Ghostly Deceits (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 3) by Lily Harper Hart Page A

you also tell him my nipples are better than his nipples.”
    “I’ll get right on that,” Harper said, turning her attention to the expansive lawn. The sun was long gone, but the heat of the day remained. Summer was officially here, and Harper was glad to shake off the doldrums of winter – and a shaky spring – to embrace the warmth. After autumn, summer was her favorite season. “It’s beautiful out here. Whisper Cove is pretty at night, too, but seeing the stars against the water like this is magical.”
    “You’re magical,” Jared said, wrapping his arm around her waist from behind and rubbing his nose against her neck. “Did you have a good time tonight?”
    “It was nice,” Harper said. “I didn’t really understand what some of the people were saying, but … they seemed mostly normal.”
    Jared chuckled, his mind wandering back to the odd dinner conversation. “Those mystery people definitely have some quirks,” he said. “I like the guy who carries his own whiskey in a flask because he’s convinced someone is going to try and poison him because he’s so good at solving these mystery events.”
    “He says he’s won seven of them,” Harper said. “Of course, Tara and Tim Lockhart, who happened to be sitting next to me, say he cheated. They also think he’s a pompous blowhard.”
    Jared smirked. “He had that air about him, didn’t he?”
    “I think they’re fine,” Harper said. “Everyone has different interests. While I think a murder mystery game sounds fun for a change of pace, I can’t see myself wanting to do it all of the time. We’ve had enough murders recently.”
    “We definitely have,” Jared agreed, studying her profile. They hadn’t talked much about her ordeal at the hands of a former classmate several weeks before. He decided to let her open up about it at her own pace and not press her until she was ready. She’d barely mentioned it, though. “I heard an update about Jim, if you’re interested, that is.”
    Harper shifted and for a moment Jared thought he saw worry flitting across her features. It was gone before he could be sure. “Please tell me he’s not going to get off on a technicality or something.”
    “He’s definitely not going to get off on a technicality,” Jared replied. “He’s locked up in the county jail until trial and then he’s going to move to a prison facility. There’s no way he can get off.”
    Jim Stone was Harper’s former schoolmate and nemesis. After a local teenager showed up dead in Whisper Cove’s park, Jared and Harper investigated and found that Jim was using impressionable teens to move drugs and he wasn’t above murder to keep his secret. Stone kidnapped Harper with the intent to force her into submission at an isolated location, but she managed to escape and subdue him. She was still kind of shaky after a frightening run through the woods with a killer on her tail.
    “What’s the update?”
    “He’s trying to offer testimony against the teenagers for a lighter sentence, but the prosecutor shot him down,” Jared answered. “He’s not happy.”
    “Good. I hope he’s miserable,” Harper muttered.
    “I’m sure he is,” Jared said. “You’re not miserable because of him, are you?”
    Harper was surprised by the question. “Why would you ask that?”
    “That’s not an answer,” Jared prodded. “You never talk about it. It’s okay to be upset … worried even. I’m here if you need me.”
    “Thank you for the offer, but I’m really fine.”
    Jared cocked a dubious eyebrow.
    “I’m mostly fine,” Harper conceded. “In case you’ve forgotten, I knew Jim was evil long before he kidnapped me.”
    “I haven’t forgotten,” Jared said, smiling despite himself. “I’ve learned to trust your instincts. You were definitely right about Stone. You had a nightmare a few nights ago, though. Was that about him?”
    “That was about a ghost sneaking into Zander’s room and putting him in mismatched socks