Shiver : 13 Sexy Tales of Humor and Horror - Aurora Belle (читать книги онлайн бесплатно полные версии TXT) 📗
He was regarding the room, his eyes narrowed as if looking for clues. “It’s hard for me to get a good read on the damage. It looks like you’ve cleaned most everything up.” He sniffed the air and gave Zia a curious look. “It kind of smells like marijuana in here.”
Zia rolled her eyes. “It’s the sage.”
Mac shrugged. “Well, it is Colorado.”
“It’s cleansing the room, and I didn’t call the police. Finney did. I already know what did the damage to my office, and you won’t find any fingerprints.” She looked around the room and held up her EMF meter. “But I am picking up a lot of fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields. I’ve gotten several readings in the two and three range.”
“Hot dang, you have the Deluxe Pro Detector.” Edna scurried across the room to check out the gadget. “This one has all the fancy functions. Even a flashlight.”
“Wow. Even a flashlight? Sounds pretty scientific to me,” Finn mumbled, and rolled his eyes again.
Edna nodded, her fingers twitching as if she were itching to touch it. “It is. And if you’re getting readings that low, there are definite signs of spiritual activity.”
“I’ve heard anything electronic can trigger those things. Like a computer or even a toaster,” Finn said, the skepticism apparent in his voice.
“Look around, Mr. Finney. Does it look like I have a toaster in here? And those things can give off readings, but anything between the two and seven range is too low for standard electronics and suggests a spiritual presence. It’s scientifically impossible for low-level electromagnetic fields to occur naturally, but we usually find these fields where there’s been spiritual activity reported.”
Edna nodded, waving her scanner along the counter. “It’s commonly accepted that spirits are the cause of the unexplainable EMF readings. Don’t you have the internet, Mr. Finney?” She squinted at the readout. “I’m getting really low levels as well. I have to agree with Madame Zia — there is a definite spiritual presence here.”
Finn turned to Officer McCarthy. “Well, there you have it. I guess we don’t really need you after all. These two have cracked the case with their Inspector Gadget gizmos and they’ve confirmed that Casper the friendly ghost is the culprit. You might have a little trouble getting the handcuffs on him, though.”
Jake and Mac chuckled, but Edna put a hand on her hip and gave him a steely stare. “You can joke all you want, but we don’t know if this Casper is friendly or evil, so I wouldn’t go spouting too much sarcasm. Madame Zia is a renowned psychic, and if she says she feels evil, I trust her.”
“Thank you, Edna.” Zia turned to Mac. “Have there been any missing persons cases recently, or any suspicious calls to 911? I think someone was murdered here last night. Maybe someone called in reports of a gunshot or something.”
“Not that I’m aware of. But I don’t see any evidence to suggest murder.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll just take a quick look around, and then I need to head back in. I’ll ask around and let you know if I hear anything, and be sure to call me if anything else happens.”
“Don’t worry, we will,” Edna said. “I’ve got your number programmed into my phone.”
Mac raised an eyebrow. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.”
Edna absently waved him away. She stood at the bookshelves, opening jars and bottles and peering in or sniffing their contents. “Do you have any dragon tears or eye of newt? Every time I google spells or magical recipes, they always ask for animal blood, eye of newt, or the tears of a dragon. Just who is making all these dragons cry? And what the heck is a newt? And how many poor blind newts are stumbling around in the darkness because their eyes are an essential ingredient in almost every magical spell?”
Finn spent the afternoon cleaning his office and putting his files back together. He’d ordered a pizza in for delivery and had considered taking a slice over to Zia as a goodwill gesture, but reconsidered at the last minute. She probably didn’t even eat pizza. From what he’d learned of her today, she was probably a vegan and only drank purified water from a natural spring in the Himalayas. He couldn’t imagine her desecrating her body by guzzling greasy cheese and spicy pepperoni.
Oh great. Now he was thinking of her body again. He’d been shocked when he’d walked into her office earlier and saw her without the robe. The snug top and short skirt filled in all the blanks that his imagination had been guessing about. And they were great blanks. Slender waist, curvy hips, toned legs, and breasts the perfect size to fit in the palms of his hands.
His hands twitched as he imagined filling them with the heavy weight of her breasts and sliding his fingers across the pale crests that peeked from the top of her blouse. He envisioned pulling her to him and crushing those perfect red lips with his while his hands explored every curve and swell of her body.
Hmmm. He was getting a swell of his own just thinking about it. What was going on? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had afternoon wood just by daydreaming about a dame. Why was he letting this crazy chick with her ghost gadgets and spiritual nonsense get into his head? Maybe she had put a spell on him.
He checked his watch and was surprised to see it was already past five. He should just go home, take a shower (a cold one), then put his feet up, find a game on the tube, and forget about this woman with the long hair and the weird notions.
Yeah, that was what he should do. But maybe first he would just check in on her real quick. Make sure she hadn’t had any other trouble. In fact, he’d had an odd client stop by that afternoon and he wanted to mention it to her. She’d probably already gone home for the day anyway.
It couldn’t hurt just to check.
Zia had her back to the door, but she knew instantly who had just walked through it. Not through any psychic abilities but because she could smell his aftershave. She inhaled the scent, a deep, musky smell that seemed to wrap around her and reach into her soul.
She must be tired. Plenty of men wore great-smelling aftershave. And they weren’t close-minded jerks who were too full of themselves and their own ideas to explore new realms of possibilities. But she’d never had another man’s scent connect so deeply to her, and she wondered if their animal counterparts were somehow similar — that would account for the craving she suddenly had to mate with this man.
Mate with him? Ugh! Where did that come from? She needed to be calm and act cool right now. She sent up a silent request to the Earth Mother for patience and wisdom as she turned to Finn.
He looked tired too. He stood in the doorway, not quite in the room, as if waiting to be invited in. A lock of his sandy brown hair fell across his forehead, and she had the urge to reach up and brush it from his face. “Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Finney?”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Sorry. Finn.” She crossed the room and gestured for him to come in then closed the door. She’d taken her shoes off, so he stood a good several inches above her. She looked up at him. The colors of his aura swirled around his head, and she itched to take his hand and check out the lines on his palms.
Okay, she really just wanted to hold his hand, but reading his palm was a good excuse. “Was there something you needed?” Like a night of hot sex with a barefoot psychic? Oh gosh, what was wrong with her? She needed to get a grip and quit thinking about mating with this guy. Maybe her aura was off.
“I’m getting ready to head out for the night and just thought I’d check on you. Make sure you were all right. Not spooked by the break-in.”
Aww. He was worried about her. That was nice, in a Neanderthal kind of way. Like she couldn’t take care of herself. “On the contrary, I’m not spooked at all. In fact, I’m quite intrigued by the whole thing.”
