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Kayla shook her head sharply and swung the beam away. She wasn't here to think about her mother. She was here to find out who killed her. And she didn't need ghosts for that. She needed science.
She took her backpack off and unzipped it. Inside was her Junior Detective kit. She had a camera, too. A real one. It was on her mom's old cell phone, which Grandma let her keep for emergencies. She took it out for a picture of the blood. Blood stains were important. They could tell you--
A creak overhead. Kayla froze. Then she shook her head. Just a noisy old building. She aimed the flashlight with one hand, holding the cell with the other--
This time footsteps sounded above her, crossing the first floor, the distinct thump-thump of someone walking.
She swallowed.
Just the police officer. Or maybe Chief Bruyn, come back to check something. Or someone from town, also trying to sneak a peek at the crime scene.
But what if it was someone else?
Kayla had read every book in the library on murder investigations. One line came back to her now. The killer may return to the scene of the crime.
It seemed crazy to come back after you'd gotten away, but Kayla trusted the books and, listening to those footsteps, her heart hammered.
Then it hit her. If this was the killer, maybe she really could solve her mother's death. All she had to do was hide and see who showed up.
A click from upstairs--the basement door opening.
Kayla turned off her flashlight and tucked herself into the shadows beside the old furnace.
one
For five years, I'd toiled as executive assistant slave to Lucas and Paige and now, finally, I was in charge. For the next week anyway.
The plaque still read Cortez-Winterbourne Investigations, but that could be easily changed with the deft use of an energy bolt spell. Levine Investigations rolled off the tongue so much more easily. At one time, I would have done it, if only as a joke, but there are things you can get away with at sixteen that just don't fly at twenty-one.
I used my key card, then crept through the lobby, trying to squelch the click of my heels.
"Savannah!" a voice chirped behind me. "I thought I heard you come in."
I started a cover spell, but Tina had already spotted me. I considered a knockback spell--make her trip and give me time to escape. But that would, sadly, not be a good way to launch my week playing a responsible adult.
When Paige said we were getting an accountant for a tenant, I'd thought, Great, someone nice and quiet. That was the stereotype, but apparently, no one had told Tina.
"I'm so glad I caught you," she said. "It's almost ten and no one's in the office yet."
It was 9:14.
"There was a man here looking for Lucas," she continued. "I called upstairs and the phone rang and rang. Did he and Paige leave on vacation already? I know Adam is at a conference. In Spokane, isn't he?"
I made a noncommittal noise. Tina might be human, but she had a supernatural sense for snooping. Adam said we should hire her. I threatened to give her his home address and that shut him up.
"I hate to tell you kids how to run your business, but you really need to have someone up there during business hours. It's no wonder you have hardly any clients. You need a full-time receptionist." She patted my arm. "Yes, I know, dear, you're the receptionist, but you're always flitting off, doing god-knows-what. I could--"
"Oh, my cell phone's vibrating," I lied. "Could be a client. I'll talk to Paige about drop-ins."
"It's no bother, dear. I wanted to speak to you anyway. I think I have a job for you." Tina lowered her voice, though we were the only ones in the lobby. "I started dating this man. A widower I met online."
"And you want me to run a background check? Good idea."
"Oh, no. A man has the right to his privacy. It's just ... Well, I was watching this show on private investigators, about a firm of women hired by other women to test their mate's loyalty."
It took me a second to catch her drift. "You want me to try to seduce your boyfriend?"
Her lips pursed. "Certainly not. Just get dolled up, talk to him, flirt with him, and see whether he'll flirt back."
