Page 92 of Fallen Flame

“Bad news?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It’s one big fucking question mark.”

“Don’t you guys start talking without us over there,” Ever called from behind the counter.

“We’re coming,” Nikki answered.

A few minutes later, everyone had ice cream.

Alice carried a Purple Cow shake with enough whipped cream to qualify as a meal. Mom had ordered a White Russian shake, and Dad carried a vanilla waffle cone absolutely buried in rainbow sprinkles.

The five of them made their way over.

Mom and Dad slid into the booth behind ours with Alice.

Ever came around the counter and sat next to Alice. Lark followed, and without saying a word, she settled onto my lap like she’d been doing it forever.

My arm wrapped around her waist automatically. She leaned back against me while stealing a bite of my ice cream.

“You know,” I said, “you could’ve gotten your own.”

“I could’ve.” She stole another bite. “But yours tastes better.”

I chuckled. “Liar.”

“I absolutely am.”

Jude leaned forward. “So what’s the deal?”

Dad grunted. “A bunch of bullshit.”

“It wasn’t the van?” I asked.

Wrecker nodded. “It was. The plates matched the numbers Ever got.”

“And it was parked at the motel?” I asked.

“Right where B said it’d be.”

Jude frowned. “So... what?”

Wrecker spread his hands. “That’s it.”

“There wasn’t a damn thing inside?” I asked.

He looked at me. “Nothing. No trash. No receipts. Not even a stray fucking straw wrapper.”

“They cleaned it?”

Dad nodded. “Spotless.”

He bit a massive chunk off his ice cream cone.

Ever stared. “My God.”

He looked at her. “What?”

“Did you just bite that?”