“Did you yell at her for going after that guy last night?” Finn asked. “Ally was pretty proud of herself.”
“Ally is an idiot sometimes,” James said. “When Ally and Mandy get together, they like to be idiots together.”
Sophie frowned. She didn’t like the way James was talking about his girlfriend. “I think they were brave.”
James glanced over at her. “I’ll write that on her tombstone.”
Sophie sucked in a breath. “I don’t think you should say bad things about her behind her back.” She felt a sense of loyalty to the outgoing blonde.
“I’m not saying anything behind her back I didn’t say to her face last night,” James said, although his tone softened. “I’m not mad because she’s loyal and brave. I’m mad because she could’ve been hurt.”
Sophie frowned. “You called her an idiot.”
“No, I said she and my sister act like idiots on occasion,” James countered. “And they do.”
The sound of keys jangling on the other side of the door caught everyone’s attention. A few seconds later, Mandy popped into the apartment, her arms laden with takeout bags.
She pulled up short when she saw all the paper. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Finn said. “Wow is right. What did you bring for dinner?”
“Coneys. Fries. Onion rings. Sandwiches.”
“Ah, health food,” Grady said, laughing.
“I brought a few Greek salads, too.” Mandy glanced in Sophie’s direction. “How are you feeling today? Did you sleep okay?”
“I’m fine,” Sophie said, her frame and tone stiff.
“No offense, but you don’t seem fine,” Mandy said.
“She’s mad because I said you and Ally acted like idiots last night,” James supplied. “She thinks I was talking bad about you. She’s loyal to you. It’s kind of cute.”
“You called me an idiot?”
“I said you and Ally acted like idiots. There’s a difference.”
Mandy rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She stripped off her coat and then started pulling containers out of the bags. “Go and get some plates.”
James got to his feet and headed toward the kitchen, stopping at Mandy’s side to whisper something in her ear. She smiled – the expression catching Sophie off guard – and then she gave James a quick kiss.
“You’re not mad at him?” Sophie asked, the words escaping before she got a chance to assess the intelligence associated with uttering them.
“I’m always mad at him,” Mandy said. “I’m not mad about this, though.”
“He called you an idiot.”
“That’s because he thinks what we did was dumb,” Mandy replied. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t really think I’m an idiot. He just doesn’t like it when he thinks I’m in danger. That’s the alpha in him. He’s like a dog.”
James barked in her ear, spanking her rear for emphasis as he moved back toward the living room, causing Mandy to swat his butt in return.
James put the plates on the coffee table, watching Sophie curiously to see what her reaction would be.
Sophie shifted her gaze over to Grady. “Don’t ever call me an idiot. I’m not as forgiving as she is.”
Grady nodded. “I got it.”
Everyone took a break from the file search and focused on dinner, Mandy settling next to James on the couch.
“Did you find out about the code?” James asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Mandy said. “It’s the code for the jail at the sheriff’s department.”
James shifted his attention to Sophie. “Does that mean anything to you?”
Sophie tilted her head to the side. “Not really. It just means that someone at the sheriff’s department sent it. Not who.”
“So, did you guys find anything in here?” Mandy asked.
“There’s tons of stuff in there,” James said. “We just don’t know what’s helpful and what’s not.”
“How are you whittling this down?”
James took a bite of his Coney, not answering until he swallowed. “We’re looking at the documents and then putting them into piles.”
“How?”
“Are you trying to be difficult?”
“It must be the idiot in me,” Mandy teased.
“We’re just stacking them in ‘helpful’ and ‘not-helpful’ piles right now.”
“How do you know if it’s helpful?” Mandy asked.
James shrugged. “I think it’s easier to discover what’s not helpful.”
Mandy reached over, tugging a sheet of paper from one of the piles. “Is this helpful or not-helpful?”