Page 77 of Evil Bones
“Hey.”
“You look like you’re in a good mood.”
“I’ve just had the most super-mega evening.” Sliding the box onto the counter, she added, “I hope you like donuts. I didn’t buy them. They were left over.”
“You were with your UNCC pals?”
“Yeah. One of them—that guy I mentioned, Lester Meloy—gave me a hitch. Anyway, we went to this coffee shop near campus. It was fire.”
“Mmm.” Not sure if fire was good or bad.
“There are five of them. They’re kind of a group.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yeah, we totally gel. Except for this one chick I could do without.”
“Why?”
“She’s kinda salty.”
My brows floated in question.
Ruthie gave a quick shrug of one shoulder. “I think she’s an engineer or something. She’s just, you know, extra.”
I didn’t know. But I let it go.
“You remember my friend Ryan,” I asked, changing the subject.
“The tall dude with the Cumberbatch eyes.”
“If that means blue, yes.”
“Duh.”
“Anyway, Ryan’s coming for a visit.”
“When?”
“Probably Sunday. But don’t worry about him. I want you to stay as long as you like.”
Ruthie said nothing.
“You know I love having you here, sweetie.”
“Right,” she said, her smile holding but her tone a few degrees cooler. “Until you don’t.”
With that somewhat cryptic remark, she turned and left the room.
The next caller was Slidell.
“I looked into this meeting Norwitz was talking about.”
“What meeting?”
Paper rustled. I pictured Skinny running a finger through hand-scrawled notes.
“The NCTA.”
