Ultimate Nyssa Glass, H. Burke [cat reading book .TXT] 📗

He frowned. “But I have to finish my reading, remember?”

“It’s all right. You can have a break.”

Theo shrugged and left the room, checking over his shoulder as he went.

O’Hara gulped the water then slammed the glass on the counter. “Cozy set up you have here. Nice life for a wanted criminal.”

“Whether you believe I’m innocent or not doesn’t matter. I’m not wanted in San Azula, only New Taured.” Nyssa crossed her arms. “I could tell you what really happened in the shop, if you’re interested in the truth, but if you have your mind made up, you might as well leave. You have no authority here.”

“You think you can get away with it, don’t you? Mock the law from your safe little tropical paradise? Convinced your victim wasn’t important enough to merit an international manhunt?” O’Hara’s lip curled in disgust. “He may not have been wealthy or influential, but he deserves justice, and I’m not going to let you spit in the face of that.”

“Mr. Calloway was a good man, like a father to me.” Nyssa’s stomach clenched at the memory of him lying dead on the shop floor, the mysterious man in the top hat grinning over his body like a hungry wolf … but that man was now dead, just like Mr. C. The case might not be closed, but his killer had paid the price. “If you want justice, I respect that, but you won’t find it here. Let me show you out.”

She stepped out from behind the counter, her arm extended towards the door. O’Hara lunged for her and grabbed her wrist. Nyssa tried to wrench away, but the woman’s grasp tightened painfully.

“You were my first case … and my only case.” O’Hara’s voice sank to a menacing hiss. “My superiors don’t think it’s worth pursuing, but I’m not going to let a murdering minx skip off into the sunset. I tracked you to Freeport, found the man who sold you false passports … then you made it out of the country to settle here, with this set up? Who paid for that? It wasn’t the old man’s money. We found no evidence of that sort of cash. Who bankrolled you, girl? Was the murder a paid hit?”

“Let me go!” Nyssa kicked out. Her booted toe sank into O’Hara’s shin. The woman dodged a second kick and pushed Nyssa against the counter.

“I’m onto you. I’m going to find a way to get you back to New Taured to stand trial for your crimes.”

Nyssa darted behind the counter. Ellis’s “fly zapper,” a metal rod that could let out an electric shock, lay beneath the till. If O’Hara came at Nyssa again, she was getting fried. Nyssa pointed a finger at O’Hara. “Get out before I call the real police.”

“You won’t be able to duck the law forever.” O’Hara sneered. “Get used to seeing this face, because it belongs to your new shadow.”

Nyssa waited until the door slammed behind O’Hara to exhale again. She sank to the floor, wrapping her arms about her trembling knees. It’s all right. She can’t do anything to me … but what if she finds out about Ellis?

Ellis wasn’t wanted for murder, but he was running from demons of his own. If word got out that the heir to the Dalhart fortune was alive and in San Azula, the vultures would descend.

The doorbell jingled. Nyssa cringed and reached for the fly zapper.

“Hello? Nyss? Theo?”

Cool relief swept through her at Ellis’s familiar voice, and she popped up.

Ellis steered his motorized wheelchair towards her. His brown eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed under his wavy black hair. “Were you sitting on the floor?”

She shrugged.

He wheeled around the counter and took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

Nyssa forced a laugh. “Apparently the New Taured police department decided the best use of their time was to send a detective here to threaten me.”

His face darkened. “Threaten you how?”

She concentrated on his long fingers wrapped around her hand. The tension in her neck and shoulders eased. “Just with eventual arrest—to let me know I’m still a wanted woman.” She squeezed his hand before letting go. “It’s ridiculous. Just a toothless threat.”

He rubbed the arms of his chair. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s been almost a year, and you’re half a world away. Why are they coming after you now?”

“Well, they do think I killed a man.” She straightened her tools, easing each back into the outline she’d painted for it.

“Not to diminish the value of Mr. C’s life, but people are murdered every day. The police don’t have the resources needed for an international manhunt to solve a nearly year-old crime.” He frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“It seemed personal to her, somehow.” Nyssa drew a deep breath. “I’m not worried about me, but she asked where I got the money for the shop. Do you think she’ll be able to track that back to your family?”

“I doubt it. Even if she does, it was mine to take. I’m the last living member of my family.”

“But what if she finds out who you are?” Nyssa sat on the edge of the counter. “If news gets out that you’re still alive—”

“Then I’ll deal with it.” He squeezed her knee. “The choice to separate myself from my father’s legacy was due to preference, not preservation. I’m not eager to be a Dalhart again, but it wouldn’t kill me.”

The knot in her stomach began to uncoil. “We’ve just made such a good life for ourselves here. I don’t want anything to jeopardize it.” She bent down and kissed him.

“It won’t.”

The wall clock chimed five.

“Shouldn’t you be fancying yourself up?” Ellis asked, a twinkle returning to his eyes. “I thought women took hours fussing in front of the mirror before a date.”

She laughed. “Our reservation’s in two hours. I could comb each individual hair twice and we’d still have time.”

“True. Still, I want tonight to be perfect, and that means forgetting about this police business.” He caressed her knee. “Think you can