No Happily Every After (Mia and Roman Psychic Suspense #4)

Chapter Nineteen

“Hi. Are you Mia from Healing Crystals?” the woman with the bob asked.

Mia didn’t react at first. Her eyes stayed fixed on Eliza’s face. Finally, she blinked and shifted her gaze to bob woman.

“That’s me,” she managed while her mind whirled.

Mac must have sensed her unease for he whined once and shifted against her. Warmth radiated from his body to her thigh, and her hand immediately stroked his head.

“Great. I’m Kerry and this is Eliza,” she said. “We’re beyond excited about the bracelets. I just love everything you make. You’re so talented.”

How crazy was it that out of all the custom jewelry makers in the Nashville area, Eliza Wentworth and her friend had chosen her? Still, now that her brain was coming back online, she realized this was an unbelievable opportunity.

“That’s such a nice thing to say. Thanks. And I’m sorry for whatever you’re going through. My assistant told me it’s been a really hard time.”

Eliza nodded and pressed her glossy pink lips together. Huge lashes framed her hazel—trending toward green—eyes. Her hair was true black. The kind that gave off a slight blue glow. It hung straight down to her tiny waist like a sheet of glass.

“It’s been tough. We lost someone close to us. It feels like we’ll never get over it, you know?” She took in a breath to steady herself. “But we’re doing our best to move on. Honor that person by living our best possible life.”

“Of course. Good for you.” Mia’s attention was pulled down and it was only then she saw that Eliza had a tiny black and tan dog tucked in her arm. “Oh, wow, who’s this cutie?”

“I’d like you to meet Jean Paul Gaultier. You can call him JP. He’s seven months old and the love of my life.”

Mia offered the back of her hand, and the Miniature Pincher sniffed cautiously before quickly retracting his head. “Aw. You’re shy, little one. You should put him down and he can meet Mac. I promise he’s very gentle.”

“That dog is the size of a pony,” Kerry said. “JP would barely be an appetizer for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know. JP doesn’t do well with big dogs,” Eliza said, hugging him closer.

“Or any dog, really. He’s a mama’s boy,” Kerry said.

“He probably just needs some socializing. Here, I’ll hold Mac, and you put him down and see how he does,” Mia said.

Eliza hesitated, glancing from Mia to Mac and back again. “Okay. I guess we could try.”

She crouched down and set him gently on the grass at her feet. Mac remained as still as a statue, only his eyes moved as he watched the tiny JP slink behind his mother’s legs.

“Just leave him be for a minute. He might want to spread his wings a little and say hello to Mac once he’s got his bearings. Especially if we ignore the situation. Look, his little nose is twitching. He really wants to come over.”

“But he’s so scared he’s shaking. I hate to see him like this,” Eliza said. She gathered him up in her arms again. “He’s not ready. And I don’t want to force him.”

“Okay. It’s your call,” Mia said, privately thinking the poor Min Pin would never have any friends if Eliza didn’t stop hovering and projecting her fear all over him.

“Can we see the bracelets?” Kerry asked, clearly not interested in canine sociology.

“Of course.” Mia unzipped her sling purse and pulled out two slender purple boxes, handing one to each woman.

“Oh. It’s stunning. Look at those colors,” Eliza said, running her finger back and forth across the pink and black stones.

“I used rhodonite. I didn’t know what your particular situation was when I was making them, but this crystal helps with heartbreak, loss, and grief. From what you just told me, it sounds like it’s exactly what the doctor ordered,” Mia said.

“Very pretty. I love it,” Kerry said, and she grinned at Eliza. “We’re going to be bracelet buddies.”

“I guess so,” Eliza said.

“Wow. Now that’s what I call an engagement ring. It’s stunning. I wish I’d thought to get an east-west setting. They’re so in right now,” Mia said, pointing to Eliza’s left hand.

“Oh, thanks. Yeah. I love it. My finance went all out.” She ran a finger lovingly over the diamond then smiled and glanced down at Mia’s hand. “Yours is … pretty. When are you getting married?”

“My guy had it made. He used the citrine stones from his mother’s engagement ring and added the diamond from … well, he picked it out specially. Our wedding is soon. Beginning of November. I have so much to do my head is constantly filled with details. It’s fun planning a wedding, isn’t it? How’re you doing with yours?”

“Great. We go before you. Ours is September eight and it’s pretty much all set.”

“Congratulations. Is it around here?”

“Her fiancé’s family has a house on Crawford Lake. It’s going to be amazing. There’ll be a big tent and the view over the lake is first class. I’m Eliza’s maid of honor,” Kerry said.

“I’m doing the tent deal too. Are you using Big Top?” Mia asked.

“We went with Canvas Palace. They had the more upscale models we were looking for,” Eliza said.

“What about caterers and wines? Those are tough choices. I mean the food’s got to be good, but you don’t want to break the bank, right? I settled on Best Eats and Palmer’s Vineyards.”

Eliza shrugged and spread her arms wide. “I’m lucky. Money is no object.”

“Eliza and Scott are only using top wedding vendors from Nashville. The ones all the big country stars use. It’s going to be mega amazing. And Eliza’s dress is a Vera Wang.” Kerry’s hand patted her chest and her face went dreamy. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

“Wow. It sounds like it’s going to be quite the event.”

