"So you finally showed up, brat."
Marlon looked at me sternly.
I stared at him dumbfounded.
What was this old man doing here?
Marlon stood in the middle of Carmen's living space like he belonged there, which, apparently, he did, given that nobody around me seemed remotely surprised by his presence. Tank top, arms crossed, the look on his face somewhere between a commanding officer waiting for a report and a man who had arranged to be difficult.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
"Well?" he said.
I had no words immediately available.
What was this old man doing here? This was supposed to be a simple thing, eat something, recover some energy, get back to work. That was the whole transaction. Instead I'd walked into what felt increasingly like a coordinated ambush dressed up as a lunch invitation, and I was standing in the middle of it with nowhere obvious to go.
I turned and gave Maribel a hard look.
Her eyes went wide immediately. "W...why are you looking at me like that?"
