Page 77 of Live To Tell

“What for? To look for a body?” jokes Leif.

“Certainly not. Madison’s body could be in any number of locations, and I do not have the skills to detect cadavers. That’s more a shifter thing.”

His smile drops. “Are you seriously suggesting I could sniff out a dead body?”

“No. But now you mention it...” I purse my lips and Leif scowls. “We track down Christine and Annabelle too.”

“I'll take another look at the footage and see if I can figure out where they are,” says Leif. “I know the local area well.”

“Oh. Yes. We could take a walk sometime,” I say and smile at him. “Just you and me.”

“Uh. Why?” His expression becomes a mixture of confusion and, for some reason, worry. “What did I do?”

“Do?”

Grayson snorts a laugh. “Sounds like Leif thinks you've sinister motives for taking him into the middle of nowhere alone.”

I blink. “Good grief. Is he right, Leif?”

“No. It's just...” He pushes curls from his eyes. “A weird request.”

“Yeah. Violet's dates tend to be weird requests,” puts in Rowan and chuckles.

Leif's eyes widen. “Date?”

“Your enthusiasm at my suggestion appears lacking, Leif,” I say. “Is this due to my request to spend time alone with you or the location?”

“Location.” Rowan snickers again. “A date to a possible murder site.”

“The place might not be a crime scene,” I retort. “And we shall go in the daytime and enjoy the view.”

Leif stares at me as if I've suggested an evening at the morgue. “View?”

“Rowan.” I look at him. “Were you lying to me about Leif enjoying walks and looking at scenery?”

“I am completely confused,” says Leif.

“Do you, or do you not, enjoy walks in the countryside?” I ask, becoming exasperated.

“Yeah. Not recently though.” He chews his lip. “Avoiding being alone outside.”

“I would like some time alone with you and this is a perfect synergy between fun and investigation.” By now, Rowan's pink-cheeked from suppressing laughter and Grayson watches with new amusement too. “Quite frankly, I don't understand the hilarity.”

Leif stands as I do and places a large palm on the side of my head. “Don’t listen to them. A day out with you sounds perfect. Crime scene or not.”

I nod, thin lipped. “Thank you, Leif. I shall ensure we have fun. Perhaps soon, after our meeting with the elders in a couple of days?”

Every muscle in Leif’s body goes rigid and he dips his head to obscure his eyes further. “Yeah, I’ll see how I feel.”

“Ethan and I will protect you,” I say. “And hopefully impress upon the elders that you will not join them.”

“Mmm.” He rubs his nose.

“Any luck getting a response from Annabelle or Christine?” I ask.

“Give me a chance,” sighs Rowan. “I emailed to the addresses Julius gave me but haven’t heard back yet.”

“And did you impress upon them how important their contacting us is?” I continue.

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