Last Grave (9781101593172) by Debbie Viguié Page A

can do to make your job easier, let me.”
    â€œThat’s very kind of you.”
    â€œIt’s not kind; it’s entirely selfish.”
    â€œYou’re not selfish at all,” she protested. In fact, he had been nothing but unselfish and patient during this entire process. She was sorry she’d been ducking his calls for so long. It was just that she didn’t know what she wanted from him and she didn’t feel it fair to lead him on.
    â€œYou know, Samantha, I—”
    She panicked as her mind raced ahead to what he might be about to say.
    Suddenly Samantha heard a slamming sound and the earth began to shake.

4
    Samantha stood for a moment, phone in hand and senses reeling. It wasn’t just the floor; the entire room was shaking
    Her panicked thoughts latched on to an explanation.
Witches! They’ve found me. They’ve come for me. They—
    â€œEarthquake!” Jill shouted.
    Samantha threw open her door and stood in the doorway. Across the hall, Jill was doing the same, a grimace twisting her lips. Fear squeezed Samantha’s chest. She had made the ground shake before and had witnessed other witches doing it as well. But this was totally different. This was wild and uncontrolled, Mother Nature showing humanity that she was still in charge despite its own lofty achievements.
    The building was swaying; she could feel it. Jill must have read the panic in her eyes.
    â€œThe building is supposed to move,” she said.
    â€œSamantha, what’s wrong?” She could hear Anthony through the phone.
    And just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
    Samantha slid to a sitting position in her doorway. “Earthquake. Everything’s fine, but I have to call you back,” she said to Anthony.
    â€œAre you sure?”
    â€œYes. I promise.”
    She hung up and rested her head in her hands for a few moments.
    â€œYour first earthquake, huh?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œIt was longer than most, but not too hard. Shaker, not a roller.”
    Samantha glanced up, and a retort froze on her lips.
    Jill’s hair was brown.
    â€œYou okay? It really rattled you, didn’t it?” Jill asked, suddenly sounding sympathetic.
    â€œWeren’t you blond a couple of hours ago?”
    Jill’s eyes widened. “Blond? You have to be kidding. It’s hard enough to get taken seriously as a woman without being blond. Nope. All natural—that’s me.” Jill crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe she was still standing in.
    And without meaning to, Samantha reached out, instinctively trying to sense if there was magic involved, a glamour, mind control, something. But it was still Jill and she was being sincere and Samantha didn’t sense magic around her.
    She closed her eyes again and leaned her head back against the doorframe.
This is what going insane feels like.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Jill asked.
    â€œTough night.”
    â€œA homicide?”
    â€œYeah.”
    Jill paused a moment before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”
    Samantha thought for a moment. Jill rarely asked, respecting the necessarily secretive nature of Samantha’s investigations. Given the victim and the location of the body, that information would at least be spread around by local press within a couple of hours, if it wasn’t already on the news.
    â€œA woman was killed. We had to break the news to her teenage daughter.”
    â€œThat’s terrible,” Jill said. “I can’t even imagine how you begin to deal with something like that.”
    Samantha opened her eyes and forced a smile. “Yeah, all the dead bodies you have to deal with are centuries old and there’s no one to mourn them.”
    â€œThat’s why I’m an archaeologist and not a crime scene investigator.”
    â€œI’ve got to get a couple of hours’ sleep before getting back on the case,” Samantha