Sorry. I’ve been on the road all day. Eight hours of driving into the sun the whole time. I just walked in the door, had to put the red pony back in (since the little wench decided to go walkabout while we were out of province) and I have a migraine the size of a Mack truck bearing down on me.

Here’s a peek at Phane’s latest ex:

If John had thought he was going to sneak Phane out past Tabby’s eagle eyes, he was sadly mistaken. He’d thought to take him out through the employee’s stairway that led from the back room to Receiving on the ground level, but Tabby spotted them as they struggled through the crowd in front of the bar.

“Didn’t take you long,” she commented coolly as they met. The crowd drew back, then began to thicken around them, waiting for the explosion. John tugged on Phane’s waist, urging him on and trying to force a way past the wall of bodies. No luck; it was like tugging on one of the cows when she didn’t want to go into the milking parlor. There was no way he was moving the man, unless he could talk him into it.

“Not your problem anymore, is it?” Phane snapped back at her, his tone as sharp as a blade.

“You are such an ass!”

Phane nodded and looked down his long nose at her. “I never said I wasn’t. Especially when I think I’m being used.”

Off to nurse the headache. Sorry I can’t be even as minimally entertaining as usual, but my brains are preparing to evacuate through my ears.