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  The Megalodon Mix-Up

  A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery Book Four

  Amanda M. Lee

  WinchesterShaw Publications

  Copyright © 2018 by Amanda M. Lee

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  To Linsey, Augusta, Jenn, Boyd, Pam, Lee, Dan, Ricardo, Elizabeth, Franklin, Alison, Cindy, Joe, and Emma. What happens at tiki, stays at tiki.

  Contents

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  17. Seventeen

  18. Eighteen

  19. Nineteen

  20. Twenty

  21. Twenty-One

  22. Twenty-Two

  23. Twenty-Three

  24. Twenty-Four

  25. Twenty-Five

  26. Twenty-Six

  27. Twenty-Seven

  28. Twenty-Eight

  29. Twenty-Nine

  Mailing List

  About the Author

  Books by Amanda M. Lee

  One

  “So ... it’s a nice night.”

  I nodded like an idiot, my mind going a hundred different directions at once. It was a nice night. It was a beautiful night for a first date. A first date with my co-worker, who was technically my boss when it came to security issues with the Legacy Foundation, a group of paranormal monster hunters seeking answers to the big secrets.

  I was the newest member of the team and had a big secret myself, one that Jack Hanson wasn’t aware of. All he knew is that I was Charlie Rhodes, gung-ho and headstrong, mouthy and opinionated, and occasionally moronic and brash. He decided to ask me out anyway, something that made my heart palpitate as my thoughts went hazy.

  Jack was handsome in a bad boy way, dark hair brushing the tops of his shoulders and dark eyes that could pierce the soul of monsters and humans alike. Of course, he was a non-believer working with a lot of believers. That made him cagey when it came to searching for answers on cases. That also made him dangerous when he found out about me ... and he would have to find out the truth eventually. I was the type of thing the Legacy Foundation searched for — a psychic with a hint of telekinetic ability — and I was hiding in plain sight. If I ever wanted a relationship with Jack to work, I would have to tell him.

  Eventually. That didn’t need to happen tonight, which was a minor relief.

  For now, we simply had to get through the world’s most stilted first date.

  “It is a beautiful night,” I agreed, my eyes traveling to the lake. Jack picked a restaurant an hour away from our office because he didn’t want to risk running into our co-workers. Part of me wondered if I should be offended by that. The other part simply accepted that it was the smart thing to do. The last thing we wanted was to be studied by people we had to spend inordinate amounts of time with when we were still feeling our way around each other. “Extremely beautiful.”

  Small talk wasn’t exactly my strong suit. I had no problem talking, don’t get me wrong, but that often came across as babbling. Jack, on the other hand, was ex-military. He was often taciturn, occasionally introverted, and spontaneously sweet and romantic when he managed to remove his head from his hindquarters. That happened the night he asked me out, which occurred after a head injury that prohibited him from seeing a man turn into a huge werewolf and his daughter into a much cuter version of the mythical beast.

  I kept that secret, too.

  I had a lot of secrets.

  Hmm. Maybe this was a bad idea.

  “What kind of food do you like?” Jack was clearly struggling as he tried to find topics for us to discuss.

  I was trapped in my own head — worry, excitement and excessive hormones warring for supremacy — and wasn’t offering him much help. That needed to change. “This is awkward,” I said after a beat, smoothing the front of my dress. I’d gone all out, dipped into my savings and selected a pretty lavender dress to wear because I wanted to look nice. I wasn’t much for dresses, though, so I felt uncomfortable even though I hoped I looked cute. No matter how hard I tried to be demure and flirtatious, my mouth always managed to get ahead of my brain. I was a blurter of the highest order, and that was on full display tonight.

  “Very awkward,” Jack agreed, heaving a sigh and staring at me with unreadable eyes. “I wanted to take you to a nice dinner, someplace that you would always remember and maybe even impress you a little. I didn’t realize how weird that would be.”

  I took a moment to glance around the patio where we sat. It was filled with older people — well, older than us — who had money and means. They were used to wearing evening gowns and suits. Jack wore a suit, going the extra effort to dress up for me, but he looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

  “I don’t think this is our scene,” I said finally. “I would’ve been fine with McDonald’s and a walk around the lake.”

  Jack pursed his lips. I couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed. “You know what? You’re right. This isn’t us. Come on.”

  He pushed back his chair and extended his hand, causing my eyes to go wide.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, a bit breathless. “Is that it? Is the date over?”

  “This isn’t a date. Not yet, anyway.” He linked his fingers with mine and signaled to the hostess. “I’m taking you somewhere else. We can’t be ourselves here, and that’s the point of a first date. We’re never going to get anywhere if we can’t relax.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Someplace else.” Jack dug in his wallet to hand the hostess money. “We also need to change our clothes. Are you comfortable in that?” He eyed the dress speculatively.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I bought it for the date.”

