The Selection Shenanigans by Cate Lawley

Author:Cate Lawley [Lawley, Cate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Google: d7rcDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B081DSBM1K
Publisher: Cate Lawley
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The three of us entered Bits, Baubles, and Toadstools much lighter-hearted than we’d left the funeral home. (Those business calls Madeleine mentioned must have gone well.)

That lightness lingered until about two seconds before we entered Cornelius’s office.

And then was completely busted when he barked “Who invited her?” from behind the vast expanse of his desk.

Even Alex was taken aback, because he didn’t immediately reply.

But then Madeleine did what Madeleine did. She extended her hand, smiled, and said, “I’m Madeleine Bauer. So pleased to meet you.”

Cornelius did not take her hand. He didn’t even stand.

He narrowed his eyes, letting a glint of silver bleed into them.

But I was on to his tricks. He did that on purpose. Unlike my red glow that only bled out when I was swamped by uncontrollable emotions, Cornelius used his eerie silvery orbs for evil.

Madeleine took one look at his glowing eyes, and she grinned. A single dimple popped out in her right cheek. “Aren’t you just adorable.”

Had she done her fairy godmother deep dive into Cornelius’s psyche and seen something the rest of us were missing?

The glow faded, and then his eyes narrowed. “Don’t you start.”

Wait a second. Did they know each other?

Cornelius half stood and extended his hand across his desk—what was happening?—and she accepted it.

Cornelius’s lips twitched when their hands touched. He almost smiled.

“So, Cornelius, huh?” She cocked a hip and crossed her arms.

“That’s my name…now.” He settled back into his seat with a much-too-satisfied air.

“Uh-huh. And you’re a bigwig in the local government, I hear. Intimidating your employees. Shame on you.”

Uh… No one talked to Cornelius like that. Not Alex, not Anton. Okay, occasionally, I might. But it was usually by accident, because I had an only intermittently functioning filter.

He indicated the seats across from his desk and then leaned back in his chair.

“I just intimidate the contractors. The employees know I’m harmless.”

She laughed as we settled ourselves into the straight-backed chairs Cornelius provided for guests. “Not exactly harmless, but there’s a teddy bear in there somewhere.”

Alex retrieved Madeleine’s folded check from his wallet and handed it to Cornelius.

He glanced at it, pursed his lips, and nodded. “Why exactly did you knock out my security system?”

And for the first time since she’d walked into Cornelius’s office, she looked uncomfortable. “That was an accident. I’m sorry.” She wrinkled her nose.

“An accident?”

“Temporal wake. I was—”

He held up a hand, holding her explanation. “I don’t need to know. I assume some human somewhere has had their life vastly improved by your interfering.”

She grinned. “I like to think so.”

“I’m sure,” he replied. Then the softness I hadn’t even realized had crept into his expression fled. “I called these two in today because we’ve had another murder.”

Another murder? But…how? When? Who?

Cornelius was still speaking. “So if you’d prefer to remove yourself from the investigation—”

“No.” Her tone was unyielding. “If I played some part in making these murders happen… I need to help.”

“The second victim?” Alex prompted.

“Noah Martinez.” The two men shared a look, then Cornelius explained, “Our second unannounced selection recruit.

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