Free 3 Buried Leads by Amanda M. Lee Page A

think that was a welcome development for both of us – since we weren’t necessarily on the same wavelength as far as her job prospects went.
    When I excused myself to retire for the night, I noticed that my cell phone was ringing. I recognized Eliot’s phone number and picked it up immediately.
    “How are things going?”
    “They’re fine,” I lied.
    “Really? Are they really fine or do you just not want to tell me I was right?”
    Both. “They’re really fine.”
    “What’s her plan?”
    Don’t answer that. “She’s going to look for a job at Starbucks Monday.”
    “Is she qualified to work there?”
    “She’s worked there before,” I replied.
    Eliot was quiet for a minute. “Did you lock up your valuables before you went to sleep?”
    “You need to learn to lay off her,” I admonished him. “She’s nowhere near as bad as you seem to think?”
    Eliot apparently didn’t want to start a fight, so he changed the subject. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
    “We’re getting up early and going to breakfast,” I said. “Then I have no idea what we’re doing the rest of the afternoon. Why?”
    “What’s your idea of early?”
    “I don’t know, 11 a.m.”
    “You know that’s actually the middle of the afternoon for some people,” Eliot chuckled.
    “Not anyone I hang around with.”
    Eliot ignored me. “You want to have dinner tomorrow and see a movie? We both have to be up early Monday morning, so I was thinking we could see like a 3 p.m. movie and then go to dinner.”
    “That sounds good to me,” I started. Then I remembered Lexie. “What about Lexie?”
    “What about her?”
    “What is she going to do?”
    “Polish her people skills?”
    “You’re not funny.”
    “I wasn’t trying to be,” Eliot challenged.
    “I don’t want to abandon her.” Of course, for all I knew she had plans to visit her new boyfriend. I opened my bedroom door and called out to Lexie. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
    “You mean after breakfast?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’m going back out to the rehab.”
    “You’re going to see your new boyfriend?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You’ll be out there all afternoon?”
    “Yeah.”
    I went back into the bedroom and shut the door. “Dinner and a movie will be fine. She’s going to visit her boyfriend back at rehab.”
    The incredulous silence on the other end of the phone stretched into what felt like infinity. Finally, Eliot broke it. “She picked up a guy in rehab?”
    “Yeah.” I don’t know why he was so surprised.
    “He must be a real winner.”
    “I picked up you in a pawnshop,” I pointed out.
    “First off, I picked you up,” Eliot corrected me. “Second off, I happen to own that pawnshop.”
    I didn’t want to point out that his clarification wouldn’t exactly work for everyone, but I didn’t feel like now was the right time. “The good news is that she will be out of here in two weeks,” I said brightly.
    “What’s the bad news? Wait . . . I’m not sure I want to know.”
    He definitely didn’t want to know. “She’s moving in with this new guy. They’re soul mates.”
    “Nope. I didn’t want to know.”
    The next morning – well, mid-morning – Lexie and I went to downtown Mount Clemens for breakfast. I didn’t particularly care where we went – but Lexie wanted a good old fashioned Coney Island breakfast, so I took her to the best one in the area.
    We both ordered eggs and hash browns. I had tomato juice, while Lexie had coffee. We shared a copy of The Monitor, with me perusing the news section and her looking through the classified ads. After a leisurely breakfast, we both got up to leave. Lexie grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard. “Don’t turn around,” she whispered.
    I was momentarily confused. “Why?”
    “Just trust me.”
    “How am I going to leave the building if I don’t turn around?”
    Lexie bit her lip. “Okay, turn around. Try not to scream, though.”
    I slowly turned around. I don’t know what I was