A/N: thanks to all those who read the first chapter. I promise I will continue to work on my other two stories (it surprises me that I can even keep everything straight but I manage somehow:)) so keep an eye out for them.

Chapter 2

Over the next several days Mac encountered Randi several times at the café. Between her generally bubbly nature that made her so approachable, and Kate, he got to know the woman reasonably well enough that he knew he could tease her and know she would fight back. It usually started with him asking if Fido had run down any more suspects lately and going from there.

Mac found Randi to be a pleasant, easy-going lady who could be a lot of fun and who happened to have an eccentric taste in clothes. He once saw her show up in low-rise stretch jeans with gold embroidery that hugged every curve of her legs, a colorful East Indian women's tunic called a choli that revealed her slender tummy and slender back, and a matching sari wrapped around her neck. She'd been wearing simple gold jewelry, gold-embroidered slippers, and had managed to coax her hair in to some kind of knot on her head that was messy-sexy. Having learned that crashes usually meant Randi was in the area and the crashes were usually the result of someone not paying attention to where they were going as they watched her, Mac eventually got used to them. Mac was sure he'd heard at least three crashes before Randi had entered the café that morning, not that he could blame the victims of the crashes, not with what he'd seen when she sat down, which was a very nice tush and a slender back, the kind that made him itch to run his fingers up and down just to see if she was sensitive there.

It was another quiet morning when there was a resounding crash from somewhere down the street. Neither Mac nor Kate even glanced up, except for Kate to say absently, "Randi's on her way over. Better make a fresh pot of coffee."

Sure enough, in breezed Randi. This time she wore a black ankle-length skirt, lace-up granny boots, white off-the-shoulder pheasant blouse and blue under-corset with colorful butterflies all over the fabric. Her hair was up in a knot on her head, held in place by a couple of pins decorated with large flowers and her bag of choice today was a small carpet bag in the same fabric as her corset. Large gold earrings swung from her ears every time she moved and today she was moving particularly fast. Mac thought she looked like a gypsy dancer, save for the earbud in her ears with the wire going down to a cell phone on her hip.

She breezed in to the café, calling out, "Mornin' Kate, mornin' Mac, mornin' Charlie!"

"Morning, Randi. The usual?" Kate asked, smiling.

"Only if you can make it to go; I've got a gazillion things to do and absolutely no time to slow down. I've already dropped Fabio off at Doggy Daycare," Randi replied, digging around in her bag. She pulled out a thick manila envelope and said, "That's for Charlie." Kate kindly handed the cook the envelope before moving off to fill a Styrofoam cup up with fresh coffee for Randi. As the waitress did so, Randi turned to Mac, smiled, and asked, "And how are you this fine morning?"

"Doing good, thank you. Yourself?" Mac asked, smiling back.

"On the run like a bat outta hell. You know what it's like when your boss wants you in two places at once?" Randi asked. Mac nodded. "Mine wants me in three."

Mac grinned. "Have fun then."

"Always do, but Fabio is going to sulk like crazy."

"Can't be that bad," Mac said.

"You try living with a sulking seventeen pound mutt that just pouts at you every time you even look at him for two days straight," Randi shot back. "Man, can that dog ever sulk."

Mac chuckled.

Kate placed Randi's coffee in front of her, complete with lid and the usual milk and sugar already mixed in. Randi paid for the coffee, took it, and was just about out the door when Charlie, who had been reading the contents of the envelope bellowed, "Randi!"

"Yo?" she asked, sticking her head back in the café.

"Are you serious?" Charlie demanded, waving a bunch of papers in her direction.

"Is my signature and stamp on the bottom line?" she asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I'm serious. Oh, and Mac?"

"Yeah?" he asked, getting ready to take a swallow of his own coffee.

"Nice backside. Keep up the running." And with that, she was gone, leaving Mac with his jaw hanging open and his ears going red. Then he started to chuckle. Yup, Randi strikes again.

"Is she for real?" Mac asked Kate.

"That's Randi. She's a bit techno-cursed so it's highly advisable that you never lend her your cell phone; it might not work again. Other than that, you know yourself she's a lot fun," Kate replied. Mac nodded. "I'm not quite sure what she does but I think it has to do with antiques in some form. The papers Charlie just got were appraisal papers on something Randi promised Charlie she'd have a look at. She's good that way. Did you see the rock on her right hand?"

Mac nodded. It had been hard to miss; antique silver with what looked like a large step-cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds.

"That's not glass; it's a diamond ring that dates back to the early 1900's. She inherited the ring from her grandmother," Kate said.

Mac whistled low. "It must be worth a pretty penny."

"Randi estimates it's worth close to several thousand dollars due in part to the stone's age and clarity," Kate said. "She wisely had it insured some time ago."

"Smart."

Kate smiled. "Don't let Randi fool you, Mac. She's a lot smarter than what most people give her credit for, even her own family."

"I consider myself warned."