"Sounds like sawing." It was coming from upstairs. Someone was taking their search for the diamonds very seriously.

Harper tiptoed across the room and grabbed the fireplace poker from a stand on the hearth. "Just in case," she said, tiptoeing back again.

Oh great. Now she was armed.

The longer we waited for something-anything-to happen, the more my blood pressure skyrocketed. The leaking ceiling didn't help, either. The splat of the raindrops on the floor was getting on my last nerve. The roof had to be a complete mess for so much water to be coming inside. I could easily picture rivulets of moisture sliding right down the studs to the floor joists and pooling on the living room ceiling. I hoped the new owner had roofing plans at the top of his or her renovation to-do list.

Suddenly Nick's voice rose up, and though somewhat muted, I could still hear him clearly say, "Stop! Police!"

"Get ready," Harper whispered, craning her neck to look up the steps. She held the poker like a baseball bat.

The sawing continued.

Harper looked at me.

I shrugged.

"Maybe he didn't hear the noise outside because of the saw?" she speculated.

"Maybe." The rain on the roof would be loud, too.

"I'm going up." She neatly pivoted and started climbing the steps.

I reached for her sleeve through the spindles but she evaded me.

"Come on, Darcy," she whispered.

Yep, Nick was going to kill me. Her, too.

I crept up behind her and snatched the poker out of her hand.

She turned, her face full of outrage.

I gave her my best don't-even-think-about-arguing-with-me look. I mouthed, "I'm going first."

No way was I going to let her be first in the line of fire.

Frowning, she swept her arm out, motioning for me to go ahead of her.

And I had to admit, I liked being on the offensive instead of the defensive. Taking control felt good.

At the top of the steps, I followed the sound of the saw. It was coming from the master bathroom. A flashlight sat on the bedroom floor, aimed into the space. Someone was sawing away at the wainscoting next to the tub. Piles of mauled boards were scattered everywhere. Cussing filled the air as the intruder yanked at a panel.

A male voice.

But that's all I could tell. He was dressed in black, head to toe. His back was to us. I wasn't quite sure what to do now.

Harper, on the other hand, had no qualms. She shouted, "Don't move, dirtbag!"

My first thought was that Archie would be proud of her for using a movie quote. My second was disbelief as a sudden puff of sparkly bright light filled the bathroom, blinding in its brilliance. When it cleared, the man was gone.

Harper rubbed her eyes and blinked. "What in the hell just happened?"

I'd seen it before, so I knew. "A Vaporcrafter."

"A Vap-" She cut herself off and gathered her thoughts. "But, isn't Mrs. P the last one?"

"Yes." Mrs. P was the only Vapor around. Because Crafts were hereditary, it was possible for certain Crafts to die out.

"Then how . . ." Harper pointed toward the bathroom, then made a mushroom shape with her hands, mimicking the vapor cloud, then wiggled her fingers, imitating the falling sparkles.

She was excellent at charades.

"Vapors must not be as extinct as we thought." There was no mistaking what I'd seen, that sparkly cloud.

Voices rose from downstairs. Footsteps sounded.

"Darcy!" Nick yelled.

"Up here," I called. To Harper, I added, "He's going to kill me."

"I'll miss you," she said as she stepped over the debris on the floor. The flashlight still illuminated the space. "I hope the new owners have insurance. The guy did a number in here."

A small matter to worry about as Nick's footsteps pounded the stairs. I could feel his hard stare as he came into the room, and I braced myself as I turned around.

He was drenched, his hair slicked back as though he'd just run a hand through it. His shirt clung to the hard muscles of his chest.

It reminded me so much of a day right after we met for the first time. We'd been caught in the rain, and I'd roped him into breaking into Lotions and Potions with me. At the time, I never thought I'd seen a more gorgeous man.

Until now.

Well, except for the fury that blazed in his eyes. I could do without that.

Okay, even with the fury . . .

"I love you," I said quickly, flashing my best smile. Even though I'd said it to try to soften him up, I meant it. I loved him more than I could ever explain.

"That's not fair," he said, rolling his neck. "You scared the life out of me when I couldn't find you outside."

