“She is a baby,” I grumbled.
“She’s a fighter. Last night she punched me in the face. That kid doesn’t need anyone pretending she’s innocent.”
I shook my head at his antics. I knew he wasn’t serious. He would treat her like his little princess for the rest of her life.
“So, what is this all about?” Josh asked, sitting next to Carly.
“Well, as you know, Joe isn’t too sure about Lorelei, and you’ve all spent time with her. So, I want your opinions.”
“Well, she’s not really any fun,” Carly pouted. “She doesn’t like guns, knives, or bombs from what I can tell.”
I nodded. “That’s a good thing.”
She shrugged. “Maybe to you.”
“Let’s not forget that I want Joe to think she’s harmless.”
“Wait, so you want him to think that or you want it to be true?” Josh asked. “Just looking for clarification.”
“Just tell me if you think she could be a killer,” I said frustratedly.
“Well, she’s a damn good hostage negotiator,” Kat grinned. “And she’s really fast. You should have seen the way she was whipping us around the store on the shopping cart. The woman has some mad skills.”
“But is she a killer?”
“You don’t know?” Josh smirked.
“I know she’s not, but I want other people to think so also.”
“You know, I never thought I would see the day when I would want one of my brothers to be in the same position as me.”
“Wondering if your girlfriend is a psychopath?” Carly grinned.
“Exactly. Although, the funny thing is, nobody seemed to care that you were part of the mafia. Maybe that’s the most disturbing part of the whole thing.”
Frustration mounted as they continued to banter. My fists clenched and my teeth were gnashing together. I was ready to burst.
“You guys, let’s just put him out of his misery,” Kat said. “He looks like he’s about to have a coronary.”
“Thank you.”
Kat nodded and continued. “From what I could tell, she seems perfectly normal. I don’t see how anyone could think she’s a serial killer.”
“So, no weird vibes from you?”
She shook her head. “No, she seemed like the new girl in town that seemed confused by all the crazy people.”
“And you?” I asked Carly.
“Well, like I said, she doesn’t sound like much fun, but then again, I didn’t think any of you would be any fun.”
“Hey,” Kat said, trying to sound hurt.
“Can you blame me? The most fun you have is on poker night. It’s a huge let down to go from running for your life to having a quiet life. Every once in a while, I would love it if we had some excitement around here.”
“Ooh, we could start a town poker night.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Carly nodded at Kat’s suggestion.
“That’s not—“
Carly interrupted me. “And we could have theme nights.”
“Poker nights are sacred,” Josh frowned.
“Nobody cares about your sacred poker nights,” Kat waved him off. “I think it’s a great idea. We could get the whole town involved. Maybe do it once a month!”
“Maybe we could have a riverboat theme, like in the movie Maverick.”
“Can we get back on topic?” I asked.
“And we could have a bar,” Kat said excitedly.
“You’re pregnant,” I pointed out.
“And we could have drinks that match the theme of the night,” Carly suggested.
“You girls don’t know anything about poker,” Josh pointed out.
“How hard could it be?” Kat asked. “All reds, full hand jack, and black man’s hand…Sounds simple to me.”
Josh shook his head. “None of that made sense.”
“Well, I can learn as we go.”
“Is it like Bingo when you call out your hand?” Carly asked.
I shook my head, rubbing my hand over my eyes. This was a terrible idea, and way off point of what I was trying to discuss.
“Can we just get back to Lorelei?”
“Oh, she would probably be a lot of fun to play poker with,” Kat exclaimed.
“Not the poker!” I shouted, trying to gain some control here. “The killer thing!”
“Relax, Andrew,” Carly sighed. “She’s fine. There are no crazy vibes there.”
I sighed in relief.
“Of course, if she really is a serial killer, she could just be really good at hiding it, in which case you’ll never see it coming. We’ll just find your body one day.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “That should really help me convince Joe that she’s totally normal.”
“Well, you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
I frowned at her. “How does that apply here?”
“Well, if she is a serial killer, and you’re sleeping with her, hopefully you’ll find out some information before you end up dead.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “It seems pretty clear to me that the closer you are to her, the safer you are.”
“Unless she really is a black widow,” Kat interjected. “Just don’t marry her and you should be fine.”
I scoffed. “Thanks, everyone. This has been very helpful.”
Josh grinned. “Hey, I say ride that crazy train. Look how it ended for me.”
“Yeah, I remember how that ended. I don’t think I want to take that route. Jack hates us enough as it is.”
Josh’s face turned hard and he shook his head. “I can only apologize so many times. I understand that he lost Natalie and it’s killing him, but I didn’t make that psycho come after us.”
This was the first time that I had heard Josh actually take the stance that Natalie’s death wasn’t his fault, and it was nice to hear. I hated the guilt that ate away at him. As sad as her death was, it was because of a man that had a screw loose, not because of him. If someone was stalking one of the women and someone ended up dead because of the stalker, we wouldn’t blame the woman. It just didn’t make sense.
“Well, this hasn’t been helpful at all,” I said standing, “but at least I can say that you don’t think she’s a killer for now.”
“That’s the spirit,” Kat grinned. “Look on the bright side of things.”
I was just about to head into the bakery
