Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(21)

His appreciation must have shown, because Dinah looked satisfied. Sam returned and broke off a piece of the biscuit to taste it.

“Those things are priceless. I could arrest you for felony theft,” he warned guarding what remained with his arm.

“Then you’d never have another because Dinah wouldn’t have time to make them if I’m not here,” Sam said without concern. “Were you saying you were investigating me?”

“Sharp ears.” Walker sipped his coffee while he decided how to play this without offending the two women waiting expectantly. “Okay, I ran your plate. It’s no big deal. Your sticker will expire in July, so if you’re staying in California, you’ll want to get to the DMV before then and transfer the title.”

She frowned a little. “How do I do that?”

“You’ll need your Utah title and sales receipt, but first, you need to have an address. So wait until you’re settled in. There’s no rush. Your old address expired a few years back, so you won’t receive any other reminders.”

She nodded, still frowning. “What do you mean, my old address expired?”

“You didn’t update it when you moved a few years ago.” He’d looked into that, too, but he wasn’t certain how much to tell her before she dumped coffee over him. Since she was obviously not a career criminal, he had no right to be nosing around more.

“You’re forgiven if all you’re doing is helping out,” Dinah said with dignity, before returning to her cave.

“That’s not all you looked at, is it?” Sam asked in a low voice. “You exude guilt. They told you to find Cass, so you looked up everything you could legally find.”

She didn’t seem ready to pour coffee over him. He shrugged. “You graduated with a masters, as you said. There’s no record of a more recent address. I’m guessing you left university housing to move in with someone. Since that has nothing to do with Cass, it’s none of my business.”

“Damn right,” she said with hostility. “But you checked out my parents, too, didn’t you?”

He resisted tugging at his collar. “I’m investigating an eighteen-year-old missing persons case. You’re not old enough to know anything, but you know Cass. So I had to wonder how and guess it was through your parents, who may have lived here before you were born.”

She crossed her arms and tapped her toe—definitely hostile body language. “And?”

“And, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize your parents were dead until I found the news story on the plane crash. It must have been while you were just starting university. That had to have been rough. If they had any connection to Cass, you’ll have to tell me.”

She’d gone pale and her toe stopped tapping. She looked as if she was trying to hold herself together by her elbows.

“I don’t remember any of it,” she whispered.



Her parents were dead. Shaking and trying to hide it, Sam abandoned the deputy to help a customer who’d just entered.

She couldn’t believe she’d told the nosy police officer her problem, but she was tired of faking it, tired of being alone, and desperate to know who she was. And she had no family. He would have told her if she had a husband and a married name. Now she knew she had no one, no one looking for her, no one to go home to, and apparently no home. It was a harsh blow, and she fought back the tears she despised.

In just a cursory search, the deputy had found out more than she could ever hope to.

While she took orders, Walker finished his coffee, left cash on the counter, and put on his hat. “I’ll talk to you after the morning rush,” he called, as if women told him all the time that they had no memory.

She could run away, get in the car, and go back to Utah where someone presumably knew her. But they’d probably put her in a mental institution. She probably belonged in an institution.

“That cop giving you trouble?” one of the morning regulars asked. Tall, thin, straggly gray hair thinning on top, faded green blazer. . . Xavier. She remembered the man who followed the loud real estate guy around—except Grumpy Gump had gone back to the city.

“No, he’s just doing what cops do. More coffee?” Sam held up the pot.

He nodded a little eagerly. “Saw you with Mr. Kennedy. You looking for a place to stay?”

Real estate, she recalled, Xavier rented real estate. “I probably won’t be staying long, thanks.”

His face drooped, and she felt sorry for him but forgot about him while she waited on others. He was gone next time she looked, disappeared, like one of the town ghosts.

Mariah arrived a little while later, black braid and feathers swinging, to check her ghost traps and help with the morning rush.

“The spirits aren’t happy,” she told Sam as they passed behind the counter. “I should probably check Cass’s traps. I put some in where she wouldn’t notice. Will you be up there later today? I’ll check yours too.”

“You have a key,” Sam pointed out, unhappy that everyone knew more about her than she did. Had Mariah searched her belongings? How many other people had keys? Anyone could have made a copy while it was hiding under a flower pot!

Mariah raised her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t walk in without your permission. I try not to at Cass’s, but she’s been gone over a week. I don’t know what else to do.”