The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (good short books .TXT) 📕

But it wasn’t the reaper app that had caused the notification. It was a missed call from Cheryl. Tessa put the phone down and made a mental note to check for a voicemail from her mother later.

At the end of the day’s presentations, Tessa checked her phone again. There was no message from Cheryl, but as she looked at the screen, a text from Silas appeared. It was as though he’d been watching for the clock to strike five and Tessa to be done for the day.

Dinner date? I’ve got a hankerin’ for Thai.

Tessa blinked at the word date but then shook her head. It was just a figure of speech. If she wanted to hone in on a word in the text to obsess over, it should be hankerin’. Who said that? And actually spelled it with an apostrophe in a text? Maybe Silas was the sociopath.

Chuckling to herself, Tessa tapped the reaper app to check it once more.

Nothing.

She went to text him back but stopped midway. She chewed her bottom lip for a second.

Silas texted again: Does this mean you don’t want Thai? I could go for Indian instead. BBQ? Empanadas again? I’m easy.

Laughing, she decided Timothy must have decided to give the next assignment to someone else. Or maybe the local agency hadn’t shifted one over to him after all. She texted back: Mediterranean? Polynesian? A dinner date sounds great.

She held her breath, wishing after hitting send that there was some way to get the text back and change the word date. Sure, Silas had used it first, but it could have been a figure of speech. She didn’t have to use it too, shining a huge figurative spotlight on it.

His return text was perfectly normal, belying her obsession over the little word: Pick you up in 15.

Tessa went to her room, changed into a light blue sundress, and sent a text to Gloria: Going out with Silas.

The return text came back lightning fast: See you later. Remember: be spontaneous Tessa.

Tessa rolled her eyes as she left the hotel room, slipping the phone into her purse after unmuting the notifications.

Silas had just entered the lobby when Tessa got out of the elevator. He beamed at her. “How was your day?”

“Fine. How about you? How’s that jellyfish sting?”

His already bronze cheeks darkened even more. “Fine. Much better now. That isn’t something I want to experience again, though. Ready to head out?” He grabbed her elbow.

With a nod, Tessa let him lead her out into the clear evening.

In the end, they decided on Thai after all. Silas had already scoped out a place near the boardwalk.

“I sat on the beach near here for a while at lunchtime, and the place was crazy busy,” he explained. “I figured they must have decent food.” He grinned as they settled into their chairs. “How about some appetizers?”

“Yes. I’m starved.”

Her phone buzzed.

Tessa winced as she had a premonition about what that buzz meant. With reluctance, she pulled the phone out of her purse to confirmed it. Yep. It was the reaper app.

She had an assignment. And it was nearby—at the pier.

Tessa glanced at Silas. “Um. Can you order for us while I run out for a few minutes?”

“Where do you need to go?” He rose halfway from the chair. “I’ll just go with you. We can come back afterward.”

She shook her head and reached over to push him back into the chair. “No, no. I just have to meet Gloria and give her my pass key to the room. She lost hers.”

He sank down. “Oh, well, that’s easy. She can just get a new one at the hotel’s front desk. I had to do it a couple days ago.”

“She doesn’t have any ID on her to prove who she is. It’s all inside the room. It’ll just take me a few minutes. Why don’t you order a few appetizers for us? I’ll be right back.” With a reassuring smile, Tessa hurried off, hoping he’d bought her excuse.

She paused outside the restaurant to check her reaper app. When she saw who the deceased was, Tessa frowned, and her stomach flopped. Grudgingly, she tapped the assignment to accept it, and a map popped up with Tessa’s position marked by a glowing green dot and the assignment’s in yellow. The reap was surrounded by blue water, all the way at the end of the pier.

Tessa hurried in that direction, hoping she could get done quickly and back to Silas before the appetizers got cold.

When she arrived, Tessa scanned the area, looking for the person that matched the picture in her app. She found her right away.

A mother stood by the railing, looking out at the ocean. She held the hand of a little girl who looked to be about two or three and moved a stroller slowly back and forth with the other.

Tessa’s heart squeezed. She started forward but then a thought skittered across her mind.

Is this right?

It didn’t feel right. Of course, Tessa knew bad things happened sometimes, but right here, right now, things just felt . . . off.

Why was Timothy allocating deaths to conference-going reapers? Was his explanation about helping the Miami agency true? Or was something else going on?

Could he be manipulating the allocations to get the numbers right after Cynthia’s unauthorized death?

Tessa made a snap decision. She moved forward quickly, toward the young family. When the mother let go of the little girl’s hand and turned to lift the baby out of the stroller, Tessa broke into a run.

She made it there just in a time. There was a spot of railing, under construction, where the only thing holding anyone back was some caution tape and a cone. As the girl began to wobble on the edge, about to fall into the choppy waters where she was scheduled to die, Tessa grabbed her under the arms, pulling her gently back.

The mother snatched up the girl’s hand. “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe