“Where you been?” I asked him, taking a second to draw in cool air as Reyes stared at me from underneath his thick lashes. His eyes glistened with intent. He knew exactly what I’d been thinking. The rake.

Ubie nodded an acknowledgment. “Had to tie up a couple of things. But I’m starving. What’s for lunch?” he asked Reyes.

The Cheshire smile Reyes gave him almost made me laugh. “It’s a surprise,” he said.

Ubie frowned in suspicion before taking a good look at Cookie, his new flame. Cookie may have lusted after Reyes, but her feelings for Ubie were just as strong. Just as undeniable. The desire she felt toward Reyes wasn’t her fault. Pretty much everybody lusted after Reyes – a side effect of his supernatural heritage was my guess. But what she felt for my uncle was real. I felt a deep admiration for him every time she looked at him. An absolute trust. And, yes, an unmistakable attraction.

I felt pretty much the same thing coming from Ubie, but with one addition: astonishment. He was still astonished that Cookie liked him. That she was dating him. That she wanted to be with him. Their mutual respect and admiration were what would see this relationship through. Unlike the last dozen or so women Ubie had dated, none of whom had gotten my approval.

Cookie stood when he stepped to her desk, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek, unsure if she’d want him to display his affection in front of us. He was like the shy kid at school picking up his prom date, his nerves jumbled and his palms sweaty. I could hardly miss an opportunity like this.

“So, are you two hitting it yet?”

Ubie did his deadpan thing, the one that made me laugh inside.

Cookie pressed her mouth closed, but the emotions that leapt inside her when I mentioned premarital sex told me everything I needed to know. Probably more than I needed to know.

I gaped at her. “Cookie!” I shrieked just loud enough to make them both super-duper uncomfortable. Then I asked, “Are you being safe?”

That time, Ubie clamped his teeth together.

“Fine,” I said before he could reprimand me. “Whatever. Let’s eat.”

My phone rang as Ubie waited for Cookie to round her desk so he could escort her downstairs. He treated her like a queen. He treated her exactly as she deserved to be treated. I loved it.

There was already a crowd, the dull roar of conversation wafting up to us as I answered a call from Kit.

“Hey, homey,” I said to her, hoping she felt the same way about me. I was busy watching Reyes’s ass as he took the lead, intrigued with the way his glutes flexed with each step.

“So, that deputy you told me about —” She stopped talking a few seconds and I heard mumbling in the background.

To bring her back to me, I said, “I’m not sure that was a complete sentence.”

“Sorry. That deputy transferred to Alaska about nine years ago.”

I stopped, bringing the whole procession to a halt. Cookie and Ubie stepped past me after I gestured for them to grab a table. Reyes had stopped, too, waiting for me to go in with them.

I cupped my hand over the phone. “Reyes, they are not going to attack me between here and our table.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the banister, refusing to proceed without me. But I wouldn’t be able to hear Kit in the pub. The Calamity’s crew was a rowdy bunch, so I continued to stand on the stairs.

“Do you think he’s still killing? Do you think it’s him?”

“Hard to say. It seems they’ve had a lot of disappearances up there, but from all over the state.”

“And Alaska is a big state.”

“Damn right, it is. But we did find out something very interesting.”

I leaned against the iron banister, too. “Yeah?”

“He has a pilot’s license.”

I stood up again. “Really? Do you think he’s been abducting girls from around the state and flying them out to a central location?”

“That’s the working theory.”

“Was he doing that here?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. The authorities in Juneau are very excited to work with us on this. They’re pulling up all his flight plans. We’re doing the same here and cross-checking them with missing persons cases. So far, we have two hits.”

“What can I do?”

“That’s my question. What can you do? How did you know all this?”

“It’s just my thing,” I said, trying to play it off.

“Can you do your thing with the missing girls in Alaska if it comes to that?”

“I could try. I’d have to fly there. I’m totally in, though. You’re paying for that, right?”

“Absolutely. How about we work on this end first – then if we need you in Alaska, I’ll get it approved. Somehow.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Reyes was glaring. I glared back. He was so not tagging along on our girls’ week out. It just wouldn’t be the same.

“We have a team at the campgrounds now, searching for bodies. They found one set of remains already.”

“There’s more.”

“I understand. We’re on it.”

We hung up and I offered Reyes another glare before stepping past him. The noise had subsided and I realized that the restaurant, filled mostly with women – as usual – could see us. Dozens of pairs of shadowed and mascaraed gazes flitted shyly toward him while others stared openly. Unapologetically. Brazen hussies. I needed to get a wedding band on this man, and fast, lest they try to seduce him behind my back. Then again, I thought, glancing around the crowd, some of these chicks would have few qualms about doing so right in front of my face.