The Deadly Diadem: A Paranormal Artifacts Cozy Mystery (Paranormal Artifacts Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by Tegan Maher (paper ebook reader txt) 📗

Katie stuffed my money in the drawer and pulled out my change. I didn’t pick up so much as a wisp of guilt, though I did sense some concern. “Since you picked up on it too, I’ll admit she’s been a little off lately. Business has been great. We’re all making money, so we’re starting to wonder if she’s working too hard, or if maybe she’s feeling a little down because she’s hitting the big six-oh soon. I know turning thirty killed me. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when I’m lookin’ down the barrel at sixty. We’re all pitchin’ in and throwing her a party, though. We’ll make sure to invite you guys.”

She handed me my change, and I was relieved that she’d passed the sniff test. Not even a hint of guilt when she’d been handling the money or deception when she’d been talking about her finances. I’d keep looking.

Chapter 11

I was just walking out the door when James called.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked. It was weird that I hadn’t talked to him in five years until all this had started, but this was the third time I’d talked to him today.

“Hey. I’m riding out to talk to Lindy, the girl in the red dress. I know it’s been a long day, but I thought maybe you’d want to come. Maybe you have some special power that will help find the diadem.”

“I don’t know about that other than being able to sense the magic.” I didn’t think it was necessary to tell him about the lie-detecting thing. It might be better to feed him a bite at a time rather than shoving the whole cake in his face.

“That’s one more talent than I have, then. Where you at?”

“I’m just leaving the Clam.” I was almost embarrassed to admit it since he’d picked me up there after lunch, but there it was. Magic burned a ton of calories, and though I was nowhere near starving to death, I did have to eat a little more than the average person to maintain my slightly padded physique.

He laughed. “I feel like you should just move in there.”

“Yeah, maybe, but you have to admit there are much worse places to hang out.” I pushed out the door and into the sunshine. “Do you want me to meet you somewhere?”

“Nah, as it happens, I’m just leaving the office. I can pick you up in two minutes if you don’t mind leaving your car there.”

I ran back inside, figuring a pit stop would be a good thing if we were headed to interview someone. The last thing I needed was for the two glasses of tea I’d just drunk to run through me right when we were knocking on somebody’s front door, especially considering where I figured we were going.

James pulled up right as I was walking back outside, and I climbed in.

“Well hello, again,” he said, smiling at me. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

I grinned. “I only look like a nice girl. I’m a real witch once you get to know me.”

That was a line Eli and I used, but I wondered after I said it if it was too early to joke like that with James. Apparently, it wasn’t.

“I’ve heard that about you, but I prefer to think you’re just a magical woman.” His eyes were sparkling, which gave me hope that he was starting to accept who I was.

“Thank you! I keep trying to tell Eli that, but he insists the former is more accurate.”

He pulled out of the lot, and his expression turned serious. “I feel guilty joking at a time like this.”

I knew what he meant, but it wasn’t fair for him to think that he should feel guilty or be serious all the time. That’s how a job consumed you. “A time like what? I know what’s going on is no laughing matter, but I also know you can’t let that be the end-all to your existence. You have to be able to compartmentalize or else you’ll drown. And I don’t just mean that about this case. It applies to everything. In your line of work, if you can’t do that, you’ll burn out and lose yourself inside of a decade.”

“Yeah, that’s what Dad keeps telling me, too. I’m working on it.” He cast me a sideways glance as we turned toward Old Town. “It doesn’t help that I don’t have a life outside of work.”

I raised a brow at him. “Then you need to get one.” I realized too late I’d stepped right into the trap.

“I haven’t had the easiest time doing that since we broke up. First, it was the shock that everything I thought I knew about my world might not be the truth. Or at least the whole truth. Then I started missing you and regretting being so hasty with the breakup.”

So here it was. The Talk.

“I know it wasn’t the ideal way for you to find out. I wish it would have been different. If it makes any difference, I was planning on telling you. I just hadn’t worked up the nerve yet.” I left off the part about being afraid to lose him. That was a carrot I wasn’t sure I wanted to hold out.

He shrugged. “It’s not too late. Like we were discussing at the coffee shop, I still have feelings for you.”

I started to interrupt, but he held up his hand.

“The coffee spill was fortuitous, though. I shouldn’t have come at you like that, just asking out of the blue, putting you on the spot. It was an impulse, and I wish I could take it back.”

I decided to take the out. “Thank you. Things have been a real mess lately, and I honestly don’t have the headspace to deal with the artifacts and face something that heavy at the same time. To be honest, I