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Ha! So he wasn’t a cop. I knew it.
“Let me guess, Tony owes you money, right? Well, he left this morning, and he’s probably not coming back. He doesn’t live here, and before he showed up yesterday, I hadn’t seen him in years.”
The door handle to the powder room turned and broke, and the door opened. Ugh! So much for locks. I reached for the first thing I could get my hands on, which happened to be a super intimidating pump bottle of foaming soap. I brandished it in front of me like a weapon.
The stranger took one look at me and burst out laughing.
I tried to use the moment to squeeze past him, but he grabbed me hard by the arm. I hissed, sounding much like my cat, and tried to pull away. I found myself smashed up against a hard, muscular body. The guy was huge and could squash me like a bug if he wanted to. At five foot six, I was average in height, and with my love of all things yummy, I was…well, slightly above average in everything else, especially my breasts, hips and thighs. But next to him, I felt positively tiny.
I let out the loudest scream I could, hoping to wake the neighbors, but before anything more than a squeak could come out, he slapped a thick palm over my mouth. It felt almost furry, which was weird, and something sharp pressed against my cheek. Claws? What the hell was I up against?
Sriracha swiped a paw at him before leaping to the floor and sprinting under the couch.
With his hand still over my mouth, he turned me to face him. “You’re the thief? You’ve got to be kidding me—never mind. Let’s get to work. Tell me where the artifact is, and no one gets hurt, okay?” He narrowed his eyes at me. I could see now that the glow in them was most definitely yellow, almost the same color as Sriri’s eyes. “You’ve probably already guessed I’m not with the police, and I’m not with the EA, either. Which means I don’t need to follow any of their stupid rules. My client doesn’t care what I do, so long as he gets his stolen artifact back.”
Stolen artifact? That was unexpected. That wasn’t Tony’s usual MO. Usually it would be drugs or something.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said the moment he took his hand from my mouth.
“I know it’s here, woman. We have video evidence of the thief entering this abode yesterday around this time.”
That had to be my brother, then. The douche canoe probably stole whatever-it-was to sell for a quick buck and used my place as a safe house, thereby putting me in the line of fire. Ugh! I was going to neuter him the next time I saw him!
Mr. Big and Scary turned me back around, his arms still around me, my back to him, the crook of his elbow right under my chin.
“From now on, you do as I say. And you’re going to start by showing me where you hid the locket. March.”
“I already told you: I have no idea what you’re talking about. My brother dropped by unannounced yesterday, so it’s probably him. But I had to work in the morning, so I went to bed after letting him in. He was gone by the time I woke up. If he left anything in the house, that’s completely on him. I have no idea about it, but you’re welcome to have a look.”
As if I could stop him.
“Lies. He’s still here. I’ve been watching the video feeds all day. He never left.”
I don’t know who this guy got his information from, but they were dead wrong. I was one hundred and ten percent sure Tony had left. I’d searched the whole house for him, even the basement, which had all my parents’ old stuff in it. I hated going down there because seeing their things made me miss them. That was why I’d redecorated with a bunch of cheap crap when I moved in. Cheap crap didn’t have memories attached to it.
“Well, in that case”—I gestured grandly at my tiny home—“go right ahead and find him.”
Chapter 2
Mateo
The pretty blonde woman was glaring at me with so much righteous anger that it made me wonder for a fraction of a second if I’d gone to the wrong house. The Persian cat she held in her arms looked similarly pissed off.
She’d taken the time to throw on a plush, dark blue robe, but the tie had come loose as we struggled, revealing a silky black nightie underneath. It was cut low at the front, and the swell of her ample breasts peeked out the top. It was everything I could do not to stare.
“Are you happy now?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips. The movement pulled the hem of her robe open, flashing me a glimpse of generous thigh, which was even more enticing to me than her assets up above.
I forced myself to drag my eyes away and look up at her face. She was cute. Not Hollywood starlet beautiful, but the adorable, make-your-heart-melt kind. The kind that made me jealous of the cat in her arms. Even angry, she was fetching.
I searched her entire house but found nothing. The only strange thing was the spare room, which was set up with a pet grooming station, complete with hose and tub. That seemed like a lot for one tiny cat.
There was also magical residue in her living room, but that was pretty standard for most homes here in Darlington, what with all the witches and wizards living here. She must be a witch of some sort. Not a green one, though. I’d seen the bedraggled state of the houseplants languishing on her windowsill.
But I knew now that the thief had been here. I could smell his cologne, the same one I’d scented at the museum where Desmon’s priceless treasure had gone missing. It was only faint, even with my exceptional sense of smell. Like he’d stepped into the home only briefly, then left.
That was impossible. I’d hacked into the various home security cameras in the neighborhood and had been monitoring this place since last night. He should still be inside! But now I’d personally searched the tiny home, a shoe box really, inside and out, and sure enough there was no one in it but one very disgruntled woman.
I also hadn’t found the locket, or should I say the half locket, that had been stolen from Desmon’s collection. It had been on display at the Darlington Museum—also owned by the dragon of Darlington—and was being packed up for return to his private collection when it had gone missing. The prime suspect was one of the museum’s student volunteers.
