Page 47 of Gem Warfare

I turned over in time to see her head appear at the window. “Coming through,” she said as she levered herself up. I tucked my hands under her arms and pulled and we fell backwards. “That wasn’t so bad. We escaped! Hurrah!”

I grinned, then my face fell as fat water droplets landed on my dress.

Water sprinklers began to fire all over the yard, dousing us in a plume of cold water.

Chapter Eleven

“What happened to you?” asked Solomon.

I squelched to a stop inside the doors of the PI’s office, trickles of water making their way off my hem and down my legs to form shallow pools at my feet, and heaved a deep breath.

“Did a raincloud follow you and no one else?” asked Garrett.

“Did you go to a very formal water park?” asked Delgado.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, hoping the heat from my cheeks wouldn’t turn the water into steam. “Could you pass me a towel?”

“How about a bucket to stand in?” suggested Garrett.

“You left some clothes in my trunk last week,” said Solomon. “I’ll bring them to you if you head over to the suite and take a shower.”

A drip ran down my nose and fell off the tip. “My car needs drying inside,” I said, my voice just short of a plaintive wail.

“How aboutyougetting dry? We have an appointment to make,” said Garrett, tapping his watch.

I pulled a face. “The forger! I’ll hurry!”

“What’re you forging?” asked Delgado as I turned and slid out of the office. I didn’t hear Garrett’s answer because the door swung shut behind me. As I pushed the elevator button, Solomon came out and wrapped an arm around me.

“I’m wet,” I said as he pulled me into him.

“So am I now,” he said, a damp patch forming on his chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Lily and I gatecrashed a wake in Bedford Hills, saw a corpse, got stuck in a basement, and then got soaked by the yard sprinklers.”

“That’s all?”

“The whole funeral party saw us when we dashed to the car.”My shoulders slumped.

“Do they know who you are?”

“No. We made up a back story and didn’t include our names. There won’t be any comeback on the agency.”

“I wasn’t worried about that.Corpse?” added Solomon, his eyebrows rising a smidge.

“The centerpiece of the funeral.”

Solomon nodded slowly. “That makes more sense now.”

“It wasn’t a random body,” I clarified.

“Pleased to hear it. Do I want to know the rest?”

“We got some useful information.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“Sorry about the mess.”

---