  His eyes softened. “It’s pretty. You look pretty in it. If you want to keep it on, that’s fine.”

  “Keep it on?” Instantly I turned suspicious. “We’re not going to a hotel, are we? I thought we were supposed to talk to get to know each other first.” Suddenly I was extremely nervous. “I shaved my legs, but I’m not ready for that.” Seriously, was shaving my legs the wrong message to send?

  Jack shook his head, his eyes lighting with mirth rather than annoyance. “Yeah. That’s not what I meant. You’re allowed to wear whatever you want. There’s a Target store right around the corner. I thought we could buy some bum-around clothes. As for shaving your legs, the effort is appreciated. We are not, however, going to a hotel.”

  “Whew.” I mimed wiping my forehead. “That’s a relief.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  I nodded as I followed him toward the exit. “I think I would’ve passed out if I had to get naked in front of you.”

  He snickered. “I love that you say whatever comes to mind. I never have to worry about you hiding your feelings ... or lying.”

  That wasn’t exactly true. A lie of omission was still a lie. Now was not the time to dwell on that, though. If things went well, I would have to tell him. He wouldn’t believe me at first — that was to be expected — but when I eventually did show him what I could do, we would face a true test of the bond that seemed to be growing.

  We weren’t there yet.

  “That’
s me.” I twittered nervously. “Speak first, realize how stupid it was later.”

  “I actually like that about you.” Jack was sincere. “Most of the time.”

  “I like that about me, too. Most of the time.”

  “Come on.” He gripped my hand tightly. “Let’s do this date the right way. There’s no sense getting off on the wrong foot.”

  IN THE END I HAD to agree with Jack’s assessment. Dinner at the expensive restaurant he selected was a nice idea, but we both would’ve felt too nervous and on display to relax. Instead, we selected cheap and comfortable clothes, picked up takeout at Burger King (the only nearby fast food restaurant we could find), and selected a park on the lake to get to know one another in a more intimate way.

  Er, not that intimate. Nothing got dirty except our bare feet.

  “Wait a second ... that can’t be right.” Jack bent over at the waist thanks to irrepressible laughter. “You participated in a beauty pageant?”

  “You don’t call them beauty pageants any longer,” I argued, dipping a fry in ketchup. “They’re scholarship programs.”

  “Did you wear a bathing suit?”

  I scowled. “Yes. It was a respectable one-piece with a lion’s face on the butt.”

  Jack laughed so hard I thought he would start crying, wiping the back of his hand over his cheek to swipe away invisible tears. “Oh, please tell me there are photos.”

  “There are no photos.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  I didn’t blame him. Sadly, there were photos, but I had no intention of showing them to him. “It was the only thing I could think to do,” I explained. “My parents left me a little money for college, but it was hard to spread it to cover everything I needed. I thought the scholarship might help.”

  Jack stilled, sobering. “That must have been hard on you.” He was quiet as he moved back to the picnic table. “You were awfully young to be on your own.”

  I shrugged. I wasn’t sure we should be talking about something so heavy on a first date, but I brought it up, so I couldn’t complain. “I was on my own before that. They adopted me, took me in, raised me as their own. I like to think that I had a limited amount of time with them, that they saved me because they somehow knew that, and I’m better for the time I had with them.”

  Jack arched an eyebrow. “That sounds really healthy.”

  “It should. I was forced to see a therapist after my parents died because there was worry I wasn’t adjusting well. I wasn’t an adult, so I had no choice.”

  “Well, it’s still healthy.” Jack snagged one of my fries and popped it in his mouth, his own dinner already devoured. “Why did you choose this? I mean ... why did you decide to focus on hunting monsters and the unknown?”

  I’d chosen it because I could move things with my mind and see into other people’s heads when their defenses were down. I’d chosen it because I was different and desperate to find out why. I’d chosen it because I needed a way to understand why I was so different from almost everyone else I’d ever met.

  “I’ve always liked the idea of unexplained things – entities I guess – being out there,” I replied. “When I was a kid about eight or so I saw this show on television. It was about the Loch Ness Monster.

  “They had that video, the one shot a long time ago — you know the one I’m talking about, right? — and I remember being fascinated,” I continued. “I was a fidgety kid. I bounced from one thing to the other, one adventure to the other. That documentary ignited my imagination in a way I didn’t realize was possible at the time.”

  It felt whimsical reminiscing, and Jack appeared truly interested.

  “After that, I started watching every show I could on the strange and unexplained,” I said. “I watched shows on Bigfoot ... and yetis ... and those ghost hunter adventures. My parents thought I was nutty, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was obsessed.”

