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“I can’t tell you.”
“When will you be back?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, by all means, please take my vehicle,” Gigi muttered. “Is this my reward for being a genius?”
“I’m sorry. I would borrow Iris’s car, but it’s a little …”
“Conspicuous?” I suggested.
He nodded, eyeing me carefully. “You could say that a vampire driving a canary-yellow minivan is conspicuous, yes. I’ll bring it back with a full tank, Gigi.”
“Do you have liability insurance?” Gigi asked in an airy tone, clearly enjoying herself.
Cal narrowed his eyes at her. “She gets this from you,” he told me.
Gigi sighed, the picture of teen martyrdom. “OK, but only because the idea of you squishing those long legs behind the wheel of a VW Bug amuses me,” she said. “Oh, wait, I’m going to go get the little bud-vase attachment for the cupholder.”
He groaned as she scampered out of the room.
“Are you going to break into the post office?” I asked.
“Don’t think of it as breaking in, think of it as liberating information.”
“In a way that involves breaking windows and several federal laws.”
He shrugged. “I’ve done it before.”
I cried, “Don’t tell me that!”
“Really, all post-office door codes are the same.”
“Don’t tell me that, either!” I exclaimed. “I’m sure that just knowing that is some sort of felony. Look, I don’t think this is safe. You don’t think it’s a wonderfully strange coincidence that this Post-it just happened to end up stuck to your copy?”
“No. In general, that’s the way my gift works, some random happenstance that leads me to what I’m looking for.”
“So it’s not so much a gift as blind stinking luck.”
“Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as serendipity.” When I rolled my eyes, he nuzzled my neck. “It led me to you.”
“You’re not strong enough yet!” I cried. “Let me come with you.”
“No. I’ve learned my lesson, Iris. And after what happened in the shed, don’t even think of arguing,” he said. “I want you and Gigi to be seen out in public, somewhere with lots of people.”
“Yes, thank you for including me in this decision that affects me. I am so glad my opinions and considerations were taken into account.”
“Trust me, your needs were taken into account, which is why you aren’t going,” he said, slipping into his jacket. “I shouldn’t be gone for more than a few hours. If you come home and I’m not here, if anything seems wrong, I want you to call Ophelia. Tell her the information she needs is in graphite under petal.”
“Is that considered English?”
“She’ll understand eventually.”
“So was this the big ‘moment’ you were waiting for?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, but it’s a step in the right direction. It’s coming, Iris. And when it does—”
“All set!” Gigi crowed as she bounced back into the room. “I even put a Britney Spears CD in the stereo for you.”
