“What’s going on?” Andi asked.
“This is Irene Dawson. She brought lunch for the office,” I said.
Andi shook Irene’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. And thank you. I’ve heard great things about your food.”
“Thanks,” Irene said. “I’m not going to lie. Part of the reason I came by was to check on Daphne, and I wanted to make sure you knew how wonderful she is to work with.”
“I do,” Andi smiled. “But it’s always nice to hear from satisfied clients. I did try to get her to stay home today, but she insisted upon coming to the office.”
Irene tsked. “I should’ve known you’d be hardheaded, considering who your father is.”
“I’m okay,” I assured her. “I promised Andi I would go home if I needed to.”
“Good,” she said. “Well, I better get back to the diner. You guys enjoy your lunch.”
“Thanks again,” I said.
“Let’s see what she brought,” Jan said. “It smells delicious.”
“How was your day?”Dice asked when he picked me up from work.
“Good, but I’m definitely ready to go home. I hope you weren’t expecting amazing company, because I’m probably going to go to bed after dinner.”
“I’m here to make sure you’re safe. You do not have to entertain me,” he said.
“I know, but it feels rude.”
“It’s not. You’re still healing, and you need to rest.”
“On that note, do you mind if we order a pizza or something for dinner? I really don’t feel like making anything.”
“I’m good with pizza. I’ll order one when we get back to your house. What kind do you like?”
“Cheese is fine with me.”
When we got back to my house, Dice took Diablo outside while I stared at the stairs and wondered if it was worth going upstairs to change clothes before dinner. I was still standing there when they came back inside.
“Daphne?” Dice asked. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m just trying to find the energy to go up and change.”
“Go upstairs,” he said gently. “I’ll bring the pizza upstairs when it gets here.”
And that’s how we spent the rest of the evening—eating pizza in my bed and talking until I fell asleep at an embarrassingly early time.
Thankfully, the rest of the week was uneventful. When I wasn’t in the office working, I was showing Phoenix houses available for potential rental properties. It was a nice change of pace, but I was looking forward to the weekend. Byte and Gabby invited me and Dice over for dinner on Friday night. After that, I planned to do absolutely nothing for the next two days.
8
DICE
We were almost back to Daphne’s house when Diablo abruptly stopped and let out a low growl. I looked in the same direction he was and thought I saw something near the back of the house. Before I could say anything, Diablo growled once more and took off toward the back yard.
The figure behind the house noticed the angry dog barreling toward them and started running toward the water.
“Go get Byte and stay with Gabby!” I yelled to Daphne as I ran after Diablo and the unknown person. I glanced back one time to see her running in the direction of Byte’s house.
I ran as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The person Diablo and I were chasing sprinted down the dock and jumped into a boat I hadn’t noticed. Diablo had just made it to the water’s edge when the boat sped away.