Epilogue
"So, that's really it, but I'm pretty convinced those are the guys. They are literally the only two doctors in the US that both specialize in chemistry, and have ties to known cult members."
Foster lit up, taking the notecard I'd written the names on with wide eyes. "Shit, Green. This is more than any of my guys could find. How did you get this?"
Cringing, I glanced around. "Not necessarily in a legal fashion."
"Ah." Foster nodded, standing a little to put the card in his back pocket. "Say no more."
I frowned at my mate and Burke, as they both let out the same, wide-eyed, choked-up noise while staring over their shoulder, as the chubby, suspender-wearing, accountant-looking man sat down at the table to our left.
They both started flapping excitedly, while Foster and I blinked in confusion. A confusion that was only compounded when Arry bounced up to the table excitedly, pointing, what looked like, to himself, but turned out to be at the man behind him.
"Did you see him?" He whisper-yelled, making all three of them squee and start flapping again.
"What the fuck is wrong with you three?" Foster finally asked when his mate sighed dramatically, saying, "He's perfect."
"We found a man for Ward," Burke growled at his mate from between his teeth.
Foster and I got identical smacks, as we both tried to lean around the trio to look at the man, who was frowning at the menu, and mumbling something about calories to himself.
"Him?" Foster asked, looking at the three like he knew there was something he was missing.
"Yes," Arry said, entirely too fan-girly for a man his size. "The cute little chubby in the suspenders, glasses and a bowtie. A bowtie! Can't you just see him and Ward snuggled up on the couch reading?"
Oddly, I could. "Don't you think Ward, and his lack of social…anything is going to scare off a cute little guy like that?"
"Oh, no'" my mate said, making me want to take him in the back and do naughty things to him with that beautiful smile on his face. "He's going to take one look at that cutie, and fall madly in love."
"Excuse me," the soft voice behind Arry said. "Do you, uh––" He cringed a little, pulling back.
To be fair, we were all five probably resembling the cover photo of a pamphlet about mental institutions, and whether they were right for your loved one, with the way we were all looking at him.
"Sorry, cutie," Arry said, going strangely professional for the first time ever. "Are you ready to order?"
"Uh, yes. But I was also going to ask if you were from around here? My father sent me to speak with a writer…Oh! Maybe I should start with the fact that my father owns a publishing company out of Illinois. Uh…anyway, he sent me to talk to a writer he wants to publish, because the man won't answer his phone, and my father really needs to talk to him, so he can see…never mind. That's not important to you."
Taking a deep breath and giving us all a self-deprecating smile, that I swear the three fan-girls sighed over, he shook his head. "I'm looking for a Ward Butler. Would any of you happen to know where I might find him? The address we have is a PO box."
"Oh, this is priceless," Burke whispered, making Foster smirk at his mate, who wasn't paying him a bit of attention.
"You wait right here, cutie pie. It just so happens that Ward is here." Arry's blue eyes were big and full of amusement when he turned to our table to very pointedly say, "And he's a writer."
Arry scurried off, almost crashing into a very disgruntled looking Bunny when he drifted around the corner.
Ten seconds later, he reappeared, pushing an angry Ward out in front of him, as the man all but dug his actual heels into the faux wood, porcelain tile. "I have no intention of meeting with an old, uptight bigot about my work, which he hasn't even read."
When Ward lifted his eyes to the man he'd just called an old, uptight bigot, I wished I'd thought to get my phone out. Those dark green suckers widened to the size of the plates he put all Burke's cheese fry orders on, and he nearly got toppled when he forgot to lean back into to Arry's shove.
"Oh my," was the breathy reply that came from suspender's direction, making the fan-girls all sigh again, and Foster and I chuckled.
But, Ward's growled word nearly had me standing in line with Rory, Burke and Arry.
"Mate."