Page 86 of Stalk the Dark
Wow, someone had a mood swing problem. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
Silence.
O-kay. I rolled onto my side, away from him, and closed my eyes.
The howl came again, closer this time, and icy fingers crept up my spine. How I hated Dracul territory. This year couldn’t be over fast enough.
Chapter 26
The stuff covering the teapot seemed to be baked on in places. “I’m going to need something to clean this.” I turned it over in my hands, noting how smooth the ceramic was in the spots where it wasn’t covered in the strange, hard residue.
“You took samples off it?” Padma asked.
“Yeah. I sent off the kit to the labs.”
“So why are you bothered about cleaning it?”
I looked up at her, pondering her question, and I honestly didn’t know why.
“Oh. My. God.” Merry popped her head into the room. “Look what arrived.”
Padma and I exchanged glances before quickly following her out into reception where a large box sat on the counter with a picture of a barista-style coffee machine on it.
Kaster had come through. “Nice.”
Edwin joined us a moment later, his eyes going round. “This is top of the range. It must have cost him a fortune.” He ran his hand over the box. “I’ll get it set up. Might take a while.”
“There’s a note too.” Merry held out a white envelope, and Padma went to take it, but she pulled it away. “Addressed to Orina.”
“Me?” I took it with a frown, suddenly the object of scrutiny while I opened it. “You’re going to watch me read it, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” they said in unison.
“And then demand to know what it says.”
“Of course.”
Yeah, of course. I couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t as if there was a shit load of exciting things to do at the office. Cataloging was mind numbing.
I scanned the note, unable to help but smile.
Dear Miss Lighthart,
As promised, you have your coffee machine. Thank you for acting quickly to retrieve our agent. On a more personal note, may I say how beautiful you looked in the midnight-blue dress. It brought out the flecks of blue in your eyes.
If it’s not too presumptuous, I would love to take you out for dinner sometime. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kaster Black
His number was on the bottom of the letter.
“Well?” Merry asked. “What does it say?”
I tucked the note into my pocket. “It says thanks for getting his operative back.”
“And…” Edwin made a rolling motion with his hand.
“He wants to take me to dinner.”
