Nick refused to let her go, so she awkwardly turned in his arms to hug Gabe.
“I saw a porno that started like this once,” Mrs. Penny said.
Riley sighed and released Gabe. “Thanks for ruining the mood, Mrs. Penny.”
She lifted the burrito in toast. “Anytime.”
Burt’s back end rumbled, and the dog jumped as if he could escape his own stench.
Riley groaned. “Why does everyone keep feeding him people food?”
“We are very sorry,” Gabe said solemnly. “Burt ate your lunch while Mrs. Penny was attempting to put buffet shrimp rolls in her pants.”
“Shrimp rolls make a great midnight snack,” Mrs. Penny piped up.
“Will someone explain what the hell is going on?” Kellen demanded.
“Riley got kidnapped by a limo and taken to Savannah’s,” Mrs. Penny said. “Did they make you dance before you escaped?”
“Are you feeling well?” Gabe asked her.
“You do kinda look like you might toss your cookies,” Mrs. Penny observed. “Unrelated, do you guys have any cookies?”
“I’m fine,” Riley insisted. But there was definitely something wrong with her pallor.
“You should sit,” Nick decided. “Sit and tell me who I need to hunt down.”
Riley firmly put her hands on his chest, then looked between him and Kellen. “I think after Mrs. Penny and Gabe take Burt out, we should all sit down.”
Nick didn’t like the sound of that at all.
9
12:30 p.m., Friday, October 25
Riley loved the mansion’s living room. Well, now that it was no longer inhabited by a colony of bats. It was a large, airy space at the front of the house sparsely decorated with mismatched, castoff furniture she’d found online and at yard sales. The black marble fireplace was flanked by twin window seats. Through the front windows, the Susquehanna River lazily flowed south across Front Street.
But none of the room’s occupants were taking in the views. They were all watching her expectantly.
Still dizzy from her bizarre psychic encounter with Beth…er, Sesame, Riley felt exhausted, woozy, and totally unprepared for the fallout of the bombshell she was about to drop.
She squirmed in Nick’s lap. “Nick, I know you’re glad to see me alive, but you’re going to have to let me go so I can do this.”
“Nope,” he said. “Oh, we’re going to dinner tonight. Then I’m taking you to the beach for the weekend.”
Reassured by the overprotective-boyfriend routine, she cupped his cheek. “I appreciate that, and I would love to. But I have a feeling you’ll have something more important to do in a minute.”
“Nothing is more important than you,” he insisted vehemently.
She wasn’t sure if it was the aftereffects of her psychic flu or whether it was Nick being romantic that made her weak in the knees.
“Barf!” Mrs. Penny complained from the floral fainting couch in the corner. She had her hand in a bag of pork rinds.
Gabe smiled encouragingly from the rattan rocking chair near the doorway. It creaked every time he rocked forward.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Riley. But I’ve got a medical examiner waiting for me at the morgue,” Kellen said, looking at his watch.
She had a feeling that corpse was about to be bumped down the homicide detective’s priority list.
