Reid reached for the extra bottle of beer in the center of the table. “What if you can’t kill it?”
“I’ll pull her out before it can attach to her,” Doc said. “And then we’ll try to figure out another plan of attack.”
I took a drink from my glass, peering at him over the rim. He met my gaze, his eyes dark and troubled.
“I’m not thrilled about this either,” I told him, lowering my glass.
He reached out and tucked a curl behind my ear, not saying anything.
“What about when Masterson realizes his pet is gone?” Reid asked.
“If he brings it up to me, I’ll act as surprised as he is—and worried, of course, since it will be coming for me.” I reached for the tequila. “But I’ll also have a strong alibi.”
“You need to keep Dominick distracted,” Aunt Zoe said.
“What do you mean?”
She nodded, as if it were already decided. “I’m going to make sure Dominick stays away from the Sugarloaf Building the night you do this. I’ll invite him to meet me for a farewell dinner.”
“No!” Reid and I said at the same time.
She ignored Reid and focused on me. “Violet Lynn, you risked your life to save me from him. This is the least I can do. What is the worst that can happen?”
“He uses his charm shine on you,” I said, “and convinces you to fly to Vegas and marry him. You know, the whole ’til death do you part bit.”
She laughed. “I was thinking more along the lines of ending up in bed with him.”
“That’s not any better,” Reid said, indignant.
“This is a bad idea, Aunt Zoe.”
“I’ll tell you what,” she said. “Reid can be there spying on us to make sure nothing more than dinner happens. How about that?”
“I still don’t like it,” Reid said.
She smirked. “Too bad, Martin.”
I pondered her idea. If Reid was going to be there with her, maybe it was a good idea. We certainly didn’t need Masterson showing up in the midst of the hunt. “You don’t think he’ll be suspicious about you wanting to meet him after you were avoiding him this whole time?”
She winked at me. “Don’t worry about that, kiddo. His ego will be thoroughly stroked.”
Harvey snickered. “If he gets rambunctious, you can stroke something else while you’re at it. That’ll keep him good and distracted.”
“Willis!” she chastised, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie out of the Betty Boop jar and throwing it at him.
He laughed and picked up the cookie, stuffing the whole thing in his mouth.
“I still think I should go with you,” Natalie said to me.
“No,” Cooper said.
She steeled her shoulders. “Listen, Coop,” she started.
“No!” He shoved back from the table, taking his soup bowl to the sink. “I’m not going to listen, Nat, so don’t waste your breath.” He leaned against the counter. “I don’t like Parker risking her neck or Zoe wining and dining that son of a bitch, but I understand why they need to take these risks. You, on the other hand, don’t need to put your ass on the line, too, just so you don’t feel left out again. We have enough of a problem on our hands now with Hawke after your spying game earlier at Bighorn Billy’s.”
Oh, hell. I sucked air through my teeth, cringing as I turned to Doc. “Cooper didn’t really just say all of that out loud, did he?”
“He certainly did,” Natalie said, her voice low and lethal. She stood slowly, facing him. The gunslinger was back. Cooper was lucky she wasn’t packing lead.
Addy wandered into the middle of the gunfight-at-high-noon moment and placed her bowl in the sink. She looked up at Cooper. “Hey, Coop, do you like bearded lizards?”
He pulled his focus away from Natalie and smiled down at my daughter. “I like bearded ladies just fine, Addy,” he teased. “But I prefer the clean-shaven ones more.”
She giggled. “I said ‘bearded lizards.’ You’re funny for a cop.”
“You’re funny for a kid, too.” He patted her head, and then his attention returned to Natalie, who was still glaring at him.
Addy came over to me, oblivious of the tension in the room. “Hey, Mom, can you come help me clean Duke’s cage?”
“Adelynn Renee, you were supposed to clean that yesterday afternoon.”
Addy’s chin lifted. “But Kelly was here.”
“She could have helped you.” I narrowed my eyes. “You promised you would get it done last weekend and now you’ve gone another whole week without cleaning it.”
“I know, but I forgot. I’m sorry!”
I pushed my chair back. “I’ll help this time, but the next time you make a promise, you need to stand by it.”
Aunt Zoe popped up. “You stay here, Violet. I’ll go help her.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I glanced at Reid, who was still working on his beer.
Aunt Zoe drained her glass and dropped it off at the sink. Then she took Addy by the hand, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s no problem. I haven’t been able to spend much time with Addy-girl lately because of work.”
Addy smiled up at her and then skipped out of the room with Aunt Zoe following behind her. “Come on, Layne,” I heard Aunt Zoe call out. “Let’s get those teeth brushed and pick up the dinosaur bones I saw lying around on your carpet earlier.”
Three sets of feet pounded up the steps.
Harvey leaned over and poked Reid in the shoulder. “You gonna chase that loose heifer, cowboy?”
Reid finished his beer and set the bottle down with a clunk. “She’s too headstrong.”
“You just need to work on your lassoin’ technique.”
“Duke’s cage is big and heavy, Reid,” I said. “You’d better go help. I’d hate for Aunt Zoe to hurt her back lifting it and not be able to finish that glass order on time.”
He snorted. “Well, damsels in distress are my specialty.” Setting his empty bottle on the counter next to Cooper, he stopped by long enough to give my shoulder a squeeze and then headed after them.
After he left, I got up
