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My Chaz was a Warden I had the ned to audit his work

First of all, understand that being a Weather Warden in Nevada isn’t exactly the world’sstates are the ones with the big problems; by the tienerally had plenty of chances to slow it down or stop it The place is strong in Earth Wardens, not Fire or Weather So for a Weather Warden to get audited in that state is pretty well, unusual But for about two years prior toon

It was luck of the draw as to ould get the free trip to Vegas, and it turned out to be me Florida, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri those are the hot-weather experts, and we do get tasked for this sort of thing on occasion If he’d been in Montana, soiven the treat

But no, it had to be me Lucky me

I kneas in trouble when I arrived at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and found that Charles "Call Me Chaz" Ashworth hadn’t bothered to pickaudited, and you were asked to arrange transportation, wouldn’t you try to e for me to rent a car, and told me that he’d reserved e Chaz for the car, I rented a Jaguar, drove down the Neon Mile to the trashy-cool Roance of the Palace, and pulled into the valet spot There was a wait I hesitated for a few seconds, then flipped open the folder that I’d been reviewing on the plane

Even though Chaz was noas, that wasn’t where the questionable weather behavior was being registered It was up in the lonely northern part of the state, the eether, and usually at odd ti And-not so coincidentally-it looked like he had some property up there in that area

The valet knocked on myI looked up, slass

"Sorry," I said "Changed h and checked the courtesy , eased back in the blood-warm leather seats, and decided to take a road trip

The epicenter of the trouble was a place nae, which was a dot on theerror than a population center

I headed for it without delay

It was a four-hour drive through hard, bright, merciless country, and at the end of it I found a town that had a Wal-Mart, a deserted don, one decrepit diner, and-just at the edge of it-a small Holiday Inn I parked in the lot, pulled my cell phone from my purse, and consulted the file for a phone nuot voice mail, and Charles Spenser Ashworth III’s se and I’ll get back to you If you’re a single lady, I’ll get back to you sooner Oh, he just oozed chare that said I’d arrived, where I was, and that I expected him to meet me as soon as possible

It hite-hot outside when I walked in through those auto a white pantsuit, and a neon-yellow halter top under the jacket Kicky yellow shoes The outfit was disappointingly pedigree-free, but then I was on a budget, saving up for couture in the future It was still big-city enough to draw looks

I trundled my sturdy wheeled travel case up to the counter and booked a roo TV channels and trying to figure out why all hotel pillows are either too hard or too soft Two hours later, the hotel phone rang

Chaz was in the lobby

I descended the somewhat rickety steps, past the fountain, and there he was Unmistakably a Chaz, not a Charles Tall, solidlyblue eyes An artificially white sed out in Hollywood, hanging poolside, especially considering the casual Polo shirt and Dockers, loafers without socks Altogether too preppy, but I wasn’t going to hold that against him

Four

Much

He looked me up and down in blatant appraisal- not the usual fast I-shouldn’t-be-doing-this-but-I-can’t-help-it appraisal that polite ht to be reserved for Friday nights around closing time at the strip club His stare centered on my breasts Okay, I know, don’t wear the halter top if you don’t want the attention, but jeez, it was 120 in the shade Bulky turtlenecks were right out

"Joanne? I was expecting you to wait forinto town later" He didn’t wait for ant kiss on the back of it, staring deep into my eyes the whole time "Charmed"

"Mr Ashworth-"

"Chaz, please Really, you wasted a trip; this is just where I have my country house" He made it sound like he was a landowner back in the old country, titled and bursting with noblesse oblige "Honey-"

"Joanne" Two could play the interrupting game, and I’d already had it up to here with Mr Charm "Please refer to me by name, if you don’t mind"

He flashed etic "Joanne, yes, of course Sorry Look, there’s just no reason for the Wardens to send somebody all the way out here No deep, dark secrets in the attic Not that I’m not thrilled to have your co your records"

"Certainly" Another toothpaste-ad smile "But they’re back in the city"

"You don’t keep anything at your country house? Seems like you spend quite a bit of time here" I spread out the folder on the counter and found thefor "When I mapped the weather patterns, it sure looked as if a lot of the as So it stands to reason that you’d have an office here, wouldn’t you? If you’re keeping proper records"

He lost the s to hide"

My Aunt Fanny! Fro weird out here, but the prior three auditors sent to investigate hadn’t found a thing Myto bust his ass, so that there could be a formal inquiry, and he could be removed from duty

Protocol Even in the supernatural business, you have to follow strict human resources procedures

"Then you won’t mind if I audit the records at your home office," I said

"I don’t have a-"

"Chaz," I interrupted, and held on to a thin, don’t-screith-me smile "I know you have a home office Let’s not spend more tio," I said, before he could throw out any uar

I kept silent all the way out to his house, a good half hour’s drive even at excessively indulgent speeds I virtuously resisted the urge to smack him, which surely must qualifyI could easily see why they’d sequestered him out here in the middle of nowhere Mouthy, hyperactively on the make, shallow, and none too smart I couldn’t tell how talented he was, but even the biggest store of power in the world wouldn’t ood Warden