When the conversation dropped off, Mia cast about for something else to say. Anything to keep Eliza talking. She didn’t want to let this moment slip away without getting information that could help their case or at least point them in a new direction to investigate.

She noticed the two women share a look, then Kerry nodded and Eliza took a step closer to Mia. Close enough Mia could smell the musky scent she wore and see that her skin appeared to be poreless. Like it had been airbrushed.

Mack rumbled low in his throat.

“Yeah. My wedding will be awesome. And I’m not going to let anything get in the way. Not Jennifer and Thomas. Not you. And certainly not Roman Mancini,” she said in a low, menacing voice.

Shock hit Mia like a cattle prod and electricity raced over her skin while her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears. She glanced to Kerry, who stood with shoulders squared and mouth set in a hard line, then back to Eliza. Mac nudged in between her legs and Eliza’s, and she automatically grabbed his collar.

“I’m not … what do you mean?” she finally managed.

“Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I mean. Stop looking into my background. You’re not going to find anything because I’ve done nothing wrong. And I can promise you, Scott’s head over heels in love with me.” Her smile was smug, and she fluttered her lashes and shook her hair back. “So in love he’ll never call off the wedding. You’re just wasting your time.”

Kerry crowded in and now Mac let out a full-bodied growl. When she glanced down, she saw the hackles on the back of his neck had risen.

“Hey, easy, my man,” Mia soothed. “They’re not going to hurt me. Not in the middle of Dalton in broad daylight.”

Eliza tipped her head and gazed up at Mia. She was still overly close. Mia could see that a ring of light brown circled her pupil and there were tiny brown flecks speckling her iris.

“You’re right, we won’t do anything today. At least nothing physical,” she said. “This is just a warning because I’m not the cry-myself-to-sleep type. When I’m under attack I fight back.”

“So you’re threatening me?” Mia said softly, staring straight back into Eliza’s eyes.

As quickly as she could, she reached out with her senses. The connection was gratifyingly swift. Inside, Eliza was furious which exactly matched her exterior. But when Mia dug deeper, a strong current of fear flashed through.

Eliza’s glossy lips twisted into a snarl, and though JP struggled in her arms, she held tight. Mia felt a tremble roll through Mac’s body.

“Yeah. I’m threatening you. Leave me alone or this isn’t going to go well for you or Roman,” Eliza said.

“I can’t believe you’d try and hurt her after everything she’s been through. You’re despicable. Immoral. People like you should be ashamed of themselves,” Kerry said, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “This poor girl just needs some peace and happiness in her life.”

When Mac growled, Mia heard the imminent threat in his tone. “No. Sit. Right now.” She gave him the hand signal and said “Sit” again while maintaining eye-contact with the Doberman. It took longer than she liked before his butt slowly lowered to the grass.

“I’m glad we met,” Mia said easily. “It’s always nice to size up an opponent. But since you have nothing to hide, why do you care if we investigate your background? And FYI, we’ll keep doing the job until the client tells us otherwise.”

Eliza nodded once then gave a sort of careless half shrug, but Mia felt the fear even more clearly now.

“Okay. But don’t say we didn’t give you a chance to walk away before things got bad.”

“You realize that setting up this elaborate meeting to warn me is only making me believe you’re guilty as hell of something. I’m guessing that’s the opposite of what you wanted. So now let me warn you right back. We won’t stop until we figure out what you’re trying so hard to hide. And you’d better hope Scott doesn’t get so much as a hangnail or we’ll be looking at you to make amends,” Mia said, making sure to keep a firm grip on Mac’s collar.

Kerry pulled on Eliza’s arm. “Let’s go. I told you this was a big waste of time,” she muttered.

They started to turn away and suddenly JP came alive. He squirmed in Eliza’s arms, his bark ferociously high pitched. She barely prevented him from leaping free.

Meanwhile, Mac lowered as though ready to spring and Mia turned to face him. “Stay,” she said in a strong but calm voice. “He’s smaller than you and it’s not his fault he’s got a bad mama.”

“This isn’t over,” Eliza said while still struggling to contain JP.

Mia kept one eye on Mac and watched the two women walk across the grass to a Honda Civic and drive away. She released the Doberman who immediately sniffed the ground where the women had been then glanced all around the area as though not convinced they were gone.

“We’re okay. We’re fine. Take it easy, Mac. I’ve never seen you this agitated.” When he finally returned to her side and lifted his head to stare up at her, she dropped into a crouch and threw her arms around his strong shoulders. “You can’t let it bother you. It’s part of the job and means we must be getting close to something Eliza doesn’t want found. Now we just have to figure out what, exactly, she’s so afraid of.”

She paused and blew out a breath, letting the tension drain away from her body. Mac sighed as though in sympathy. Her phone pinged and she held still another few beats, still hugging the Doberman.

“Suddenly I don’t feel like eating in town tonight. Let’s just go home,” she said aloud.

As she stood, she noticed one of the boxes with the rhodonite bracelet lay in the grass. She picked it up and tucked it back into her purse. There was a full moon due in a couple of weeks that would clear the stones of the negative energy. Waste not, want not , she thought.