Err on the Side of Violence: Terribly Acronymed Detective Club Series (Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Three: Joe, Friday

Another early morning call. Lauren answered it, listened for a few seconds and said, "Hey, that's great news!" Another minute or two of typical phone exchange, then, "No, for sure, I understand. She'll see her next week for camp!"

When she hung up, she turned to him and said, "Logan's out!"

"He is?!" Joe exclaimed. He hadn't expected that.

"They visited him last night, and his lawyer gave the cops an ultimatum: charge him or let him go, he's a minor for God's sake."

"So, they let him go?"

"The only reason they had him this long was because he wasn't talking at first, but once he saw the psychologist he was able to open up. When he told them his story they realized they couldn't tie him to anything that happened."

"Did Rachel say what did happen?"

"She didn't get into it on the phone, but she'll probably tell me more on the way to work."

"So, they're going in today?"

"Oh, yes, Emma's much better, over the moon that her brother's back home. She still wants to stay home today, with him."

"Better give Naomi the bad news then."

"She's seen her a lot this week, a day away might be good for her. They can go to my mom and dad's today. She should have her aikido lesson anyway." She chuckled and said, "Naomi got Emma all excited about going to Harrison Hot Springs."

Joe rolled his eyes and said, "Of course she did, and now we'll have to go."

"You know what? I think it will be fun. I think we should take a three-family trip to Harrison Hot Springs. We'll invite Sunny and Tej and their kids."

"Tej will like that, I bet," he said. "She likes to lounge in her bathing suit."

Lauren blinked at him for a second. "And how would you know that?"

"When she called me on Wednesday," he said. "She told me about what the kids were up to, and how she was sunbathing and getting looks from creepy old white men."

She squinted at him and asked, "Was she hitting on you?"

"What?!" he blurted. 

"I just don't understand why she called you, of all people. She barely calls me, and at least I'm a fellow mom."

Joe smirked at her and asked, "Jealous?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. You're already getting attention from another woman, and that's more than enough."

"Relax, it was nothing. Actually..." He looked around to make sure no one was looking. "If anything, I think she was interested in you."

"Me?!" Now it was Lauren's turn to be flummoxed. "What do you mean?"

"She talked a lot about you, how interesting you were, how you were unlike any woman she's ever met. Then she mentioned the kiss you gave her--"

"Oh, God," she moaned, putting her face in her hands. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"She said it was 'interesting'," he said, making air quotes.

Lauren blushed for a second, then shook it off and said, "But why would she say all this to you?"

"Actually, I wondered that myself. It made me a little jealous, actually."

He watched her try to process it, holding back the last part about what Tej had said about her and Al. They'd already discussed that incident at length, and Lauren had assured him over and over again that there was nothing between them, that it had been a mistake induced by their intoxication. And yet, when he thought of what Al had told him about her being his angel, it sped his heart up just as it was about to slow down again.