  “I don’t think that’s so bad.” Jack kicked out his feet under the table, placing them on either side of mine. It wasn’t a particularly sexy gesture, but there was something intimate about it all the same, warm and inviting. I could feel the heat radiating off him. “You have a curious mind, Charlie. That’s not always a good thing, because it can get you into trouble — and often does. But it’s not a bad thing. You want to learn. You want to experience everything life has to offer. I would rather you be enthusiastic about things that probably aren’t real rather than jaded to what is real.”

  It was an interesting statement. “What about you? Why are you working for the Legacy Foundation when you’re clearly not a believer?”

  “What makes you think I’m not a believer?”

  “I’ve met you.”

  Jack smiled. “That doesn’t mean I’m not a believer.”

  “I’ve been on several missions with you,” I reminded him. “You always lean toward humans as culprits.”

  “Have I been wrong? I mean ... did Bigfoot kill people in Hemlock Cove? Did the Chupacabra eat people in Texas? Did werewolves rip apart campers?”

  He had a point. Bigfoot most certainly hadn’t been killing people in Hemlock Cove. Real witches were hiding among fake ones to cast curses, though. Werewolves did not kill the campers, but they were definitely real. I saw two people shift with my own eyes. Jack was knocked out at the time, and I couldn’t tell him because I’d made a promise to the family. As for the other ... .

  “I saw the Chupacabra,” I reminded him. “I saw it before I lost consciousness.”

  A muscle in Jack’s jaw worked as he stared me down. He didn’t like being reminded of what had happened in Texas. I almost died. He almost lost it trying to find me. We were separated when I saw the Chupacabra, too. “You think you saw it,” he said finally, his voice soft. “You were injured, Charlie. You took a bad fall. You wanted to see the Chupacabra, so that’s what you saw right before you lost consciousness.”

  I didn’t believe that. “Jack ... .”

  He held up his hand to silence me and shook his head, firm. “No. I don’t want to argue about this. You were hurt and it makes me sick to my stomach to think about what you went through. So, if you think you saw the Chupacabra, you saw it. I believe you.”

  I searched his face. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I believe you.”

  We held each other’s gazes for a long time, something electric passing through us. I finally broke the silence. “I ... um ... .” I honestly had no idea what I was going to say. Luckily, I didn’t have to think of anything. At that exact moment, lightning split the sky and caused me to jolt.

  Jack flicked his eyes to the west, furrowing his brow. “Storms.”

  “Yeah.” I followed his gaze. “I guess that means the date is over.” As if on cue, the rain started falling in a steady sheet, causing me to laugh as I hastily collected the remnants of our dinner so I could toss the wrappers in a nearby trash receptacle. “Wow. That was quick.”

  “Let me help.” Jack double-checked to make sure we had everything, and when he joined me by the trash container his handsome face was wet from the rain. He didn’t move to scurry for cover, instead taking a step closer to me and staring directly into my face. “How was our first date?” he asked after a beat, his voice low and throaty.

  My pulse tripped at our proximity. We weren’t touching, but I could feel his heart beating in rhythm with mine ... and it was a fast rhythm. “It was good.” I wasn’t sure how I found the right words. “It was really good.”

  “Yeah.” His fingers were gentle as they slipped a strand of my long hair behind my ear. I’d worn it up when I donned the dress, but took it down when we changed into comfortable clothing. It was important to be normal. That’s what Jack wanted — what I wanted, too — so I went for my own brand of normalcy.

  “How are we going to handle this with everyone at work?” I asked, ignoring the way the storm ramped up around us. “I don’t know that we should tell them right away. I ... think that would be weird.”

  Jack nod
ded, solemn. “Yeah. I never thought I’d be in this position, but I’ve given it some thought. I think you’re right. We need to keep it quiet ... at least until we know if it’s going to stick.”

  His words broke through the fuzz that his proximity was creating in my brain. “You don’t think it’s going to stick.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “I don’t know,” he hedged, clearly uncomfortable. “I know that I’m attracted to you. I know that you make me laugh. I also know that you make me crazy. We don’t know each other all that well.”

  “Isn’t that why we’re dating?”

  “Yes, but the fact that we work together adds a layer of difficulty that most dating couples don’t have,” Jack replied. “I’m good at my job. I believe in being professional. That doesn’t mean we can’t date. It simply means I don’t think we should date at work.”

  That was interesting. “Meaning we pretend we’re not involved while on the clock?”

  “Exactly.”

  Hmm. “That’s actually probably a good idea. If the others find out — especially Laura — things might get uncomfortable. That could ruin both our working and personal relationships.”

  Laura Chapman, another co-worker, recently developed an interest in pursuing Jack. He shut her down quickly, but she showed no signs of giving up. She wouldn’t react well if she knew Jack and I had embarked on something new.

  “So, you’re okay with us keeping this on the down low?” he asked. “You’re not going to make a thing about it?”

  I shook my head, my wet hair flying from side to side. “I think keeping it a secret is a good idea. This is my first real job. I want to be professional. It’s important to me.”