A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,123
and it was said that the bearers would gain great wealth throughout their lives.
She hoped so. Sybil could use a little luck after the life of fear she’d led.
“Sybil, if I send one of my deputies over later, do you think you can try to remember everything the suspect said to you? No matter how small?”
“Sure.” She said the word, but the last thing Sybil wanted to talk about was her abduction or the man who perpetrated it, and it shone through in the tone of her voice. Sun understood all too well.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll be back,” she said, doing her best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation.
Auri rolled her eyes, and they giggled.
Auri and Sybil had a lot of catching up to do. Auri told her new friend everything that had happed to her since she’d started school, including the broadcast news bit, and Sybil told Auri about her own run-ins with the infamous group Lynelle and the Lackeys, Sybil’s euphemism. Auri liked it. It had finesse. Spunk. And alliteration. Cruz would be proud.
“One more time.”
Auri exhaled loudly and flung herself back on the bed. Sybil had insisted she crawl on the bed with her so they could watch a rerun of The Vampire Diaries, but they ended up talking the whole time instead. “Dude, I’ve already told you seven times.”
Sybil counted on her hands. “Nope. You’ve only told me six times.”
After a soft laugh, Auri told her friend once more about the first time she saw Cruz reading in class and how captivated she’d become listening to his poetry.
“I was captivated by him, too, only it had nothing to do with his poetry.”
“Right?” They giggled again and were still giggling when a nurse named Jessie, if his nametag was to be believed, came in with sodas and sandwiches.
He offered them a smile. “A little bird told me that you both like Orange Crush.”
They looked at each other.
“You like it, too?” Auri asked, surprised.
“It’s my favorite.” She popped the top on her can and looked at Auri. “It’s like we were meant to be.”
“I agree.”
“These are ham and cheese, but I can get something else if you’d like.”
“No,” Sybil said, “these are great. Thank you.”
“Enjoy.”
When he left, they naturally had to talk about how cute he was.
“Nursing is an excellent profession to go into,” Sybil said. She took a bite, then added, “He should go back and become a physician’s assistant. They make even more money.”
Auri took a huge swig of the orange stuff. “I thought about going into medicine.”
“You changed your mind?”
“Yeah. I think I’m too much like my mom. I think I need to go into law enforcement.”
“Really?” Sybil said, shifting to face her better. “That’s fascinating. I don’t think I could do something like that.”
“Why? You’re good with puzzles. That’s half the battle.”
“Yeah, but I’m not good with people.”
“You’re good with me.”
Sybil beamed at her. “I am, aren’t I?” She took another bite, then said, “Okay, really, one more time.”
Auri gave in and, after a moment, had her friend sighing in puppy love bliss. Then she sobered. “I’m so sorry about everything that happened to you.”
Sybil shrugged and ducked, trying to play it off as no big deal when it was anything but. It had haunted the poor thing her entire life, and now it was almost over. This deep fear she’d been waiting for. Auri couldn’t imagine how she felt, and she didn’t pretend to.
“Do you feel better about it now? Will the dreams stop?”
“I don’t know. It’s not my birthday until tomorrow. I think I’ll feel better the day after.”
Auri nodded in understanding and smiled sleepily when Sybil’s lids started drifting closed.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Auri.”
“Me, too, Sybil.”
“Oh, I just remembered something,” she said, her voice getting farther and farther away. “He told me he did everything for my mom. The man who took me. He said she needed to know what it felt like.”
“What?” Alarm rushed through Auri. She had to tell her mother immediately. And she would have, too, if she could just . . . wake . . . up.
Sun checked in on the team processing the well house before grabbing Quincy from the station for a coffee and a sandwich at Caffeine-Wah. She’d decided to send Deputy Salazar to watch over Sybil and, if possible, talk to her about what happened. Salazar was a natural; she just didn’t know it yet. She had a way of putting people at ease.
Unfortunately, there was a flip side to that. Because of her sweet