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

shorts and a gym-rat shirt. Fancy hair. Stupid looking shoes.”

Ricardo. He had to mean Ricardo with his casino-typical outfit of a casino tank top and flip flops. Along with his fluffy toupee, the description matched him to a tee.

That was it. Chet must have double-crossed Ricardo, selling him a fake baseball card and refusing to give back the money.

“Thanks,” she said. “I appreciate your time.”

“No problem.” He smiled. “Are you in the market for something nice for yourself? Maybe a fancy gold bracelet?” He pointed to a gaudy number with costume jewels on it.

“Oh, my. That’s lovely,” Tessa lied. “I’ll have to pass. I’ve just started a new job, and I’m still catching up on bills. I’ll keep it in mind for when I have some extra cash, though.”

She didn’t bite her lip, but she rambled. Another tell. She was making a list.

She left, planning to go back to the casino to confront Ricardo, but then her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and checked it. A text from her mother: Check your email. You have a new assignment.

Tessa clicked over to her email account and found the new message. She opened it, and her mouth fell open.

Her new target was Ricardo Vidale.

Chapter 18

THE ASSIGNMENT WAS at the same golf club as her first—the same one her dad had frequented when he was alive. Tessa re-read the details three times before realizing it was going to happen at the golf tournament the casino was sponsoring. The one Melinda had mentioned the day before.

She glanced at the sky hopefully, but there was no way lightning would strike twice. Not on the same green in such short order.

Could it?

She scanned the document again and blinked after reading the cause of death.

Well, that’s interesting.

Tessa gave herself plenty of time that morning to get there. But she breathed a sigh of relief when Linda started anyway.

“You’ve been so great lately,” she gushed. “I’m definitely going to use some of my next paycheck to get you a tune-up. Especially if you get me to this assignment on time.”

As she drove to the golf course, Tessa’s mind raced. Ricardo must have been furious about Chet selling him a fake baseball card. It must’ve been worth a lot of money. Enough to kill over.

But why Horner? Tessa thought maybe he was getting close to fingering Ricardo for the crime. She knew criminals often worked in irrational and erratic ways. It troubled her how she’d drank a beer Ricardo bought her. She couldn’t help but think their conversation might’ve led him down the path of harming Horner. She’d mentioned Melinda Chino. Did I mention her goons too? She shuddered. Ricardo could’ve poisoned her if she’d walked away from her drink for a moment.

And now it was her job to escort him to the other side.

Strange how, after everything that had happened over the past week, Ricardo would be taken out by a freak accident. Maybe there was such a thing as karma. She made a mental note to ask her mother or Gloria about that.

Wearing a blue polo and mid-thigh khaki shorts, Tessa managed to blend in with the crowd at the golf course. She snuck through the club onto the green again.

The area closest to the building was bustling. Tents were set up with tables under them, and the casino’s logo was plastered on everything. There was a makeshift covered stage with a DJ, and golf carts came and went through the crowd.

Tessa threaded her way through the gaggle of golfers looking for Ricardo, but she couldn’t spot him. Despite her timeliness, she started feeling nervous, like she might lose another soul. Ricardo’s soul . . . oi. There was just no way she could let that happen. Cheryl would absolutely never, ever stop lecturing if she did.

She hurried onto the green, passing a shiny red car perched at the top of the hill. It was covered in magnetic signs proclaiming it to be the grand prize for the hole in one contest.

She scanned the valley below, one hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun’s interfering glare. There were golfers spread out over the area, in pairs and foursomes, and she couldn’t tell one from the other at that distance. She started down the hill.

It was really only chance that set her on the right path. At least, that’s what it seemed like. Later, Tessa would wonder if it was part of her reaper powers—maybe some kind of radar. Whatever it was, when she crested a hill, she caught sight of Ricardo near a creek. The water hazard wound around the edge of the golf course. Next to a copse of trees.

Ricardo wasn’t alone. Tessa recognized Maddox’s man bun. As she approached, she could hear them talking. She slowed and crouched as low as possible, darting behind the men’s golf carts to listen in.

Ricardo’s face was red, as though he’d been walking the green in the sun. But when he spoke, it was clear the extra coloring was from anger. “I can’t be part of it anymore,” he said. “It was one thing when Chet was here. We worked together and it took the pressure off. But now he’s gone, thanks to you.”

“What are you saying?” Maddox asked.

“You know what I’m saying—I’m saying I’m out.”

Tessa was shocked. Had the two men been working together all along? And what part did Chet Sanborn play?

“Chet shouldn’t have crossed me,” Maddox snarled. The expression looked strange on his usually placid face. “He should’ve given me the money I asked for—not try to play me with that false card.”

“What choice did he have?” Ricardo asked. “When you make a deal, it’s set in stone. You can’t keep changing the terms like you do. Chet needed that money to get the real card back.”

“They were my terms to change. He was still making enough on that deal and you know it.”

Ricardo wavered, conceding defeat. “Fair enough.”

“You aren’t going to make the same mistake Chet did,