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Cody had returned to his seat but kept hold of Demetrius’s hands. Demetrius’s lips still tingled from Cody’s kiss, and he wished they could continue with what Cody had started. There never seemed to be enough time for them to just be a couple.
“Demmy’s saved my bacon,” Cody said, turning to look at Agatha.
“Is that some kind of weird euphemism between you two?” asked Dave.
“Do you really want to know that?” Oliver said, still flipping through pages in his notebook.
“I just don’t want to say something and accidentally flip a switch on them,” Dave said, then shuddered dramatically.
Clarabell laughed until she snorted, which made the rest of them laugh as well, Cody and Demetrius included.
“So, what do we know?” Demetrius said. “Anything more?”
“I have a few possibilities,” Clarabell said. “I haven’t actually dealt with any of these cryptids and other creatures, but I’ve come across them in other research.”
“Cryptids?” Dave said.
“It’s an animal that people claim exists but there’s no proof,” Agatha said, looking at Clarabell. “Sorry. Did I step on your moment?”
Clarabell waved her apology away. “I don’t care about stuff like that. I’m just glad to hear someone else speaking my lingo.”
“Great,” Jugs muttered, his face having been released by Agatha. “Now we’re speaking Clarabell’s lingo.” He looked over at Clarabell. “What did you mean by other research?”
“You know, reading books and talking with people.” Clarabell raised her eyebrows. “Research.”
“You don’t have to get all sassy about it,” Jugs said, sounding hurt.
“So, how do we do this?” Dave asked. “Do we go out to the pond and act all innocent and naive and wait to be attacked?”
“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Demetrius said. “And besides, it’s pretty late. I’d rather look around in the daylight and not go out at night to act as bait to try and trap something we can’t even identify yet.”
“Has anyone checked out the cabins?” Dave asked, looking down the table at Cody. “You were always the burglar.”
Cody blushed, glancing quickly at Demetrius before frowning at his brother. “What? The door was always unlocked.”
“Uh huh,” Dave said. “Anyway, those cabins aren’t far from the pond. Might deserve a look.”
“I’d like to go out there myself,” Clarabell said. “See the pond and the cabins.”
Demetrius looked at Cody, but had a feeling he knew what his answer would be. “What about you? Feel like a drive out to the pond tomorrow morning?”
“I’d rather go talk to Dieter a bit, if that’s okay. Think you can send me that file you’ve been keeping notes in?”
“Oh, sure. I can forward it when we get home.”
“So, I’m assuming I’m handling the actual jobs for your business tomorrow morning?” Jugs said, sounding petulant and put-upon.
“If you don’t mind.” Demetrius pulled out his wallet and counted out bills, trying not to feel nervous at the thinness of his wallet. They still had some room on a couple of credit cards. Didn’t they?
“Hey, put that away,” Clarabell said, waving toward his wallet. “I’m picking up the check for you two.”
Demetrius smiled and put it back in his pocket. They’d made it through another day. He wished he could feel relieved about that.
Margie came around and collected credit cards and cash, and when she returned with charge slips and pens for signatures, she stood behind Cody and put a hand on his shoulder.
“You boys doing okay?” she asked, looking between them.
“We’re doing better than okay, Margie.” Cody tipped his head to the side and pressed his cheek to the back of her hand. “How about you?”
