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NINE
In the kitchen, Emmy fought with the coffee machine while Black leaned against the counter, watching her with a vague look of amusement.They were dressed identically now, in boxer shorts and supersized T-shirts.Emmy’s came to her knees while Black’s was a little tight across the chest.Suddenly, I felt self-conscious in my day clothes.Everyone else had gone to bed, and it was evident that Alex and I had stayed up together.Still, it could have been worse—if things had escalated between us, if that heat had kept building, Alex’s shirt would have been missing its buttons in another ten minutes.Would my borrowed sweater have survived?He didn’t strike me as the clothes-shredding type.Oh, he sure knew how to fight—I’d learned that in our training session—but off duty, he was a gentle giant.
“You’re drinking coffee at this time of night?”I asked.
“No, I’m trying to sober Bradley up.”
“He found our mystery man?”
“So he claims.”
Black gave a soft chuckle.“What actually happened was that he staggered in, announced our Valentine’s ball would have an Alice in Wonderland theme, puked into a decorative bowl, and passed out.So we’re assuming he found the mystery man, but that fact is far from certain.”
The general might have been a brutal son of a bitch, but at least nobody had thrown up during his briefings.Blackwood’s unorthodox ways bordered on crazy at times.In the living room, Ana had put Bradley into the recovery position, and since I couldn’t see any bowl or smell any vomit, I had to conclude that somebody had dealt with that part of the problem.
“He’s still breathing?”I asked, just to check.
Emmy nodded.“Right now, I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Hallie meandered in wearing a faint look of disgust, her slender nose crinkled, so I figured she’d been tasked with clean-up duty.Vance followed and gave a shrug.
“Who the hell knows where his shoes ended up—they’re not in the driveway.”
“How did he get back here?”
“No idea.”
Hallie gave Bradley a gentle shake.“Are you okay?”
“Mmm-mmm.”
What did that mean?Yes or no?
“I think maybe we should sit him up now.”
She tried to lift his arms, and when he flopped to the floor again, Ana obliged and hauled him into an armchair.How much had he drunk?He’d only been gone for a few hours.
“What did he do?Pour vodka down his throat?”
Emmy spoke from behind me.“There was probably free champagne, and this is the result of two or three glasses, most of which he chucked up.He’s a lightweight.”She gave him a harder shake.“But fortunately, the effects soon wear off.Dude, wake up.”
“Mmm-mmm.”
“What does that mean?”
Everybody shrugged, and somebody had to do something or we’d be here all night.So I stepped forward and slapped him.
“You heard her—wake up.”
Now his eyes flickered open.
“I don’t like you very much.”
“Then you can join the club.What happened tonight?Who is the man?”
Emmy thrust a mug of coffee toward him.“Drink this and talk.”