Page 62 of Sweetwater and the Witch

Harriet chortled her customary greeting and gazed, enraptured, at the small candy dish on Sarah’s desk.

Sarah looked up and managed a wan smile. “Hi.”

Alarm jolted through Ravenna. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sarah said quickly. She picked up a small chocolate wrapped in foil and offered it to Harriet. “Here you go.”

Harriet bounced down from Ravenna’s shoulder, scurried across the floor, and hopped up onto Sarah’s desk. She accepted the chocolate withprofound excitement and proceeded about the delicate business of unwrapping it.

“Sarah?” Ravenna took a few steps into the office. “Do you want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?”

“I can’t,” Sarah squeaked. “You’ll find out soon enough. I just want you to know that I think it’s wrong. It’s not your fault.”

“What isn’t my fault? Wait. Is this about the Sweetwater case?”

“Maybe. Sort of. Ottoway will explain.”

“Damn,” Ravenna said. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not,” Sarah said. She looked at Harriet. “I’m going to miss both of you.”

“That sounds even worse.” Ravenna went to the desk and picked up Harriet, who had managed to get rid of the foil and was now munching the chocolate. “Let’s go, pal.”

She headed back to the door with Harriet tucked under one arm. Sarah got out of her chair.

“I just want to say how sorry—” she began. And stopped.

“Whatever it is, it’s not your fault,” Ravenna said.

She marched down the hall to her office, opened the door, and rezzed the lights. She plunked Harriet down on the desk so that she could inspect her pen collection. She was in the process of hanging up her coat when Bernice Ottoway appeared at the entrance of the office. She had a folded newspaper in one hand.

“You have thirty minutes to pack up your personal possessions and leave the premises, Ms.Chastain. As of this morning you are no longer an employee of this firm.”

Ravenna clutched her jacket. “What have I done?”

“You have done the unforgivable. You have besmirched the reputation of Ottoway Matchmakers.”

“Just because I haven’t closed the Sweetwater case?”

“For the last time, we don’t close cases. We are not the police or theFBPI. We are Ottoway. We launch perfectly matched couples upon the tranquil seas of a Covenant Marriage.”

Harriet lost interest in her collection. Her second set of eyes opened. A soft growl rumbled through her. She wasn’t sleeked out yet, but the signs were ominous.

Bernice yelped in alarm and took a hasty step back. “Control your dust bunny, Ms.Chastain. I should never have allowed you to bring her to work.”

“You know the clients adore her.” Ravenna touched Harriet lightly. “It’s okay, Harriet.”

Harriet did not appear convinced. She kept her attention on Bernice.

Ravenna decided to try reason. “Ms.Ottoway, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s not easy launching Sweetwater. It’s going to require a lot of shoving just to get him away from the dock. But I haven’t failed yet. Why are you firing me?”

“I can’t believe you have to ask.” Ms.Ottoway snapped open the newspaper and held it up with both hands. “This is why I’m forced to let you go.”

Ravenna stared at the front page of theCurtain. The photo on the front page of theShadow Zone Insiderhad been bad enough, but at least no one had known the identity of the dust bunny who had led the raid on the buffet. This picture, however, was on the front page of the biggest scandal sheet in the four city-states, and it showed Ethan, Harriet, and herself hurrying away from the Rendezvous Inn. Harriet was the only one who looked innocent. It was her default mode. As for Ethan, his hair was rumpled as if someone had been running her fingers through it. With his jacket nonchalantly hooked over one shoulder, his rumpled white shirt, and the unknotted tie draped around his neck, he looked like a man who was leaving a lover’s bed.

She was in far worse shape. The long tear in the narrow skirt of her little black dress revealed a lot of bare leg, and her hair was in a chaotictwist, not an elegant chignon. She was the very picture of a woman who had spent the night engaged in illicit passion in a sleazy motel.

The shocking headline almost set fire to the newspaper.

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