“Easiest way to find a normal drug dealer is to track down people who use and learn where they bought it.”

“Follow stories about bionic knacks. See if someone will tell us where they bought it.”

“Exactly,” Lon said.

“And in the meantime, maybe I can find out more about the potion. How long the effects last, and all that.”

“I can help you research potions.”

“Sure, we could do that. . . . Or, we could try something a little more direct. I do know a drug dealer.”

Lon turned his head to the side and mumbled a string of curses.

“Now, now. Hajo’s been on his best behavior since we took the vassal potion back from him. I could call him. Maybe get him to meet me somewhere.”

Lon grunted. He may not like it, but he knew I was right. If anyone was dealing the bionic drug in Morella, Hajo would be get us a name.

“I’ll call him after dinner tonight,” I said, hearing cop sirens in the distance. “Right now, we better get out of here.”

• • •

I got my Jetta out of Kar Yee’s parking garage and followed Lon’s SUV back to Chez Butler, pulling in right at five. “Don’t be late,” Jupe had insisted, and we barely made it.

Ugh. Family dinner with Rose.

Lon said he took care of everything with her. Guess I was about to find out how true that really was. I could do this. Yes, I could. My chin was up, I was ready, and everything was going to be fine.

As I shut my car door, the troops filed out of the door: Adella, Rose, Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, all led by Jupe.

“You made it!” he said as he strode to meet me, corkscrew curls bobbing.

“Told you I would.”

He flashed me a humungous, toothy grin and tackled me in a hug.

“Jeez, I’ve only been gone one night,” I said into his hair. But I was secretly pleased that he was so glad to see me. It bolstered my shaky nerves. “Really only a few hours.”

“Seventeen hours,” he corrected with his usual mathematical precision. As he pulled away from me, his gaze fell to my chest, then leapt back up. His eyes were moons. He bit the inside of his mouth and made some weird noise before turning away to shoo Foxglove back inside the house.

Heat blazed across my face.

Why did I wear Kar Yee’s shirt? It was way too tight. I considered running inside to change. Maybe I was underdressed anyway. But when I quickly surveyed everyone, I found that they were all pretty casual. Adella was even wearing jeans. She was not, however, wearing a top that made her breasts look like beach balls.

I slapped on a smile and greeted everyone with a weak “hello.”

Rose’s gaze swept over me as she studied me through glasses perched low on her nose. I braced myself.

“Good afternoon, Cady. You’re looking better today.”

Uhh . . . was that a dig? She smiled at me. Pleasantly. Was it fake? Was she trying to tell me that my boobs were a salacious spectacle, further proof to her theory that I was unfit to be in Jupe’s life?

“No chasing down robbers, I take it.” She pressed two fingers into her silvery cropped hair and fussed it into place.

“Actually—”

“Did you catch them?”

“Not yet.”

She smiled again. “I’m sure you will. Do you like seafood?”

Still waiting for the punch line, I answered hesitantly. “Umm, yes?”

“Good. We’re going to Cypress House, out on the water. Ever been?”

“No.”

“We have standing reservations,” Mrs. Holiday said. “We go every year.”

“Maybe I should just run in and change—”

“It’s casual, don’t worry,” Mr. Holiday assured me.

“The kind of place that gives you wooden hammers to crack crabs on the table,” Lon added.

“Which is awesome,” Jupe piped up, now over the fact that I flaunted my dirty pillows in his face. “Crab guts everywhere. I once got crab brain in my eye. But, Cady, listen—”

“Listening.”

“—they have these things called spot prawns. They are the biggest shrimp you’ve ever seen, and they’re only available certain times of the year. And they grill them in the shell. Oh, and they normally come three on a plate, but I can eat a dozen.”

“That’s impressive,” I mumbled.

“They’re good, but I’m with Lon. Dungeness crab all the way,” Adella said, waggling her eyebrows like Jupe always does.

“Why choose?” Jupe said with a slow shrug. “Gramma’s paying.”

The Giovanni matriarch smiled the sweetest smile at him and tousled his hair. “That’s right. You order whatever you want, baby. Now how are we getting there, Lon? You think we’ll fit in your SUV?”

“If we don’t, we’ll just tie Motormouth to the roof.”

“Oh, yeah! Dare me! I’ll do it,” Jupe said brightly. “You think we’d get arrested?”

“I think you’d get splattered in bugs,” Adella said. “You can sit on my lap.”

“No way! You’ll tickle me.”

And while they continued to argue about seating, piling into the SUV one by one, Rose patted me on the shoulder as she was going by. That’s when it really hit me: she was being genuine. Not judge-y. Not accusatory. Had I just been accepted? I glanced at Lon in disbelief as he helped her into the front passenger seat. What in the world had he told Rose to change her mind? He gave me a little wink, as if to say “told ya—I got this.”