Whack The Mole (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 2)

“What if I don’t agree?”

She shrugs. “Then we might have to keep The Bistro closed indefinitely. Until we tie up all the loose ends, which might take weeks. Who knows?”

“That’s blackmail.”

“It’s called cooperating with a federal agency and helping your country.”

She’s got me there. “Okay, sure. I’ll help. What if I see someone acting funny, what do I do then?”

“You immediately call Fontaine here. He’ll be our liaison. And if you remember anything, anything at all that stands out, then report that too. Anything, no matter how small or trivial could be important.”

“I guess I could do that. What about my partner Sarah? Shouldn’t we tell her what’s going on?”

“Absolutely not. The only reason I’m bringing you in on this is because you’re already aware of the situation we have going on in town. The fewer people who know, the better.” She gets up to leave. “

Another thing.” She makes a disgusted face. “Apparently, Joey has a thing for your double chocolate chip muffins. He’s requested I bring some back with me.”

“Sure, I can do that.” I try not to sound as ridiculously pleased as I feel. Double chocolate chip is my favorite too.

She shoots Travis a parting look. “You get Joey’s muffins. I’ll meet you in the car.”

I barely wait till she’s out of earshot. “Boy, she’s intense. So what happened to ‘I know nothing, I’ll say nothing, and I’ll do nothing.”

“What happened is that the Bureau needs your help,” he says tightly.

“Looks like you need it too.” Gloating isn’t a good look, but I can’t help myself.

Travis glances between Paco and me. “I admit, at first I thought the bit about the dog finding the dead body was…crazy, but this makes three dead bodies now.”

“I told you. Paco has skills.”

“You expect me to believe that he’s a ghost whisperer?”

“I think you already do.”

“Let’s say I buy it. What else am I missing here?” He spears me with an intense gaze. It’s almost like he can see right through me. For one horrible second, I wonder if Jim told Travis about my gift. But no, Jim wouldn’t do that. He promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone, and I believe him.

“You’re not missing anything,” I say firmly. We go down to the kitchen where I put a half dozen muffins, five of the double chocolate chip and one orange cranberry (in case Joey needs a bit of variety), into a bag and hand it to Travis.

“You’re not staying here tonight, are you?” he asks.

“Why not?”

“Someone literally dumped a dead body in your back yard. I’d feel a lot better if you stayed with your brother or your parents.”

“Well, I wouldn’t. I like my own bed just fine, thanks. Now if you don’t mind, I’m having dinner with my family tonight and I’m already late.” I make a shooing motion with my hand.

“You’re the most stubborn… Okay. But don’t forget to—”

“I know, I know. Lock the door behind you.”

Chapter Nine

I can’t get the look on Travis’s face out of my head. I know that Jim would never reveal my secret to him, but something tells me that Travis is on to me. Or at the very least, on some level, he knows something about me is off.

I also can’t stop obsessing about El Tigre. To think, a world-famous hitman has been in my café and I didn’t even know it. He probably walked right into The Bistro, ordered coffee and a muffin, and I’m sure I smiled at him because I smile at all my customers.

I wonder what kind of muffin he ordered. And if he liked it. Oh no. I hope he didn’t come in the day that I put too much flour in the lemon poppy seed muffins. They came out a bit too doughy and…