Page 81 of Fresh Old Bounties

“I think he’s about to break a window.”

Ian cursed, and our speed increased.

“Do you think it’s your ex-partner’s fake son?”

“Yes.”

“Who?” asked Dru from the back seat.

I didn’t dare turn to talk to her. If death arrived in the form of another SUV, I wanted to see it firsthand. “A mystery man came around trying to pass as Ian’s ex-partner’s son.”

“Why?”

“He wanted his files.”

“Why?”

“Might be related to the spellbook thing. We don’t know.”

“Let me see.”

Ian nodded in curt approval. His jaw was locked tight and his eyes promised retribution. I hoped the burglar gave up and left because you did not want to mess with a bounty hunter who owned a cemetery.

Dru reached for the phone and studied it intently. “Could be him.”

“Who? Preston?”

She returned the phone. “Yes.”

“I don’t think it’s him. This man’s too thin.” The man changed angles, and I got a good look at his eyes and the bridge of his nose. “Not him.” I showed the proof to Dru.

“He must have a partner,” Dru said.

I wanted to point out she was starting to overdo it with her obsession in blaming her ex, but…

Two newcomers in town at the same time with a shared interest in the same part of an Old Olmeda block. Why wouldn’t they work together? Mystery Man would get his spellbook, Dru’s ex-boyfriend would get to distract me from stopping him.

Win-win, my favorite kind of situation.

On the screen, the man broke a pane in the back door and snuck a hand in. “He’s trying to unlock the back door. Oh, no. He did it. He’s inside now.”

The tension in the SUV ratcheted up by about a thousand. Not because Ian was scared that the man would steal something precious, I imagined, but because he had dared touch his house. Probably a territorial thing. Very macho. Very shifter.

With a last screech of wheels, Ian came to a stop a whisper from the cemetery’s front gate. By the time I jumped out of the SUV, Ian had grabbed his stun gun and was already unlocking the side door.

I pocketed his phone as we rushed toward the house.

“Stay,” Ian barked as his movements became utterly sleek and silent.

Dru and I stopped in our tracks while he stalked up to the house and silently opened the front door.

“You check the back,” I said. “I’ll guard the cemetery side.”

Dru took off toward the detached garage and the back door, and I made my way around the other side of the house. There were no doors on this side, but plenty of windows. I doubted the robber would make it this way since he already had the back door open, but we needed to cover all our bases.

Of the both of us, Dru had the highest chance of stopping the man if he evaded Ian and made a run for it. Her demon side made her agile and fast, hardened her skin to some extent, and gave her razor-sharp claws.

My witch side gave me a lot of good intentions and nothing much else, as witnessed by my fights with Vicky and the demon who tried to mug me and Key. And I didn’t even have Fluffy to back me up this time.

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