The Big Keep: A Lena Dane Mystery (Lena Dane Mysteries) Read Free

of gum in here this morning, and I thought there might be a little chew left in it.”
    Bryce raised a single, perfect eyebrow, probably because he knows how that makes me jealous. “That’s just stupid.”
    I sighed. “Fine.” I retrieved the pregnancy test from the bin and tossed it unceremoniously on the desk in front of Bryce. He leaned forward to see, not touching it, and looked up at me immediately, shocked.
    “Whoa.” Bryce blinked rapidly a few times, looking staggered. I was right there with him. “So? What’s the deal? Were you and Toby trying?”
    I blinked. “You’re awfully nosy for an employee.”
    “But I’m just nosy enough to work for a PI,” he reasoned. “You know you raised me to be inquisitive.”  
    I sighed “I guess that’s fair. No, we weren’t particularly trying. Toby does not know yet. I didn’t even know until about half an hour ago.”
    “Oh.” He paused for a moment, and I could see him mentally sorting his questions out into appropriate and inappropriate categories. Finally, he settled on, “Are you excited?”
    “Yes. I mean, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I had the pregnancy thought, took the test right away, got into this meeting right away, and now here I am.”
    “Is...is Toby going to be happy?”
    “Will he be happy that I’m pregnant?” I repeated. “Yes. Definitely.” Bryce looked at me inquiringly, but I just shook my head.

2. Clutch the Pearls

    I decided not to go straight home, because in many important matters, I am a coward. Instead, I texted Toby to let him know I was stopping by what we lovingly refer to as the family business.
    My mom died when I was little, so my sister and I grew up with just my dad, who had owned a comic book store in downtown Chicago for more than 35 years now. Great Dane Comics has never been incredibly successful, but it had never struggled much, either – my dad had a unique knack for bringing new people into the many worlds of comics, and this gift kept a steady stream of new and regular customers to the shop.  
    Which is nice, because they pretty much made up all of Dad’s contact with the world, besides his daughters. To his credit, Dad was never fazed that fate gave him two little girls to raise by himself. Even when we were little, long before anyone dreamed up the word “fangirls,” he taught us to love comic books. We’re even named after his favorite female comic characters, if you account for some creative spelling. My full name is Selena Kyle Dane, whose secret identity is Catwoman. My big sister is Aurora Munroe, the alter ego of Storm from the X-Men comics. I know the whole thing seems a little weird to new people, but when you’re born with a poster of Spiderman hanging above your crib, having a comic book name never really seems that strange.  
    Besides, we’re both just grateful he didn’t try to actually call us Storm and Catwoman.  
    Great Dane is located in a small afterthought of a building, attached to a row of brownstones in the Humboldt Park neighborhood downtown. I fought through a brief amount of dense traffic and made it to the store ten minutes before close, driving around the building to the two reserved parking spots behind the store. My sister’s minivan was in her spot, but Dad’s was empty, so I swung my beat-up little Jeep into the slot. Then I walked around the outside so I could go in the front door.
    A familiar, ancient bell chimed as I went in. My sister was perched on a stool behind the enormous counter just inside the entrance, but she didn’t even look up as I entered. The store was deserted, and her nose was buried in an issue of something Joss Whedon-y. Rory’s a comic book reader in a brainy, intellectual kind of way.  
    I went around the counter and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Ro.”  
    She smiled at me without looking up from her page. “Hey, little sister.”
    I dropped my carry-all bag behind the counter and pulled myself up onto the