Page 12 of Fresh Old Bounties

“You’re heartless.”

He looked rather smug. For a block of stone. “I see my reputation precedes me.”

“Hah. I know better.” I poked his chest again, apparently my finger’s favorite spot to be. “I’ll wear you down.”

His fast smile was nothing short of wicked sly. “You might need to work harder.”

His words reminded me of Sonia. “Dru’s ex-boyfriend is trying to get the Corner Rose for her parents. Did you know they own Tabbies?”

“Yes.”

Of course he did. The man had probably run background checks on every paranormal in town, and probably more than a few humans. “She’s upset about it. There’s some rivalry between her and her ex, I think.”

“No kidding.”

Yes, that was a bit obvious. “She wanted me to complain to Sonia.”

A knock on the door frame interrupted me. Alex and Key were waiting on the threshold, Alex with an unholy gleam of glee in his eyes, Key obviously wanting to be anywhere else.

“Are we interrupting?” Alex asked, grinning. Rufus ambled his way to get a few pets. After he was done with Alex, he sniffed at Key but didn’t bug her.

“Nope.” An idea occurred to me. I turned to Ian. “Hey, have you seen him around town checking out other buildings?” In his business, he dealt with a lot of buildings in Old Olmeda. Perhaps the Corner Rose wasn’t the only shop Dru’s ex-boyfriend was interested in. In fact, why should it be? The thought cheered me up considerably. If the man chose any other shop, even if we failed in our quest to kick him out of Olmeda, at least he wouldn’t get Dru’s chosen dream shop.

“Seen who?” Alex asked immediately.

I bit my lip, unsure if to admit the man’s relationship with Dru. That was her private business to share, not mine.

“Someone’s trying to buy the Corner Rose,” Ian answered for me.

“And you don’t like him?” Alex brightened. “Want me to follow him around, see if he’s up to no good?”

“I’ll help,” Key added eagerly, no doubt thinking about her newly acquired hope of becoming a bounty hunter.

Fluffy yipped as if she, too, was looking forward to a very exciting evening of following and sniffing everything in her path.

Ian crossed his arms and shook his head. “You have work.”

Alex frowned at the floor. “Yes, boss.”

I had a feeling he wanted to feel useful, maybe because Shane usually was the one in charge of following people around. It wasn’t my place to intervene, just as Ian had no say in how I conducted my business unless I asked for his opinion, but I couldn’t just leave the poor guy looking like a drowned puppy.

Besides, it was my duty as the local witch to put my nose where it didn’t belong.

“Maybe he could for a couple of days?” I suggested. “If the man does anything suspicious, it’ll help our chances for the PBOA to reject his application.”

“Is that why you went to Sonia?” Ian asked.

“Yep. She told us to bring it up on Thursday’s meeting.”

He looked thoughtful for a few moments. “I’ll check him out.”

“But, boss…” Alex began.

“No following.”

Alex peered at me with sad, sad, Fluffy-level puppy eyes. He must’ve practiced at night in front of a mirror to get that level of authenticity.

Ian stepped in front of me. “No following. Do we have a problem?”

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