe. Angel said he should be able to get access to the pictures soon.”
“That might help,” Marduk said. “But we need to be prepared that Jim might not have gotten a chance to take any pictures of anything interesting.”
