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Dad nodded. “Good. Thanks, kid.”

“You’re welcome.”

Nick waited, because it was the right thing to do.

“This about yesterday?”

“Absolutely not. I’m a teenager. Sometimes I’m late, and it can’t be avoided.”

“Uh-huh. See that it doesn’t happen again.”

Nick pushed the plate of toast toward his dad’s hand.

Dad took a bite. It was mostly blackened, but it didn’t seem like he had to choke it down, so Nick was pleased.

He waited until his dad swallowed before he said, “Now that you’ve had an opportunity to come home and relax, a question, if I may?”

“There it is.”

“It’s just aquestion.”

“What happened to being altruistic?”

“There are strawberries in your oatmeal. That seems pretty selfless to me.”

“Oh boy.” Dad wiped his mouth with a napkin before leaning back in his chair. “Okay, hit me with it.”

That was easier than Nick had expected. “There was an… event. In Nova City yesterday.”

“Was there? Seems to me there were many events. Nova City is a pretty big place.”

Aggravating, that was what he was. He was good, but Nick was better. “Absolutely. But I couldn’t help but notice that you had to go in early yesterday afternoon, right around the time that this particular event was beginning to take place.”

“Interesting.”

“Quite. Now, if I were a betting man—”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. Bettingchild,maybe.”

“—betting man,I would think those two things were related.”

“Those seem to be some big odds.”

“I’m a cop’s kid,” Nick reminded him. “I’m pretty sure I know how to make deductions that prove to be correct.”

Dad smiled tiredly at him. “You are, aren’t you? Okay, I’ll play along. Let’s say I was at a certain event. What do you want?”

“Five questions, and you have to answer every one truthfully.”

“Three questions, and I’ll decide which ones get an answer.”

“Fourquestions, and if there’s one you can’t answer because of an open investigation, you can hint around it enough so I can figure it out on my own.”

“No questions, and you leave for school now to ensure we don’t have a repeat of yesterday.”

Nick glared at him. “Are we really doing this again?”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”