by Paula Lester
For a second, it was too bright in the room, and she stumbled to a halt and blinked several times, trying to adjust.
When her vision cleared, she started, took two steps, and then jerked to a stop again. She sucked in a breath and held up her hands. “Don’t shoot,” she said.
Chapter 21
MRS. GREEN STOOD IN the doorway, straight, without a cane. She looked at least ten or fifteen years younger than she had downstairs during the funeral. She held the gun pointed at Tessa, with no hint of trembling in her arm. A sneer twisted her face. "I saw you that morning, you know," she said. "You were with that boy—that fan of Artemis’s who was arrested and then released."
Tessa felt her eyebrows twitch upward and struggled to keep her expression impassive while her mind swirled around, frantically trying to figure out how to get out of this one. The only thing she could think of at the moment was to draw out the conversation. “You saw me?”
Mrs. Green barked out a short laugh. "Oh, there isn't much the security cameras around this house don't pick up if you know which ones to check, like I do. I used them to keep tabs on my daughter and that Lark when they were younger and, later, my daughter and her good-for-nothing boyfriend, Nathaniel. Oh, yes, I recognized you at the reading of the will, and I knew there was something strange going on. I knew you were after something."
“I'm after the truth," Tessa said flatly.
"I'll tell you the truth," she snapped. "But it isn't pretty. A young lady like you will surely think I'm the monster of the story."
Tessa didn't answer. Even though she didn't want to show weakness, she also knew it was a bad idea to antagonize the woman with the gun.
There was one other way she could end the conversation. She could call on the power of the scythe. But here and now, it didn’t feel right. She wasn’t judge, jury, or executioner—no matter what Silas thought of her career. There had to be some other way of talking sense into Mrs. Green.
The old lady twisted her hips to sidestep the door as she swung it shut behind her. She laughed at Tessa’s widened eyes, misinterpreting the reaction. "I see you're surprised at how well I can get around. The truth is, my condition has improved over the years. I'm feeling much better. Much, much better. My husband spent millions on my rehabilitation, and it did the trick. He just never knew it.”
"Why hide it?" Tessa demanded.
"Ha! Because I wanted my husband to think I was infirm. I needed him to continue to provide for me. If he’d known I wasn’t sick, he would have divorced me. Left me with a measly stipend and a regular house in the suburbs.”
Tessa shook her head. “Why would he do that?”
“Because, over the years, we drifted apart—oh, I knew he had an affair with Sky Jordan. Of course, I knew. Just like I knew the brat of a child she brought around here was his daughter. I saw how he played with her and smiled at her when he didn't think I was watching. The look in his eyes, why, it was the exact same one he gave our own daughter.
“Over the years, I watched that man dangle his mistress and her daughter right in front of my face and Hannah’s too. As though he thought I was stupid. Just a stupid, old, crippled wife that he felt good about taking pity on and keeping around." She sneered again, and it twisted her features into something much darker.
Tessa realized the woman had marinaded in her own spite and anger for decades. How sad. "Do you really think your husband felt that way about you?"
"What would you know about it? You're still young, with your looks about you. You have no idea what it's like to be married for so many years and then get sick—to be unable to go on trips with your husband or host the parties he wants you to.” The corners of her lips plunged downward. “To watch your husband get bored and go elsewhere."
For a second, Tessa felt sorry for her, but somehow, she knew the old woman wouldn’t appreciate sympathy. She pressed her lips together.
Mrs. Green went on, a faraway look in her eyes, as though she’d forgotten Tessa was there. "Oh, he didn't say he was bored. He said he was lonely. Whined that I shut him out when I got sick—that I treated him like a stranger. What a load of ridiculousness. He was just making excuses for his transgressions. But I knew—oh, I knew what they were. I never let on to him that I knew, but I did. And I also knew that he would give some of his fortune to that illegitimate daughter when he died. Some of the wealth that was rightfully my daughter’s."
"So, you killed him because of the changes to his will?"
"I wanted to kill him before he made the changes," she said gruffly. "But the opportunity never presented. When I found out he’d already been to his lawyer, I had to change my plan. Make it look like Lark had done the deed, so she wouldn’t be able to receive the inheritance. I used my hidden stairwell." She waved a hand toward the doorway where I'd found the jugs of cleaner already. "Way back in the day, before Artemis had this place basically rebuilt from the ground up, that was a servant's stairway. It was a way for the kitchen staff to bring food and drink directly to the master room—quicker than going through the rest of the house, so they could attend to the needs of their employers efficiently. Over the years, everyone forgot it was there except for me. But then you and that fan boy had to go and screw everything up. It delayed Lark's arrest."
Tessa gave her that. Silas’s bout of espionage had put a wrench in a lot of things. But it didn’t explain everything. She squinted at Mrs. Green. "Why did you kill Nathaniel, then?"
"Well, once I had my way, Hannah was to inherit everything. But she would have let that worthless son-in-law of mine take control of things. She was never a leader. Not like I was in my youth. That was before my ailment.
