Page 95 of Throwing Shade
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My new friend,Ava, leaned on the counter of the arts supply store. “How would a lady go about ordering a lot of sculpting clay?”
I crossed my fingers that we’d hit the jackpot, because there weren’t any other stores in town left to check out.
The employee cut open a box with a picture of paint tubes on it. “Depends on how much is a lot.”
“Say for a huge sculpture,” she said. “A few hundred pounds?”
“We could order it for you, but it would take a couple weeks.” He checked one of the tubes against the packing slip.
Ava brushed her arm against his. “Do orders that large happen often?”
The man smiled. “Not really.”
She shifted so that her hand touched his wrist. “Has it happened recently? Could you check?”
He dropped the packing slip, his eyes glowing. “I’d be happy to.”
“You’re so kind.” The bling on her cat-eye glasses flashed when she winked at me.
All Ava did was gradually amp up a feeling of joy in the man and his natural desire to continue experiencing that emotion had him going above and beyond in customer service.
He typed on the keyboard and then spun the monitor around. “Here we go. Last month.”
I noted the address. The name on the order was Smith, so probably a fake.
“You’ve been a peach,” Ava said.
“No trouble,” he assured her. “Would you like to put in the clay order now?”
“Maybe another time. I need to double-check the amounts again.” Ava straightened up, smoothing out her cute yellow blouse with ruffled sleeves.
“Well, you have yourself a nice day.”
“You too,” she said, and we left.
She’d assured me that the feelings would gradually wear off to a minor glow that he’d experience for a few more hours.
“I really appreciate this,” I said. “Thank you.”
“It’s for a good cause, so you’re welcome.”
I jammed my hands into my armpits, my bedrock solid belief in my best friend turned to silt. If Jude was in danger, then I’d rescue her, no question, but even if she hadn’t intended to kill the necromancer, he’d died because of her pursuits. She could have stopped in time to save him, couldn’t she, or had the vampire threatened her if she didn’t complete Emmett?
Ava nudged me. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
There was an envelope tucked under my windshield wiper. I ripped it open to find a Polaroid of Sadie coming out of Eli’s place, backpack on, headed for school, with “Jude. Tomorrow. Sunset.” written on the back.
I dropped it, my hand slamming down on my hood for balance, because my knees had buckled.
“What is it?” Ava picked up the photo.
“Vamps can go out in daylight?”
“No, but they have human employees.” Ava frowned at the message on the photo. “Is this your daughter?”
