Page 41 of Crossing Paths
“Let’s stay on track here,” Mills interjected before Cara could poke at Norah any more.
“Of course, Detective.” Molly smiled in a way that clearly said she was out of patience. “Do you have any otherrelevantquestions for us? As much as I’d enjoy sharing conspiracy theories with you all afternoon, we have work to do.”
Mill glared at them each in turn but eventually shook his head. “Not right now, but I’m sure I’ll be back here again soon. Yougirlsjust can’t seem to stay out of trouble.” Before any of them could respond, he turned and stalked toward his car.
It was probably good he left, Norah figured, before Molly could punch him in the face. She had a wicked right hook, and their family didn’t need Molly in jail for assaulting an officer on top of everything else.
They waited on the porch as the detective did a three-point turn and then drove away, none of them moving until he turned left at the first cross street and his car disappeared. Norah glanced at Mr. Petra’s house, but it looked like he’d gone inside.
“Call your boy,” Molly ordered in a quiet voice, opening their front door. Norah was already pulling out her cell phone.“Let him know the cover story, and ask him where he is. We’ll pick up his keys and take his SUV to him.”
They moved inside, Warrant greeting them as if they’d been gone for days. Norah held her phone to her ear, her stomach dropping when she heard Dash’s gruff greeting. She knew she had to tell him about her new fake boyfriend, but it was going to be excruciatingly embarrassing.
Bracing herself, she forced words out of her mouth. “If Mill asks, I’m dating your employee, Bruiser Davies.”
To his credit, there was barely a pause before he responded. “Davies’s name isn’t Bruiser. It’s Leon.”
“Well, I didn’t know that.” Realizing that she was getting snappy with the wrong person, she closed her eyes and took a calming breath. It didn’t do much to help her nerves. “Besides, Bruiser is his nickname.”
“Bruiser is not his nickname.”
“It is if Mill asks.”
This time, the pause was a hair longer. “Fine. Why are you dating Davies?” His voice had a bit of a growl to it that made Norah shiver, but not in a scared way.
“I’m not. I just had to explain why Bruiser’s vehicle was parked outside our house.”
His grunt didn’t sound happy. “So Davies gets youandmy car?”
“Well, it can’t beyourcar, since that would’ve blown your story.”
“True.”
His admission sounded resigned although still a bit grumpy,so she continued her explanation as Molly waved her into the kitchen and then nudged her through the door into the garage. “I figured since Davies is your employee, that would explain why the SUV is registered to you if Mill runs the plates.”
“So Davies gets you and the car, but I have topayfor it?” There was a hint of humor in his voice now, although his words were still grumbly.
“It’s kind of a stretch,” Molly joined in the conversation even though she could only hear Norah’s half. “Mill was already suspicious, and he hadn’t even run the plates yet.”
“Hopefully he stormed off before he could get the plate number.” Even as she said it, Norah knew it wasn’t very likely.
“Doubt it,” Molly and Dash chorused.
Despite everything horrible that was happening, Norah had to smile at how Dash seemed to be fitting seamlessly into her family.
“Where are we going?” Molly asked as she backed out of the driveway.
“Sorry,” Norah said with a grimace. “I haven’t asked yet. We were still talking about me dating Bruiser.”
“Stop saying that.” Dash had passed grumpy and was now sounding positively surly.
Norah wanted to explain that the more they discussed it, the more natural Dash’s answers to the detective’s questions would be, but their car was now idling in the middle of the street as Molly stared at her expectantly. Besides, she was pretty sure Dash understood the importance of supporting her cover story. He just didn’t care for her fake dating Bruiser for some reason. “Where are you?”
“Bubbles Diner on Rock Street.”
At the name of the restaurant, Norah’s stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since her quick breakfast. “Bubbles,” she told Molly.
“Yum. I love their burgers.” Apparently, her sister was hungry too. “Let’s eat there after we get Dash’s car.”
