“Come on, Railings. Cut us some slack.”
“Sorry, man, can’t do it. Just because we went to school together doesn’t mean I can let you off the hook easily.”
Logan exchanged a quick look with his friends. “What if we bought you a beer?”
“Make it two, but when I’m off the clock. And you’re still getting a warning for the noise.”
A collective groan rose through the air.
One by one, they shuffled off, leaving Logan behind. He gave Ian a grateful smile and clapped him on the back. Ian waited till he left before twisting to face Marissa, who had her arms folded over her chest. She stood underneath the flickering streetlamp, brows furrowed, and her lips pursed together.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Marissa shot him a withering look. “You can’t just leave in the middle of a conversation.”
“What conversation?”
Marissa scowled. “You know we were talking about the detective’s exam. You can’t put it on hold forever.”
Ian set off at a brusque pace, with Marissa struggling to keep up. “It’s not forever. It’s just until I figure some things out.”
Starting with his mom’s case.
Now that he had a second chance to figure it out, he wasn’t going to give up till he had all of the answers. Come hell or high water, he wasn’t going to walk away this time—not again—even if it meant having to put some things in his life on pause.
It wasn’t as if he had anything better to do anyway.
Marissa frowned. “What does Lucy think about this?”
Ian hurried over to the patrol car and handed Marissa the keys. “We haven’t talked about it. She’s been really busy with work, so I don’t want to bother her with this.”
Not to mention the fact that the two of them hadn’t been on the same page in months.
“I ran into her the other day, and she looked exhausted. Her clients must be driving her crazy. I had no idea so many people could get married around Thanksgiving.”
Ian yanked the passenger door open and got in. “Yeah, me neither.”
Marissa slammed the door shut behind her and held her hands up to the heater. “Does this mean you guys aren’t free for dinner? We’ve been talking about it for ages, so we should get around to it.”
Ian took out his phone and pretended to check something. “I’ll check with Lucy and get back to you.”
He doubted Lucy would have any interest in anything that didn’t involve her mysterious new client, but he owed it to Marissa to try.
“By the way, I ran into Sophia and Darren the other day. They look really happy. I’m glad they’re giving each other a second chance.”
Ian’s lips lifted into a half smile. “Yeah, me too.”
Marissa shifted in her seat and sighed. “You know you can tell me if something is bothering you, right?”
Ian let his phone fall into his lap and glanced over at Marissa. “What are you talking about?”
“Whenever I bring up Lucy lately, you get all weird.”
“I do not.”
“You do too.”
Ian’s phone rang, interrupting what he was about to say. He picked it up so quickly that it nearly fell. “Soph, what’s up? Is everything okay?”
