Ratio: A Leopold Blake Thriller (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers) by Nick Stephenson, Kay Hadashi

said, as they pulled away from the curb. 
    “You got it.”
    After buckling her seat belt, June turned to look at the twin five-year-olds belted up in the back seat. “Hey, girls! You sure look pretty today,” she said. “I like your outfits.” One had grass stains on her shirt, and the other had several Band-Aids lined up along her forearm. 
    “We went to the park,” one of them said.
    “And got in trouble,” the other chimed in. 
    “There were lotsa other kids.”
    “They played rough.”
    June smiled at them, amused. Not just with the topic, but with their usual tennis-match style of conversation. “It looks like you played just as rough,” she said back. She turned around in her seat and looked at her twin sister for an explanation. “Amy? Care to fill me in?” 
    “They were the ones that started it,” said Amy, her eyes on the road. She glanced over at June as they merged with the slow-moving traffic. “So, you ready for your big weekend?”
    June took her speech notes from her purse and flipped through them quickly. “Mostly. There’s one part right here in the middle that just doesn’t sound right.” She found a portion of her speech and began to recite from memory, staring straight ahead. “Phi and the Golden Ratio have long been known for its applications both in math and in natural science. After several years of investigating in both the clinical setting and the lab, I learned how the Golden Ratio can be used in neuroscience for third ventricle surgical applications.” She paused before reciting more. “Numeric sequences…”
    Amy interrupted. “No, I mean the real reason you’re going to Seattle.” Amy merged onto the freeway south to the airport, quickly maneuvering into the fast lane. “Not your speech but…”
    “Jack.” June took a long breath and let it out slowly.
    “What’s new with him anyway? So far, all Mom and I know is that it looks like his campaign numbers are way up,” Amy said, in her usual pointed way. “Otherwise, all I’ve heard is you fly back and forth across the country to see him on long weekends. How many times now? Three? Four?”
    “We talk on the phone a lot.”
    “You’re not teenagers. There’s more to romance than talking on the phone.” 
    June continued to focus on her notes, trying her best to ignore her slightly older sister.
    “And just exactly what does see mean when you go for a visit? Are you getting more than dinner?” Amy asked.
    June turned in her seat and smiled back at her nieces. After, she shot Amy a glare.
    Amy didn’t let up. “If they were movies, what would the ratings be for your dates? ‘X’? ‘R’ at least?”
    June stared down at her notes, unwilling to answer.
    “Then at least ‘PG’, right?” Amy asked, forcing the issue.
    “Amy, will you just…” June stuffed her notes back into her purse and snapped it shut. “So far, they’ve just been overnighters. But this weekend isn’t just a date. It’s more than just a sleepover.”
    “Does Auntie have a date?” one of the girls asked from the back seat.
    “Yeah, honey, I do. And your mommy and I want to talk about it, okay?”
    “This weekend is going to be different?” asked Amy, pressing the issue. 
    June sighed. “You have no idea how difficult it is to get time alone with Jack. He’s busy from noon till night. Plus, all the people around him all the time…”
    “Oh, so, having a bicoastal relationship with the former ambassador to a large South American country and the man who is leading in the early polls for a presidential election is problematic? Didn’t mom and I say something like that a few months ago?”
    “Yeah,” June muttered, watching her fingers wrestle with each other in her lap. She started to pick at a nail, but quit, since it was a fresh manicure from the evening before, as was her hair and a professional facial.
    “All those bodyguards cramping your style?”
     “Total pains in the butt.” June frowned. “Half the