I watch Wyatt’s eyes narrow.
“Uh, sure, if you keep Jack the Ripper up front with you,” I joke, liking that Wyatt chuckles and lets go of the anger long enough to smile and try to give me a noogie.
“Hey! Watch the hair. I actually brushed it this morning, you know.”
“I’ll behave as long as they stay as far back from us as is safe. Come on, little sister. Let’s go home so Ma can torture you with all her girlie shit.”
“Dammit, Miah, I thought you said there was no sound on the surveillance systems,” I groan, grabbing my bag and getting into the human cage as all three Lanes and a grinning Will surround me on all sides.
“I lied. Now stop being so ornery and smile for the stalkers, babe. We don’t want Cleo thinking you’re not happy with the amazing Lane clan.”
Have I mentioned that sarcasm and wit are only great when I’m directing it at others?
“You think it’s possible for them to see little ole me through all the testosterone you apes have going?” I ask sweetly.
“Sure they will. Your head’s big enough to see from space, so why not?” Miah laughs and I roll my eyes at my own stupidity.
Why I even still try when he only comes back with a worse insult just goes to show that I’m a glutton for punishment.
Or a little sister who’s starting to enjoy having four big brothers who love teasing.
***
I don’t have to spend the rest of my day with Judith or Ellie, thank you Jesus, because as soon as the guys got us all home and into the house, they shuffled me upstairs and started interrogating me like a prisoner of war.
“What exactly did he say when he called you?”
“For the hundredth time, Miah, he wanted to yell at me for leaving the cabin. Then he told me to go home with y’all. That was basically it. He said he didn’t want Will involved and he wasn’t too happy about me coming out of hiding. That was it. Someone came in and he had to end the call.”
All I get from the man is a stony glare.
“He called you for a reason. I know Roman. He would not risk calling without a specific purpose, Melissa.”
“I know that, Jeremiah. We just never got to that part of things so chill the hell out already. I didn’t even get to tell him about the freaking baby!”
Do not cry, Dobson, do not cry. Crying is for women who were raised by their mothers or aunts. You’re a cop’s daughter and another cop’s woman.
The mantra works and I feel myself stiffen when he only comes back and repeats himself.
“You ask me the very same question again and your kids will be fatherless, Miah Lane.”
Jared starts laughing. Jace and Wyatt share a look that sets my teeth on edge. And Miah finally straightens and backs off to start that pacing shit men do when they want to hit something.
“That can’t be all. It just can’t. We need something, anything to go on here. Jared tried tracking the phone after Roman called, but he must have turned it off because we got nothing, and that damned…”
I feel his frustration, since I have the same urgency roiling inside me, but I can’t give him answers I don’t freaking have.
“Tracy says you called Uncle Jim.”
Every one of them stiffens and I hang my head with a sigh.
“He’s either involved or an asshole, as I’ve come to see it. So tell me.”
Jared stops clicking at his keyboard and turns to me with what I can only guess is his attempt at commiseration.
“Why didn’t the chief call his brother when they first started roping him into this? If what you told us last night is true, and I do believe you wouldn’t lie to cover your dad’s ass, then there was a reason he wouldn’t want to use the senator’s influence to get out of it. What did the chief say?”
“He said Uncle Dobs, Jim, wouldn’t be much help and that I was barking up the wrong tree. Now that I think about it, he stopped calling me a few months before Dad finally fessed up to me about this mess. Then Roman approached me, and well, you know the rest.”
Like me, I suspect that the Lane brothers are connecting the dots. If I have to think about it all, it sort of makes sense. My uncle Jim is a powerhouse who’s had his eye on the oval office for years. With the way things have been going the last few years, all America would need is another attack to start a frenzy.
Just think, who would the public vote for? A candidate who’s more interested in policy and economic turnaround, or one who’s been spouting xenophobic bullshit for years?
I love Dobs, and as my only surviving relative, I have always and will always be in his corner, but the man is an idiot when it comes to his personal views.
If he’s looking to boost his campaign when elections come round soon after the violence caused by bombings and unrest, then he’s going about it the right way.