“Aria, this is Gretchen, another Marshal in my office. Theo’s the one out there politely ripping your neighbor to shreds. Gretchen, this is Aria Clarke.”
“Colby’s all-time favorite nature photographer,” Gretchen said.
She had a nice, friendly smile that made Aria like her immediately.
They shook hands.
“And these are Aria’s parents, Ben and Doreen, and Aria’s daughter, Mattie—”
“Which one is the dragon?” Mattie said in a loud stage-whisper.
Gretchen’s mouth fell open slightly, but then she looked around the living room and took in all the demolished furniture. Her shocked expression turned rueful.
“I guess you didn’t have a choice there, Colby.”
“I’ve got a lot to catch you up on,” Colby said. “Believe me.”
He crouched down to address Mattie eye-to-eye, and Aria saw the tight wince cross his face as his stiff, sore muscles stretched.
“Theo’s the dragon, Mattie. Gretchen’s human.”
“I’m human too,” Mattie said to Gretchen, like it was something they could commiserate on.
Gretchen nodded sagely. “It’s got its ups and downs, doesn’t it?”
Theo-the-dragon reappeared, straightening his elegant cuffs. Aria couldn’t be sure at this distance, but she thought he might have been wearing cufflinks, which somehow made the night even more surreal.
Though not as surreal as the fact that he had his hands full with—
“Is that cheese?” Aria said.
She hadn’t meant for that to be the first thing she said to a dragon. But what else was she supposed to come up with when he hit her with that kind of curveball?
She wanted to add, a little defensively: This has been a very long day.
But Theo, who looked a little bit like a stray duke out of a show like Downton Abbey, didn’t seem to think her question was strange at all.
“It is,” he said. “It’s for you.”
He handed her the cheese.
First the Slinky and now this. She wondered if the rest of her life was going to be full of US Marshals handing her random objects.
Actually, she wouldn’t mind that at all.
And it did look like good cheese, the kind that would normally be way out of her price range. It was probably supposed to be paired with a better wine than she’d ever tasted, too.
At least Colby looked as confused as Aria felt.
“Theo, why is it cheese? Why did you bring cheese? Every time I think I understand you—”
“It’s a hostess gift,” Theo said. “I would have gotten something better, but obviously I was in a hurry.”
He looked around the room as if casting about for someone who would recognize the obvious value of bringing a hostess gift to a crime scene.
Luckily for him, he hit pay dirt right away.
Doreen Clarke stepped forward and neatly divested Aria of the cheese, giving Theo the warmest and most welcoming smile Aria had ever seen her offer a total stranger.