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

Gloria came out wearing a knee-length, hot pink sundress. “Ready!”

“Wait. I can’t go with you looking like that and me looking like this.” Tessa glanced down at her business casual clothes. “Let me change.”

Gloria shrugged. “Go for it. I’m not the one in a hurry.” She plopped onto her bed and began to scroll on her phone.

Tessa changed quickly. Her sundress was less flashy but still pretty—butter yellow with cream lace fringe. Gloria nodded approvingly when she saw it.

They headed downstairs and made their way across the lobby into the hotel bar, which already contained a fair number of reapers. Many of them still wore the clothes they’d had on during the day’s presentations, and Tessa wondered if they shouldn’t have changed.

“I’ll be right back. I want to say hi to Hugh from Indiana.” Gloria took off before Tessa could respond.

Wonderful. Tessa looked around, feeling like a middle schooler trying to find someone to sit with in a packed lunchroom where all the cliques were already seated together.

She decided things would look better once she had a drink in her hand. Or, at least, she’d have something to do with herself that would be less awkward than just standing there with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

Maybe Mom has a point.

She ordered a whiskey sour, paid the bartender, and then looked up and down the bar. At the far end, she spotted Cynthia, sitting alone nursing a bottle of beer. Without taking the time to overthink it, Tessa moved to sit beside the other reaper. “Hi. I’m Tessa Randolph, from the Mist River agency.” She stuck out her hand.

Cynthia took the offered hand, reluctantly, it seemed, and shook it. “Cynthia Crooks from Chicago,” she said and cocked her head. “You must work with Gloria, then.”

Tessa nodded.

“That’s cool. She’s fun.”

“Yeah, she’s been really helpful getting me on the right track.” Tessa eyed the woman. “She actually helped me with an unfortunate situation I ran into on my second day on the job.” Tessa was thinking on her feet, trying to create some common ground and perhaps get a bit of information out of Cynthia. “I actually lost a soul because I was late to a death.”

Cynthia’s eyebrows raised in interest. “Really? Did you find it?”

Tessa nodded. “Eventually. But I had to figure out who killed him and why he was running from me first. It was kind of a mess.” She paused and then dove in, throwing caution to the wind. The warmth of the whisky sour in her belly felt like courage. “Has anything like that ever happen to you?”

Cynthia took a sip of beer and shook her head. “I guess I’ve been lucky so far.”

“That’s good. You know, I had kind of wondered if you may have lost a soul or something too. Like I did.”

“What made you think that?”

Tessa shrugged. “Because you’ve been looking kind of sad so far on this trip, and I know April visited your office right before this.” At Cynthia’s surprised expression, she explained, “April was at my office before she went to Chicago.”

“Well, you’re partially right. I’m upset because April accused us—my branch, I mean—of messing with the accounting. She thinks one of us screwed up and we’re all trying to cover for it.”

“Obviously, you’re not,” Tessa said. “But are you sure no one in your office is?”

“I can’t be. But April laid the blame on my shoulders. She said we’re going to have to figure it out before the conference is over.” Cynthia slumped further over the bar. “I can’t lose this job. But I don’t know how to prove we didn’t do anything wrong.”

Tessa understood. She wanted to help Cynthia but had no idea how. “I’m sure it’ll get straightened out. I’ll tell you what—I’ll keep my ears open. If I hear anything that could help you, I’ll let you know right away.”

Cynthia smiled and looked hopeful for once. “Thanks. That’s really nice of you. And welcome to the reaper community. I’m sorry I’m not more fun to be around right now.”

Tessa waved off the apology. “It’s understandable that you’d be distracted.” She saw Gloria heading toward them. “Do you want to join us? We’re just having a couple drinks, and then we’ll probably head to the pool.”

“For more drinks?” Cynthia guessed.

Laughing, Tessa nodded. “Probably.”

“I’d like that. Thanks!”

Tessa thought of something. “Hey, one more work question before we focus on fun. Do you know who reaped Art’s soul on the plane?”

She shook her head, attention already on Gloria, who’d just sat next to Tessa. “No, I didn’t see his soul or the reaper who took him over. Sorry. To be honest, I was pretty focused on my own problems.”

“I understand.” Tessa sighed.

Gloria ordered them all another round. Tessa tried to focus on the conversation, which had turned sharply to a discussion about the latest episode of a popular reality show.

But her mind kept skipping around between the messed-up accounting that April was investigating and the mystery of Art’s untimely death.

She studied her drink, wiping the condensation on the side of the cup with her thumb. She was so out of it that she failed to notice a familiar face sidled up at the bar beside them. At least until a familiar hand came out of nowhere and brushed her forearm softly.

She jerked out of her thoughts to find Silas beside her, smiling.

Chapter 8

“I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND me just showing up like this. It’s a short walk here from my hotel, and I figured by your text you were probably done for the day. Are you?” Silas looked like a bronze statue—almost too perfect to be real. How in the world had he managed to get such a great tan in one day? Florida and Silas were getting along well.

“Yes, she’s done.” Gloria shoved Tessa off the barstool and followed her down. “There’s a free table over there—let’s grab it.” She led the way to a small round table