Free 3 Buried Leads by Amanda M. Lee Page B

expecting. A naked guy with a hangover, perhaps, or maybe a guy dressed up like a clown. What I saw, though, was something completely different. Jake was entering the building. He was dressed casually for the day – obviously he wasn’t working – and he wasn’t alone.
    A tall and willowy blonde followed him into the building and they were chatting amiably. He hadn’t seen me yet.
    “Do you want to crawl under the table?” Lexie offered helpfully.
    “No,” I scoffed. I considered it silently for a second. No, that will never work. He’d eventually see me.
    “What do you want to do?” Lexie’s eyes were so big I thought they were going to pop out of her head. She was panicking. I had no idea why. All I knew is that now that she was panicking, I was starting to panic, too. What a mess.
    “We’re not going to do anything,” I cautioned her. “If he notices us, fine, we’ll say hi and go on our way.”
    “And if he doesn’t notice us?”
    “Then I’ll know I’ve suddenly been imbued with that super power I always wanted,” I mumbled.
    “I thought you wanted to be able to turn into the Incredible Hulk ?” That would be cool.
    “Just, let’s go,” I grabbed her wrist and started to lead her out of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I’d inadvertently grabbed her arm so hard she yelped in pain. All eyes in the restaurant swiveled to us – including Jake’s. Crap.
    Jake smirked when he saw us. “Avery,” he greeted me stiffly. He was clearly amused by our antics, but still mad from the previous case we had all been involved in together.
    “Jake,” I smiled back at him. I could only hope the smile looked genuine and not deranged.
    “Lexie.” The tone of Jake’s voice dropped a decibel. He sounded even more disappointed to see her than me. That was at least something.
    “Hey, Jake,” Lexie said smoothly. “How are things?”
    “How are things with you?” He raised an eyebrow and regarded her speculatively.
    “You know, I just got out of rehab.”
    “How did that go?”
    Lexie shrugged. I could tell she was nervous. Still, she was trying to hold it together for me at this point. “You know shaking, vomiting, meditating – the usual.”
    “Sounds like you learned a lot,” Jake said, motioning for his super model date to take a seat in the booth across the aisle from us. She hadn’t spoken yet – which I was profoundly grateful for. “Hopefully it will stick,” he admonished Lexie.
    “Oh, I’m sure it will,” Lexie twiddled her thumbs nervously. “I’m staying at Avery’s for the next two weeks – and she won’t let me fall off the wagon.” I think Lexie meant for that to be encouraging. Jake grimaced when he heard it, though.
    “She’s staying with you?”
    “Yes.” The word came out in an uncomfortable squeak.
    “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
    “Why not?”
    “You know why,” he said. “Why don’t you stay in the apartment above the restaurant?” He turned to Lexie.
    “Sally is staying there.”
    “Why is Sally staying there?” Jake had grown up in close proximity to my family. He knew who all the players were.
    “She left Steve,” Lexie said.
    “Why?”
    “He’s a dick.”
    “Hasn’t he always been a dick?”
    “Pretty much.”
    Watching Lexie and Jake converse, felt like I was in a weird episode of the Twilight Zone for a second. Their distraction with each other allowed Jake’s girlfriend and me to size each other up. I didn’t get the feeling that she felt all that intimidated.
    “So Sally left Steve? Why don’t you go home and move in with your mom?” Jake suggested. What was his deal? Why did he even care?
    “I’m only staying with Avery for two weeks,” Lexie pointed out. “I have a new boyfriend and when he gets out of rehab we’re moving in together.”
    “You met a boyfriend in rehab?” I could tell Jake wasn’t exactly impressed by that fact.
    “Yeah. We want to get our own place in the city. And, besides, with Avery sleeping