Page 58 of Daddy's Trust
“I ate it. I still can’t tell you what it was,” Dotty said. “You didn’t eat it?”
The question was directed at Monroe. The other woman shook her head. For some reason, both Dotty and Addie seemed concerned by that, but he didn’t blame Monroe for not wanting to eat something served up in jail.
“Come on,” Butch said gruffly as he walked up the stairs to the main entrance.
Addie sighed and took hold of her sisters’ hands. As they stepped inside, they were greeted by Sable, who stood there with two more bags, like the one she’d given Addie earlier.
“Oh, good. You all made it back safely from jail. Here, I’ve got gift bags for you. I’m Sable, by the way. If you need any help, come see me. The rest of them are pretty useless, except for Brody and Ink, they tend to know what they’re doing.”
Butch just glared at her and then stomped past. Sable shook her head as she stared after him. “Don’t worry about him. He’s always in a grumpy mood. Pretty sure he was born that way.”
“I’m going to take everyone down to the safe room so they can have a shower and brush their teeth, maybe have a cup of coffee or something. Do you think we can get some pastries or something in, Sable?” Cash asked.
“I’m already well ahead of you. There’s food waiting in the boardroom for you all. Ink wants to have a meeting and find out where everyone is at. Take twenty minutes to shower and get changed into your clothes, then meet him there.”
Ralen saluted her with a grin. “You are amazing, Sable.”
Sable simply stared at him before turning away.
“Damn, your charm’s failing you,” Cash told him.
Ralen nodded. “I think she’s immune. Every so often I meet someone who is immune. Doesn’t happen that often though.”
“You met someone today who’s immune,” Dotty told him.
“Really? Who’s that?” Ralen asked.
“Me. Now, where is the shower? Someone take me to it. And then I need an explanation, or we’re all out of here.”
17
Addie felt a million times better once she’d had a shower. Unfortunately, she also felt twice as sleepy.
She could barely keep her eyes open as they made their way into the boardroom, where they’d had the original meeting with Brody, Ink, Butch, Cash, and Ralen. Oh, and the mysterious man over the speaker.
She wondered if he was here now.
When she walked into the room, she saw Brody sitting behind his laptop already, tapping away at something, so she guessed that his boyfriend probably would be watching.
“Hey, little mouse. I see you’re clean.”
And there he was.
“Also heard that your older sister made a bit of a fuss at the police station. Good on her. Can’t stand the police. All rotten assholes.”
Dotty froze next to her, then glanced around in surprise. “Who’s talking?”
Brody glanced up and fiddled with his glasses. “Yeah, sorry. That’s my boyfriend. He tends to listen in, just to keep me safe. It’s not weird or anything. All right. It’s a little weird, but you getused to it. Also, the cops are not all bad. There are some good cops.”
“Name three,” the voice said over the speaker. “And I’m not talking about fictional ones on TV. There’s no one like John Luther in real life.”
“Oh, I love that show,” Monroe said, bouncing on her feet. For some reason, she seemed to have gotten a second wind of energy after her shower. Surprisingly, Dotty actually looked tired, worn. Addie felt worried about her. She wouldn’t tell her because Dotty didn’t like when people ‘fussed’ over her.
“It’s not as good as Dexter, though,” the voice said.
She couldn’t keep calling him ‘the voice.’ What about Dr. Claw? That would work, his face had never been shown in the original Inspector Gadget, had it?
“I finally just started watching him,” Dr. Claw said. “Great guy. Love his work.”
