Squirrel & Swan Precious Things by M. D. Archer

Author:M. D. Archer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: crime comedy, satire, humour, mystery, cozy mystery, female sleuths, New Zealand, Psychology, mystery series for teens, teen mystery books for girls
Publisher: SWARM Publishing
Published: 2020-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

10

“These triple-cooked fries are insane,” Paige said, taking another and washing it down with a swig of the house Pinot Noir.

They were at the pub having a strategizing-slash-sorrow-drowning session. Last night had been a disaster, but Paige was not going to let it get her down. Yes, the Pet Napper had got away, possibly never to be seen or heard from again, but it wasn’t over until it was over.

Sophie sipped her wine glumly, thinking about her beloved car, currently at the panel beaters. She doubted she would even be able to get insurance to cover it—with an excess of $750, it probably wasn’t worth the increase in premiums.

Paige took in her friend’s expression and grimaced. “I’m really sorry about the car. You have to let me pay for half of it. Or we should claim it as a business expense.”

“Claim it? Claim it against what?”

“I don’t know, it’s something people say.” Paige shrugged.

“Which people?”

“It was a business cost, so the business pays for it?”

Sophie brightened but sagged when she remembered there was no money in their business account either. Her stomach made a weird noise.

“Tuck in,” Paige said, misinterpreting this as a hunger rumble.

Sophie knew it was a stress rumble, but she took a chip anyway. Now that the Dixon case was in Roman’s (beautiful) hands, her car was with the mechanics, and she had somehow acquired an adult dependent waiting for her at home, the list of pros and cons was most definitely favouring Richard’s job offer. The bottom line was she needed a source of income. If this didn’t work out, and it looked as if it might not, she didn’t have rich parents to fall back on, or a boyfriend with a stable job. Her mum and Kevin existed on a meagre income and she didn’t have anything close to a boyfriend. An image of Roman popped into her head. She had yet to find out what Paige knew about Roman. It was so strange that he knew Paige’s dad. Well, not so strange, it was one of those coincidences you get in Auckland. Largest city in NZ but in some ways still a small town.

“What’s up Soph? You’ve been kind of quiet or distracted or something all day.”

“Uh, just thinking about... everything.”

“Yeah.” Paige nodded, acknowledging there was a lot of think about. “But let’s just have a drink and not worry about it for now,” Paige said, clinking Sophie’s glass before taking a sip.

“Eye contact!” Sophie admonished Paige.

“Okay, fine.” She made pointed eye contact with Sophie and took another sip. “Oh yeah, it means seven years of bad sex if you don’t make eye contact, right?” Paige grinned. “Worried you might be heading into that with Declan?”

“Not being able to get rid of him for seven years seems about right.”

Paige chuckled. She’d gotten the chance to meet Declan earlier tonight when she’d dropped by Sophie’s and convinced her to come out for a Friday drink. Declan had been very keen on coming with them—he was

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