12. Wolfram
Chapter 12
Wolfram
W e left Reese’s mother’s home and drove toward town.
“Your aunt will remain on my suspect list,” I said as she turned her vehicle into the community college parking lot.
“She doesn’t like me but there’s nothing new about that.”
“I don’t see this so much as disliking you as resenting you and your relationship with your mother. That’s a solid reason to drive you away.”
“For whatever reason, she’s always tried to shove herself between us. Mom doesn’t see it, but she’s blind when it comes to her older sister. Aunt Beverly raised Mom after their parents died, and in my mother’s eyes, her sister is wonderful and amazing. Mom sees the best in us all but doesn’t appear to notice the bad.”
Reese parked, and we got out, walking toward the building where Flint had an office.
“Oh, hey,” she said, stopping on the sidewalk, lifting her arm to wave. “There she is. Charmaine. Charmaine!” she called out to a woman striding farther down the sidewalk.
The woman didn’t turn or acknowledge Reese.
“That’s weird,” She lowered her arm back to her side. “Maybe it wasn’t her. Again.”
“Would you like me to go grab her?”
Her laugh bubbled out. “And if it’s not her? The woman will scream and rightly so. Let her go.”
“Very well.” I stared in that direction for a long while.
We entered the building and took the stairs to the second level and continued down the hall. Flint’s office door was closed, but we could hear people speaking inside.
“Maybe he has a student with him.” Reese pointed to the wooden bench in the small open seating area across from this section of offices.
We sat and waited.
Finally, the door opened, and Tracy and Flint stumbled out, locked in an embrace, their arms around each other and their lips fused. Flint’s hand was up Tracy’s shirt that had been hiked up around her upper thighs.
“Well,” Reese lifted her eyebrows my way. “There was no way I could compete with what my old professor has to offer.”
They stilled, and Flint’s hand slipped out from under Tracy’s shirt. Color rose into her face as she dragged her skirt down around her legs and smoothed the rest of her clothing and hair.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her glare remaining on Reese.
“I stopped by to see Flint,” Reese said.
“You can’t have him,” Tracy snarled. She turned to Flint and whined. “Don’t talk to her. She’s mean, and she’ll say nasty lies about me.”
“You mean like tell him to lock his social media accounts before you post slanderous statements on them?” Reese asked.
“I’d never do anything like that.” With a huff, Tracy stalked down the hall.
Flint gave us a weak smile. “I assume you stopped by to deliver your endorsement?” he asked Reese.
She rose from the bench and strode over to stand beside him, me following. “Actually, I wanted to share some details about Tracy and talk to you about the guest lecturer position the college offered me, but I find now that I don’t want to bother.” She held her hand out to me. “Come on, Wolf. Let’s leave Flint and Tracy to whatever it is they were planning to do. On the floor or his desk, I imagine. Honestly, Professor, I’m shocked. Not that you’re developing a relationship with someone, though I’ll mention again that you shouldn’t trust her with anything, but I’m stunned that you’d be intimate with an employee during class hours.”
“She’s much more than an employee to me,” he said, his spine stiffening, and his gaze sharpening. “Take care with what you say about my fiancée. I’d hate to have to sue you for defamation.”
“Fiancée? You move fast.”
“We’ve known each other for years. Don’t think you can threaten either of us.”
“No,” Reese poked his chest, her face bright with color. “You watch out. Don’t think you can threaten me .”
A low growl rumbled in my chest, and Flint darted inside his office, slamming the door.
We left and went to her SUV, climbing inside again.
“I can’t believe those two have known each other for years and are getting married.” She white knuckled the steering wheel. “She hates this town, but she never mentioned knowing anyone here. However, this is a bonus for me. After his threat, I no longer need to give him an endorsement for his book.”
I squeezed her hand before releasing it so she could drive us into town. “If they’re both involved, we’ll ensure they pay.” In one way or another.
No one challenged the true mate of a vampire and came out the victor.
We parked in the lot across from Monsters, PI, and strolled down the road to the historical society’s office, but the door was closed and locked. The sign said they wouldn’t be open for a couple of days.
“Where next?” Reese leaned against the brick wall of the quaint building.
“Everything else I need to look into can be done online.”
“I have an idea.” The smile she gave me made everything inside me quiver. “Let’s go to the bookstore next to Mythical Muffin. They messaged me that they’d ordered a bunch of my books and asked if I’d stop in and sign them. Readers love buying books with the author’s signature. I’ve also got some swag on my backseat, and I can put a custom bookmark inside each as an extra goodie. After that, we can pick up some items for tomorrow’s breakfast at Mythical Muffin.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
After collecting the swag from her car, we strolled down the sidewalk, passing the bakery with a sweet scent drifting around us. We went inside Cryptid Book Den. While Reese walked up to the counter to speak with the older woman working there, I studied the choices on the shelves, looking specifically for Reese’s books. I wanted to buy a copy of each and read them.
Oddly enough, I couldn’t find any on the alphabetized shelf. Perhaps they’d put them on an endcap.
Not there, either.
Were they sold out? That would make sense. She was a local author, and they’d be sure to highlight that fact. Tourists loved buying things created by people living in the area.
“What do you mean?” Reese stood at the counter, her hand to her throat, horror filling her face.
I stalked over to stand with her, scowling at the woman standing behind the counter.
“They pulled all my books off the shelf.” Tears shimmered in Reese’s eyes.
“You do understand.” The woman squirmed under my glower. “Honestly, I don’t believe you plagiarized one bit, but I have to do what my boss says. He said the accusations are credible, and he told me in no uncertain terms that we were not going to sell even one book for you again.”