The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

The spirit nodded. “That’s all I needed.”

Tessa stopped in the hallway and turned toward Mary. “Could I use your restroom before we go?”

“Sure.” Mary gestured toward the room.

When Tessa closed herself in, Chet was already there.

“You’ve been a major problem for me, you know,” she whispered as she waved a hand and the beam of light cut through the air.

“I’m sorry about that.” Chet floated along the beam, his expression serene. “But sometimes you gamble and win. That’s what I did.”

“Wait a second,” Tessa cried as Chet moved ahead quickly. “Who killed you?”

But he didn’t answer. And in the next instant, he was gone.

Chapter 16

TESSA SPENT SOME TIME fighting the urge to go to her mom’s house and gloat. She was having quite the day. Two spirits. It looked like reality was going to be fine. Now that Chet Sanborn had passed over, there was nothing much to fret about.

In the end, she figured Cheryl’d probably got some kind of notification from the higher-ups about it. And since she hadn’t already called Tessa to congratulate her, it probably meant she was going to ignore the accomplishment altogether.

So, Tessa decided not to waste her time. She asked Silas to take her back to the apartment. After all, it was Sunday afternoon and Pepper was probably plotting something evil to get revenge for all the time she’d been forced to spend alone that week. Instead of a hair ball, Tessa may find herself stepping in something worse within the next few days.

She thought she should spend some quality time playing wand toy with the cat to avoid such a horrifying fate. And maybe after today’s work, she could make things official and start paying Pepper’s pet fee at the apartment.

But something niggled at her mind. Chet hadn’t told Tessa who killed him. Of course, it really wasn’t her problem anymore. She’d found her mark and sent him to the other side like she was supposed to do. Figuring out who’d killed him in the first place was the cops’ puzzle to solve.

And yet . . .

“Aargh.” She turned toward Silas, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"What? Is it talk like a pirate day?”

“No.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not. But I need a favor.”

“Another one?”

“Can you take me to the casino again?”

“I guess.” He glanced at her before returning his eyes to the road and doing a legal U-turn after missing several spots to do one illegally.

“That was kind of strange back at Mark Sanborn’s house . . .”

A tingle traveled up her spine. She concentrated hard on not biting her lower lip. “Was it? What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, I guess.” After thirty seconds of silence, he said, “I mean, it was just kind of crazy how you put that all together—about the card and it being back in the armoire. And then the note from Chet to his son. It just worked out so . . . so perfectly.”

She recognized the strange tone in his voice. He knew something was up. Tessa worked to keep her tone even—and from biting her lip.

“Just a lucky guess on my part, really,” she said. “I mean, he took out both policies through our agency, one on himself and one on the Hank Aaron card. I was doing my due diligence.”

“Yeah. Lucky.” He turned onto the highway, heading toward the casino. “And you’re still not a very good liar by the way—even when you don’t bite your lip.”

Silence filled the cab for the rest of the ride. Tessa worked hard not to squirm. She didn’t want to confirm Silas’s suspicions that something wasn’t right.

When he dropped her off in the casino’s parking lot, he offered her a simple goodbye with no offer of waiting for her or coming along. She waved and hurried away, feeling his gaze on the back of her head.

Tessa marched onto the main floor of the casino, trying to ignore the smoke. She located a security camera and waved directly into it. She only had to wait for a few minutes before Horner showed up. He wasn’t in the greeting mood.

“What do you want?” he growled.

“I want to talk to the boss.”

“She doesn’t have an appointment available. Call first next time.” He turned his back to her.

“I need to talk to her about Chet Sanborn and the money he owed.” She tried to sound mysterious, like she may know where the money was hidden. Then she held her breath, waiting to see if she’d hit the mark.

Horner stopped and turned back around, frowning.

“So. Can I please see Melinda?”

She couldn’t tell if he was scowling or not—his normal expression was pretty much a constant sneer. But he finally jerked his head in a quick nod and led her through the blackjack room to the hallway that led to Melinda’s fancy office. Tessa avoided eye contact with Ricardo as she passed through the blackjack room.

On the way back, Tessa wondered how Horner had gotten the scar on his face. Was it a childhood mishap or a grown man fight wound? Either way, it made him more menacing, that much was for sure.

He knocked on the door.

When Melinda’s clear, strong voice beckoned them, Tessa didn’t wait for an individual invitation. She brushed past the goon and marched up to the boss woman’s desk.

"Ms. Randolph, you continually surprise me.”

“Did Chet Sanborn really owe you money?” Tessa demanded. “Or did you owe it to him?”

Melinda’s overly thin eyebrows migrated toward each other when she narrowed her eyes. Then she glanced over Tessa’s shoulder. “You can go, Horner.”

Once the door clicked behind him, Melinda sat back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “You’re a nosy one, aren’t you?”

Tessa didn’t figure that required a reply. “Chet Sanborn didn’t owe the casino money, did he?” she repeated. “I think you’re trying to get the blackjack tournament prize money back.”

“You do, do you?”

“Because you need it for your new house,” Tessa added. In for a penny .