“How’s Craig? Where’s Craig?” Danni asked her.
Jessica offered her a broad smile. “He’s just fine. His grandma is doting on him. Oh, Danni, I feel like such a fool. How could I have had so little faith in the people who raised Arnie? They’re wonderful. I just have to hope everyone else will be, too.”
“I guess we have to be cautiously optimistic.”
“That’s what they said about my mom when we got to the hospital. I think that’s going to be my new approach to life, cautious optimism,” Jessica said. Then she walked over and looked at Danni’s drawing.
“What’s Craig doing on the bar? I never brought him to the club, Danni.”
“I know that, Jessica. I just draw people, and sometimes my imagination gets a little carried away, I guess.”
Danni’s phone rang. She answered it to find Shamus on the other end.
“Danni?”
“Yes. What’s up?”
“Did they get him yet?”
“I don’t know, Shamus. They’re looking everywhere. If they haven’t found him yet, I promise you they will.”
“I’m frightened, Danni. What if he knows? What if he knows I said something?”
“There should be a cop out front of your house.”
“There is, but there have been cops around before.”
She hesitated. “Have you spoken with Blake? Has he seen Gus?”
“He’s gone, Danni. Blake took off. He went to Florida. He said he’ll be back when this is over.”
Shamus really was afraid; Danni could hear it in his voice. “Do you want to stay here, Shamus?”
“Hell, yes! I mean, you’re not alone, right? There are a lot of people there?”
“Yes, there are a lot of people here.”
“You got guns?”
“We have guns.”
“Will the cop bring me?”
“I’ll call Larue. I’ll tell him that you don’t want to be alone and ask if the officer can drive you over.”
“Thank you, Danni.”
“No problem.”
She hung up, called Larue and made the arrangements.
“Shamus, huh?” Jessica asked. She smiled. “He’s a big sweetie. I’m glad he’s coming. I hope you don’t mind, though. There are so many people here already.”
“A full house is a good thing right now, right?”
Jessica nodded. She turned away from Danni’s sketch and said, “I’m going to check on Craig.”
“I’ll go with you, see what everyone’s up to,” Danni agreed.
Everyone seemed to be doing their best to make time pass in as normal a fashion as possible. While Woodrow wasn’t about to abandon his position, he was more than willing to play gin with Bo Ray and Tyler, who had joined him at the table.
Natasha and Amy were taking care of Craig, laughing with him as he assembled the pieces in a little Busy Bee block game.
Jenny was cooking, with Brad awkwardly helping her. She’d insisted on preparing lasagna for dinner.
It was almost a party, Danni thought drily. “Shop locked up tight?” she asked Bo Ray.
“Yup. I locked up and set the alarm right after Quinn and the other guys left with Wolf,” he assured her then grinned and announced, “Gin!”
“I’ll be damned,” Woodrow said.
Danni’s phone rang. She excused herself and went into the hall to answer. It was Quinn.
“Any luck?” she asked anxiously.
“No, but Wolf is following a new lead,” he said.
“Wolf?”
“Hey, I trust the dog, okay? I just wanted to make sure everything there was all right.”
“Everything is fine,” she assured him. “Shamus is joining us. Blake left town, and he’s alone and afraid.”
“Yeah, I just talked to Larue. The cop watching his place is bringing him over, and then he’s going to stay for a while. That puts two cops with you, which seems good to me.”
“Okay, so...keep me posted, yeah?”
“Yep, absolutely. And call me, if anything comes up.”
“I will.”
“Danni?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” he said.
She smiled. “I love you, too,” she said and hung up.
She looked back into the kitchen. All really was well. Everyone was busy doing something. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought everything was normal. But she did know better. And so did they.
Because every so often, one of them would pause, looking around. Reassuring themselves. And waiting...
Because it was in the air. Something was going to happen.
*
Wolf was running around Gus Epstein’s house. He was picking up a scent, Quinn knew; he just didn’t know what scent.
“I think your dog has gone nuts,” Grace told him. “And I’m not finished here, Quinn. Not that we’ve found a damn thing or expect to, but still, there’s procedure. And having your dog lose it in the middle of my crime scene isn’t helping.”
“My dog doesn’t lose it, Grace,” Quinn said. “He’s onto something. But don’t worry about it, because he’s done with your crime scene.”
Wolf was done; he was standing by the door, whining. He was ready to move.
“We’re going to follow Wolf again?” Billie asked.
Quinn nodded. “Maybe I should have someone get you back to the house, Billie.”