Page 11 of Booked for Kidnapping
“I really want to play computer games with you, and I’m not above begging. I brought my laptop, and while it’s all wrapped up nicely, I took the liberty of installing a bunch of games hoping to entice you into trying them. If I fail at this, I installed your book reading app on it, so you can use it for reading and research without doing it on your work computer.”
If all of our problems could be solved with admitting fault and playing computer games, life would be good down the road, although the realist in me understood life rarely worked out that way. “Okay. I’ll try one of these games with you, but only after we get at least an hour of reading in a day. At least an hour.” I frowned. “Maybe two hours. It’s hard getting reading time, Bradley.”
“I’ll work to make sure we get equal amounts of reading and game time, along with anything else we want to do. And since you like being a librarian, I’m looking into a larger apartment for us in the area so we can be close to your work. I can work anywhere. Also, my wallet is thankful for your choice of family car. I reviewed the maintenance bills, and apparently, three months of maintenance on my old car is the entire lifespan of maintenance on this new one. This disgusts me, as I’m having a hard time justifying the maintenance fees on the fancy cars when the cheaper ones are almost as comfortable and a great deal cheaper to keep on the road. I’m not sure I’m going to get through this, Janette.”
I’d expected a fight over my choice of career fields, especially since attending medical school had become an option. I would take evening courses and volunteer at the hospital again in the future, after we dealt with the mystery of the assassins and their goals.
Somehow, I’d gone from limited options to having to pick and choose my battles.
As discussing cars led us back to safe waters, I bobbed my head in agreement. “It’s horrible. We have to choose, and the longer I’m in that family car, the more I like it. It doesn’t handle like a sports car, I’m sure, but it’s so comfortable to ride in.”
“My old car loses a lot of points for general comfort. Some of the newer cars blend performance and comfort, but it’s a novelty not having to scrape my ass on the ground getting in and out of the car.” Bradley sighed. “Still, I’m sorry. I was so worried about keeping you safe that I forgot what our end game was. You hadn’t forgotten.”
“I got pictures of the crowd, I got to meet the President of the United States, I got to hiss at Representative Kennedys, confirming he really is a scumbag I wouldn’t miss if he were to kick the bucket, and Senator Hanson seemed nice. I still have to look through the group of cards she gave me, but it was a nice gesture of her. She was also willing to argue with Kennedys, which I appreciated.”
“Senator Hanson? I mean, I’ve heard of her, but I wasn’t aware she was at odds with Kennedys.”
“She is, so we should definitely look into her—and those she works closely with in politics. She might be a lead.” I grabbed the bulging envelope from my bag and went to work opening it. Inside, a bunch of other card envelopes waited for me, and it amazed me they’d managed to fit so many inside. I dumped it out to discover thirty cards, some as small as a business card in an envelope to a few larger cards with something shoved inside of them. “This is a little ridiculous.”
“Don’t be surprised if you find bribes in there, and the type of bribe will be based on what they know about you. Expect gift cards for bookstores.”
I frowned, eyeing the pile of cards before raising a brow at Bradley. “Why?”
“They’re stupid.”
Right. Bradley’s dislike of politicians grew each day, not that I could blame him for it.
The more we learned, the less I liked most politicians, too.
“I don’t get it. Shouldn’t they ask me if I want to be bribed before bribing me?”
“It’ll be in the guise of gifts thanking you for your patriotism and service, given in the hopes you might side with them later,” he informed me.
Before I could ask if all politicians were insane, someone knocked at the door. After a brief juggle of bags, Bradley returned armed with our lunch. “I asked them to avoid dairy,” he admitted. “And I will use the fake butter stuff I don’t like as much as I do real butter, as long as you ignore me sprinkling on some extra salt to make it taste a little better.”
“I think I can handle ignoring your salt habit to prevent any additional cataclysms from happening in my apartment today. Cleaning my foot was all the drama we need for one day.”
“I think your tango with politicians was all the drama we needed for one day,” he muttered before sorting through the excessive amount of food he’d ordered and setting two boxes on the coffee table in front of me. “I got you ribs, chicken, and burnt ends. There’s enough cornbread to feed an entire country, and I am joining you in creating a mound of bones, licked clean of flesh.”
“Going to gnaw out your frustrations today?”
“Absolutely, eating food my mother disapproves of because she can’t eat it. The only vegetable here is the cornbread,” he announced with a great deal of pride in his voice.
“Isn’t corn a grain?”
Bradley shrugged. “I don’t know, nor do I care. Let’s indulge in an act of gluttony so severe we end up passed out on your couch. When we recover, we’ll work on organizing ourselves and laying this idiotic internal feuding to rest.”
THREE
Did you miss me?
Bradley had ordered enough for five people, and we managed to shovel every bite into our stomachs, resulting in the predicted nap. Unfortunately for us, he wasn’t the only person with a copy of my apartment key, and I disapproved of the invasion of people taking up every inch of available space. Ajani ruled with an iron paw, and she’d suckered Bradley’s parents, my parents, and the cell into two cans of her food. She also worked her furry charms on Meridian, who worked the brush through her fur.
Somehow, I’d slept through their chatter, as had Bradley.
The evidence of our barbecue bender had vanished, something I would appreciate once I regained full coherency. “Did you miss me?”
“No,” everyone replied.
