turquoise water. Think of sugar-sand beaches.
He thought of chocolate brown eyes, wide and lifeless.
Luke muttered a string of curses and rolled onto his side. He
pulled the pillow over his head and mentally inventoried the fishing lures in
his tackle box. He worked his way to the bottom, envisioned the boning knife
nestled in a leather sheath, and gave up. "Damn me for an empty-headed
idiot."
He rolled out of bed and headed for the door, pulling on his swim
trunks as an afterthought.
Luke found her sitting cross-legged on the floor beside her bed,
rubbing an ecstatic Knucklehead's belly. She looked up in surprise as he burst
into the room. "Tell me."
Her tongue slipped out of her mouth and ringed her lips. "You
want to know...?"
"Everything. The drugs. The murder. Your involvement."
"And you'll help me?"
"I'm not promising anything. I have to hear your story
first."
She glanced down at the dog, then back up at him. "Then can I
at least have your word that you won't do anything that could hurt me?"
Affronted, his body stiffened. "Hurt you? I'm not the bad guy
here. You came to me, remember? What do you think I'd do to hurt you?"
Maddie's teeth tugged at her lower lip. "Talk. You could tell
the wrong somebody something I'm going to tell you, something that could get me
in trouble. Will you promise me you'll keep this between the two of us,
Luke?"
"All right."
"Oh, jeez," she muttered. "What am I doing? About
to put my faith in a man? Again? You swear it, Luke Callahan? You swear you
won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you? On... on... on Knucklehead's
life?"
Luke sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake,
Maddie. Just tell me what happened, okay? I won't make trouble for you. I'm
going fishing, remember?"
She rose from the floor and sat on the edge of her bed. She wiped
her palms on her bare thighs. "Okay. Well. Like I said, it all started
yesterday morning. I can't believe it was only yesterday. It feels like a year
ago."
Luke thought it might take a year for her to tell her story at
this rate. The golden highlights mixed among the red of her hair glistened in
the lamplight, and even in the seriousness of the moment, he couldn't help but
notice just how damned beautiful she was.
"Early yesterday morning, I cleaned out Gus's lake house and found
the mushrooms. I decided to take them to the farmer's market to sell."
Now, that dragged his attention back to matters at hand. "You
were going to sell psilocybin mushrooms at a farmer's market?"
"I didn't know they were... well... the magic kind. I thought
they were shiitake or some other gourmet variety."
"Jesus." He raked his fingers through his hair, amused
despite himself as he pictured the likes of sour old Mrs. Moody high on magic
mushrooms. "What did the mushrooms look like?"
She bit her bottom lip, then said, "Little penises."
Luke made a strangled sound in his throat.
"Well, that is what they look like." She tucked a
loose strand behind her ear as she considered it. "Most of them were tall
and skinny, but I did see some short and fat ones."
"Colors?"
"A bunch of different ones. The ones in the jars were mostly
dark, sort of a dark olive brown, but others were a chestnut rusty color. Some
even had kind of a blue edge or ring. The dried ones in the burlap bags were
sort of yellowish."
"Jars and burlap bags?" He braced his hands on
his hips. "Jesus, how much do you have?"
"Lots. All that would fit in my van. I threw away the
rest."
His jaw gaped. "You realize you threw away evidence, don't
you?"
Her eyes flashed with indignation. "I didn't know it was
evidence then! I'm no mushroom expert. The dried ones didn't look any different
from ones for sale in the produce section."
He dismissed it with a wave. "Fine. All right. Then what
happened?"
"I went to another client's home, and then to your father's.
He's been having an awful time with his knees, so in addition to writing the
letters he dictates each day, I've started overseeing
He thought of chocolate brown eyes, wide and lifeless.
Luke muttered a string of curses and rolled onto his side. He
pulled the pillow over his head and mentally inventoried the fishing lures in
his tackle box. He worked his way to the bottom, envisioned the boning knife
nestled in a leather sheath, and gave up. "Damn me for an empty-headed
idiot."
He rolled out of bed and headed for the door, pulling on his swim
trunks as an afterthought.
Luke found her sitting cross-legged on the floor beside her bed,
rubbing an ecstatic Knucklehead's belly. She looked up in surprise as he burst
into the room. "Tell me."
Her tongue slipped out of her mouth and ringed her lips. "You
want to know...?"
"Everything. The drugs. The murder. Your involvement."
"And you'll help me?"
"I'm not promising anything. I have to hear your story
first."
She glanced down at the dog, then back up at him. "Then can I
at least have your word that you won't do anything that could hurt me?"
Affronted, his body stiffened. "Hurt you? I'm not the bad guy
here. You came to me, remember? What do you think I'd do to hurt you?"
Maddie's teeth tugged at her lower lip. "Talk. You could tell
the wrong somebody something I'm going to tell you, something that could get me
in trouble. Will you promise me you'll keep this between the two of us,
Luke?"
"All right."
"Oh, jeez," she muttered. "What am I doing? About
to put my faith in a man? Again? You swear it, Luke Callahan? You swear you
won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you? On... on... on Knucklehead's
life?"
Luke sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake,
Maddie. Just tell me what happened, okay? I won't make trouble for you. I'm
going fishing, remember?"
She rose from the floor and sat on the edge of her bed. She wiped
her palms on her bare thighs. "Okay. Well. Like I said, it all started
yesterday morning. I can't believe it was only yesterday. It feels like a year
ago."
Luke thought it might take a year for her to tell her story at
this rate. The golden highlights mixed among the red of her hair glistened in
the lamplight, and even in the seriousness of the moment, he couldn't help but
notice just how damned beautiful she was.
"Early yesterday morning, I cleaned out Gus's lake house and found
the mushrooms. I decided to take them to the farmer's market to sell."
Now, that dragged his attention back to matters at hand. "You
were going to sell psilocybin mushrooms at a farmer's market?"
"I didn't know they were... well... the magic kind. I thought
they were shiitake or some other gourmet variety."
"Jesus." He raked his fingers through his hair, amused
despite himself as he pictured the likes of sour old Mrs. Moody high on magic
mushrooms. "What did the mushrooms look like?"
She bit her bottom lip, then said, "Little penises."
Luke made a strangled sound in his throat.
"Well, that is what they look like." She tucked a
loose strand behind her ear as she considered it. "Most of them were tall
and skinny, but I did see some short and fat ones."
"Colors?"
"A bunch of different ones. The ones in the jars were mostly
dark, sort of a dark olive brown, but others were a chestnut rusty color. Some
even had kind of a blue edge or ring. The dried ones in the burlap bags were
sort of yellowish."
"Jars and burlap bags?" He braced his hands on
his hips. "Jesus, how much do you have?"
"Lots. All that would fit in my van. I threw away the
rest."
His jaw gaped. "You realize you threw away evidence, don't
you?"
Her eyes flashed with indignation. "I didn't know it was
evidence then! I'm no mushroom expert. The dried ones didn't look any different
from ones for sale in the produce section."
He dismissed it with a wave. "Fine. All right. Then what
happened?"
"I went to another client's home, and then to your father's.
He's been having an awful time with his knees, so in addition to writing the
letters he dictates each day, I've started overseeing
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