Page 45 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

While I liked the idea of playing stow away… “What do you think will happen to Kato or Veda if I run?”

That wasn’t an option and he knew it.

Memphis threw his hands up in exasperation. “You have to do something. I can’t sit back and watch this dumpster fire burn”

“Okay, in case you haven’t noticed, my entire life is a dumpster fire, so a little extra gasoline isn’t a big deal. Besides, I told you, I have a plan.”

“But you won’t tell me what that plan is.”

No, I would not. Should this thing with Special Agent Jack go wrong, I wanted Memphis to have plausible deniability.

“You’ll just have to trust me.”

Memphis’s brow rose. “The last time I trusted you, my lips were blue for a week.”

How was that my fault? I really thought scented markers would make good lipstick. He’d get color and his mouth would smell good. Seemed logical to me. How was I supposed to know it would dye his skin? And I was the one who used it for blush. So, I didn’t know what he was complaining about. I had purple cheeks.

“Nova—”

“Memphis, stop.” I cut him off. “I promise I’ll tell you if anything bad happens, okay?”

Did being forced to suck Gio off and crawl around naked count as bad? Nah. I’d been through worse. Like Memphis’s attempt at gumbo. I wanted to throw up just thinking about it.

Great, now I could taste it.

He looked me right in the eye. “Promise?”

“Of course.” I cleared my throat and forced down the horridness haunting my stomach. “Just promise you won’t make gumbo again.”

He rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Not that bad? Did he forget about the two days we spent throwing up?

“Besides, we’re not talking about my cooking skills.”

“I think we should.”

Memphis huffed out a sigh. “Can you be serious for one minute?”

I was serious. This could save someone’s life one day.

“What are we going to do about Gio?”

“Wearen’t going to do anything.” He barely survived Atlee. “I’ve got it covered.”

I closed my locker and headed down the hall for homeroom.

Memphis skipped up behind me. “Do you really think I’m going to let you handle this on your own?”

No, but I could hope.

I opened my mouth to tell him to let it go when a high pitched, “Hey, Nova,” interrupted me.

My eyes narrowed on the girl’s smile as she waved and walked down the hall. What the hell was going on today?

“That’s like the fourth person to say hi to me.”

Memphis curled his lip. “So?”

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