I flashed a devil-horns sign at her. “Yep.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Jen made a face. “She didn’t! Grow up already.”

“Oh, yes, she did,” I said. “But I met a new guy there, too. We’re working together a bit on this PR thing. He’s kind of cute, and actually a normal human being.” Well, except for seeing auras, and whatever secret he accidentally alluded to regarding his mother.

“So what happened to the hot ghoul?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Except, um, I let him taste me, and now he’s sort of tuned in to me. And I’m kind of weirded out about it.”

“You bonded with him?” Jen’s voice rose in alarm. “Jesus, Daise! You of all people ought to know better!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose! It was an emergency. And it’s not like a vampire blood-bond,” I assured her. At least, I didn’t think it was. “There’s no binding obligation or anything. It’s just . . . Okay, like this morning, when I blew up at Meg Mucklebones, Stefan sensed it. And he came to check and make sure I was all right. End of story.”

Jen yawned. “Sorry. Wow, was that really just this morning?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Long day for you, too?”

“Yeah.” Lifting one hand from the wheel, she knuckled her eyes. “On top of getting up at the crack of dawn this morning and dealing with Brandon’s near-death experience at the hands of Meg freaking Mucklebones, we’ve got owners coming into town for two different properties this weekend. Both of them needed a full top-to-bottom scouring.”

“Bummer—” I smacked my forehead. “Oh, crap! Crap! I’m an idiot.”

She glanced at me. “Huh?”

“Your dad works as a caretaker, right?” Jesus, even allowing for lack of sleep and a hangover, I really was an idiot for not having thought of it right away. “So if there are summer homes sitting empty for months on end, he’d be the guy to ask about it?”

“Sure.” Jen looked confused. “I mean, he subcontracts some of the long-term stuff that doesn’t require a lot of hands-on maintenance, but yeah. Anyway, he should have records somewhere. Why?”

I shook my head, fishing in my purse for my phone. “Can’t tell you. Sorry, no offense. It has to do with the case.” I dialed Cody, got his voice mail, and left him a terse message about interviewing Mr. Cassopolis.

Jen stole another glance at me as she turned off the highway. “Girlfriend, I have the feeling you’ve got way too much on your plate.”

I leaned back against the headrest. “You can say that again.”