Page 29 of Trick Knot Treat

“He’s mean to me! He thinks I’m an idiot.”

“Did he say that to your face?”

“Yes, several times.”

“Were you doing anything stupid at the time?”

Clint scowls at me. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“No, you don’t. Go away.”

He growls. “No, I was here first. It’s my beach. You go away.”

We stare at each other and then suddenly explode in giggles.

Clint reaches into his pocket and pulls out two lollipops and offers me one.

I take the peace offering.

“Felix is amazing. He’s everything that is special, and he doesn’t belong here. He should be on the arms of billionaires discussing politics and fine arts,” Clint says in a rare display of seriousness. I think that admission hurts him.

My heart is in my throat as I turn and study the look of desire on the alpha’s face.

My plan just got a little bit out of hand and is now jet streaming in the right direction.

What a wonderful day.

Chapter 8

Jace

“I’m telling you, those bikers are up to no good. They flew off into the sky and brought the alien gods here!” The old woman jabs her finger into my chest. It hurts, but I don’t let her see it. I do not let my professional courtesy smile slip, not even a fraction of an inch. I am a professional, damnit!

Some days, my job is hard.

And then there are days like today. Days where I wonder if all the training I did was even worth it. Policing the rural coastline is always full of delightful surprises. Honestly, I’m going to retire in five years and write a memoir. It will go on to be a bestseller, and Clint and I can retire together in luxury. All of it due to the bizarre and strange jobs I get called to investigate.

“They stole my cat!” she shrieks so suddenly and loudly that I almost draw my gun.

“Meow.”

We both turn and look at the white and black patchwork cat with a crooked tail that makes its way toward us with a pep in its step and this expectation that the world owes it.

“That’s not my cat,” she screams, stumbling backwards, waving her hands like it’s going to latch onto her face and deposit an alien baby in her chest. “It's an alien stray. A body snatcher! A cat body snatcher.” She wails, waving her arms dangerously close to my face.

I dodge back and wonder if I’m going to get danger pay.

“Mrs Turnpike, I think perhaps those bikers were simply passing through, and they were just people.” I think those bikers were probably flickers of something in her brain that she conjured to create her delusion, but that’s not my job to decide.

I sigh heavily and reach for her, but she skitters back. I can’t leave her like this, it’s not safe.

“You don’t believe me?” She howls at such volume that I step back. “I’m ringing your senior! We’ll see what he says about your lice.”

She gets a really good slap to the side of my face. It burns, and I know there’s going to be a red hand print for hours. For such a thin, frail-looking beta, she packs a punch.

I blink rapidly, trying to clear the tears from my eyes. “My…lice?”

“It’s not right for a grown officer of the naval yards having lice like a damn stray.”