Black Truth, White Lies (Black Hat Bureau 3)

7

Everyone who sampled the tea I brewed for the carolers’ sore throats wanted their own bag. That became clear when the shop opened the next morning to a line down the sidewalk. The blend of peppermint, anise, licorice root, rosehips, and slippery elm worked wonders without any extra oomph. As much as I wanted to believe our goods were in high demand, Camber told me strep throat had hit local preschoolers hard.

Thanks to the rush, I got through the day with minimal curiosity about how Aedan handled the drop.

However, I wasn’t too busy for my thoughts to keep circling back to my call with Asa.

“Do we have another box of that green apple lip balm?”

Yanked out of my head, I fumbled for the correct answer. “Yes.”

“Where is it?” Camber eyed me with concern. “I have a customer who wants five.”

“I’ll get it.” I squeezed her arm. “Be right back.”

I ducked into the office, located the box, then rushed it to the counter and cut it open with a knife.

“I love how this smells,” a woman told me as she reached in to help herself. “So biteable.”

The comment drew my attention to her, and her identity clicked into place in my mind. I had never met her, or seen a photo, not even heard a description, but her eyes were identical to Aedan’s.

Delma.

Whatever magic transformed him, it worked the same on her, betraying family traits.

Now that we had a lock on her face, I could ask Clay to rewatch the recording from the night Dasher was murdered to see if she had been in the crowd of onlookers, but I had to survive this first.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She smiled, warm and inviting. “Or perhaps you’ve seen my brother. People tell us we look like twins all the time. I heard he was in the area too, but I haven’t run into him.”

“Oh.” Camber joined us with a bag for the purchases. “You mean the guy—” She leapt back. “Ouch.”

“Sorry.” I gripped her shoulder. Hard. “The box slipped through my fingers.”

Right off the counter and directly onto her foot.

Accidents happen.

“It’s fine.” She hefted it up in her arms. “I’ll just return these to storage for now.”

Before Camber could turn, the woman circled the counter. “What guy?”

Playing the part of harried shopgirl, which wasn’t hard to do, she frowned. “What guy?”

“You mentioned a guy. Did he look like me? Same hair and eyes?”

“I hate to disappoint you, but I was picking up an earlier conversation with Rue. I was answering her, not you.” Her smile was all five-star customer service. “We’re expecting the cable guy. A new one.”

Another step eased her into Camber’s personal space. “What does he look like?”

“Mid-fifties, short, mullet haircut.” Camber took a pointed step back. “Lots of butt crack.”

Delma’s smile thinned, and she pulled a card from her purse. “Call me if you see my brother.”

“Sure thing.” Camber accepted the card. “You’ll be the first person I dial.”

“For the lip balm.” Delma pressed a hundred-dollar bill into Camber’s hand. “Keep the change.”

After she left, I waved Arden over to man the register and guided Camber to the office.