Page 96 of Gem Warfare

“Come up! Second floor.” The door clicked and I pushed it and headed for the stairs, Garrett on my heels. As I reached the landing, a door opened, and a woman with brassy blond hair and a quarter inch of dark roots poked her head out. “You have a delivery for me?” she asked, surveying us warily.

Garrett held up his shield.

“I didn’t order one of those,” she said as she stepped back, knocking the door closed with a disinterested slam. I skidded across the hallway and wedged my foot in the frame, wincing as the door hit me.

“Lieutenant Graves, MPD,” said Garrett when Amybeth drew back the door. “We have some questions for you about Kelvin Huff.”

“Who?”

“Kelvin Huff, resident of Barnham Correctional Facility. He says you’re his girlfriend,” lied Garrett.

“Oh, that idiot,” she snorted.

“So you’renothis girlfriend?”

“Not anymore. Well, like, not really ever. How can you be someone’s girlfriend if you’ve never been on a date? I don’t think so.”

“She has a point,” I said.

“Thank you! Who are you?” she asked, her attentionreturning to me.

“Lexi Graves, PI.”

“Like a bounty hunter?”

“Like completely different.”

“Like a detective?”

“Yes, but without a dental plan.”

“Your teeth seem okay.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“You should get Solomon to invest in a dental plan for the staff,” said Garrett.

“We have a dental plan. I was trying to make a point that there are some differences between police and private investigators,” I said.

“By lying?” asked Amybeth.

“No. Well, yes,” I said, “but it wasn’t a lie. It was a metaphor. Sort of.”

“I don’t know what that is but I know what lying is.”

“What kind of plan are you on?” asked Garrett.

“Are you two married?” asked Amybeth.

“No!” we both shouted.

Amybeth raised her eyebrows. “Sure act like you’re married. Bit of an age gap romance so it must be your personality because cops don’t have money,” she added, giving Garrett a look that scanned his nose to his toes.

“We’re brother and sister,” I said.

This time, Amybeth pulled an appalled face. “You two should not be married! That’s not legal, dental plan or not. Even being cousins is sketchy.”

“We are not married!” we squawked.