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“Nothing,” Odelia said quickly. If whoever ran Soul Science didn’t want to talk to the media and if Gran was now part of the cult, she better not let on that she intended to join them in her capacity as an undercover reporter. “But I’m very interested,” she added.

“Oh, sure,” said Gran dubiously. “You’re interested in joining my cult.”

“It’s notyour cult, Gran. You can’t hog a cult like you can hog a piece of pie.”

“I can, too. I like this cult. I found it and I don’t want you to come and spoil the fun. Now go away,” she said, waving an impatient hand. “I have more people to interview and you’re wasting my time.” And with these words, she turned away and accosted the next person who happened to come along, shoving her phone in their face and announcing, “Rory Suds, pharmacist, what is the meaning of life?”

For a moment Rory got the same deer-in-the-headlights look as Odelia had only moments before and looked as if he might make a run for it. Instead, he stayed put, probably thinking that whatever her faults, Vesta Muffin was still a customer, and one must always humor a customer.

“Well, I like to think that helping one’s fellow man is a big part of it,” he finally said. “Specifically by providing a superior customer experience when people visit the Rory Suds Pharmacy on Downing Street—the best place for all your pharmaceutical needs.”

Odelia, shaking her head, decided to follow her grandmother’s advice and move right along. If anything, this cult seemed right up her alley. If its leaders made their followers sneak up on unsuspecting passersby and ask them a bunch of tough questions, he couldn’t have hoped for a better follower than an actual reporter, who was used to sneaking up on people on the street and hurling tough-ass questions in their faces.

Tonight, she told herself, she was becoming a member of Soul Science—whether Gran liked it or not.

A honk from a car horn told her that her attention was needed elsewhere and when she turned she saw that her boyfriend had driven up and was parking at the curb.

She got into the car and settled into the passenger seat as Chase Kingsley merged into traffic. She must have still possessed the remnants of her recent encounter, for he glanced over and said,“Everything all right, babe? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Not a ghost, my grandmother,” she corrected the cop. “She’s gone and joined a cult.”

“A cult,” said Chase with a grin. “You mean she’s going around hawkingDianetics?”

“Worse. She’s asking people about the meaning of life, and happiness.”

Chase winced. A tough cop, who’d transferred from the NYPD to the Hampton Cove police department, answering questions about happiness and the meaning of life had probably never been part of his police academy training. “Ouch,” he said.

“And when I said my family makes me happy she told me ‘Wrong answer!’”

“I’m sure it’ll all blow over soon.”

“I doubt it,” said Odelia. “She seems very anxious to spread the word.”

“Well, as long as she doesn’t start squirting people with sarin gas or invite them to drink poisonous potions I guess there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“The trouble is, I’m also going to join up, and Gran might blow my cover.”

The car momentarily swerved into the wrong lane and once Chase had corrected its course, he cried,“You’re joining up, too!”

“I have to. Dan told me to.”

She realized she wasn’t telling her story as well as she could have, so she gave him the beat-by-beat version, starting with Dan entering her office and ending with Gran wanting to keep her cult all to herself. When she finished telling her tale, Chase was silent for a few moments, then said, with a resolute look on his face. “If you’re joining this cult, so am I. I’m not going to have you put yourself in danger without backup, babe.”

She gave him a warm look.“Would you do that for me?”

“In a heartbeat,” he assured her.

“Well, that settles it. Tonight you and I are becoming the newest Soul Science recruits.”

“What about your gran?”

“I’ll just have to convince her I’m not a stooge for Dan but the real deal. We’re going to be the cultiest of cult members, Chase. My editor and my readers are counting on me.”

“So… whatis the meaning of life?”

“I just heard a good one. The meaning of life is providing a superior customer experience.”

For some reason Chase didn’t look convinced.

Being in a cult was going to prove tougher than she thought.

Chapter 5

Tex arrived home feeling both annoyed and defiant. If you’ve been the top doctor in your town for the past twenty-plus years, it’s tough suddenly to have to tolerate a rival, and especially when that rival manages to steal half your patients in a matter of mere weeks. He’d been silently fuming the entire walk home and was still fuming when he entered the cozy little home he’d made with Marge.

One of the advantages of having a mate for life is that you’re provided with a sympathetic ear for your gripes, and it was in Marge’s ears that Tex now vowed to pour all of his reservations about his fellow physician.