I sank lower on the sofa. "Yeah. Um, sorry about that." I tried to explain. "But I had the worst connection. I could hardly hear." Glancing away, I murmured, "And Joeldoeslike donuts, so you know..." I let my words trail off and didn't bother finishing. At the time, I'd been so frantic to find him that I hadn't been thinking straight.
In hindsight, I'd been a total idiot. It was becoming a common problem.
Across from me, Luna gave Jake a perplexed look. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"About the phone call?" he said. "Ididtell you." He moved toward the open kitchen, heading for the refrigerator. "But you were distracted by the thing with the boxes."
She frowned. "Was I? Sorry." She turned to me and said, "Pizza boxes. Don't ask."
Jake opened the refrigerator and paused for a long moment before turning to ask, "Where's all the beer?"
Luna groaned. "It's gone? Again?"
"I don't know." Jake's mouth twitched at the corners. "Is it?"
"No." She gave him a shaky smile. "Notallof it."
His eyebrows lifted. "You sure about that?"
"Definitely." She pointed down the hall. "I, uh, hid some in the linen closet."
He gave her a look. "Cold?"
"Not really." She perked up. "But we've got ice, right?"
Jake gave a slow shake of his head before closing the fridge and walking over to join us. He sat down next to Luna and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. Looking half-amused and half-irritated, he told her, "You're lucky I love you."
She gave him a sunny smile. "I know. And so are you."
He grinned. "Don't I know it."
Luna turned back to me and said, "About the thing with Joel, doyouwant to tell it? Or do you want me to?"
I still wasn't feeling so great. At something in my expression, she said, "Never mind. I'll do it."
Relieved, I listened as Luna gave Jake the rundown on why I was here.
I had to give her credit. The story had taken me nearly an hour to tell, and yet, she managed to summarize it in under ten minutes. She finished by saying, "And the scary thing is, he's fighting tomorrow night." She gave Jake a pleading look. "So you've got to stop him."
Jake looked oddly unconcerned. "Why?"
"Weren't you listening?" Luna said. "Because of the suspended sentence. If he gets caught, they'll be dragging him off to prison." Her voice held a twinge of panic. "No trial, no nothing."
Jake shook his head. In an overly reasonable tone, he said, "Baby, that's not the way it works."
I spoke up. "Actually, in this case, it is. I heard it from a lawyer-friend."
Jake turned to me and said, "Then your friend's exaggerating. I mean, yeah, itcouldhappen that way. But in a case like this? Nah, I'm not seeing it."
His calm demeanor grated on me, and besides, Derek had promised tomakeit happen. I gave Jake an irritated look. "Are you willing to take that chance?"
"No."
"So?" I prompted. "What are you gonna do?"
"Nothing."
Damn it."Why not?"
"Because I already did."
