Page 24 of Pay Dirt

“Can I come?” Clayton asked.

Monica turned her gaze to Clayton. She stared at his expensive shoes and then raised her gaze to his gorgeous eyes. “If you play your cards right, Hollywood.”

“Is that Nathan Murray, or do my eyes deceive me?” the pharmacist called out from behind the counter. The bald man had a lip full of white whiskers and kind eyes.

“Mr. Cooper, it’s good to see you.”

I glanced in that direction. “If you’ll excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“You too, Present.”

I crossed the store to where Nathan was shaking the pharmacist’s hand. “I always hear you’ve come back to visit but we never see you in town.”

“Well, my sister is competing, and then there’s the benefit,” he answered. “Mr. Cooper, this is Cassie, my girlfriend. Cassie, this is Mr. Cooper.”

The pharmacist frowned. “Nathan, I’m guessing you didn’t give your girlfriend that black eye, and if you’re here for the Domestic Violence Benefit and Ball, does that mean she’s a guest speaker?”

I reached for my eye and remembered that I probably looked like hell. “Oh, God, no.” I tried for a smile. “No one I loved did this to me. It was a work accident.”

Mr. Cooper’s gaze went from mine to Nathan’s and back again.

“You should find new work.”

I gave him a lopsided grin, unwilling to elaborate. “Mr. Cooper, do you have any local maps?”

“Paper maps? Why would you need one of those when you have a native showing you around?”

Nathan’s mouth parted, and he snapped it closed.

“I collect them. I know it sounds silly, but I collect them from every place I’ve been to. It’s a keepsake of my travels,” I said.

“That’s sweet, dear, but I’m afraid they might as well be dinosaur fossils. Nowadays people just use their phones when they want to get places, including old men like me.”

I was starting to realize that. I’d tried once to use my crystal with a tablet once, but that didn’t work. I couldn’t get any accuracy with the read. I think it had something to do with it being electronic that was throwing it off kilter. Regardless, this wasn’t looking good.

No map, no scrying. No scrying, no money. No money, no killer.

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