Free Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend: Afterglow, Book 2 by Wynne Hayworth

surrounding it, for almost half an hour. The fact that she’d taken a detour on her way back from a late shift didn’t register at this moment.
    Because she wasn’t, to use the vernacular, in her right mind.
    Somebody else was.
    And that somebody else was angry, hotly furious that the subject of her surveillance was distracted, focusing on somebody in a sexual way. Making plans, thinking around problems—the entire area seethed with a mixture of erotic and quantitative elements, thought patterns that could barely be glimpsed, but were of an unsettling nature.
    Something was afoot. Something she should know about. Something that could prove risky and distracting. Definitely something that could lure Detective Cheney Fisher onto a path she didn’t want.
    That path should lead to her . Not another woman.
    With a spark of fury, the presence fled, leaving the woman behind the wheel blinking and staring around her.
    “Sheesh. I took a wrong turn someplace.” She glanced at her GPS system and tapped it. “Okay. Get me home, Maude. Before I do something stupid and fall asleep at the wheel.”
    “In five hundred yards, turn right.”
    The car pulled away from the curb, a low hum that didn’t disturb the sleeping residents of the quiet street.

Chapter Seven
    Pandora was barely ready when the beep of a car horn outside her townhouse summoned her into the presence of the two detectives waiting with the engine running.
    She shot a wistful glance at her little balcony where she routinely enjoyed a few stolen hours on Saturday mornings with a pot of coffee, her latest novel, and her phone turned off. It had become a habit she hated to miss, since it was the only time she ever really had to completely relax. After a chapter or two, she’d clean up the apartment, throw in a couple of loads of laundry and then—and only then—would she consider getting herself together for the rest of the day.
    It had seemed like a guilty pleasure when she’d started the drill a few years ago. But now it was a welcome respite for her body and her mind. And yeah, she was a bit pissed that she’d miss it this morning, even though the reason was sound.
    Grabbing her purse, she left her personal sanctuary, her sneakers squeaking on the floor as she walked out and locked the door. She might have to break her routine, but she was damn well going to do it in jeans and a T-shirt. No high heels on weekends if at all possible.
    If the two guys in the car expected to see Ms. Jackson the attorney, they were in for a disappointment. Today she was Ms. Everywoman. Jeans, comfortable shoes, hair tied back into a ponytail and a shirt that read “The Sarcasm Society. Like we need your support.”
    It sort of reflected Pandora’s state of mind, since she was still irked at the memories of that damn dream and the man she held responsible for it, even though the morning light had brought a certain amount of reflection on that topic.
    As she reached for the car door, she wondered if she’d been a bit hasty with her accusations last night.
    Then she got a look at Cheney’s interested grin and decided she didn’t care.
    “Nice shirt.”
    “Mornin’, Ms. Jackson.” Detective Shand nodded politely.
    She slid into the backseat behind the two men. “Morning.” She ignored Cheney completely and addressed Buck. “You’re late.”
    “I had to pick up the sample from the precinct. It won’t take us long to get there,” Cheney responded casually.
    “Hmpf.”
    “I can stop for coffee if it’ll improve your mood, sunshine.”
    “The only thing that’ll improve my mood is getting this show on the road. You’re taking up valuable Saturday morning time. Let’s get on with it.”
    He chuckled as he shifted the car into gear and slid onto the road, heading toward town. “Sorry we had to interrupt your weekend. I’m sure there were a whole bunch of legal documents you planned on completing.”
    “Yes.”
    So what if it was a romance novel she’d planned on