A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1)(93)
She hurried into the deputies’ room and snapped her fingers at Quincy.
He frowned at her.
“Royce Womack.” She snapped again and mouthed, “Call the marshals.” Then into the phone, she said, “He could be getting away.”
“Could be? He already did.”
“What? Well, where’d he go?”
“Hell if I know. You said to watch Darlene.”
Sun did the universal signal for dead across her throat, canceling the order. “Was it Rojas?”
“No idea. A hoodie and a semiautomatic rifle obstructed my view.”
Her “What!” came out more as a screech than she’d planned.
“Just kidding. You need to learn to lighten up, or that job’s gonna kill you. Of course it was Rojas. But he’s probably long gone by now. I tried to get ahold of you this morning.”
“Oh, damn. I was out of cell range.”
“I heard, but good news on the kid, huh?”
“Yes. Very. Okay, I have to find a missing girl today if I can.”
“Any leads?”
“No solid ones.”
“Chin up, Sunny Girl. You’ll get there.”
She hoped his faith in her was not unfounded.
21
Need an alibi? Spend $50 or more on mixed drinks
and you were here all night, no questions asked.
—SIGN AT THE ROADHOUSE BAR AND GRILL
A sweet voice Auri loved more than coffee whispered into her ear, “Hi, Auri. Don’t scream, okay?”
She giggled and turned to see Jimmy Ravinder standing on her porch. In boots, a winter coat, and a hospital gown.
“Jimmy!” she shouted.
He slammed a hand over her mouth again. “If you scream, your grandpa will come out and make me leave.”
“Okay,” she said, but it was muffled because his hand was still covering her mouth. She peeled it off. “Jimmy, what are you doing here?”
“I escaped.”
“Clearly. And you turned into a Smurf.”
“Really?”
If one didn’t know about his disability, Jimmy would seem like a normal kid taking a walk in a hospital gown. He didn’t talk any differently, really. He just had routine issues. He did not like his routine messed with, so the hospital thing was probably freaking him out.
Jimmy looked like most Ravinders—besides his uncle Levi, of course—except his eyes were a little too far apart. His nose a little too wide. But he had the requisite dirty-blond hair and boyish features of the Ravinder clan.
Hints at his autism were subtle. He had to think a little harder to get out what he wanted to say, and eye contact was a constant challenge, but the kid could play chess like he was born on a chessboard.
“You are very blue. It’s concerning.”
He laughed as she opened the door.
“Come in, and I’ll call your mom.”
“No way, OJ. She’ll make me go back.”
“Because that’s where you need to be.” She took off her jacket, tossed it onto the couch, then turned on him. “What were you thinking, anyway? Why would you go that far into the mountains alone?”
“There was a hurt deer.”
“Then you get your mom or your uncle Levi. You don’t go that far alone.”
“I’m sorry. Are you mad?”
“Completely.” When he didn’t catch on that she was teasing, she grinned.
After a moment, he grinned back.
“Okay, let’s call your mom.”
She took out her phone, but he practically tackled her for it. They landed on the sofa, her giggling, him yelling, “Nooooooooo!”
“Okay, fine. I’ll call your uncle.”
“Not him, either. Mom said I almost killed him, and he’s at home resting. Do you think he’s mad at me?”
They sat up on the sofa. “Of course he’s not mad at you.”
“My mom said you got upset today at school. That someone was mean to you. You aren’t going to try to jump off the cliff again, are you?”
“No, sweetheart. That was a long time ago. I would never do that again.”
“Can you come live with us? My mom said it’s okay.”
“I would love to,” she said, smoothing back a lock of hair. “But who would take care of my mom?”
“She can come, too.”
Auri threw her arms around him.
He let her hug him for all of eleven seconds, then pushed away from her. Not in a bad way. Not to be rude. But to survive. He could only handle so much affection and Auri knew that.
“That was good,” he said, showing her the wrapper of some kind of fruit bar. “Do you have any more?”
She giggled. “I have no idea where you got that, but—”
“He got it from me.”
Auri swirled around to a male voice. A male voice coming from her bedroom. Or, more precisely, her bedroom window. She stood and crept toward the door to her room. The light was on, and she saw Cruz De los Santos standing at her open window.
“Cruz!” She rushed forward. “Did Jimmy open the window for you? Why didn’t you just come to the door?”
“You tried to kill yourself?” he asked, his expression guarded.