Page 21 of More Than Meets the Eye

“Get some sleep. I promise I’ll take care of General Barstow and NACOS, too.”

“Okay.”

After I cleaned up, brushed my teeth, and changed into my Wonder Woman PJs, I texted Carlos that I certainly didn’t believe he killed anybody.

Then Lou and I curled up in bed, and I tried not to think much about the poor man who died in my garage, other than to be sure to find out if there was anybody at all to take food to or even send a card.

When I finally fell asleep while waiting for Jack, I dreamed about mirrors dancing beneath the disco ball across the floor of my shop.

8

Jack

Susan and Reynolds did their thing, and the crime scene folks did theirs and left. Then Reynolds and Lizzie went for a walk around the house, so he could talk to her about wolf stuff. I figured I should wait until Susan and the other two left before shifting to tiger shape to patrol, so I crossed the lawn to talk to our sheriff while we waited.

“I’ll text you the name of a crime scene cleanup crew,” she said. “Tess doesn’t need to see the mess.”

“Didn’t look like a knife did that,” I said, not happy about it. “That was claws.”

“Funny how shifter violence ends up so close to home when NACOS is on the rise,” she said dryly.

“Yeah. Funny.”

“I left my brother a voicemail message telling him we need to talk ASAP. I can’t believe that jerk was trying to blame Carlos for this.”

“Let him know I’ll be glad to fill him in on what I know, too, not that it’s that much.”

“Jack—”

“Goes without saying. I’ll tell you everything I learn as soon as I learn it,” I said mildly, wondering when she’d fully trust me.

But she laughed. “I know that. I was going to warn you about something else and also offer my help.”

“Warn me? Do you know somebody else who’s after me? Or Tess?” I could feel my tiger side clawing to get out at the idea of Tess in danger.

“No! Relax. This is an entirely personal kind of danger. The cat is out of the bag, so to speak.” She chuckled. “I didn’t mean to make a cat pun. That should tell you how tired I am.”

“What cat? What bag?” I showed her my teeth. “I’d like to see someone try to putmein a bag.”

“I’d kind of like to see that, too, for the entertainment value, but then there’d be mess and ambulances, and nobody needs that. No. Thepersonalkind. Granny told me you’re going to propose to Tess.”

I groaned.

“Normally, I’d ask you if it’s true, because Granny doesn’t always have a firm grasp on reality. But when I picked her up from bingo club today, Mrs. Frost was holding court, and I heard some of what she was saying. A priceless Atlantean sapphire? Maybe don’t let Tess know that, or she’ll be afraid to wear it.”

I leaned on the car next to her and groaned again. “Mrs. Frost promised she’d keep my secret until I had a chance to surprise Tess with the proposal. I haven’t even gotten the ring made yet.”

“That’s where my offer of help comes in,” she said.

“You know a jeweler, too?”

“No, I?—”

“You have a better idea for a proposal than shooting an arrow off Tess’s head with your crossbow? Or renting out town hall and inviting all of Dead End?”

“Really?”

“Shelley said I could attach the ring to her puppy’s collar, and she’d make the dog float into the room wearing it. Can you imagine? What if Pickles suddenly needs to water the bushes? All over Tess’s floor?”

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