A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1)(95)
“Great. What about the one in the house?”
“Mom, don’t get mad.”
“Auri . . .”
“I’m putting you on speakerphone. It’s Jimmy.”
“I actually figured that part out. The hospital gown gave it away.”
“Oh, my god, does she have binoculars?”
“Eagle eyes, baby. She sees all. Also, the house is probably bugged. You have to remember your grandfather was in military intelligence. Now why is Jimmy there? In a hospital gown?”
“He escaped.”
“I figured. Does his mom know where he is?”
She heard Jimmy yell in the background, “No, she doesn’t!”
“I’ve texted her,” Auri said, then she lowered her voice. “Have you heard anything?”
“No, sweetheart, but I’m on my way home. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too,” her daughter said, followed by Jimmy, speaking way louder than necessary.
“Love you, too!”
She laughed before hanging up and going inside the package store for a bottle of wine. It had been a long day and promised to be a long night, and she didn’t keep alcohol in her house as a general rule.
An older man was working the counter. Tall. Lanky. He’d clearly lived a hard life. There was no one else in the package store, but there were two young men who looked barely legal in the hall that led to the cantina. They were waiting for the restroom as she was perusing the tall shelves for just the right bottle of Moscato when she overheard them talking.
“Hey,” one said to the other. “I’ve decided to go to the sun. Want to come?”
“Dude, you can’t go to the sun. It’ll burn you alive.”
“No, no, no. You don’t get it.” He chuckled and leaned forward to whisper to the guy, but a drunk whisper sounded strangely similar to a shout. “I’m going at night.”
Sun walked past them and into the cantina to seek out the bartender.
Twelve civilians, including two males, sitting at opposite ends of the bar.
The bartender just happened to be a gorgeous American Indian with long black hair and biceps that rivaled the statue of David, if the tight tee were any indication. Not that she was looking.
“Hi there.”
He lifted his chin in greeting as he wiped down the bar. “What can I get you?”
“Nothing for me. I just want to make sure you’ve stopped serving those two.”
He scoffed. “Like three hours ago. They must’ve snuck in some booze. Happens all the time. I hear you found a dead body.”
“Well, not me personally, but . . .”
He stopped wiping and regarded her with a serious demeanor. “You can’t talk to it, can you?”
“I’m sorry?”
“The dead body? You can’t talk to it, right?”
“The . . . the dead body.”
“Yeah. I knew a chick who said she could talk to dead people. She was crazy. I worked at a bar her dad owned, but things got really weird. That’s when I decided to move here. You know, peace and quiet. Less conversing with the dead.”
“Wow,” she said thoughtfully. “If only I could. Can you imagine how much easier my job would be?”
“You’d think, but that chick was bat shit. And trouble followed her like a fly follows, well, bat shit.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’m Sunshine.”
He held out his hand. “I’m Donnie.”
“Awww,” the male sitting at the end of the bar said. “Ain’t that sweet.”
She thought about ignoring him completely, but that could cause an even bigger scene. She turned to Clay Ravinder, acknowledging his existence.
“The Apache’s never gotten over you.” He tapped his temple with a dirty index finger. “Don’t got no sense. No marbles where it counts.”
From what Sun could tell, Levi was one of the few Ravinders who did have marbles, especially where they counted. He and Hailey gave Sun hope for the whole family. With Levi at the helm and Hailey by his side, they could break the chain of abuse and criminal behavior that probably went back generations.
She decided to take advantage of the situation and ask Clay about his brother Kubrick, the DB they’d found on the mountain. “When was the last time you saw your brother?”
“’Bout an hour ago.” He walked closer and took the seat she was standing beside. “Ain’t never seen quite so much of him, though. Little disturbing, a bear chewing on him and all.”
“Why didn’t anyone report him missing?”
He leaned in and winked. “Maybe ’cause no one missed him.”
“Ah. Well, that would make sense. Nice to meet you, Donnie.”
The hottie nodded, and Sun turned to leave, but alas, it was not going to be that easy.
“Why don’t you stay? Keep an old man company?”
“I have work, but thank you for the offer.”
“It was more of a demand than an offer.”
Donnie stilled.
Sun did not. “Yeah, not happening, Clay.”
When he reached out his hand, she did the unexpected and stepped closer to him. So close they were nose-to-nose when she spoke again, her voice even. Nonthreatening. Her words were a different matter.