Page 105 of Jonas

“It’s fine?” she gasped. “Just fine?”

Fuck, she was cute.

“Cinnamon’s great, Dee Dee, I’m just not hungry.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Kira piped up. “Did you already eat this morning?”

Derrika quickly covered her mouth as she started coughing.

“Jesus fuck.” I pushed out of my chair.

“Fine,” she choked out. “I’m fine.”

“Does she need the Heimlich?” Cash asked from the bottom of the stairs, Lore suspiciously only a few rungs above him.

“No!” Derrika croaked.

“Is she okay?” Lore inquired, pushing past Cash.

Derrika’s hand was in the air waving Lore off. “I’m fine. It just went down the wrong hole.”

“Say less, the wrong hole does it every time,” Lore teased.

“There’s no such thing as the wrong hole, just improper preparation,” Cash tossed out.

“He’s not wrong,” Zane boomed. “Though, in our current situation, no amount of lube is gonna make the glide any easier.”

“Seriously?” Nebraska moaned. “You’re leading with that?”

“Sorry, Dove, was I supposed to ask how everyone’s doing this morning?” Zane parried.

“Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” she returned.

With a dramatic roll of his eyes, Zane asked, “How’s everyone doing this morning?” He paused for two seconds then continued, “Great. Good to hear it. Brooks checked in this morning, everyone’s settled in Tennessee and the team is headed to Wyoming.”

I figured Smith and Theo had already talked to the women and knew the state of play.

“I talked to Cooper,” Kira said. “Everything’s good in Kentucky and Blue is leaving for Pennsylvania in a few hours.”

“Linc called me last night,” Theo added. “After he bitched about the heat for the first ten minutes, he told me the team’s mission-ready and on standby.”

“Now explain the double-sided dong situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Smith requested.

“Doubled-sided dong?” Derrika leaned in close to ask.

“It means we’re fucked either way we go,” Zane replied, as he pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket. With a ferocious growl he answered the call, “Who is this?” There was a pause, then, “Who?” Another longer pause accompanied with a deep frown. “How’d you get this number?” he asked, and lowered the phone from his ear.

After he stabbed at the screen, a female voice in mid-sentence filled the room. “…Chamberlin. He told me if I ever had a problem to call you.”

“Who?” Zane clipped.

“Oliver Chamberlin. He said if I ever found myself in a situation I should trust no one but you.”

I had no idea who Oliver Chamberlin was. But it was obvious Zane did.

“He told you to call me? When was this?”

“Yes!” The woman sounded either exasperated or out of breath. “He told me if I couldn’t get to him, you were the next best thing. And since he’s been dead for a decade, you’re the next best thing. He warned me if I ever needed you, you’d be a total asshole. I see he hadn’t exaggerated.”