Run to Ground(42)

That made Jules frown as they left the office. “They shouldn’t be.”

“Right. That’s why you stole us.”

Even though Dee had used her quietest voice, Jules still bugged her eyes out at her. “Ix-nay on the ole-stay alk-tay.”

“Orry-say!” Dee whispered, making a zipping motion over her lips.

“Done?” The deep voice made her jump, and Jules barely held back a startled shriek. When she turned to Theo, Jules couldn’t help but marvel at how he got better-looking every time she saw him. Despite his scowl—or maybe, a contrary part of her brain whispered, because of it—he really was the poster child of masculine beauty.

When his eyebrows unsnarled enough to lift in question, Jules realized he was waiting for an answer. “Um…yes. Sure. Right. We’re all done getting them registered. The boys, at least. I mean, for this place, so everyone except for D. The elementary school starts later, so we decided to come here first. It helps that the junior and senior highs are both in one building, this…um, building, I mean. Because, if they were separate, we’d need to go to a third school.” She was painfully aware that she was rambling, and that Theo and Dee and even the dog were staring at her like she’d lost her mind, but Jules couldn’t manage to stop the flow of words. “Yeah. So, anyway…did you need to talk to me?”

“I’ll walk you out.”

“Don’t you need to do”—Jules waved a hand in the general direction of the lockers, recycling bin, and janitor’s closet she’d eyed so suspiciously before—“bomb stuff?”

There was the tiniest movement at the corner of his mouth, just the barest twitch of his lips, but it was enough to startle her. Was he actually almost smiling?

“Bomb…stuff is done. Hugh and I are the last ones here, finishing up the paperwork.” Any sign of amusement was gone now, and Jules decided she’d imagined that hint of a smile. “No sign of any explosives. It was just a prank call.”

“Did Viggy figure that out?” Dee asked, looking at the dog with equal parts fascination and awe.

The frown was back, heavier than before. “No.”

Jules flinched slightly at the snap in his voice, startled by the abrupt change in his manner. In their last few encounters, Theo had been different with her…gentler.

“No,” he repeated in a softer tone, as if he’d noticed her reaction. Jules suspected there wasn’t much he didn’t notice, which could be a problem. After all, she had a lot she wanted to hide. “Cliff County leant us one of their explosive-detection dogs. Viggy’s…” He looked down at the dog. Viggy was sitting slightly crouched, as if he was trying to appear smaller than he was. His jaw tight, Theo brought his gaze back to Jules. “Never mind. Don’t you need to get over to Cottonwood Elementary?”

“Right!” Jules glanced at Dee, who was still focused on the dog. The hot cop had a knack for getting her to forget where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. That also could be a problem. “C’mon, Dee. Let’s get you educated.”

When Theo fell into step next to her, Jules gave him a surprised glance. From his fierce scowl, she’d assumed he’d no longer be accompanying them outside.

Although he kept his body low to the ground, Viggy walked on the other side of Theo willingly enough. Jules wondered what the story was. Had the dog had a bad experience? Had Theo, as well? Was that the reason for his perma-scowl? Jules felt her stomach twist as she thought of what possible tragedies could’ve left such a mark on the two.

“Someone look at your stove?”

Once again, the question startled her. Jules didn’t know if it was his gruff manner of barking out conversation, or if she was still jumpy about the whole bomb-threat thing, and the being-away-from-her-brothers thing. “Yes.”

“A professional?”

“He knew what he was doing.” It wasn’t an outright lie. After finding a manual for the stove online at the library, Tio had managed to get it working without any additional explosions. By the time he’d finished fiddling with it, he was confident in his stove-fixing abilities. It was Jules who was a nervous wreck the whole time he was working.

Theo gave her a hard look, as if waiting to see if she was going to confess to her half-truth, but Jules put on her most innocent expression. After a long moment, Theo gave an accepting—or possibly skeptical—grunt. Taking a few long strides, he reached the door first and held it open for her and Dee.

Jules blinked against the morning sun until her eyes adjusted. Florida had been sunny, but Colorado was even brighter than the sunshine state. She figured it was something to do with the altitude or the clean mountain air or something.