The Emerald Key Read Online Free

night of a new play. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
    He kissed the top of her head. “Cass, honey, I need to do this. It’s important to my future. To our future. This is a connection that could make or break me—us. This guy is big money and can do a lot for my campaign. The party is special invitation only. I would have asked you, but I know how you are about these things, though you’ll have to get over that if you’re going to be the wife of a politician.”
    Steve had political aspirations and making connections helped with his ambitions. She actually wondered if their relationship fit the description of a “connection.” Not so much because of her, but her aunt. With Steve, his ambitions came first. She knew that. But sometimes…ah, well, no use wishing for a miracle. “I’ll be fine. No problems. Besides, Greg is here.”
    “Yeah. You don’t have to worry. It’ll turn out to be some kids. You’ll see. Look at what you sell here. It invites stuff like this to happen.”
    A tiny crack appeared on the face of her clock and she clamped her jaw, trying to stem her anger. Before Cass could say anything, Steve left, the bell ringing after him.
    Her eyes strayed back to the stranger, who’d stood by the door during their entire conversation. If a customer, why no browsing? If not a customer, what did he want?
    Greg stepped up to the man and smiled. “Oh. Hi, Nic. Cass, this is Nic Amandine, an old friend from the Corps. Nic, this is Cassandra Richards. She and her aunt own this store.”
    Nic strode into the store like a powerful jungle cat on the hunt, with her as the prey. He cocked his head at her, a frown flitting across his face. “You’re the one dealing with the stalker?”
    His voice flowed over her like warm honey and, like a bee, she felt drawn to it. Cass moved to put the counter between the two of them, using it as a barrier. “I wouldn’t call him a stalker. It’s just files in my e-mail.”
    “If he’s sending you files with pictures taken on the sly and won’t quit, he’s a stalker. Greg, you said the last file originated here?”
    “Yeah. I’ve got her PC set up with top-of-the-line security. These pictures didn’t get through that way. And I think I found a trace where he hid the files. Nasty little program set to activate when she opened her mail. That way, nobody else would see it before she did. The machine’s back here.”
    “Before I look at that, when did the e-mails start?”
    “Back in September,” Cass said. “The twenty-third to be exact.”
    “You remember the exact date?”
    “The autumn equinox—and my birthday.”
    “Some birthday present. Anything else happen then? Any other strange presents from people you don’t know?” He barked the questions at her as if accusing her. She dug her nails into her palms, fighting for calm.
    “Because of what we sell, we sometimes get the odd threat from fanatics, but nothing unusual of late.”
    “What about Mr. Straitlaced Policeman? What’s his take?”
    She almost giggled at his apt description of Steve. “Steve? He thinks it’s kids playing pranks.”
    “Kids wouldn’t go to this much trouble.”
    She stood aside as Nic headed for the office. His arm brushed her and a jolt of electricity passed through her. From the way his eyes widened, she knew he’d felt it too. He paused, a question in his eyes, then shrugged and entered the office. Even though the floor had no carpet, she figured he must have built up a static charge somehow. That made sense. Didn’t it?
    “Cassandra?” Minerva’s voice brought her attention back to the shop. “We might as well lock up.”
    “Um, sure. I’ll close out the register.” Cass ran the tallies for the day’s receipts. After her fourth time through the counts and the fourth different total, she blew out a breath and shook her head. “Aunt Minerva? Can you do this? I can’t seem to concentrate tonight.”
    “No wonder. I’ll take care of this. Think you can handle the