Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,68

to your vehicle, and he’s in a really bad mood.” Pierce seemed to brighten a little. “Have fun with that.”

I grimaced but followed him down the hallway, noting that he stayed a safe distance from us. It wasn’t like we were infected with ghosts now. “Thanks, Pierce.” At his grunt, a much more irritated one than Clark had issued earlier, I fetched my belongings at the front desk and hurried into the warm night. Or morning. Whatever.

Bud made us sit in the back of the patrol car and didn’t chat on the way out to my partially hidden car by the funeral home. Clark rested his head back on the seat and didn’t talk, either.

My phone rang, and I cringed before answering. “Hello.”

“Hey, sweetheart. I was up early talking to a friend on the East Coast and saw the article. That Jolene O’Sullivan is such a rotten person. Terrible. I’m so sorry,” Nana O’Shea said cheerily.

My body relaxed, and a tear might’ve poked the back of my eye. “Thanks, Nana. It was a misunderstanding.”

“Oh, I’m sure of that, sweetling.” Her Irish brogue was soft in the early hour. “You’ll need to drive over in the morning for a smudging. Don’t argue with me.”

Clark perked up. “Smudging?” Apparently my partner in crime had a good sense of hearing because my grandma wasn’t that loud on the phone.

I put her on speaker. “Clark is here, Nana. He wants to know about smudging.”

“Oh, good. I was going to get your number from Anna, Clark. You must come to Silverville in the morning for a sage smudging and then some energy work. After what you’ve been through, we’re going to want to make sure nothing…clung after being spilled. The sage will cleanse you. It even has anti-bacterial properties, if you need a science based reason to visit me. What do you say?”

“Yes. Definitely. We’ll come and get smudged,” Clark burst out, the words tumbling over each other. “I have the day off and am supposed to golf with Sean in the afternoon but can be smudged all morning.”

I looked at him, unable to keep the surprise off my face.

He didn’t even look at me, his attention solely on my phone.

“Good. See you then.” Nana knew when to hang up when she was ahead.

Bud pulled next to my car and stepped out to open the door and release us. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

I edged away. “Are you going to call Donna or what?”

He didn’t answer.

I frowned. “She’s not like me. Don’t let my life interfere with your love life.”

Bud blushed deep enough I could see it in the moonlight. He turned, sat in his vehicle, and then drove quickly away without saying a word.

Clark shook his head and settled into the seat of my Fiat. “What time are you picking me up tomorrow morning?”

I sighed. “How about eight? That way we could get a little sleep.”

“Oh, I’m never sleeping again,” Clark muttered.

I pulled into my driveway after dropping Clark off at his car, and I was unsurprised to see a motorcycle resting in front of the garage door. There had been a few texts from Aiden asking where I was, and then one saying that the article was out, so he figured I was safe. I limped along the flowers to the front porch. Why I was limping, I had no clue. But after the night I’d had, limping made sense. I unlocked the door and moved inside to see Aiden sprawled on the sofa.

He blinked awake and looked up. “Nice picture in the paper.”

It was almost three in the morning, and I needed sleep. “How did you get in?”

He sat up. “You’re not the only one who can force a lock.” With his hair ruffled and his blue eyes sleepy, he looked like a mellow predator who was thinking about springing. He stretched his impressive arms and chest.

My mouth watered, even after the night I’d had.

He looked me over, and my body tingled. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Then I studied him, and thoughts crashed into me. “Wait a second. Are you the reason Krissy didn’t press charges? I mean, did Saber talk to her or something?”

“Or something.” Aiden stood and stretched again. His T-shirt rose to reveal his cut abs. “I called Rich directly, and he did me a solid. I am not happy that I now owe a favor to Rich Pucci, Angel.”

Aiden being not happy gave me more tingles, for some reason. Man, I was screwed up. “I’m sorry about that.” I