“No. Hannah always preferred to defer to her husband. And he would've driven our business and her fortune into the ground. I never did like him, and neither did Artemis. It was one of the few things we agreed on during the last twenty years of our marriage. Is that enough truth for you, girl?" Mrs. Green took several steps forward, re-aiming the gun to make sure it was centered on Tessa's chest. The floor squeaked under her feet.
Desperately, Tessa tried to figure out how to keep the woman talking. "You don't really want to do this." She put a note of pleading into her tone that she hoped would draw Mrs. Green's attention.
In her purse, though she had turned the phone down as low as it would go, she recognized the annoying buzz of the emergency reap alert. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Was the emergency reap for her? Which one of the agency’s reapers would come to help her cross the veil?
Mrs. Green put a sweet smile on her face. "Oh, you’re trespassing. I'm well within my rights to shoot you. I'll simply tell them you were up here trying to steal jewelry, and when I walked in on you, you attacked me."
The floor squeaked again.
But Mrs. Green hadn’t moved. Confusion crossed her face, and she turned to look over her shoulder.
Tessa surged forward, crouching low in case Mrs. Green pulled the trigger. She crashed into the old woman’s knees, and they both went down. The gun flew out of Mrs. Green’s hand. Her knee came up, nailing Tessa in the solar plexus. She wasn’t kidding about her rehabilitation.
Tessa gasped for air, folding into a fetal position. Mrs. Green inched across the floor toward the gun.
Fighting through the pain and lack of oxygen, Tessa wrenched herself around. She had to get to the gun before Mrs. Green if she wanted to live.
But as they both reached for the weapon, Tessa knew she was too late. Mrs. Green was an inch closer.
Just before the elderly woman’s wrinkled hand could close on the pistol’s handle, the gun moved on its own, away from her grasp.
Tessa craned her neck to watch the gun float from the floor up into the air. Mrs. Green gaped like a fish trying to get oxygen out of the air on a boat deck. “What? Who? What?” she sputtered.
But Tessa knew exactly who was in that invisible space. Gloria didn’t address Mrs. Green. Instead, her words were meant for Tessa. “I guess I was the closest reaper around
when the emergency reap alert went off. I was meant to take you across the veil. But that would have been a lot of paperwork, and I’m just getting started in management, so I thought I’d buy you some time until the cavalry arrives instead.”
As though on cue, the soft sound of sirens floated through the air. Gloria helped Tessa to her feet. The invisible reaper and the gun headed down the hidden stairwell.
Mrs. Green pushed herself to a sitting position. She was back to looking old and frail, her expensive clothes rumpled and her hair wisping loose from its braid. “I hope you don’t think you’re done with me,” she hissed at Tessa.
“Oh, I don’t,” Tessa answered. “Somehow, I’m positive you and I will be crossing paths again soon. Very soon. But I’ll probably be working in my official capacity when that happens.”
Chapter 22
SILAS HELPED TESSA out of his pick-up truck with a strong, warm hand, and they crossed the parking lot together. “I’ve been wanting to try this place,” he said. “Good call on the restaurant choice.”
Tessa could almost taste the pad thai already. “I hope they have good spring rolls. That’s how I judge Thai restaurants.”
Gloria waited by the place’s front door, arm-in-arm with another woman. Gloria wore spiked heels that sent her soaring over everyone but Silas, and that was close.
Tessa admired Gloria’s miniskirt and embroidered pink shirt. “Much better than the pant suit.” She grinned.
Gloria rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a thank you for being the best boss ever and saving your behind more than once.” She winked. “This is Ella.”
Tessa beamed at the blonde, who wore her hair in two braids and sported huge round glasses. They shook hands, and Tessa could already feel a kinship. She threw an arm around Ella and headed into the restaurant. “So, tell me. What’s it like to date Gloria? She’s super bossy, right?”
Unfortunately, Ella wouldn’t give Tessa any good dirt. She merely smiled and kept repeating that Gloria was lovely and had no bad habits.
Once they had their drinks and had ordered food, Gloria regarded Tessa. “I heard the cops found footage of Mrs. Green leaving the house the night Nathaniel died.”
Tessa took a sip of ice water and nodded. “I had to give Detective Taggert a nudge on that one, but they found it eventually. She took the golf cart Mr. Green had used to get around the property, heading in the direction of Hannah and Nathaniel’s house. Between that and the cleaner in her secret passageway, there’s enough to charge her.”
“Great instincts, finding that hidden stairwell and that stuff,” Gloria said. “How’d you know to look for it?”
Heat burned Tessa’s cheeks. “I didn’t. I was actually looking for some evidence that Mrs. Green had practiced Nathaniel’s handwriting. When I saw a Post-It note on my apartment door, written by someone other than Silas, who usually writes them, I remembered Hannah saying the suicide note wasn’t in her husband’s handwriting. Then, I remembered something Mrs. Cross told me about Mrs. Green—that after she got sick, she spent a lot of time inside practicing calligraphy. That’s when I realized she must have killed Nathaniel.”
Gloria held up her glass for Tessa to clink. “Well, cheers. Glad that’s over. As your new boss, I’d like to request that you stay out of any future murder investigations, okay?”
“Okay.” Mentally, Tessa was crossing her fingers behind her back. Physically, her fingers were laced with Silas’s.
