Free Celestial Bodies by Laura Leone Page B

question her, subtly but thoroughly, about her consultations with Felix. The sooner he could close this case, the sooner he could come clean with Diana. And then they’d do a lot more than just have dinner together, he promised himself.
    He had another scare when Mrs. Bouvier said he seemed familiar, that she thought she had seen him somewhere else. He assured her that she hadn’t, because he would surely remember that. Then he switched the subject back to her plans for her daughter’s twenty-first birthday party, still wondering how to get the lady alone so he could question her.
    After a few minutes on the telephone, Diana slammed down the receiver. Nick and Mrs. Bouvier looked at her curiously.
    “I’m terribly sorry, Mrs. Bouvier,” Diana said. “Felix overslept. It’s so rare for him, I never even bothered to check on him when I got up this morning. He won’t be down for twenty minutes.”
    “Hunting up old incarnations for a chat must be pretty tiring,” Nick said with a straight face.
    Diana gave him a look of dislike before saying, “I have to leave. I have an early appointment.”
    “Where are you going?” Nick asked. It was unusual for her to go anywhere so early in the day.
    “I’m having my legs waxed.” She held up a hand as he opened his mouth to say something else. “No. Don’t start with me. Can you attend to Mrs. Bouvier until Felix comes down? I should be back by the time we open for regular business.”
    Nick kept his tone lighthearted. “Sure. No problem. It’ll be a pleasure.”
    “It certainly will be,” Mrs. Bouvier added with a girlish smile.
    Feeling a bit like a third wheel, Diana picked up her handbag, nodded to them both, and left the shop.
    “How could I resist twenty minutes alone with such a charming lady?” Nick said to Mrs. Bouvier.
    “Well, now, young man, what shall we talk about?”
    It was enough to make you believe in karma, Nick reflected.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
    THE LOVERS: TRUMP VI
    Major Arcana
     
    Meaning: A choice of temptations; sexual and spiritual love; yang and yin.
    Reversed: Sundered relationships; quarrels; disharmony.
     

     
    Despite a very busy day at the shop, Nick persuaded Diana to let him off work early. He made up an excuse. He was bursting with eagerness to talk to Peter and didn’t want to wait any longer.
    He walked down to the bottom of Canal Street, boarded the ferry, and, after arriving in Algiers, walked the rest of the way to the offices of Tremain and Lowery Investigations.
    When he reached the restored old building that housed their agency, he climbed the stairs to the second floor, swung open the tall wooden door with its stained glass window, gave his most flirtatious smile to Mrs. Milne, and inquired, “How’s the sexiest woman in Algiers?”
    “Missing the sexiest man,” she replied with straight-faced crispness. “When will you be done with the Stewart case?”
    “Looks like I’m all done now, in fact. Is Peter in?”
    She nodded, and he knocked briefly at his partner’s office door before entering.
    “Hey, what are you doing here?” Peter asked. “Isn’t it time for your tea reading?”
    “I got Mrs. Bouvier all to myself for nearly a half hour this morning,” Nick informed him, enjoying the first peace of mind he’d known for days.
    “Excellent,” said Peter. “What did you find out?”
    Nick flopped into a chair near Peter’s desk. “She pays Felix his usual hourly consultation fee and sees him once a week—more often if she’s troubled about something. He knows a great deal about her personal concerns, but never offers specific advice. She says she found his cryptic comments annoying at first—and I can definitely relate to that —but now she understands how to apply his deep and meaningful observations to her everyday life. He has never accepted any money from her other than his standard consultation fees, he never advises her about financial affairs, and he has never urged her to make