The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester & Christine Zane Thomas

Author:Paula Lester & Christine Zane Thomas [Lester, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paula Lester and Christine Zane Thomas
Published: 2021-02-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

TESSA STAYED IN THE cattails until Lydia was done with the reap and heading back to the hotel. By then, the course had been swarmed by emergency and golf course personnel, and it was easy to blend in anyway.

Lydia went around to the front doors of the hotel. Tessa followed her inside. As soon as she set foot in the lobby, the scent of lunch wafted past Tessa’s nose, making her stomach growl. Apparently, skipping breakfast meant something to her body and she needed more sustenance.

The hall outside the main conference room was loaded with food. Reapers teemed around it, piling their plates with sandwiches, veggies, and chips. Tessa thought it was weird how only the day prior it had been deserted when they’d called off the sessions after Cynthia’s death. Today, it was like that had never happened. Business as usual—which only made sense because their business was death.

She didn’t see Timothy anywhere, so Tessa kept one eye on Lydia as they both filled their plates. When she went into the conference room to eat, Tessa was glad to see Lydia sat alone at a round table at the edge of the room. She made a beeline to her. She smiled politely. “Hi! Care for some company?”

“Sure!” Lydia motioned to an empty chair. “Knock yourself out.”

No sooner had Tessa settled in than Gloria appeared in the third chair at the table. She smiled brightly and then dug in.

“How are you doing, Lydia? You and Cynthia were friends, right?” Tessa took a bite of ham and cheese sandwich. At Lydia’s nod, she said around it, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“It was a shock. This whole conference has been full of rotten surprises.” Lydia picked up a carrot stick but put it down again without taking a bite. “First Art, then Cynthia. I don’t understand it.”

“But April has all figured out.” Tessa caught the sarcasm in Gloria’s tone.

“You think?” Lydia tilted her head.

“Well, let’s just say if she doesn’t, I hope she figures it out soon.” Gloria didn’t say them out loud, but the words before it happens again hung in the air.

Tessa had been trying to figure out how to bring the conversation around to what she really wanted to know. She waited for a moment after Gloria spoke so the change in topic would be less abrupt and then said, “Lydia, what presentations did you attend this morning? It’s so hard for me to choose which ones to go to and which ones to miss.”

Lydia shrugged. “Actually, I worked this morning. Didn’t go to any sessions.”

Gloria’s eyes snapped up at that. “Worked? You mean like you reaped someone?”

“Yeah. Timothy caught me before breakfast and told me to watch my reaper app. Said that life goes on and so does death. Or something sinister like that.” She blew a breath up at a curl bouncing into her eye. “It was a golfer having a stroke, which is kinda funny in a very morbid way. Timothy said that, because

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