He looked after her. “Of course, you may be lucky. You said your assistant was with you last night. Your redheaded assistant, Francie de Sales.” Cobb took a bite of cheeseburger, wiped his lips with a paper napkin. “According to your editor, you’ve never had an assistant, always worked alone. We ran some checks in the Dallas area. No luck with Francie de Sales.”
Kay managed a smile. “I don’t know too much about Francie. She seems capable enough.”
It wasn’t what I would call a sterling endorsement.
“Anyway, she was with you last night. I’m betting she pushed you out of the way of the vase. Am I right?”
Now it was Kay who stared with wide eyes. “Yes.”
“You could even say”—his tone was ruminative—“that your being saved was miraculous.”
His gaze held hers and between them passed an understanding.
Kay swallowed. “You’ve seen—”
I pinched Kay, once, hard.
She jumped.
A kind of smile tugged at Chief Cobb’s broad lips. He looked speculatively about. Certainly he couldn’t see me, hovering above and slightly behind Kay. I had no doubt he knew I was near.
“Yeah. Sometimes we can’t explain everything.” He stirred sugar into his coffee, gave her a sober look. “You can’t always count on miracles, Mrs. Clark.”
CHAPTER TEN
I waited until the convertible was well out of sight from downtown before I swirled into the passenger seat. “I’ve been thinking.”
“What an accomplishment.” Kay’s tone didn’t invite me to share. She shot a searching glance at me. “I gather you and Chief Cobb have a history.”
I tried to look modest. “I’ve been honored to assist the department on previous visits.”
Slowly, her lips curved into a smile. “I’ll bet there are some stories behind that sweet modicum of words. Maybe someday the chief and I can let our hair down and trade ghost stories.”
I cleared my throat. “Just in case Wiggins is about, perhaps you might refrain from comments guaranteed to distress him.”
“Oh, boy. Wow. I sure wouldn’t want to distress the head spook—”
The rumble from the backseat sounded like a cross between a water buffalo’s bellow and the strangled gurgle of a suddenly unplugged drain.
Kay hunched over the wheel. “Just kidding. One sp—One helper is all I need.”
“Spook!” Wiggins’s deep voice quivered. “Bailey Ruth, this is the fruit of your transgressions. Constant appearances and open interaction with your recalcitrant subject have now”—and his anguish was obvious—“caused me to breach Precept Three.”
Kay glanced in the rearview mirror at the empty backseat. “Precept Three?”
“‘Work behind the scenes without making your presence known.’” Wiggins was chagrined. “My lapse clearly reflects that I have succumbed to the temptation against which I warn all emissaries. I have become too much
“Wiggins, your instinct trumped the rules.” My voice was fervent in admiration. “You have come to the rescue. Who would have thought you would be this clever! Of course, you are always on top of your job. But your appearance now, at this moment”—I gave Kay a sub rosa pinch—“has made all the difference. Look at Kay.” Was I adroit enough to pluck Wiggins from his abyss of contrition?
I pointed at Kay.
Kay appeared startled and a shade (sometimes I succumb to pun fun) apprehensive. Kay also looked youthful and very attractive as the wind whipped her dark hair. Her gaze continued to flicker toward the backseat.
“I’m looking.” Wiggins sounded resigned, but I thought I sensed the faintest hint of hope that I could restore his equilibrium.
Kay’s peek in the rearview mirror reconfirmed the emptiness of the backseat. Her shoulders tightened.
“Kay regrets her failure to fully cooperate.” I was counting on Kay’s obvious desire to see—uh—hear the last of Wiggins. “Since I appeared solely to prevent the reckless firing of her gun in the garden last night and thereby was glimpsed by a resident of the house, remaining invisible at all times was no longer possible for me and I put aside my personal wish to honor each and every Precept.”
The silence in the backseat seemed somewhat receptive.
So far, so good. “Your well-timed arrival emphasizes the importance the department places upon Kay’s safety. I’m sure before you depart, Kay will pledge her willingness to follow my directives so that I may remain unseen, unnoticed, and unsung, except, of course”—my tone suggested this to be a trifling matter—“for those household moments now required by my initial appearance.” This not only gave me latitude, but reemphasized the point that my actual presence on the scene had become essential. “Before you leave—is there anywhere you are needed at the moment, Wiggins?”
“Well…”
I pictured Wiggins tugging at his walrus mustache.
