Sealed with a Hiss: Book Four Supernatural Enforcers Agency by E A Price Page A

dic… ah, groin.”
    Gerry pursed his lips.  Sadly this wasn’t the first time he’d had a murder like this.  Last time it was because the male in question was sleeping around on his wife.  He was sixty-eight and had a potbelly that Santa would envy, but that didn’t stop him.  He was the Don Juan of his retirement village.
    “Who found the body?”
    “The housekeeper.  She came back in the middle of the night because she left her phone here.  Our perp probably thought they had all night.”
    “Did she see anything?”
    “She heard noises in the house, and she thinks she heard the back door, but we haven’t been able to get much out of her. She was pretty freaked out by the body.”  Gunner rubbed his head.  “I had to call in paramedics to sedate her.  I doubt we’ll be able to talk to her for a few hours yet.”
    “Understandable,” murmured Gerry.  “Have the crime scene techs found anything?”
    “I asked them to hold off until you got here – thought you’d want to see it.  Although, I did cover up the body - it’s not a pretty sight.”
    Gerry nodded.  “You can feel it then?”
    “There’s some kind of magic here,” agreed Gunner.  “Except the way he was killed wasn’t magical, I’m guessing that’s the knife over there.”  He inclined his head to a large, sharp, bloody knife lying on the floor.
    Gerry’s gaze roved around the room.  His phone started ringing.  Absently, he answered it, and Norma told him in her gruff, no-nonsense way that Jessie was in his office and wanted to talk to him urgently.  Apparently she was upset about something.
    His first instinct was to run to her, but he forced himself to overcome that.  “I’ll talk to her later,” he said through gritted teeth because his growling snake was making it very hard to speak.
    What was he doing with Jessie?   What was he going to do?  The look in her eyes when his wife turned up… he didn’t want to see that again.  What was he thinking?  He should never have kissed her… now all he could do is think about doing it again.
    “Sir?  Gerry!”
    He looked up to find Gunner staring at him.  “Everything okay, Gerry?  You seem a little distracted.”
    “Hmmm?  Sure.  I, ah, found a tech consultant to work with your team full time.”
    “Already, that’s great, who?”
    “New employee, Jessica Duchamp.”
    “You mean the squirrel shifter?”  His lips curled in amusement.  “Saw her running around the Christmas party with mistletoe and a Rudolph sweater.  I think she cornered Wayne for a kiss.”
    “Indeed,” hissed Gerry, darkly.
    Gunner looked at him for a moment.  “Well, it’s great news anyway.”
    As they were looking around the room, Gunner knocked a stone to the ground.  It started glowing.  “What the…”
    “Oh shit!”  His python roared as he ran at Gunner, knocking them out the window just as the room exploded.
    *
    Jessie rearranged the pictures of her family, the pots of pens, the cuddly toys that were her lucky mascots – and definitely worked no matter what some naysayers thought – as well as her usual supply of bags of nuts.  Yes, she was a squirrel who loved nuts, although she was careful about saying the fact that she loved nuts out loud – some dirtier creatures found it hilarious.
    She spun just as Robbie knocked on the door.  “Knock, knock,” he said, and she resisted the urge to tell him he didn’t need to say knock, knock when he was knocking.  She really had lost her temper if that kind of thing bothered her – usually, she was so easy going that a swarm of bees could have worked their way into the building, and she wouldn’t complain.
    “Hey, Robbie.”
    Robbie gave her a stilted smile.  “Hey, uh, nice office.”
    Jessie looked around.  Yes, it was.   It was a little big, even with all the computer screens, and a little lonely compared to the bullpen downstairs, but she quite liked it.
    He looked at her with obvious interest.  “I was