It was half past noon the next day, and Maddie and I had just finished up with our jujitsu class and changed back into our civilian clothes. Outside, snow flurried to the ground like tiny white feathers. We stopped next door for a hot drink before braving the elements.
Maddie sipped her coffee. “Your butterfly bandage is hot.”
“A hot mess.”
She laughed.
“I don’t know why, but I can’t take my eyes off it. It’s kinda like when you see a deer that’s been squished really bad on the side of the road and the guts are all over the place, and you know you shouldn’t look, but you do anyway…”
“You should have seen what I had to wear on my head before this. It would have fascinated you for days.”
“How’s your case?” she said.
“It’s not.”
“That good, huh?”
“For once I’ve learned it’s possible to move backward instead of forward.”
“And what if you don’t solve it, you gonna be okay with that?” she said.
I glanced at her, took a sip of my tea, and said nothing.
“Oh come on, don’t give me that face,” she said.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. It’s the same one you always give me when you don’t like what I’ve said. I didn’t suggest you give up.”
“Sounds like it.”
“You allow your cases to consume your life,” she said. “You know that, right?”
“I just finished jujitsu, and now I’m here with you having a drink. My cell phone isn’t on me at the moment, and I haven’t mentioned the case all day until now.”
She sighed and put her cup down. “You struggled today in class. You lacked focus. I know you, and I know what you’re like when it comes to these jobs you take on. You’ll push yourself until you’re exhausted, and I don’t want to see you go through the same thing you did when…”
She stopped and pretended to stare out the window.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Say it. You don’t want to see me go through what I did when Gabrielle died.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have––”
“No, it’s okay. You, Nick, and who knows who else feels the same way. I get it.”
“I understand how much you want to help this girl find who killed her sister. But she’s not your sister, sweetie. She’s not Gabrielle.”
“And you assume that’s why I’m doing this, like somehow if I can find Charlotte’s killer, it’s going to make up for what happened to Gabby.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said.
“Can we talk about something else?”
She leaned in and placed her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. Forget it, okay? I’m shutting up now.”
The sun beamed through the store window.
“That’s my cue,” I said.
Maddie stuck a piece of bubblegum in her mouth and took her sunglasses out of her bag.
“What’s on the agenda for today, pursuit of the bad guy?” she said.
“Or bad girl.”
“Bad girl, I like it.”
“I need to talk to Parker’s other women. His so-called alibi flies in today, but there’s someone else I need to meet with first.”
Maddie flung open the passenger door of my car and hopped in.
“Forget where you parked?” I said.
She pulled down her sunglasses and winked. “I’m coming with.”
“Oh, you are, are you? I don’t think so.”
“Afraid I might badger your witness?” she said.
“Or scare them.”
“Into submission, maybe. And in that case, you need me.”
I thought about it for a minute. I liked working alone. It was better that way. Maddie didn’t wait for a response before sitting in the passenger seat.
“Oh come on,” she said. “You won’t even know I’m here.”
Bright-eyed and pigtailed Maddie dressed in a hot-pink track suit and furry white knee-boots wouldn’t go unnoticed. In all the time I’d known her, I couldn’t recall a single occasion where she didn’t stand out. Ever.
“I think it would be best…”
“Come off it, Sloane. You’re such a worry wart,” she said. “Every good hero needs a sidekick, and I’m yours. Can’t you see it? Two girls about town in their trusty Audimobile, together on a mission to solve a heinous crime. It will be fun.”
I couldn’t help myself and burst out laughing. “Oh, all right. I’ll take you, but just today.”
She clapped her hands together in approval.
“Promise to keep quiet though, and let me do the talking.”
She bobbed her head up and down quickly.
“I mean it, Maddie,” I said. “Not a word.”