Page 21 of Broken Wheels
“Have you eaten anything this morning?”
Josh glared at Dixon. “Have you been taking ninja lessons from Michael? I swear, the pair of you will give me a heart attack one of these days. And no, I haven’t.”
“Then isn’t it a good thing I brought you these?” He held up a box.
Josh glanced at it, then sniffed. “Cinnamon rolls?”
Damn it. How did he learn me so fast?
Dixon put the box on the desk. He peered at the coffee machine. “I’ll make you some fresh coffee.”
Josh went back to staring at his monitor, the sounds of Dixon filling the pot merging into the background hum of machinery and lights.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hunting.”
“For what?”
Josh frowned. “Cliff Tanner. And so far he’s proving elusive.” Dixon placed a cinnamon roll next to the keyboard, and he grinned. “Is that a hint? ‘Take a break, Josh?’” He tore off a piece. “So good.” The taste was sublime. “These are amazing.”
“Glad you like them.”
There was a note of pride in his words that even Josh couldn’t miss. “Where’d you get them?”
Dixon murmured something, then pointed to the monitor. “Hadn’t you better get back to your hunt?”
“In a minute—after you repeat whatever it was you just muttered, because I didn’t quite catch that. I only want to know where you got them because I might like to stop on my way in and get some.” When nothing was forthcoming, he fixed Dixon with a hard stare. “Well?”
Dixon said nothing, then pushed out a deep sigh. “I said I went down last night and made them.”
“I don’t believe you,” Josh said, narrowing his gaze.
“Believe what you want.” Dixon turned away. “It’s true, though. I can even recite the recipe if you’d like. It’s my mom’s.”
He blinked. “You really baked these?”
Dixon gave a grin. “Just like my cinnamon rolls, I too have layers.”
Josh was beginning to appreciate that, but it also raised questions. Why would Dixon bake for him? And would Dixon consider making them every morning? Because damn these were good. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the phone rang.
It was Michael.
Josh swallowed his morsel. He shook his head as he clicked Answer. “You did forget something, didn’t you?” He put him on speaker.
“I just had a call from the police. They’ve finished at the mall. I’ll send a couple of guys to pick up your cars.”
Josh stiffened. “I’m quite capable of collecting my own car.” First a bodyguard, now this.
“No one said you weren’t. I’m still sending a couple of guys.”
He glared at the phone. “But it’s my car.”
“And you’re a pain in the ass,” Michael groused.
Dixon came over to where Josh sat. “Michael, how about a compromise? You have an agent drive me and Doc to the mall, then we can both collect our cars and bring them back here.”
There was a pause. “Okay, that works. Parnell will be waiting for you at the front door in ten minutes.”