"I'm sure you'll find the Slider right where you left it. No one would dare touch it. Everyone knows who you are, now, Emmett, thanks to that stupid article in the Cadence Tattler last week."

Much to Emmett's disgust, the popular supermarket tabloid had featured a photo of him on the front page. The picture had been accompanied by some breathless prose questioning the real reason for his presence in Cadence. The headline, Next Guild Boss? had said it all.

Emmett fit his hands to his hips. "You scare the living daylights out of me, Lydia."

"Nah. You're a ghost-hunter. Nothing scares you."

She spoke lightly but deep down she was relieved that he was backing off the argument. They were only a few short weeks into this very complicated relationship and things were unsettled enough as it was. They did not need a major confrontation.

They listened to the sirens halt abruptly outside in the lane.

Emmett raised his brows. "Mind if I ask what you plan to tell the cops?"

She winced. "I'm hoping they won't ask too many questions."

"This is the second time in a month that you've reported a dead body. Got a hunch there are going to be a few questions."

Someone pounded on the door of the apartment.

"I'll go let them in," Lydia said. She turned and went down the hall.

When she opened the front door of the apartment she found two medics, a uniformed police officer, and an all-too-familiar face crowded together in the dark hall.

"Hello, Miss Smith," Detective Alice Martinez said. "You do turn up in some interesting places." She switched her tough cop's gaze to a point beyond Lydia's left shoulder. "So do you, London. What is it? The two of you can't think of anything more romantic to do on a date than find dead bodies?"