Page 42 of Johnny

By the time she fell in with Joey we’d gone our separate ways. I didn’t have any feelings about

that. I didn’t have any feelings for her and I’m like ninety-nine percent sure she had no feelings for

me, either.

Charlotte is a woman who knows how to make a new folder, that’s for sure.

But I was surprised that she and Joey had a thing for a while.

And the baby? That threw me. It sorta made sense, but it was also confusing.

Maisy Kane.

I knew about her. It’s my job to know things like that. In fact, Maisy was probably the very first

new folder I made after my father was killed and I took over. She popped up right around then.

But her folder stayed very thin and empty over the years. I knew where she was, I knew who she

was with, and that was good enough for me.

But I’m an uncle.

I guess I never really thought about that before. I’m an uncle to Charlotte’s kid.

I laugh out loud in the chilly morning breeze. Nope. Didn’t see that coming.

“Hello?”

I turn around and find Megan walking through the open doors and out into the cockpit. Her fingers

trace the marble countertop of the small grilling station as she passes it. Her hair is a long mess of

loose blonde waves that frame her face and fall over her shoulders. I don’t know how long she was down in that dungeon, and there’s no real way to tell because a stressful situation like she was in

drains a lot out of a person, but she’s pale all over. The gray smudges of fatigue under her eyes are

lighter than they were yesterday, but the evidence of her recent experiences still lingers.

“Morning,” I say. “Did you sleep OK?”

She shrugs. “Define OK.”

I smile at her. Not a big grin or anything. There’s no cause for that. Just a small one. “Did you close

your eyes?”

She nods. “Yup. I did.”

“Drift off?”

“I think so.”

“Dream?”

She shakes her head no.

“Well, that’s good enough, I guess. Want some coffee? It’s not good coffee, just one of those