Page 46 of Sweetwater and the Witch

“I think you’re right,” Ethan said. He held out his hand. “Harriet, can I borrow your pen? Jones and his people will make good use of it.”

Apparently getting the message, Harriet gave him the pen. He set it on the floor beside one of the attackers. Harriet went very still, watching closely. It was clear she did not approve of leaving her new acquisition behind.

“It’s important, Harriet,” Ravenna said.

Harriet made a grumbling sound but she did not try to recover the pen. She muttered, clearly alarmed, however, when Ravenna stripped off her earrings, bracelet, and watch and set everything down on the floor.

“She seems to understand my amber is important to me,” she said to Ethan.

He studied the dust bunny for a moment. “Yes, she does.”

“It’s okay, Harriet,” Ravenna said. “Those things are dangerous for me tonight. We have to leave them here.”

Harriet muttered some more but she did not make any effort to retrieve the amber jewelry.

Ethan used his locator like a wand, checking to make sure Ravenna hadn’t missed a piece. Nothing pinged.

Satisfied, he took off his amber-and-gold signet ring and handed it to her. “Hang on to this until we can get you some generically tuned amber.”

She closed her fingers around the ring. He sensed her rez a little energy, testing the lock. A deep knowing whispered through him. He would always recognize her vibe. It was as unique to her as her scent. Like one of his own high-tech trackers, he had locked onto her frequency.

“You’re right,” she said. “I can’t use it to navigate, but better than nothing.” She dropped the ring into the little evening bag slung across her body. “One more thing. Before we go anywhere, I need to grab my sneakers. I keep a pair in the basement next to the hole-in-the-wall door. I can’t move very fast in heels.”

He wanted to argue about the delay, but she was right. “Whatever you do, stay close to me. I can find you as long as you’ve got the ring, but I don’t want to have to go looking for you.”

“Right.” She gave him a steely smile. “What a waste of time that would be. Mustn’t delay the top-priority investigation.”

“Damn it, that’s not what I meant.”

“Forget it. Let’s get my sneakers.”

They went back to the hole-in-the-wall. Ravenna retrieved the sneakers from the basement and brought them back out into the tunnel. She stepped into them and then crouched to tie the laces. The hem of the short, flirty little black dress rode high on her thighs.

“That’s better,” she said, straightening. “I’m ready.”

He realized he had been staring at her thighs. He had to stay focused. “Let’s go,” he said.

Chapter Twenty-One

Harriet took up her favorite position on the sled, the dashboard. The light breeze created by the motion of the vehicle plastered her fur back against her small frame. She chortled every time they rounded a corner.

“She likes to go fast,” Ravenna explained.

“So do I,” Ethan said. “Sometimes. Other times I like to take it slow.”

Ravenna got a ping of feminine intuition. She could have sworn his words carried a hint of sexual nuance. Probably just her imagination, she decided.

Ethan was at the wheel. She was sitting beside him. The sled was gliding through the tunnel at top speed, which wasn’t saying much. Still, they were moving a lot faster than they could have on foot.

“What happened to your shoes?” he asked.

“What?” She realized he was looking at her soot-stained sneakers. She cringed. “Nothing. They’re just dirty.”

“It looks like they were scorched.” Ethan kept his attention on his driving, checking the sled’s built-in locator. “In a fire.”

There wasn’t much point in keeping her new hobby a secret, not from Ethan. The fake date was over. They were chasing a bad guy. That sort of thing tended to seriously change a relationship.

“I’ve been spending a little time in the Fire Zone,” she said.

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