“We agree, don’t we, Zane?”
Zane glanced at his friend. Something in AJ’s stance and face told him he’d best not press his luck further. But he vowed his friend would pay for his bonehead stunt.
A few minutes later, AJ unlocked his office door and stepped aside for McKenna and Zane to enter. “I didn’t want to do this, but you two have to work this out for Ginny’s sake. Hell, for all our sake’s, including yours.” Then he turned and closed the door.
Zane dashed across the office, but before he reached the door, the locked clicked. He grabbed the doorknob and turned. Nothing.
“We’re locked in?” McKenna asked, her lower lip trembling.
“AJ, this has gone far enough. You’ve made your point,” Zane said as he pounded on the door.
“I’m doing you a favor. Whatever’s going on, fix it before I get back, and don’t touch anything in my office.”
The hell he was doing him a favor. “AJ, let us out. How can you do this after all we’ve been through over the years?”
Fading footsteps answered his question.
Zane walked across the room to sit behind his friend’s desk in the large leather chair. “You might as well get comfortable, too.”
McKenna spun around to face him so fast her feet tangled, and she nearly fell. “This is your fault. You had to call his bluff. What did you expect he’d do after that?”
He’d expected AJ to laugh and tell him to knock it off. He never dreamed he’d lock them in his office. “My fault? If you hadn’t gone behind my back and talked to Ginny, if you’d accepted my being in charge, or talked to me we wouldn’t be in this mess either.”
Zane grabbed the pencils from the cup on AJ’s desk and placed them on the pristine wood surface in front of him. Holding one, he pressed his thumb against the lead until it snapped. Then he replaced the pencil in the holder, selected another, and repeated the process.
“The chief said not to touch anything.”
In response, Zane grabbed another pencil and snapped off the point.
“Do you ever take responsibility? Is everything a joke?”
“Life’s too short to take anything too seriously.”
“And that’s why we’re locked up.”
“We’re not locked up. We’re locked in AJ’s office.”
“The point is we’re unable to leave,” McKenna shot back.
“You’re being overly dramatic.”
“And you’re being under dramatic.”
“That’s not a real word.” Zane broke the tips off two more pencils.
“Yes, it is. Google it.”
“Thisis why we’re stuck here.” Maybe AJ was right, and they should work out their differences for everyone’s sake.
McKenna paced the office. “What are people going to think? The Horseshoe was full. Everyone saw us arguing and then walk out with the chief of police.”
“Who’s one of my best friends.” Or was before this stunt. He finished off the last two pencils. “Folks won’t think anything of it.”
“Chief Quinn said he could arrest us for disturbing the peace. What if someone heard?”
“No one did.”
“You’ve been wrong before tonight because here we are locked up.”
