Kasey climbed into the Jeep Sunday morning, smirking at the two occupants in the front seat.
“I think I see why boss lady was so damn happy at work on Friday.” Then she settled in with a giggle.
Leena blushed and Owen grinned wide. “Problem?” Owen dared as he pulled out onto the street.
Kasey chewed her lip. “Nope. But I lost a bet with Rachel.”
Leena turned shocked eyes toward her. “You bet Rachel I was sleeping with Owen?”
Kasey shook her head. “No, of course not. It was a time bet. Couldn’t you have held out another week?”
Leena laughed as Owen reached for her hand. “Not a minute more than I did.”
It was better having a meeting during the day. Everyone was rested and there was no rush. They lingered around the large table in the very white dining room, enjoying the company. Leena leaned over closer to Owen and fed him a piece of melon. When he licked the juice off her hand, Dade groaned.
“You two are ruining my appetite.” Dade grimaced.
“Don’t look then,” Owen drawled back at him.
“I think it’s wonderful, Dade,” Cora piped up. “You’re just jealous.”
“Damn right I am. He’s back in town a few months, and she falls right into his bed.”
Leena blushed. “We haven’t made it to his bed yet, but, as much as I’d like to sit around and discuss our sex life...”
“Can we? Pleeeease?” Steven mumbled around a mouthful of croissant.
Kasey giggled, “I don’t think I could sit here calmly and do that.” The look Chris gave her made her blush. “Seriously, they’re big people and can look after their own sex lives without our help.”
“I would help if they needed it,” Dade offered with a grin.
Leena shook her head with a serious look. “Kase is right, we are big, very big...” she paused to look at Owen, “people and can look after ourselves, thank you.” She smirked at Owen when his mouth dropped open at her words.
Rachel dipped her napkin in her water and dabbed her forehead. “I can’t hear any more. I’m going to swoon.” They all burst out laughing.
Chris cleared his throat. “Is there anything serious we can discuss for a moment? Before I have to go have a cold shower?”
Steven sobered. “I have everyone’s jobs listed for the children’s fair.”
Dade groaned and slid lower in his chair. “Anything other than that to discuss?”
Rachel threw a grape at him. “Fine, what fun have you volunteered us for?”
Steven pulled a paper from his pocket. Opening it, he grinned at Cora. “Of course, you’re running the snack bar, it has three grills and we already have four volunteers taking orders and filling them.” She smiled and nodded at him.
“Dade, you are in the ticket booth. You’ll take turns with another volunteer.” Steven continued.
Dade sighed but nodded. “Could be worse, I suppose.”
“Chris, you and Kasey are going to man the gates for the first part of the day. If you want to help in other areas once your shift is done, that’s fine, too.”
Kasey grinned, “Am I small enough for the rides?”
Everyone laughed.
“Rach, I thought you could help me by running around and problem-solving.” She looked pleased with his choice for her. “And keeping the peace.” Steven grinned and then turned to Owen and Leena. He looked at Owen long enough to see him squirm. “I’ve got you two helping run some of the games. There are several other volunteers for that, so you can rotate around and take breaks when needed.”
Owen smirked. “Games work for me.”
“They’re for the children, Owen.” Leena laughed at him.
“Yeah, I know, but it doesn’t mean I can’t play ’em, too.” Owen picked up her hand and kissed her palm.
“Don’t start again, you two.” Dade groaned at them. “So, what time do we have to be there, and are we going to carpool?”
Chris sat up and nodded to Dade. “We could pile most of us in your van, if you cleaned the sawdust out of it.”
Dade shrugged, “It’s clean... this week.”
Cora nodded. “I think we should try to travel together.”
Owen lowered Leena’s hand from his mouth. “Four could go in my Jeep and four with Dade.”
Steven nodded. “I don’t have to be there for set-up or anything, so we could all go together. I made sure all our shifts were in the morning, so we could hang out all afternoon.”
“How early are we talking here, Doc?” Rachel moaned.
“If we left here at seven that would give us plenty of time.”
“Ugh!” Rachel slumped back in her chair. “You’re buying the coffee, Doc.”
Steven chuckled. “It’s a deal.”
Chris stood up and motioned to the deck. “Let’s sit outside and then we can discuss what I’ve found out this week.”
“Do you have to sound so lawyer-ish when you say that?” Kasey mused as she walked by him.
“I am a lawyer, Kase, how else am I supposed to sound?”
She shrugged, “I dunno...you could say something like ‘come sprawl on my deck while we gab about stuff.’”
Chris smiled down at her. “Or I could say this.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Come climb on my lap where I can make you squirm.” Her cheeks flushed, and he chuckled as everyone walked by them to the chairs. “Go sit before I’m tempted.” She smiled shyly up at him and sat in the nearest chair.
