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

understood what that man of yours is all about. Tread carefully, now. Don't get pulled into trouble yourself."

She headed toward the back of the apartment, not bothering to walk Tessa to the door, and disappeared into the hallway without another word.

Tessa hurried out of the apartment, closing the door firmly behind her, and drew in a deep breath, as though Mrs. Cross’s assessment of Mr. Green’s death was bad air that she could clear out by inhaling fresh oxygen.

It didn’t work. But her nose and eyes did appreciate the gift of potpourri-free air.

Tessa wiped her eyes on a sleeve and then trudged toward her apartment again.

Mrs. Cross might think it was an open and shut case against Silas, but she was wrong. It was anything but that. Still, it was highly unlikely that the investigators, a jury, or a judge would see it Tessa’s way. Not without more information, anyway. They would see Silas on the security camera footage and the cleaner in his truck that matched the one found in Artemis's kitchen.

They’d consider it open and shut too.

A war of emotions was taking place inside Tessa's chest. She felt guilty. If it wasn’t for her, Silas wouldn’t be in this mess.

But she also felt angry. Couldn’t he just have trusted her? She'd never done anything to warrant him not believing what she said and following her around the way he had—twice!

Now he’d gone and gotten himself in a whole heap of trouble, and it was going to be up to Tessa to try and get him out.

Only she had no idea how to do that. Frustration rolled over and through her like a giant tidal wave.

Then it hit her, and she groaned. The only way to get Silas out of the mess was to figure out who had killed Artemis Green. Because not only did the cops think there was foul play involved, but the man himself had too.

“I see your groan and raise you a deep sigh.” Abi leaned against Tessa’s apartment door. She grinned and held up both hands to show Tessa what she held. “I figured that was how you’d be feeling after Mrs. Cross yanked you into her horribly stinky apartment. She did the same to me—to tell me what happened to Silas. So, I brought wine and ice cream to help you feel better.”

Tessa thought about sending her friend home. But there was nothing she could do to help Silas right then. So, she forced a smile and reached around Abi to unlock the door. “That sounds perfect. Come on in.”

Chapter 7

"TESSA RANDOLPH, GET your booty in my office immediately!"

For a second, Tessa thought she had transported back to when her mother was in charge. But it wasn't Cheryl yelling for her presence—it was Gloria, who'd stuck her head out to bark the order and then pulled it back into her office.

In trouble, yet again. New boss. Same problems.

Tessa shuffled in and shut the door behind her when Gloria jabbed a finger at it. Whatever Gloria wanted, Tessa hoped it didn’t take long. As soon as she’d woken up that morning, she'd been anxious to start her new side gig—figuring out who had killed Artemis Green. Only then could she get Silas out of trouble.

Her reaper app hadn't shown any appointments, but a text shimmered on her screen, ordering her to head to the Cooper's Life Insurance building. She’d barely crossed the threshold when Gloria yelled for her.

Now, Gloria’s mouth was a firm line as she tilted her head and examined Tessa.

“What’s up?” Tessa ventured.

"You didn't tell me the reap Silas followed you on was for the Artemis Green." Gloria's eyes, lids covered with a gorgeous shade of fuchsia eyeshadow, were wide as they pinned Tessa with a hard look. "That was a pretty important bit of information to leave out."

Tessa shrugged. "Was it? Sorry. I didn’t know who the Artemis Green was until yesterday. Actually, I still really don't get why he’s such a big deal."

Gloria gave her head a little shake, setting her braids to bouncing. "I thought everybody in Mist River knew Mr. Green. I don't know how you grew up here and didn't know about him." She lowered herself into an office chair and stared at Tessa, her expression bordering on reproachful.

"I don't know. I just never had a lot of contact with rich old guys." Tessa sat on the edge of Gloria's desk. "And it’s not like he's the only rich old guy who lives over in that area of town. So, why is this particular dude so important?"

"Well, for one, he's a self-made multimillionaire. As in, he started with nothing and built himself up. Which is unlike most of the other rich folk in this town. How they keep living on old money, I’ll never understand. And second, because I said multimillionaire. And I don't just mean a few millions—I mean hundreds of millions."

"Wow. That's pretty interesting. How’d he make that kind of money from nothing?"

Gloria wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. Something boring like the stock market or banking or real estate or perhaps all three.” She waved a hand, dismissing the importance of that particular bit of information. “But, like I said, he's a big deal, and his lawyers aren’t going to spare any expense trying to get Silas convicted of his murder."

Tessa winced and stretched her neck, first to one side and then the other. "Okay, I've been thinking about this. The only way to get Silas out of this is to figure out who really did poison Mr. Green. Can't we just look at his file and find out who killed him?"

But Gloria was shaking her head before the full question was out of Tessa's mouth. "Nope, it doesn't work that way. Our job is to escort souls to the other side of the veil, not to worry about how or why they died. It's just not the sort of thing that's included in our record keeping." She pushed off