“Please.”
He walked over to our usual table and slid out a chair. I followed him across and snared the biggest piece of brownie before he could. “How goes the soucouyant hunt?”
He grimaced. “Not well.”
“Couldn’t Monty replicate the tracking spell?”
“He did, but it appears that by salting the soucouyant’s skin, we severed her connection with it.”
“Ah. Bugger.” I sat down beside him, my thigh lightly brushing his. “Has he come up with anything else?”
“As yet, no. But he was talking to some professor up in Canberra when I left, so there’s still hope we might yet get some definitive information on these things.”
I bit into the brownie, well aware that he was watching me. Watching and enjoying. I chewed the delicious gooey slice for several seconds, then said, “Have you finished for the day?”
“No, unfortunately.” There was a decided huskiness to his voice, and my hormones danced in delight. “I’m actually here for business rather than pleasure.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Indeed.” He glanced up as Belle walked over, three coffee mugs in hand. “Thanks for that.”
She nodded and sat down opposite us. “What about the skinning murders? Any progress on that?”
“No, but they’re why I’m here. I wanted to follow up on Liz’s premonition about the Greenhill skinning.” He picked up a piece of brownie and demolished it in short order.
Belle glanced at me. “You didn’t tell me about that one.”
I grimaced. “Because it wasn’t a premonition, more a feeling that something about the timing of that particular murder was off.”
“Huh.” She snared a slice as Aiden went in for a second one. “In what way?”
“The fact that it was done during the day rather than night or the near morning, as all the others.”
“Is it possible the farmer walked in on her?”
“That’s what I’m thinking—and why I’d like you to come along,” I said. “If his death wasn’t destined, we might be able to question his ghost.”
“He might not be able to tell us anything—it really just depends on how he died.”
I nodded. “Still worth a shot.”
“Yes.” She licked the chocolate off her fingers then picked up her coffee and rose. “I’ll go grab our gear.”
As she left, Aiden said, “So, tonight?”
I raised an eyebrow, a smile teasing my lips. “What about it?”
“We need to finish our Lord of the Rings marathon.”
“It’s hardly a marathon when there’s a couple of days between the two,” I said. “And given the length of that movie, I find myself unable to commit to such a venture when I have to work the next morning.”
“What about dinner then? Perhaps a little dancing afterward?”
My smile grew. “Only if dancing is a euphemism for hot monkey sex.”
He laughed. The warm sound sent a shiver of delight down my spine. “I actually did mean dancing but more than happy to do the hot monkey sex thing as well.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Considering that whole exploding possibility you were mentioning earlier, why on earth would you want to go out dancing? I didn’t figure you’d be the type to enjoy a venue like Émigré.”