Riley:How did it go? Don’t say FINE
Patrick: Fine
Riley:
Patrick smiled.Getting an angry emoji from Riley so quickly felt like a personal achievement.
Patrick:It’s all good. Left everything with dad
Riley:And?
Patrick:And what?
Riley:PATRICK. What. About. Morgan?
Patrick:She came with
Riley:You showed her the inner sanctum?
Patrick:Yep
Riley:How did she react?
Patrick:Like a pro. We had lunch after
The pause was longer than he expected. When Riley responded, he could hear the exact tone she’d used to type it:
Riley:Lunch? You mean like a date?
Patrick:If you want to label it that way, sure
Riley:Did you tell her that you’re DeepTrace?
Patrick looked beyond the porch, reliving that moment in the car when she’d clocked his online alias.
Patrick:Didn’t have to. She figured it out
Riley:On her own?
Patrick:Yes
The longest pause yet.
Riley:She’s the real deal
Patrick:Way ahead of you
He set the phone down. Declan handed him the heat gun without comment and picked up the second scraper.
The restof the afternoon passed in comfortable silence. It was dirty, sweaty work, but the mid-October breeze kept things bearable. Patrick had the night off, so they were able to complete a whole section before Declan went in to shower and get ready for his shift at Angels.
Garrett had made it back by six, bringing with him several large pizzas and a bucket of wings. The four of them had eaten aroundthe kitchen table, the main topic of conversation being the renovation. Wade had come and gone again on whatever errand Wade was always running in the dark.
Patrick was on the couch with his laptop when Ian’s message arrived.
Ian:You’re going to want to see this
He was on his feet before he finished reading it.