Bobbie gave her a completely puzzled look, but there was nothing Lace could do except shrug. She had no idea what Vince was up to.
She was, however, going to find out.
“Okay, Spill,” she demanded, as soon as they were out the door and descending the porch steps.
He snorted. “Spence, Buck, Trask, and Julian are in for a little surprise when they get into their vehicles.”
“What did you do?” Lace questioned suspiciously. She’d seen some of the things these guys pulled on each other, and they ran the gamut from harmless, to close-to-the-edge-of-reckless.
Vince looked damned proud of himself as he let her into his truck, before going around to start the vehicle to get them moving.
“I actually employed the help of Stat and his crew,” he began. “I knew they had the skills to break into my brothers’ vehicles if they were locked.”
“And?” Lace continued to probe.
“A couple of them were.” He shrugged.
“Get to the point,” she ordered.
“Okay,” he responded, snickering. “I gave Stat and his guys fourreallybig buckets of golf balls. Using some rope and pullies, they set one up in each of their front seats. When the driver side door is opened,kablooey. Balls will come spilling out all over.”
Lace rolled her eyes and snorted. Such children. “I suppose you’re proud of yourself for thinking of that one.”
Not that Lace disagreed with pulling the prank. His brothershadstuck Vince with that nasty ball retrieval without warning.
Vince laughed. “I am. And youknowit serves them right.”
Lace refused to confirm that one way or the other, at least out loud.
The drive to the hospital took fifteen minutes, and sure enough, just as they were pulling into the parking lot, Vince’s phone began to light up.
He chortled, and pocketed his device without answering. “Too bad. So sad. Let them fester in it for a while.”
Getting out of the truck, Lace realized that because of the distraction of the ball-caper, she hadn’t worried during the entire trip about talking to Inez.
Clearly, there was something to be said for sophomoric humor.
But now, it was “go” time.
The first thing she and Vince did after they entered the hospital, was to head to the adult infusion suite where Lace got hooked up. After her drip was dripping, she and her IV pole—rolling next to Vince—headed for the room where Inez was being prepped for her spinal cocktail.
When they walked in, Inez lay on her side, her eyes closed, clearly waiting for the “little pinch” that wasn’t.
“Hey, Inez,” Vince greeted with a huge smile.
“Fluffo,” she squealed, instantly distracted, and clearly happy to see him.
He bent and gave her a warm but careful hug, for both their sakes, pulling a quarter from behind her unsuspecting ear.
“One handed,” she giggled.
They’d visited her the previous week, so Inez knew about Vince’s shoulder. They hadn’t told her he’d been shot, just that he’d had a little accident while at work.
She’d easily accepted that explanation.
Inez’s full attention, as per normal, was on Vince, which made Lace hesitate to step forward.
But before she could question whether or not she should just sit, Inez peeked around Vince, holding out her arms for an additional squeeze from Lace.