Chris turned to see Leena and Owen doing just what he’d suggested to Kasey. Shaking his head when Owen winked at him, he continued to lean against the railing. “Trying to get more information about who drove the car isn’t working out well. We can’t force them to tell us without a warrant and can’t get a warrant without a good reason, which we don’t legally have.” He looked down for a minute to allow time for comments.
“That sucks.” Rachel sighed.
“Now, I’ve been doing some hunting around with a few contacts in the city regarding the ring. Cora and Owen have identified the stone, and we think we have it narrowed down to two choices.” Chris put his hands in his pockets. “Choice one is a school ring, a Catholic school. To which about seven hundred have been made and sold over the years.” He waited until the moans passed. “Choice two is a ring that was sold through a specialty order promotion, for which only one hundred and fifty were ever made.” He let out a long breath. “Either one is going to mean getting lists and more than a few hours of going over it looking for something or someone familiar.”
“Can we get an attendance list from Gwen for Beltane?” Steven inquired.
“I already called Justin about it, and he’s sending me one tomorrow.” Chris looked around the group.
“Justin thinks if there’s a chance in figuring out who did that to those girls, it’s up to us, so he’s agreed to keep us informed of anything the police share.” He looked around the group and studied their reactions. “I will do what I can to go over the information, but I don’t have that much free time and I may not notice something someone else would. So, are there any suggestions on how we’re going to pull this off in the five weeks left before Solstice?”
There was a long silence, then Owen looked up from Leena’s neck, which he’d been gently caressing. “Could you scan the lists and e-mail everyone a copy? That way, between meetings everyone can take a look when they have time.”
Chris nodded. “I can.” He turned to Cora for a moment. “With school photos, would you be able to pick anything up?”
Dade stood immediately. “Yeah, she’d pick up every sick thing anyone ever did.” He wasn’t happy with the suggestion.
Cora stood and placed a calming hand on Dade’s arm. “I couldn’t handle picture after picture, but if we come across any that seem familiar, I could do those.” Dade shook his head but didn’t say anything. “We might get lucky.”
Dade shook off her hand and stomped forward to glare at the others. “Do any of you realize how much it takes out of her every time she goes reaching blindly?” He jammed his hands in his pockets with a growl, and returned to lean against the railing.
Cora stepped to him and placed her hand gently on his arm again. “It’s okay, Dade. I won’t do more than I can handle.” She rubbed her hand up and down his arm a few times. “And I know as long as you’re there, you’ll watch out for me.” He squeezed her hand against his arm and dropped his head down to look at the ground.
“I think we all will agree we won’t let Cora try unless we’re all certain there’s a reason, Dade,” Leena added softly.
He let out a shaky breath and turned, keeping Cora’s hand in his. “I have to get going. I’m doing some repairs over at the old retirement complex this afternoon.” He avoided looking at anyone but Chris. “Send me any information when you get it. I’ll see everyone Wednesday. My house,” he added before he turned to Cora. “Walk me out.” She nodded and walked behind him.
The drive back to Kasey’s was quiet. “Is Dade okay, Owen?” Kasey inquired softly.
He glanced in the mirror at her. “Yeah, he just worries about Cora...about all of you ladies, actually.”
Leena squeezed his hand. “Worries? He tries to control her.”
“Why is he so mean to her most of the time?” Kasey asked.
Owen shrugged. “I don’t know; do I look like a shrink?”
He grinned.
Kasey was silent for a minute then mused in a singsong tone. “He likes her.”
“Just don’t tell her that,” Leena suggested, “one of these days the two of them will stop fighting long enough to realize they should be together.”
“You knew all this time?” Owen asked.
Leena nodded. “It’s pretty obvious.”
Uncomfortable with the direction things were going, Owen glanced in the mirror again. “I finished the chapters you sent me, Kase.” He could see her tense. “You’ve got some good stuff there. With a little...” Kasey’s arms flew around the seat and squeezed him.
“Driving here!” He chuckled as she let go. “Anyway, I’m going to send you a few suggestions about a few areas you could tweak. If the rest is as good as what I’ve already read, I’d say you have a story good enough to send to the publishers.”
“Oh, my gosh! Stop the car!”
Owen hit the brakes. When he turned to see if she was all right, she all but launched herself into the front seat in his lap.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you...” Kasey kissed him quickly then squeezed some more. A car went past and honked a few times. Realizing how it looked when she was all but in his lap while he was still in the driver’s seat, she straightened and climbed back into the backseat and buckled her seatbelt again.
Owen turned to see Leena with her hand over her face, quivering with repressed laughter. Shaking his head at the two of them, he pulled back out onto the road heading for Kasey’s.