Page 6 of Dark Shadows

Having spirits help you win the lottery felt like the kind of thing that came with strings attached.

Mason’s phone vibrated. A text from his forensic team lit up the screen.

He wiped his hot-wing-sauced fingers on a napkin and opened the message.

We’re ready for you.

He grabbed the empty beer bottle and his bill, heading for the register.

Savanah didn’t meet his eyes as he approached, but he could tell she was tracking him.

She didn’t miss much. That would come in handy.

Mason grinned as he reached the counter, pushing the bottle and the check toward her.

“So, tell me, Officer…”

“Special Agent,” he corrected.

“Oh, okay. FBI. So, tell me, Special Agent, how badly did you have to screw up to be sent to talk to me?”

His lips twisted at the corners.

She was beautiful and full of spunk. Working with her was going to be interesting.

“What makes you so sure I’m here for you?”

She leaned across the bar and motioned him closer.

He leaned in.

Her words were a whisper against his cheek. “You aren’t the first they’ve sent that failed, so don’t take it too personally, big guy.”

He grinned. “The night isn’t over yet.” He tapped the bar. “I’d lay odds not only that I’ll succeed, but that I won’t have to ask you twice.”

She broke into laughter. She pointed a finger at him and grinned.

“Keep dreaming, Badge. I don’t like cops, especially those of the federal variety.”

She’d been burned before. It was in her file. The cops who’d investigated her father’s death had left a scar.

“Care to make a wager?” he asked.

“Gambling is illegal in this state,” another bartender said as he walked by to fill a waitress's order.

She rested one hand on her hip and the other on the bar. “Sure, I’ll take that bet as long as you don’t arrest me for it.”

“You sound confident you’ll be able to resist,” he teased, pulling out his wallet. He laid down cash for the beer and food.

“About this, I am,” she said.

He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and one of his business cards to prove his identity.

“I’m pulling out of the parking lot in five minutes.”

He slid them across the wooden countertop. She reached to take it, but he held it down.

“Five minutes. With or without you.”