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I snorted.Coyote Groveimplied tidy lines of trees, each sprouting canines. Or did the coyotes frolic under the trees?Coyote Ranch,on the other hand, conjured up images of an open range with coyotes quietly chewing their cud.
The marketing exec who’d named this development was definitely not from the Southwest.
I handed Harlon’s card to the security guard. “Coyote Grove Ranch, huh?”
The guy shrugged. “You got twelve million dollars to buy a house in there, you can call it anything you like.”
I laughed, then waved my thanks as he opened the automatic gate.
He pointed. “Number nine is at the top of the hill.”
Of course. Nothing less for Harlon Greene.
“Thanks.”
As the gate slid silently aside, I shook my head at the figure sculpted into the center. That canine’s tail was so bushy, it screamed fox, not coyote. My sister Abby, the blacksmith, would not be impressed.
More gawking ensued as I followed the meandering road uphill. The houses were huge, and the smallest garage fit four cars. My mind got tangled in the math of a house with eight bedrooms and twice as many baths. That made a toilet-to-car ratio of four-to-one, right?
At the top of the hill, I tried working out a new ratio but failed. Harlon’s place was twice as big as the others, with massive, twenty-five-foot windows that reflected the stunning red rock vistas. Very nice, but disorienting, because Cathedral Rock was behind me — yet there it was, reflected in the four long panes straight ahead. The windows on the right framed Bell Rock and a corner of Courthouse Butte, but their positions were flipped.
I parked, leaving a good two yards between my shabby truck and the nearest cars — a BMW and a sparkling Range Rover — then slid out and took a deep breath. The optical illusions of the windows were a good reminder of what I faced inside. Trickery, wrapped in a pretty package designed to distract.
Someone waved from a second-story balcony, and I waved back.
It was Harlon, speaking into a phone. And, wow. Now that I was aware of it, the shimmer of magic around his shoulders was obvious. How had I missed it before?
He paused long enough to call out, “Miss Sattler! Do come in. I’ll be down in a minute.”
It was more like fifteen, but that gave me time to get my bearings after one of the staff let me in.
Yes,oneof the staff. Plural.
The foyer was bigger than my entire home, with an ornate staircase straight out ofGone with the Wind. The dining area was two stories high, just like the windows, and doors to at last six different rooms opened onto the mezzanine above. Everything was done in a grandiose style better suited to Tuscany than Sedona. But it was like the security guy said. If you had twelve million dollars to buy a house, you could decorate in any style you liked.
A handful of other early guests nodded in greeting, then left me alone. One woman kept peeking, though, amused by…my dress? My hair? My shoes? All of the above?
I stared straight at her until she turned meekly away. Ha. My dad had taught me that one. Proof that magic wasn’t as important as attitude.
At least, that’s what I liked to think.
The caterers were still setting up, so I poured half a glass of champagne and stepped back to gaze out the south windows. So many magnificent mesas and buttes…so much space…
Whack!I jumped when something bounced off the glass outside. A tiny, metallic green form flashed, then plunged to the ground. When I identified it, my heart wept. That was a hummingbird, and it had just broken its neck. Not the first victim of this villa either, judging by the tiny, crumpled bodies on the gravel outside.
I turned away, setting my champagne glass aside.
“Ah, Miss Sattler. What a pleasure.”
I whirled, caught off guard. There went Harlon, sneaking up on me again.
He was as groomed and well-dressed as ever, but I saw a cat smeared with feathers and blood.
Still, I stuck on a smile. The game had begun, and I refused to be his pawn.
“Harlon. What a beautiful place you have here.”
He gave one of thoseYes, I feel so grateful and privileged to be richshrugs. “It is, though I hope to have a place of my own soon.” His eyes glinted. “Apropos…that business I wanted to discuss with you. Won’t you come to my study?”
