felt as if an assassin was lingering around every corner. It was terrifying to think there was a killer on the loose, and all I have to protect myself with is a hot pink can of mace no bigger than my lipstick.”
Lex gags as she struggles to get her words out. “I knew it! You were afraid. Terrified if I’m quoting.” She gives Axel a swift swat on the arm. “I’ll have Marlin hire a personal bodyguard for you. There’s no way I want you roaming the mean streets of Hollow Brook alone.”
Both Axel and Shep have the nerve to chuckle. They keep this up, and my sister will make sure there will be two more homicides before the day is through.
Axel shakes his head while pecking a kiss over my sister’s cheek, and instantly she simmers down. It’s actually a bit miraculous to witness. He’s like the Lex whisperer. Lexy would have such a better ring to it, but that use of her name is strictly verboten. It’s what my mother called her affectionately before she unaffectionately ditched us for more exciting pastures. My sister and I haven’t even tried to look for our mother after all these years. There are some people who don’t want to be found, and we just so happen to not care to look for her. Besides, we have each other, and that’s crazy making enough.
“No way.” I’m quick to shoot down the idea of having some sixty-year-old rent-a-cop shadowing me around campus. That’s a surefire way of guaranteeing I’ll be reading books in my dorm rather than joining Harley down at the sex clubs, and I’ll be damned if that sex club isn’t looking better by the moment. “Campus security has really beefed up. I can’t go ten feet without seeing the boys in blue. And the way that Marlin keeps texting me, he’s as good as here.” I lean toward Axel. “So, what else do they know? Who was he?”
Shep takes a quick breath and expands his chest the size of a football field. “His name was Barry Larson. It turns out he was a welder from Jepson. Shot twice in the chest with a .45.”
Lex drops her jaw while looking at me as if I just threatened to pull out said .45. “Everyone knows that. It’s been all over the news. Oh, that’s right—you don’t watch the news.”
“Because it’s depressing!” I bounce in my seat, suddenly very depressed that I’m locked in this booth with the three of them.
Baya comes by and brings us each a glass of water, and we put in our orders quickly. It feels both weird and wrong to have my boss taking my order when I’m due to work a shift in less than twenty minutes. But Baya is so down-to-earth and kind, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I spent my entire shift in this booth with family.
Once she bounces back to the kitchen, Axel taps the table as if calling court back to session. “I don’t think this was random. Marlin mentioned the guy wasn’t robbed. He still had his wallet and his phone.”
Shep nods. “And he was shot at close range. It was personal.”
I offer up an indignant huff. “Or, he interrupted a drug deal—or was part of a drug deal gone wrong. Or, it could have easily been a lunatic transient who was in desperate need of meds. God knows I’m seeing them around town more and more.”
Lex slams her hand over the table, her nose tipped to the ceiling. “Oh my God, Serena. I’m going to roll you up in bubble wrap and take you home where you belong.”
“Ha!” I’m quick to squawk at her warped bubble wrap thinking. “Let’s just put me in a locked room for the rest of my days to protect me from everything! You do realize you can never have children.”
Both Axel and Lex stare at me, wide-eyed, morbidly silent.
“What?” I shrink a little in my seat. “I meant, you’ll be one of those helicopter parents whose kids will grow up to affectionately call Lex their Smother.”
Lex glances away, and I’d swear on my life there are tears in her eyes. My stomach bottoms out because, for the love of all things holy, Lex doesn’t cry. Besides, something really awful might happen if she does—think Wicked Witch of the West meets bucket of water. It won’t end well. Lex will melt, and then I will really be lost because at the end of the day she