“You wound me, Thorn.”
Their food arrived, and they dug in until Nick’s phone rang. “Hey, Bri. What’ve you got for me?”
Riley attacked her sliders and listened to his side of the conversation.
“Okay. She’s going to hate that.”
“What am I going to hate?” she demanded when he hung up, the slider forgotten in her hand.
“Brian says he didn’t have enough to run facial recognition. And it was too dark to get a look for any tattoos or identifying marks.”
“So Mr. Pickles’s catnapper is still a ghost.”
“For now. Brian’s running a search on properties that Larry or his family own in case he’s holed up in a cabin somewhere.”
“What else? What am I going to hate?”
Nick grinned. “He also mentioned that there’s a photo of you on Instagram that’s getting a lot of attention.”
He held out his phone to her.
It was a photo of Riley being smother-hugged by Cindy.
Met a celebrity today! Harrisburg’s famous psychic Riley Thorn! Not only did she know how Grandpa Ryan died (skydiving accident), she’s on the case looking for my missing coworker. If anyone has any information on Larry Rupley, contact Riley Thorn directly! But save those marriage proposals, guys. She appears to be taken by a very hot, very dimpled private investigator. #psychic #celebrityencounters #shestallerinperson #dimpledhottie
The picture had four thousand likes already.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she decided, reaching for her second beer.
Her phone rang.
“What is it, Lily?” Riley asked.
“Just calling to deliver your messages. Mr. Winters, or was that Summers? Billy Blanks—do you think he’s the real Tae Bo guy? And Ellie Karpinski… Wait. Maybe that was Crapinski. I can’t read my handwriting. Oh, well. They all say they have information for you, but they’ll only share it in return for a psychic reading. I told them you don’t get out of bed for less than a thousand dollars, and they all hung up.”
“Uh. Thanks?” Riley said. She shoved her hand into her hair, dislodging the hat.
“Nick’s business phone has been ringing off the hook for the last hour, so I had Mr. Willicott start answering it since he and Fred finished the ramp this morning. What should I tell them?”
“Tell who?” Riley groaned.
“Everyone who keeps calling. What are your rates for a reading? How serious are you and Nick? I told them I wouldn’t be surprised if you elope soon. You’ll take me along, won’t you? I’ve always wanted to be a bridesmaid.”
“Lily, do me a favor and just leave the phones off the hook for now.”
“But how will I tell everyone I’m your executive assistant then?”
Riley banged her head on the table. “Just leave the phones off the hook, and Nick and I will take care of it when we get home.”
“Okey-dokey! Oh, I accidentally let Burt eat a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.”
Riley hung up.
“What’s with the face? You look like the world just burned down,” Nick observed.
She looked down at her plate. “Would it be wrong to turn this into a liquid lunch?”
“That’s never wrong,” he assured her.
