He didn’t try to deny it, nor did he sound angry, just matter-of-fact. “Doesn’t everybody? You’re lying to yourself if you try to claim otherwise.”

Her lips tightened. “And you threw spells on and around me as though they were confetti.”

The last of his amusement vanished, and he pushed from his sitting position on the picnic table. He looked like a tiger about to pounce on its prey. “I already said I would stop. If you don’t believe me, why are you here?”

“Because in spite of all that, I think I like you.” She surprised herself, and she could see from his expression that she had surprised him too. “At least, I don’t dislike you enough to want to avoid you. Besides, I don’t have anybody else I can call right now.”

As that last left her mouth, she marveled at her own tactlessness. Go ahead, genius, piss off your only teacher for miles around. But thankfully he looked amused again.

He studied her. She wanted to squirm under his scrutiny and tightened her muscles against the impulse. Backing down or flinching away from the tiger sounded like a very bad thing to do.

“Fair enough,” he said at last. “Now, why don’t you tell me more about that tip? You said earlier you were filing for divorce and getting a restraining order.”

She hesitated. The lone female jogger and her dog had long since vanished, and the solitude made everything feel riskier, the approaching night full of shadows and unseen peril.

But she was the one who had started this, so she gestured to her upper arm. “I still have bruises where Austin grabbed me, and he showed up at the hotel last night. He’s very angry, and when he gets the divorce papers and settlement offer, he’s going to get angrier. You see, when I left on Thursday, I cleaned out our house safe and took everything.”

A small smile touched the corners of his hard mouth. “You were very upset that night, but you didn’t let that stop your thinking.”

“No, I didn’t. Since then, I’ve discovered something that doesn’t add up in a—well, in a pretty major way.” She dug into her pocket, pulled out the folded paper, and handed it to him. “This was in one of the files from the safe. Nina Rodriguez is my lawyer.” The legal community could be a tight-knit one, and she paused to ask curiously, “Ever heard of her?”

Silently, he shook his head.

“Well, she’s very sharp. Nina and I constructed my settlement offer so Austin gets to keep what’s in this bank account while I keep everything else. At first glance, it looks like he gets the better end of the deal, because… just look at those totals.”

He unfolded the paper, and his lips pursed in a soundless whistle. “That’s a shockingly healthy bottom line.”