Sizzle and Burn

tossed the notepad onto the nightstand and fitted her hands to her hips. “There is only one other possible explanation.”
    “What?”
    “You cheated.”
    “Does this mean you’re going to try to wriggle out of your gambling debt?”
    “If you think you’re going to collect ten thousand, four hundred and fifty bucks from me, think again.”
    “Maybe we could come up with alternative payment arrangements,” he suggested smoothly.
    She beetled her brows at him. “Such as?”
    “I believe I mentioned last night that there were only two kinds of bets that make a game of cards interesting.”
    She picked up a pillow and tossed it at him. He fell back, laughing. She turned on her heel and flounced off into the bathroom.
    It occurred to her that it was the first time in her entire life that she had actually flounced. It was quite invigorating.

Twenty-eight
    B radley examined the fragment of broken china he was holding in his hand. “You’re sure this is from the Shelbyville B and B?”
    He had arrived shortly after eight, wearing his slouchy jacket, his mirrored sunglasses and his cop face. He had removed the sunglasses and he and Zack were both behaving themselves but Raine was uneasily aware of the tension in the room.
    In an effort to avoid a scene, she had made a large pot of coffee. She then instructed the men to sit using the same tone of voice she used with Robin and Batman when they got a yen to exercise their claws on her delicate woven wood window shades instead of their cat trees.
    Zack lounged in one of two chairs that bracketed the coffee table. Bradley had taken the opposite chair. That had left the sofa for her.
    “I’m positive that cup fragment is from the B and B,” she said, answering Bradley’s question. “He was here, right inside my condo.”
    Bradley looked dubious. “Why would he leave a broken cup in the pocket of your coat? It’s not exactly a dramatic message. I guess it could be symbolic of something but it’s a little vague. There was a good chance you wouldn’t even recognize the shattered cup, let alone realize he had left it there for you.”
    She concentrated on pouring coffee. “He has started stalking me but he doesn’t want to leave any hard evidence behind that I can take to the police.”
    “He feels safe,” Zack said, watching Bradley very steadily. “He’s sure that even if Raine went to the cops with that piece of broken china, no one would take her seriously.”
    Bradley ignored him to focus on Raine.
    “How did he get your name? As far as the media was concerned, you were just an unnamed client of a local real estate agent. Doug Spicer and Chief Langdon got the credit for the rescue.”
    “I didn’t land on the six o’clock news, thank heavens,” she said. “But everyone back in Shelbyville knows that I was the person with Spicer when we found the girl. They also know that my aunt’s house now belongs to me.”
    Bradley looked seriously thoughtful. “Are you telling me that you think the killer is a Shelbyville resident?”
    “A resident or maybe someone who spends weekends and vacations in the area. I think he almost has to be a person who knows the community well, not just because he picked up my name so fast after the girl was found, but because he felt comfortable coming and going from my aunt’s house.”
    “I get why he may have focused on you,” Bradley said. “There’s a twisted logic to it.”
    “He hunts witches. I’m the niece of the Shelbyville witch. That makes me a witch, too. I think he fears me.”
    She realized she was no longer regarding Bradley from the standpoint of a hurt and humiliated would-be lover, and, for his part, he wasn’t fixated on manipulating her with guilt in an attempt to obtain her assistance with the Cassidy Cutler book. They were working together again.
    Bradley rubbed his jaw. “If he’s afraid of you, why not just pick up a gun and shoot you?”
    Out of the corner of her eye, Raine saw Zack go dangerously still. Energy pulsed in the small space. Bradley must have picked up on it unconsciously because he stirred as though suddenly uncomfortable.
    “You know better than to attribute normal reasoning processes to freaks like this,” she said quickly. She gave Zack a warning frown.
    Zack did not take his eyes off Bradley but she felt the powerful energy dim a little.
    “Can’t argue with that,” Bradley said. He turned the bit of china with his fingers. “He took a risk leaving a chunk of