Riley grimaced as she juggled the toddler and octopus on her lap. “Uh. I get that a lot.”
“Pussy!”
The adults in the room stopped and stared at Maxine as the toddler whacked Riley in the face with the octopus. “Pussy,” she said again.
“Babe, I told you we never should have laughed the first time she said it,” Cindy called to her husband, who was dealing with whatever disaster had befallen the family room.
“That’s a very nice octopus,” Riley told Maxine. The little girl seemed satisfied with that assessment and flopped down in Riley’s lap.
Cindy cocked her head. “I think I know you from TV. Were you onThe Bachelor?”
Riley pushed her coffee mug out of the toddler’s reach. “Uh. No.”
Maxine giggled as Riley jiggled her on her knee.
She’d make a good mom. The thought nearly had him falling out of his chair.
Never in his entire thirty-seven years had he once looked at a woman and thought about her parenting potential. Alistair must have scrambled his brains along with his omelet.
Riley shot him a baffled look, and he guessed she’d picked up on his temporary insanity.
“Uh. Back to your coworkers,” Nick said, his voice sounding strangled. “Was there anyone else at the office who had a beef with Larry?”
Cindy frowned, still looking at Riley. “No one really liked the guy. He was still in his probationary period, and his review was coming up. Spoiler alert: He was going to get a warning about how much time he was spending onlinenotdoing work-related stuff. Did we meet at a Chamber of Commerce mixer?” she asked Riley.
“I don’t think so,” Riley said. Maxine was now drumming on the table with her chubby little hands. “Was Larry online a lot?”
“According to his logs, the man was all over the internet doing everything but work. Porn. News. eBay.” Cindy’s eyes widened. “Oh. My. God. You’re Riley Thorn!”
Riley was shaking her head, but Cindy had already jumped up from her chair. “Babe! Get in here! The psychic from the news is inourkitchen!”
“What psychic?” Jim called back.
“The one from the fountain at the capitol! You know, the one who did that Facebook Live of the mayor trying to murder her?” Cindy clasped her hands in front of her. “Oh my gosh, Ms. Thorn. This is an honor. Can I get you more coffee? Do you know how my grandfather died? Have you ever predicted winning lottery tickets? Is Maxine ever going to grow out of her biting phase?”
The toddler chose that moment to stand up in Riley’s lap and attempt a swan dive. Nick lunged, but Riley had enough wits about her to halt the toddler’s progress before she face-planted on the linoleum.
Cindy’s husband wandered back in with the baby. “What are you yelling about?”
His wife pointed a finger in Riley’s face. “She’s the psychic! From the whole mayor fountain shootout thing.”
“That’s very exciting,” Jim agreed. “But maybe she would be less terrified if you weren’t screaming and pointing.”
“What? Oh, right. Sorry.” Cindy plucked Maxine out of her arms. “I got a little excited there.”
“It happens all the time,” Nick said. “Is there any way you could get me a copy of Larry’s browser history?”
Cindy reluctantly dragged her eyes away from Riley. “Right. Yes. Sure.”
“Was anyone worried that he just disappeared and stopped answering calls?” Riley asked as Maxine wiggled her way safely to the floor and dashed off dragging her octopus.
“Not really. He had a history of walking away from jobs. And he’s not exactly the kind of guy who you worried about once he wasn’t right in front of you.”
The kind of guy that no one cared about if he went missing.
“We appreciate your time today,” Nick said, getting up from the table.
Riley followed suit, shooting out of her chair as if her cute ass were on fire. “It was nice meeting you,” she told Cindy.
