“No,” John said, even before he pulled out the crumpled bit of paper to check. “It’s a Langston address.” He held it out so she could see, and her shoulders collapsed forward in defeat.

No. Not defeat. We have two excellent leads. “Okay.” She sat up as straight as possible while being perched on the edge of Norah’s bed between her sister and John. “This is easy. Two possible addresses, and there are two of us.”

“Three, actually,” Norah said dryly. “Did you know that five out of four people find math to be hard?”

Since that didn’t deserve a laugh, she just gave Norah an exasperated look. John, on the other hand, snickered, which would only encourage her. “You’re research,” Molly said firmly. “You stay in the van.”

“What van?” Norah and John chorused, making Molly sigh.

“The figurative van.” Molly pushed to her feet. “We need you here, not bumbling around with the two of us, trying to get ourselves blown up.”

“Hey!” John protested, getting up as well. “I’m not bumbling. I’m a sleek, efficient machine.”

“Right.” Molly used her driest voice and felt a surge of triumph when he narrowed his eyes at her. “Anyway, Norah, you keep working. Carmondy, let’s go check these two places out. We should have enough time before the meeting.”

“Let’s go bumble around, then,” he said.

She turned to Norah. “Text if you need anything. My phone’ll be on silent.”

“Got it.” Norah had already dived back into her research.

“Let’s start at my house,” John said as they made their way to the door. “I need to reload my pockets.”

The mention reminded her that she needed to stock up on a few things as well. “Good idea. I’m going to make a stop at my room, too.” She turned down the hall in that direction. John followed her into her bedroom as he pulled out his notepad.

“Really?” she asked, her hands settling on her hips. “Do you actually need to be in here, or are you just following me around like a hungry stray?”

“It’s my bedroom now, too.” His voice was absent as he flicked over to the next page.

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is.” He pointed at her bed. “That’s where I sleep.”

“Slept. Once. That doesn’t give you room rights.”

“I have an open invitation to stay here whenever I want to. Therefore, I have a stake in it. Like a time-share.”

Although she opened her mouth to argue, all that came out was a frustrated sound. Muttering to herself, she gathered the items she needed, tucking them in various easy-to-reach pockets. “You’re the most aggravating person I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you.”

Her eyes rolled yet again. She was going to have permanently strained eye muscles if she continued to hang around John. Patting her pockets, she went over a mental list of tools and weapons, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Are you hungry? We need to eat before tonight’s…thing.” She hated her hesitation, her lack of certainty, but the whole mission was a huge question mark. They didn’t know what they’d be walking into…if anything. The two of them could be heading to completely wrong locations. She didn’t like this, functioning without a plan. It made her itchy in a bad way.