I bit my tongue so I don’t lose my mind.
“I’m picking you up in thirty-five,” I tell her.
“No need,” she says. “I have my own car.”
“Of course you have,” I say, and roll my eyes.
“Let’s meet at the corner of 5th and 80th,” she says and hangs up.
My fists clench because she is driving me nuts. I brush my teeth, loosen my hair with my fingers, and bring it up in a ponytail while I wait for my coffee.
When I arrive at the designated spot she told me to, dusk dips Central Park and the city in a light blue and a touch of orange. Avery is already waiting for me. Dressed in black, wide high-waist pants, a black blouse with a wide V-neck, high heels, perfect hair, diamond earrings, retro sunglasses, leaning casually against a very expensive-looking black oldtimer Porsche.
Did I expect anything else? No. She is a collector of rare things, and so is her taste, as much as her car, of course.
“Here,” she says and hands me a paper bag.
I take it and glance inside.
My favorite bagel from the cart at the corner of Broadway.
“You know too much,” I say as I close the bag.
“You are a pain in the ass when hungry,” she says.
“And you know that how?” I ask angrily.
She removes her sunglasses and gives me a look with a drawn-up eyebrow.
“Yeah, alright,” I say.
Her mouth curves into a prideful smirk.
“Eat,” she says.
“We have a case,” I say, and don’t eat.
“We do,” she says. “One that starts right here. Also, you’re not allowed to eat inside, and I am not working with a grumpy gremlin.”
Breathe,I tell myself. But breathing isn’t enough in this case.
“Get your ass in there before I fire it into the next jail,” I say darkly at her.
She only laughs.
“What do you see?” she asks me, swirling with her finger, telling me to look around.
My gaze wanders around.
I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Everything that was stolen came from the other side of the museum and the center. This wing here was untouched.”
“You know the target quite well,” I say.
“Are you accusing me of something?” she asks and draws up an eyebrow, building herself up in front of me.
“I know you were in your bed,” I say and wiggle the phone in my hand.
