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I ask the woman if she could give me the start date of an employee I’m thinking about moving to my secretarial pool, a woman by the name of Regina Pacheco.
She texts back almost instantly.
I’ll get this to you asap. Thanks for thinking of me, Essex.
She finishes it off with a little winking emoji and my stomach churns. I wasn’t thinking about her per se, but whatever gets the job done at this point.
If I can get her to give me the start date, then I can get her to give me Regina Pacheco’s employee file.
I’ll find out all I need to know about the mystery woman before the week is through.
Not that I think for a minute Regina Pacheco is her real name. Noah said she was a ghost. But even a ghost has an origin somewhere.
Whoever she is, the jig is up.
LOTTIE
The living room has cleared out after Evie’s impromptu, and rather unofficial, graduation party. And yet just seeing the congratulations graduate banner over the table brings fresh tears to my eyes.
I can hardly believe I have any tears left to give, I cried enough to fill up Honey Hollow Lake twice over at the ceremony.
How did everything fly by so quickly? It feels as if she just started Honey Hollow High.
Noah and Everett are both sprawled out on the sofas, each with one of my sweet cats in their lap as they stare off at the television on the wall.
I can’t blame them for going catatonic. We ate enough carbs to put each one of us in a food coma for the rest of the summer.
“Don’t start without me,” Carlotta shouts as she rushes down the stairs past me and nearly knocks me over the railing. “Give me a chance to set my tripod up.”
A spray of blue and silver stars ignites as Teeny Weenie joins the party.
“Weenie is here,” I shout to Noah and Everett.
“Don’t start without me.” The cute pup gives a happy little bark as he zips around the room, arousing the attention of both Pancake and Waffles. “What are we starting? Is that dinner I see?”
“You missed the big buffet,” Carlotta tells him. “But don’t get your stubby tail in a twist. There are a few crumbs left. Go on and get your fill with the cats before the big show starts. Lot Lot is about to get her fill of a few teeny weenies herself.” She looks at Noah and Everett. “Sorry, boys, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Stop,” I tell her as I land on the sofa between my two favorite men. “And for Pete’s sake, why are you still wearing that wreath of mourning? Every time I see it, I feel as if the sky is going to fall on my head because of it. You’d have better luck walking around with a hammer and breaking every mirror in the house.” I think about it for a moment.
“But don’t do that,” Everett adds.
He’s right. Knowing Carlotta, she’s already plotting out which mirror to break first.
“Let’s focus on the case,” Everett suggests.
I cluck my tongue at my handsome hubby. “It’s nice to see we’re on the same page for once regarding my investigation—and Noah’s, of course.”
“I sure am.” Everett tips his head. “The sooner we dissect the suspects, the sooner Noah will do a disappearing act.” He looks at his old stepbrother. “Lemon and I have babies to make—or at least to practice doing so. And once we get to the real deal, I wouldn’t mind if a couple of sons came of it as my sister suggested.”
A laugh bubbles from me. “Meghan is full of great ideas.”
“What would you name them?” Carlotta asks as the light turns green on her old VHS recorder, the size of a briefcase.
“Carlotta, would you take that thing down?” I insist. “It’s precariously perched on that tripod. If it falls, it could kill a cat.”
She waves me off. “Names, please.”
Everett looks my way. “We could name them after our fathers, Edward and Joseph?”
