Page 27 of Dragon Charmed

Marcus shook his head. “Because he saw you following him.”

Tessa ignored Marcus’s statement even though she wanted to stick her tongue out at him.

“What did he say to you?” Sienna asked with a twinkle in her eye. Tessa was glad someone was finding this amusing.

“He brought me a coffee and said he thought I might be thirsty after tailing him.”

Marcus laughed and Tessa wished she had stuck her tongue out at him to begin with.

Megan huffed at the security chief. “Marcus! This isn’t funny. What happened next, Tessa?”

“I convinced him to let me help with finding Mia White.”

Eric smiled. “This I’ve got to hear.”

Tessa sighed. Everyone except Megan seemed to be enjoying this too much. “I told him that I’m a friend of John’s and he was reluctant to let me help find Mia, but I wanted to be a part of the search. It didn’t hurt that I had researched her online and brought a bunch of things for us to comb through about her past. We went to Vanderbilt University today and talked to one of the associate professors there who used to be Mia’s TA. Her name is Alisha Brown. Do you recognize the name?”

Megan nodded. “Yes. But I didn’t work with her when I worked for Mia. Alisha was writing her dissertation to finish her degree during that time.”

“I asked her if she knew anyone that Mia might reach out to, and she mentioned Mia’s foster mother Evelyn. But she couldn’t remember her last name.”

Megan closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t remember ever hearing that name before from Mia. But then she really didn’t tell me too much about her past.” Megan’s eyes popped open. “Wait! I might have a way to find out. I’ll be right back.”

Megan hurried out of the room, and Bella watched her go with a squawk. Before it turned into crying, Eric unbuckled Bella from her chair and held her. “Don’t think you’re out of trouble. Megan is going to let you have it at some point.”

“I know, but I don’t trust John to tell us everything that he finds out. I want to be a part of it.”

“On that we can agree.”

At least she had someone on her side. “I’m just tagging along with the PI. What John doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

A few seconds later Megan rushed back into the room with a book. “This is a textbook that Mia wrote. It’s used in numerous Art History classes.” She sat and flipped through the book. “I seem to remember an acknowledgment page. Here it is. Maybe she mentioned Evelyn.” Megan ran her finger down the page and sat up straight like she’d been shocked. Her Cheshire-cat grin had Tessa’s heart speeding up. “Listen to this. ‘I would never have made it without Evelyn Turner, who was like a mother to me.”’

“Excellent!” Tessa exclaimed.

Marcus nodded. “I’ll have Jonas research Evelyn Turner online.” He turned to Tessa with a grin. “Unless you think your PI would have a problem with that?”

“I don’t know why he would. It could give us a leg up on finding her.” She smiled at her best friend. “And thanks, Megan. I can always count on you.”

Megan set the book down and narrowed her eyes. Uh-oh, apparently she was going to be scolded sooner than later. Time for a preemptive strike.

Tessa held up her hands. “I know. I know. I shouldn’t have gone off on my own concerning this, but I want to help. You all have your hands full with running the clan and the aeronautics company, and I think it makes sense for you to research the history of the Templars in case we don’t find Mia White. And I’m not out trying to find her on my own. I’m working with the professional John hired. I can help him look for her while you guys keep digging into the curse.”

Megan shook her head. “Tessa, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

Tessa rested her hands over her heart and fluttered her eyelashes. “Just love me, Megs.”

First Sienna and then Marcus chuckled. Tessa turned to them. “Were the eyelashes too much?”

Eric laughed. “Better that than brandishing a golf club.”

She scrunched her face at him. “I only need weapons when someone has been misbehaving. Remember that.”

Bella giggled from her perch on Eric’s lap. “Did you think that was funny?” He tickled her belly, and she squealed, which had Tessa’s heart squeezing in her chest. She would do anything and everything to protect Bella and Megan from whatever those cryptic words meant in the curse.

She reached for her best friend’s hand. “Are we good?”

Megan grabbed it. “Fine. But I don’t think John is going to be happy when he finds out what you’re doing.”