Poison Fruit

“Dammit!” I didn’t mean to interrupt him, but a thought had struck me. “I’m an idiot.”

He blinked at me. “Any particular reason?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know how to get hold of Dufreyne.”

“Well, you can try the general number for the investment firm,” Lee said in a dubious tone. “I’m sure they’ll get the message to him. But if he hasn’t returned any of your other calls or—”

“Right,” I said. “He’s not going to return this one. Which is why I’m not going to call him. Amanda Brooks is going to call him to set up a meeting about selling the Cavannaugh property.”

“You think she’d do that for you?”

“She’d better.” I stood up and slung my messenger bag over my shoulder. “She owes me. Meanwhile, keep looking. See if you can find out anything more about this Elysian Fields outfit.”

“Will do.” Lee escorted me to the door. “Hey, did Jen happen to mention that we’re getting together for coffee tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” I said, playing it cool. “Why?”

A tinge of pink had returned to his face. “No reason. It’s just . . . she probably wants to talk about my mom, right?”

Jen had been helping out with Mrs. Hastings while Lee’s arm healed. She’d actually offered Jen a job as her full-time caretaker, and Jen had even considered it before deciding that the old crabapple would make her life miserable—which was saying something, since working for the Cassopolis family business cleaning houses wasn’t exactly a bed of roses.

“Well, I don’t think she’s changed her mind about the job,” I said. “And I doubt she’s been missing your mom since you got your cast off.”

He laughed self-consciously. “So you think it’s a date?”

“I think it’s coffee, Lee. Ask her out to dinner. Tell her you want to thank her for helping take care of your mom.”

“Good idea.”

“Just call me Cupid.” Hopefully, Lee would never find out I was the one who had sent the text in the first place. Given his paranoid streak, he’d probably think we were making fun of him.

I drove over to the Pemkowet Visitors Bureau office to talk to Amanda Brooks. Somewhat to my surprise, her daughter, Stacey—also known as my old high school nemesis—wasn’t working the reception desk. Instead, a pleasant young woman I vaguely recognized as being a couple of years behind me in high school informed me that Amanda could meet with me in ten minutes and offered me a cup of coffee. I liked the improvement, although in terms of people offering me beverages today, Mr. Leary won hands down.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting across from Amanda Brooks.

“What can I do for you, Daisy?” she inquired, almost sounding sincere. There wasn’t a whole lot of love lost between us, but we both knew that if she’d taken my advice and called off the Halloween parade last month, hundreds of innocent spectators wouldn’t have gotten injured. Frankly, we were lucky there were no fatalities. Oh, and I’d pretty much saved Stacey’s life, although Stacey didn’t give me the credit for it.

“Do you remember that lawyer who wanted to buy the Cavannaugh property?” I asked her. “I need you to call him and set up a meeting.”

Amanda raised her brows, or at least tried to. Botox, I suspect. She was an attractive woman, in a brittle, highly groomed fashion, and she worked hard at maintaining her looks. “Why? I have no intention of selling it.”

It hadn’t looked that way to me—before I’d talked her out of it, she’d shown every appearance of considering it. “No, I know,” I said. “I don’t think you should. But I want to talk to him.”

“Why?”

My tail twitched with suppressed irritation. Once, just once, it would be nice if she trusted me. “He’s representing a company called Elysian Fields,” I said. “They’ve bought up a good chunk of property around Hel’s demesne.”

She frowned—or again, tried to. “Are you sure? I haven’t heard anything about it.”

It wasn’t just arrogance on her part. Pemkowet was a small town, and Amanda Brooks had her finger on every pulse. The fact that this was happening unnoticed was definitely strange.

“I’m sure.” I played my trump card. “And Hel is concerned. That’s why I want to talk to this Dufreyne guy and find out what’s going on. But he won’t return my calls.”

Amanda drummed her manicured nails on the desk. “Well, that’s highly unprofessional of him.”

Duh. “That’s why I need your help,” I said. “There’s something very odd about this whole business.”

If you’re wondering why I didn’t tell her I suspected Daniel Dufreyne was a hell-spawn, there were two reasons. One, I had no proof. Two, when trying to obtain the cooperation of certain people, it’s best not to remind them that I’m one myself. Amanda Brooks was one of those people.

“All right,” she said reluctantly. “I’m not fond of the idea, but if Hel is truly concerned, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent.” I made myself smile at her. “Let me know when the meeting’s set up. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t meet with him alone.”

Amanda gave me a suspicious look. “Why? After all, I’ve met with him before.”