And Dani found that she was much more uncomfortable around a known psychic than she thought. While Bonita, a short Hispanic woman with soft, rounded features and a crown of braided salt-and-pepper hair, had been perfectly sweet, Dani hummed show tunes in her head to avoid thinking of anything incriminating or sexual. And she was careful to use a pen from the post office cup to fill out her form. It was probably hyper-optimistic to rent a box for six months, but it would be nice to have a place where she could order internet deliveries. She hadn’t used her Amazon account in three years. She thought maybe that was grounds to have someone declared legally dead.

Dani emerged onto sunny Main Street and debated seriously between a visit to the pie shop and visiting her boss. She figured that a responsible adult whose family was depending on her should probably go visit her boss.

She glanced across the street at the pie shop. “Soon, you will be mine.”

She scanned the street as she walked toward the League village, a habit developed while traveling in less than hospitable countries. She took in the white-washed Parish Hall building topped with a spire and a golden dragon. It was very similar to the dragon that hovered over the fountain in the center of the town square. She got the feeling that dragons played an important part in local history. She really needed to read Jillian’s study.

“Hey, Miss Dani!”

She turned to see Sheriff Bael Boone, Jillian’s boyfriend, jogging across the square. He had a foil wrapped square and a to-go cup of coffee in his hands.

“Hi, Sheriff, are you all right?”

“Hi, there.” Bael grinned at her. “Thanks for asking. I’m fine. I just stopped in over at the sweet shop to get some mid-morning pie for Jillian. Can you run it to her office for me? I’ve got a call on the other side of the parish. The twice damned Beasley boys got stuck in Charlie Deeds’ shrimping nets again and Charlie’s threatening to fill both their asses with buck shot.”

Dani tried to contain her laughter. She really did. But she failed. “The Beasley boys are the pervert gator shifters Jillian warned me about?”

“Yes, they are.” Bael nodded, a grim expression on his face.

“But you’re not a gator shifter, right?”

Bael frowned. “Beg pardon?”

“I’m picking up a reptilian sort of vibe from you, but not alligator. Something bigger? Does that make sense? Am I wrong?”

Bael cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry. If you could just run this in to Jillian’s office, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing.” Dani frowned, watching Bael running across the parking lot toward his squad car. Had she said something to offend him? She figured that asking about someone’s shifting ability was a fairly standard question in Mystic Bayou.