by Sharp, Tracy
“Thanks, man. You’re exactly what I needed today. Wanna go another round?”
He stared at me, his eyes wary. “No, I’m sorry. Can I go?”
“Who sent you?”
He opened his mouth to answer but I put my fingers over his lips to silence him.
“You know what? Never mind. I don’t even care. Tell you what. I’m going to let you go. Let you live to tell the tale. Believe me, you come around here again, I’ll cut your balls off. I mean it.”
He nodded, then grimaced. He must’ve pulled a muscle in his neck. “Okay,” he croaked.
“You tell whoever it was that sent you to grow up and stop being such a spoilsport. If he doesn’t want me stealing his pretty ride, he should make his damn payments. You tell him that for me, okay?”
“Yeah.”
I patted his cheek. “Good boy.”
I got off him and he scrambled to get up. He wasted no time getting to the kitchen and heading out the door.
I nodded to myself, took a deep breath and stretched. I checked my watch. Ten to four. Still had two hours to kill. I’d take a shower, then maybe sit outside and sip on a beer before Cal showed up.
Cool.
First I needed to check my mail. I don’t check my mailbox every day. I just forget. I figure the bills can wait a few days before I look at them.
So I made my way across the yard, squinting in the sunshine as I went. I was beginning to feel like a vampire. Since I lost my construction job, so much of my time out is spent in a car watching a target and lots of times the surveillance occurs at night. I’m not used to being directly under the sunshine anymore and my deep, bronze tan had faded. I’d have to find some time to sit outside with a book like a normal person.
I opened the mailbox, surprised to see a small, brown package sitting in there. I picked the package up and frowned. It was a padded envelope with what felt like a small box inside it. There was no return address. I lifted the package to my ear. It wasn’t ticking, so I figured it was somewhat safe to open.
Using a thumbnail, I made a tear large enough to rip the rest of the envelope open without much trouble. The small box was taped shut with regular Scotch tape. I shook it lightly. There was something hard inside but the clunking sound it made as it hit the sides of the box was muffled by something else. I tore at the ends of the tape and finally got the box open. White tissue paper surrounded the item inside. I moved the tissue aside and my mouth dropped open. I caught my breath and stared at the object, awed by how beautiful and exotic it was.
Sitting in the box was a small, jade dragonfly with gold wings and sapphires for eyes. A hole had been drilled through the end of the body, and a long, red cord had been strung through it. It was a stunning pendent. I’d never seen anything like it. This was certainly a family heirloom. Nobody made jewelry like this anymore. I was sure of it. And jade was a stone used in Asian countries to make jewelry and figurines.
My eyes caught the corner of a small piece of folded lined paper tucked inside the bottom of the box. With one hand I worked the note open, careful not to drop the dragonfly. Two words were written in neat script on the center of the paper.
Thank you.
I looked at the dragonfly and smiled. I knew the meaning of a dragonfly. I’d read somewhere that it was a symbol of strength and courage. I looped the cord over my head and felt the weight of the dragonfly pulling the cord gently against the back of my neck. The weight of it was comforting. I held the dragonfly in my hand for a moment. It was far too precious a gift to accept but somebody had wanted me to have it.
I let the pendent drop and it hung between my breasts, somehow making me feel more grounded.
Then I made my way back to the house to get ready for my date with Callahan.
We had a lot of catching up to do. And I did mean to catch up.
A lot.
THE NEXT
LEAH RYAN MYSTERY
“FINDING CHLOE”
COMING SOON
WWW.EMPIREBOOKSTORE.COM
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Contents
Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty