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Nixie Prince-Hughes was, as usual, absorbed in her phone. She was sending and recieving e-mails, making appointments, canceling others, approving and declining offers--in short, running her late husband's aquaculture business and doing it better than he ever could have. Being a selkie, she was tied to the sea, and understood its workings far better than any human.

She was in the middle of implementing kelp and shellfish farms between the fish pens, where the natural filters would not only reduce sewage naturally but produced two more products that were easy to sell, more than compensating for the overhead and maintenance costs. She was so absorbed in a report from one of the biologists who worked for her that she didn't notice a young girl until she bumped into her.

"Oh, sorry," she said absent-mindedly as she stepped to the side.

"Hold up!" Austin, her rather burly chauffeur and assistant, interjected. He grabbed the girl's arm and asked, "Isn't there something you wanna give back to Miss Prince-Hughs?"

"I don't date runty little thieves," he growled.

"Austin, let her go," Nixie said, sounding bored.

"But I saw her fingers slip into your pockets," he protested. "I know she took something."

"And what could she have taken that I care about? Credit cards? I doubt she could run up any fraudulent charges with how much security I have on those things, and even if she did, she's welcome to it." Nixie looked pointedly at the girl. "You need to eat more. You're much too skinny."

Austin gave the girl another shake. "Give it up and you can be on your way, but I'm not letting you go until you come clean."

Nixie fell hard, unprepared for the blow, and cracked her head on the pavement loud enough for everyone to hear. Any eyes that weren't trained on them now were boring into the three of them.

Austin let go of the girl like she was a hot potatoe and went to check on Nixie.

"Ow," she mumbled.

"How many fingers?" Austin asked.

"It hurts to count," she replied as she blinked hard.

"You might have a concussion--we should get you to the hospital!" He looked ready to scoop her up and sprint to the emergency room.

"No, I'm fine. You know I hate hospitals," she grumbled as she pushed herself up. Even though Austin offered a hand, she tactfully ignored it and got to her feet. "Let's get going. If--and that's a big if--she took anything, she can have it. I just want to get to a couple of advil and the board meeting."

"I knew it!" Austin snarled as the fox girl appeared out of nowhere. "I knew you'd taken something."

"Or I dropped them when I fell," Nixie interjected, placing a calming hand on his arm. Her tiny hand didn't look like it could stop the ex-military brute force that was Austin, but somehow it restrained him from doing something ungentlemanly violent to the pickpocket. "Thank you," Nixie said to the girl. "For returning them. