Griffin was so used to attention and getting away with things that he didn’t bother trying to shush her.
“Oh, come on, Riley. We were good together. Don’t you remember? I remember. I miss it. I miss us. Well, not being married to you. That was terrible. You really had some unreasonable expectations.” He laughed. “But I miss that thing you used to do with your tongue—”
She didn’t slap him. But she did grab him by the neck tie and dragged him closer.
“I find your aggression attractive,” he croaked. “Pull harder.”
“Listen closely, you no-talent, couldn’t-deliver-an-orgasm-if-your-life-depended-on-it turdwaffle. If youevertalk to me that way again, I will scamper on over to your bubbly bride-to-be and tell her everything. Then I’ll help her hire a lawyer to ruin your life.”
“Hi, sweetie!”
“Bella, baby!” Griffin rasped, extricating himself from Riley’s grip. His face was bright red. “How long have you been standing there?”
Bella’s foot-long lashes batted hard enough to stir up a breeze in the hallway. “I have no idea,” she giggled. “How long haveyoubeen standing here?”
Riley suddenly needed to be literally anywhere else in the world. She physically could not survive sharing the same space with these two.
“Mr. Gentry,” Kellen said, appearing in the door. “We’d like a few minutes of your time.” He glanced in Riley’s direction, then shook his head.Go away, Thorn. I don’t have time for another murder.
“I’ll wait in the lobby,” she said and stormed off.
She entered the lobby under a full head of steam and stopped in her tracks.
“Mrs. Penny?”
The newspaper flapped back up to cover her neighbor’s face.
“I can see you behind the sports section,” she said dryly.
Reluctantly, Mrs. Penny dropped the paper. “How’d you know it was me?”
“Because I saw your purple hair. And your face. What are you doing here?”
“Who? Me?” The woman pointed at herself.
“Yes, you. And why are you dressed in a suit?”
Mrs. Penny was wearing a pinstripe pantsuit with thick shoulder pads and brass buttons on the double-breasted jacket. Her orthopedic shoes were patent leather.
“Maybe I’m applying for a job,” the woman sniffed.
Riley’s nose twitched. “Or maybe you’re following me.”
“No fair using your Jedi mind tricks on me!”
“Do you two mind taking this outside?” the guy at the front desk hissed, covering the mouthpiece of the desk phone. Riley could hear someone on the other end yelling.
“Sure. Sorry. Let’s go, Stabby McGee.”
Mrs. Penny hefted herself out of the chair and hobbled out the door behind Riley.
“How long have you been following me, and why?”
Mrs. Penny nudged the soggy remains of a sandwich with her cane and pouted. “I want credit for all the times I’ve followed you and didn’t get busted. It’s not fair surveilling a psychic.”
It hit Riley then. “Nick hired you to follow me.”
“Don’t get your granny panties in a twist. The guy’s just being a little overprotective since the whole shooting thing.” Her neighbor hooked the bread crust with her cane and tossed it into the street. A pair of fat pigeons descended on the sandwich.
