A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

“Hold on.” She took out her phone and called one of her favorite places on Earth.

“Who are you calling?”

“He’s a kid,” she said, putting the phone up to her ear. “What kid doesn’t like pizza?”

“Adobe Oven,” a male voice said.

“Hey, Ernie.”

“Hey, Sunshine. Need a pie to go?” How he always recognized her voice when he got dozens of calls a day was beyond her.

“I’m actually calling on official business.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is. And you can help save a kid’s life,” she said, priming him. He was well within his rights to refuse to answer her. Ernie had always liked her. She hoped that would help grease the wheels. “I know this is asking a lot, but can you give me the address of a customer you deliver to? A Keith Seabright?”

“I’m sorry, love. I can’t.”

Damn it. She was hoping to forgo the warrant talk. “Ernie, Keith is in the hospital and we need to find his nephew. It’s urgent.”

“No, I mean I literally can’t. I don’t have an address for them. One of them always meets us at Tinsley’s Crossing.”

“Oh.” She glanced up at Levi. Tinsley’s Crossing was about five miles north of town and led to any number of homesteads.

He nodded, so the information must’ve matched his notion of where they lived.

“Thanks, Ernie. Oh, wait. Can you tell me the last time they ordered?”

“Sure.” She heard him punch some keys on a computer. “I know it’s been at least a week. Yeah, here we go. They ordered sandwiches and a pie a week ago Friday.”

Darn. “Okay, thanks, Ernie.” She was hoping Eli had ordered something to eat in the last couple of days. That would imply he was simply on his own and not locked up somewhere.

“How is he?” Ernie asked. “Mr. Seabright?”

“He’s still breathing.”

“I’ll pray it stays that way.”

“Thank you.” She hung up. “Is that the right area?”

“It is.”

“Then I may know where they’re staying.” She looked toward the plate glass window and gestured to Quincy.

“I think I know, too. I should go out there alone.”

“And why is that?”

“Seabright doesn’t need a bunch of bumbling deputies trampling all over his place.”

“No offense, Levi, but I don’t give a rat’s ass what Keith Seabright needs right now. My only concern is that boy.” She crossed her arms. “I’m coming with you, and you don’t have a say in the matter.”

He mimicked her, crossing his arms, too. “No, you’re not, and I think I do.”

Quincy walked past them, carrying a tactical bag and a shotgun. “Quit being a dick, Ravinder. Let’s go.”

“Fine,” Levi said to Sun through clenched teeth. “We’ll take my truck”

“You and Zee follow,” she said to Quincy, hurrying to Levi’s truck.

She called Rojas as she hopped inside the dark cab to fill him in. “Keep an eye on our visitors. Watch what they do when we leave.”

“You got it, boss.”

She hung up and called Anita. “Call SFPD and find out if there have been any developments on the Elliot Kent case. Anything at all.”

“Absolutely.”

She heard Mrs. Fairborn in the background. “Does Hennessy have one N or two?”

“You don’t know?” Anita asked.

“I just drink the stuff. I don’t read the label.”

Sun hung up and looked at Levi. “This town needs an observation deck.”

“Are we doing it this time?” Cruz asked Auri.

She’d convinced her mom she had a study hour in preparation for upcoming exams, and their teacher had allowed them to go on a coffee run as long as they brought him one, too. Her mom must’ve really been off her game to fall for it. Probably the life-or-death thing with Hailey. Auri would get the rest of that story later. For now, she’d gotten away with skipping. She had to take full advantage.

She checked with her inside man. Mrs. F. was still confessing and, if history repeated itself, she’d be there all day. They’d make her tea and buy her lunch. She would fill out a detailed confession and then one of the deputies would drive her home.

Sadly, the former sheriff, Baldwin Redding, wouldn’t put up with Mrs. Fairborn’s confessions, so she’d had to get the mayor involved. He finally started letting her confess again, but he didn’t like it.

Of course, if he was anything like his son, an upperclassman at Del Sol High, he didn’t like much of anything unless it involved footballs, girls, and kegs.

“We’re doing this,” she said, determination driving her forward. Inch by inch.

“Okay, just one more step,” Sybil said, urging her to put one foot in front of the other.

They were outside Mrs. Fairborn’s back door again and had been there for the last ten minutes. It stood wide open, just waiting to swallow them whole.

“I can do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Sybil agreed.

It was crazy that Sybil was the one encouraging her to break the law.

She gave up. Her feet just wouldn’t move any farther. “Maybe we should try again tomorrow.”