Chapter 19

"Okay Scuttles, I don't particularly like seafood, but I'm willing to make an exception if you don't calm the fuck down and just get in the damn bucket," Riley growled at the angry, snapping creature she'd managed to corner in her mother's kitchen.

If she didn't already know Cilia had serious issues she would consider having the woman committed for allowing a crab of this size and ugliness to free roam in her house while she went off to count cards at an underground casino. Riley swallowed a scream as Scuttles lunged at her, snapping at her shoelaces in an attempt to drive her away from his prized corner. She drove him back with the BBQ tongs she'd snatched from the counter and swung her bucket at the claw the little bastard was waving at her.

She quickly glanced over her shoulder at the shadowy doorway of the cottage-like bungalow and held her breath. There had been a guy watching the front of the house. She'd seen the flare of his smoke as he sat in his car. She guessed he wasn't b