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“Even though it was your idea,” Cody added, and then grunted as Demetrius elbowed him again, a bit harder this time.
“I’ll wait outside by the truck.”
Oliver sat on the back bumper of Cody’s truck, waving away the occasional fly as he closed his eyes and angled his face up into the sun. He tried not to think about Dave somewhere out in the woods, alone for a second night, but didn’t have much luck.
CHAPTER SIX
After an unsuccessful search of the woods that bordered the opposite side of the gravel parking lot, they got in the truck and headed to Clyde’s Diner. Cody drove and Demetrius sat in the front passenger seat, their clasped hands resting on the truck’s center console. Oliver sat at an angle on the narrow bench in the cramped space behind the front seats, hands in his lap. Cody’s seat was back as far as it would go to accommodate his abnormally long legs, leaving him very little room. Seriously, the man was a walking abomination, like the product of a giraffe and a redwood tree mating, and with the personality of a high school senior who’d skipped a majority of his classes. A cocky high school senior.
But over the years, Oliver had witnessed Cody coming to his senses and realizing the honest emotion and true depth of feelings he’d developed for Demetrius during their decades of friendship. And Oliver had to give Cody credit in that area: he truly cared for and appreciated Demetrius.
Just maybe not all of Demetrius’s friends. Case in point, Oliver himself.
“How much farther is this place?” Cody asked as he looked up into the rearview mirror.
“Not far.”
“That’s not really specific.”
“Leave him alone,” Demetrius said. “He’s not a walking road atlas.”
“Road atlas?” Cody chuckled and kissed the silver wedding band on Demetrius’s hand. “You’re so cute.”
“What?” Demetrius said. “What’s that mean?”
“Every now and then you come up with something that really drives home the fact you were raised by much older parents.” Cody repeated in a quiet voice, “Road atlas.”
“Well, what would you have said?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe something from the last couple of decades, like GPS?”
“You’re an ass.”
“Thank you.”
Oliver shook his head and looked out the window at the seemingly endless trees they sped past. Dave was somewhere out in all of that. At least, Oliver hoped Dave was still alive and out there waiting to be found. He wondered if Dave knew what was going on even though he might be under the Vixen’s spell. When Oliver considered it, he hoped Dave wasn’t aware of anything, because it would most likely be frightening for him. Oliver never wanted Dave to feel afraid, and the thought that he might be alone and scared and powerless to escape, made Oliver even more desperate to find him.
But where could he be? None of the other victims had ever been found. Where did Ruby take them? And what did she do with them when they were no longer of any use to her? Did she let them just waste away out in the woods alone?
The thought sent a shiver up his spine. What an awful way to die.
“It’s about time.”
Cody’s irritated statement brought Oliver out of his thoughts in time to brace himself as the truck bounced over the dips and holes of the parking lot of Clyde’s. Once he’d put the truck in park, Cody looked up into the rearview mirror with a smile. “Sorry about the bumps, Ollie.”
“Yeah,” Oliver muttered. “Right.”
“He doesn’t like to be called that,” Demetrius said.
“It’s my pet name for him.”
Demetrius got out and folded his seat forward to allow Oliver room to climb out. As Oliver stepped down to the gravel lot, Demetrius said in a low voice, “You can sit shotgun on the way back.”
“Thanks, but it’s okay,” Oliver said. “Sitting in back gives me time to think.”
“Come on, slowpokes.” Cody was holding the door open and waving for them to go in before him. “Let’s get in, get some food and information, and get back to the search.”
A different young waitress from the one who had waited on Oliver and Dave the day before smiled at them from behind the counter. “Welcome to Clyde’s.” She took a moment to slowly drag her gaze up Cody’s tall form and gave him a sultry smile. “Sit anywhere you like.”
