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I led Owen through the crowd to where one of the local deputies was trying to keep the crowd back.
I’d gone to high school with him and had seen him around town since I’d been back. “Hey, Jason!” I called out. “What happened here?”
He grinned as he pushed back his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Damnedest thing—oh, sorry, didn’t mean to curse in front of you. Anyway, most of these stores were robbed overnight, very select things taken, no sign of forced entry.”
“Really? What kind of stuff was stolen?”
“Oh, the kind of stuff you’d take if you had five free minutes in a store—and a criminal mind, of course. Some jewelry from the jewelry store. Not the really good stuff, because that was locked up, but a few of the pieces they had on display. Some of their china. A few of the more expensive knickknacks from the pharmacy’s gift shop, that kind of thing. They didn’t seem to be after drugs, and they didn’t even take the over-the-counter stuff that can be made into crystal meth, which is what we see in most drugstore robberies these days.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said. “Thanks for the scoop.”
He tipped his hat to me. “Any time, Katie.”
“So, there we are,” I said as Owen and I wove our way back out of the crowd. “It’s almost like this whole correspondence course is on how to use magic to get rich quick.”
He scanned the crowd. “I bet our culprit is here right now. They say a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Someone who’s pleased with himself for doing something so clever wouldn’t be able to resist watching the aftermath.”
“There’s one problem with that: Everyone in the whole town is here. I already see at least two of my brothers and every single one of our suspects.”
In fact, Gene was walking right toward us, though his attention was elsewhere, so I doubted he was really aiming at us. The clock in the courthouse tower chimed, and he frowned and glanced at his watch. “The clock is five minutes slow,” he announced to no one in particular. “Someone should do something about that.” He changed course and headed off, apparently to do just that.
Teddy came up to us in Gene’s wake. “This is something else, isn’t it?” he said. “Who’d have thought this town would have its own criminal genius?” Then he frowned and looked at Owen. “Do I know you?”
“Teddy, this is my friend Owen, who’s here from New York. He was in the store yesterday when you were running around talking about your formula.”
The light dawned in Teddy’s eyes. “Oh yeah, I thought you looked familiar.” He shook Owen’s hand.
“Welcome. So, you’re friends with my little sister, huh? I’m glad to hear she has friends up in New York.”
“Teddy,” I groaned.
Dean then joined us. “Hey, it’s practically a family reunion,” he said, draping his arms around Teddy and me. “My favorite sister and my second-favorite brother.”
“Second-favorite?” Teddy knew the routine well enough to act affronted. Then he turned to Owen and asked, “Do you believe this guy?”
“Whoa, no forming outside alliances,” Dean said with a laugh. “I thought you and I were supposed to gang up on the new guy to make sure he’s good enough for our baby sister.”
“I think Katie’s smart enough to choose for herself.”
I stepped out from under Dean’s arm and blew a kiss at Teddy. “And that’s why you’re my smartest brother,” I said. “Now, we have things to do. You can torture Owen tonight at dinner.”
Once we were in the car and pulling away from the square, Owen said, “I’m glad my intentions toward you are totally honorable. It looks like you’re well defended.”
“They’re all talk. You have nothing to worry about, so you don’t have to keep your intentions too honorable.” I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the flush that spread across his cheeks.
We drove out to a roadside picnic area on a creek bank, complete with sheltered table. I hated to admit that my mother was right, but it really was the perfect spot for a romantic picnic. Mom had even packed the picnic basket accordingly, with dainty finger sandwiches, strawberries, and other foods that were perfect for feeding to each other. She’d also included a tablecloth and plastic dishes. I set the table, wondering if maybe, just maybe, he had some other agenda in bringing me out here. We could have talked work almost anywhere, but this was the perfect place to talk about us.
“It’s nice out here,” he said as he sat at the table. “I guess that creek over there is the same one that runs through town.”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” I passed him the plate of sandwiches. “Do you think the magical creatures are there?”
He took a few sandwiches and passed the plate back to me. “Maybe. They’ve probably moved out of town, but we wouldn’t see them at this time of day. They tend to be nocturnal.”
“I guess we’ll have to come back at night, then.” I could certainly go for that.
“If we need them, we will.”
I tried not to sigh in frustration that the conversation was stuck on work, but I couldn’t think of a way to bring up anything else. Life was so much easier in junior high when you could hand a guy a note that said, “Do you like me? Check yes or no.” Not that I’d ever had the nerve to do that kind of thing, even when I was in junior high. I picked up a strawberry and put it to my lips, trying to eat it as seductively as I could. The juice dripping down my chin to stain my shirt probably didn’t help the image I was trying to project.
