Leroy shifted his eyes from side to side. “Shit. Where’d you hear that? People be talkin’?”
“I figured it out myself,” I said dryly. “How does it work? He just walks in here with a sack full of candy, or what?”
Leroy shook his head. “You figured that out, you can figure this out. I’m not saying another word, you’re gonna get yourself killed messing with this guy.”
“You’re gonna get yourself killed messing with his products. This whole office stinks like someone lit a dishwasher on fire.”
“Eh, beggars and choosers,” Leroy said with a shrug. “Only person I know never cut like that was Hunter. Man, I miss that shit, I tell you. But don’t do that. Ain’t worth your life, you hear? But if you decide to, you best let me know first.”
“Go drink your Snake Venom or whatever you got in the fridge and take a nap, Leroy. You’re contradicting yourself.”
Leroy didn’t argue, which I knew wouldn’t last. As soon as the shakes set in, he’d be the walking embodiment of a headache. I didn’t want to dwell on it, though. In two hours, I would be crawling in Daisy’s window, ready to make up for an entire week of deprivation. I would sooner fight her dad myself than go through that again.
I called Lizzie before I left, but she hadn’t turned up much. Rumors were thick, but facts were few. Dayle had a car, but it was registered to the post office’s address. He hadn’t held down a real job in five years, but he had no accounts in collections. He was a ghost. Good trick in a town this size.
“Thanks,” I told her. “I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” she purred. “I love to watch stories unfold. Speaking of which—what’s going on with you and Daisy? You going public yet?”
“What? No, of course not. You told me yourself it was too dangerous.”
“Did I?” She sounded disconcertingly innocent. “Hm, maybe I did. But that was before Daisy and I cooked up the plan to take the wind out of dear old daddy’s sails. She didn’t tell you? Damn, there I go again. But yeah, I was expecting her to call me yesterday to give me the all clear to tell the whole world about you two, but she didn’t.”
“Huh, weird. You’d think she’d jump at the chance to be the center of a lurid rumor,” I said, dripping sarcasm.
“Laugh all you want, big boy. But check on her for me, okay? I have a bad feeling, and I wouldn’t be a good reporter if I didn’t listen to my gut.”
I promised I would. It was a promise I’d forgotten by the time I made it to Daisy’s house. The closer I got to her window, the more my head was full of the various things I wanted to do with her. A bed offered up so many more opportunities than a truck did.
I felt like a damn kid sneaking up to her window like that, heart racing, sweat dripping. Cock already hard as steel. Her window was wide open and she lay on her bed, reading. I couldn’t believe she was so calm.
I hung back a minute to wipe my sweaty palms on my pants, and I was glad of it. Just as I was raising my hands to form my bird call, her Dad walked in. He said something I couldn’t hear. Feeling like a stalker, I crept closer.
“Come on, Daisy, don’t be like that,” he was whining. “You know I’d never hurt you or your mom.”
“Really? Never? So I hallucinated, is what you’re telling me.”
I had never heard a colder tone in her voice. It chilled me to my core, and I thanked my lucky stars I had never done anything to evoke that rage in her.
“No, that’s not—look. I love your mom, I do, but—you know as well as I do that her nagging hits a nerve. You’ve lost your temper at her, don’t lie to yourself.”
“I’ve never gone that far. I would never go that far.”
He sighed heavily and started speaking to her in a tone generally reserved for small children. “I know it’s tough to stomach, sweetie, but your mom isn’t innocent here. You don’t know how it is for me, being stuck at home. All I want to do is provide for my family, you understand? When I can’t do that, it wrecks me. Your mom knows that. She pushed me to it, Daisy. Besides, I already apologized to her.”
“Oh, well obviously that makes it all better. Takes away everything you did, too. I guess some people really do believe in forgive and forget.”
Her sarcasm was so heavy it made me wince. Her dad missed it somehow.
“Glad you see it that way. I love you, Daisy. Goodnight.”
She didn’t answer. If he expected her to, he was stupider than he seemed. The part that bothered me most was that he’d sounded completely sober, which meant that he wasn’t going to pass out any time soon. I didn’t want to leave and have her think I stood her up, but I didn’t think it would do either of us any good to have me stuck out here for hours. Lady’s choice, I decided. I raised my hands and formed my bird call.
She swore under her breath and hurried to the window. “Kash?”
“Right here,” I said quietly. “Things aren’t going to plan, huh?”
She shook her head and sighed. “I guess he had an easy day at his new job. He’s all pensive and wanting to talk and shit. That’s the third time he’s cornered me tonight.”
I reached up and took her hand, unable to resist touching her when she stood so close. “So—what do you want to do?”
She cocked her head, listening. “He’s grabbing a beer now. There’s some big fight on tonight that he’s got a bet down on. As soon as it starts he’ll be glued to his chair. Think you can wait ten minutes?”
“For