"Sorry," I said. "We heard sawing. . . ."

He didn't need to know that we heard the sawing after we were already in the house. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Harper stuck her head out of the bathroom. Her eyes were lit like a little kid's on Christmas morning who'd just found a spiffy bike beneath the tree complete with a bell on the handlebars. "It's all my fault. I talked Darcy into checking it out."

"You"-he pointed at her-"are a bad influence."

"You're probably not surprised to learn that I've heard that before."

The corner of his lip twitched.

"But save my admonishment for later," she said. "We got ourselves a skeleton in here. My first body! So cool. Come see! I wish I had my camera. Darcy, give me your phone."

"Do not give her your phone." Nick brushed past me and stepped into the bathroom. I followed, watching carefully for nails sticking out of the ravaged paneling.

"But it's my first live skeleton." Her face scrunched. "Dead skeleton. You know what I mean."

"No photos," he said to her.

She huffed. "Fine."

I peeked over Nick's shoulder. Sure enough, a skeletal hand poked out from the wall space where the wainscoting had once been. Leaning in a little closer, I could see a skull, too.

I shuddered.

"Who do you think it is?" Harper asked. "Do you think one of the treasure hunters managed to get past the curse Eleta put on the house? And this is how he ended up? If so, that's a hard-core curse."

I had no answers. It was impossible to even tell how old the skeleton was. It could have been here one year . . . or twenty.

Nick herded Harper and me back into the bedroom. He dragged a hand down his face and mumbled something about a crime scene. "I've got to make some calls. You two should go home. It's going to be a late night here."

Another late night. I felt for him. My snoop job rarely required all-nighters.

Harper said to Nick, "We know what happened to our intruder, but what happened to the other one? Did you catch him?"

"Got away in the woods," Nick said.

"Was it Andreus?" I asked.

"I don't think so," he said. "Too short. What happened to your guy? By your question, I'm guessing it wasn't Andreus up here sawing away."

"Poof!" Harper exclaimed. "Gone."

She was all worked up. I doubted she'd sleep a wink tonight.

Nick looked at me for explanation.

I looked over my shoulder, then whispered, "A Vaporcrafter."

His jaw jutted. "I thought only Mrs. P. . . ."

"Us, too. We were obviously wrong."

He sighed. "I'm glad it was you two that came across him and not one of my officers. It would be hard to explain the glittery cloud."

"Memory cleanses, all around," I said, grabbing Harper's arm and pulling her toward the doorway.

"You'll let us know if you find out who the stiff is?" Harper pressed her hands together in front of her chest in a begging stance. "Pretty please?"

"It's doubtful we'll know much tonight unless there's a wallet hiding behind the wall, too."

"I can stay and help you look," Harper said.

"Get out," he said playfully.

"Grumpy," she said, heading to the stairs.

At the doorway, I held on to the jamb and looked back at him. He had his back to me, his hands on his hips. He was muttering something under his breath that sounded a lot like, "I hate this house."

I tried not to take that one personally.

As if sensing he wasn't alone, he turned. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking about the week we met, rainstorms, and Vaporcrafters."

In two strides, he was in front of me. "One of the best weeks of my life."

Smiling, I said, "Mine, too."

Gently cupping my face, he gave me a kiss.

"Do you want me to wait up for you?" I asked.

"You don't have to . . . But yeah, I'd like that."

Feeling like the biggest mushiest sap, I kissed him back and said, "Don't say you hate the house." I patted the door jamb. "You'll hurt its feelings."

Tipping his head back, he laughed and gave me a little push. "Get out of here."

I was still smiling like a fool as Harper and I walked back outside, past the flashing police car lights and the curious stares of villagers. Harper said, "This was the best night ever."

"You're warped, you know that?"

"You might not be surprised to learn that this is not the first time I've heard that."

"Nope, not surprised at all."

We said our good-byes at the bookshop, and I waited until I saw her lights come on in the upstairs apartment before banging a U-ey. I wasn't quite ready to head back to Nick's yet. . . .

I had a mouse to see.

Chapter Twenty-three.