“I really do want to avoid extra paperwork.” Gloria pursed her lips. “Besides, I’m going to have to focus on finding and training a new reaper to take my place. That should be fun.”
“How does one find a new reaper?” Tessa wondered aloud. She made a mental note that Ella knew their real job. She wasn’t surprised, after the way Gloria had encouraged her to be truthful with Silas about it. “I think my mom chose me just because I was desperate for a job and she didn’t want me to move in with her.”
Everyone laughed. The smile stayed on Gloria’s lips as she answered. “Well, there are a lot of ways to go about it. But, generally, if there is someone around who already knows about reapers and has proven themselves to have good values and a stellar work ethic, that’s where we start.” Her gaze slid over to land on Silas.
Shock coursed through Tessa, making her feel weak for a second. She set the water glass down.
But Silas didn’t look surprised. He just gazed back at Tessa, calm as could be.
“Wait, you already offered him the job?” Tessa asked.
“Yep.”
Tessa’s head whipped around to Silas. “And you said yes?”
He held out his hands. “I’m kind of in a tight spot,” he said. “I’ve already been looking for maintenance jobs, but the pickings are pretty slim.” He shrugged. “If you don’t want me to accept, I understand.”
Tessa drew in a breath and thought about it for a minute. Was it a good idea to mix romance and work?
Probably not.
But Silas’s expression, even though it was obvious he was trying to keep it blank, held a hint of pleading. He really wanted to do it. Who was she to block him from being a reaper?
“Congratulations!” She squeezed his hand. “You’ll be an awesome reaper.”
Relief skipped over his features. “I hope so.”
“Aw! How sweet,” Ella sighed and leaned into her girlfriend.
“Yeah. Lovebirds who get to be co-workers too.” She put on a fake stern expression and pointed at Tessa and Silas. “I expect you to be professional and get along. Souls come first,” she chided.
Tessa nodded along with Silas. Yeah. They could make it work. It was going to fine. Maybe even fun.
She pushed away thoughts of working with Frank and how not well that had gone. Silas wasn’t Frank. He was everything Frank wasn’t. Someone she wanted to take home.
Everything would be okay.
THE NEXT MONDAY, TESSA made it a point to get to work early. It was Silas’s first day on the job, and she wanted to be there before him.
She was surprised to see her mother in the lobby when she walked in. “Oh. Hi. What are you doing here?”
Cheryl gestured to a cardboard box on the floor next to her. “Just grabbing the last of my things.” She glanced at her watch. “You’re here early.”
“I’m turning over a new leaf,” Tessa said. “I’m nose-to-the-grindstone girl now.”
Cheryl smirked. “Big plans. Good luck with that.” She tapped perfect red nails on the reception desk. “You’re doing a good job, you know,” she said finally. “I’m proud of you.”
Woah. “Thanks, Mom.” There was more she wanted to say, but the words didn’t want to come. There hadn’t been many times in Tessa’s life when Cheryl had verbalized her feelings so clearly. It felt . . . good.
But the moment was over quickly. Cheryl turned away, flipping through some papers on the desk. “I did do a little something for you. Consider it a gift before I go.”
“Really? What’d you do?”
Cheryl glanced at Tessa and then away again. “I used the reaper secret Mr. Blade gave me years ago to smooth things over for you and Silas.”
Excitement spiked in Tessa’s chest. Cheryl had alluded to the fact that she’d been given a gift from the Grim Reaper but refused to say what it was. “What does that mean?”
“I cleared your and Silas’s involvement in the murder case from the minds of the officers and those involved.”
Tessa’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You can wipe people’s memories?”
Cheryl grinned. “Yes.”
“Wow. That’s so cool.” Tessa mulled it over for a minute, considering how that gift could really come in handy for a reaper agency. Then a thought occurred to her, and her eyes widened. “Wait, did you ever use that on me?”
Cheryl’s eyebrows twitched upward a fraction, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she said, “I considered letting Mrs. Green remember what she heard and saw but that would likely have landed her in a psych war
d. I’d rather see her in jail for murdering two people, so I wiped her memory too.”
“Mom . . .” Tessa’s tone was suspicious.
“What?” Cheryl wore an innocent look. “Wouldn’t you like to thank me? I couldn’t have our new reaper starting out in hot water with the local police department.”
Tessa heard a car door close. A glance outside revealed that Silas was on his way inside.
Cheryl finally pushed away the papers and faced her daughter. “And the only hot water you’re in now, Theresa, is with me.”
“What? Why am I in trouble with you?” Tessa wondered if Pepper had done something destructive in the house. Of course, she was going to have to find somewhere else to live soon because it was already up for sale, and Tessa couldn’t have Pepper at the apartment anymore. Silas was looking for a new place too.
“Because you haven’t bothered to introduce me to your new boyfriend,” Cheryl said with a smile.
Tessa barked out a laugh as Silas came through the door. He looked handsome and ready to tackle his new life. “Well, let’s fix that, shall we?”
Also By Christine Zane Thomas
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Book 2: Never Been Hexed
Book 3: Must Love Charms
Book 4: You’ve Got Spells
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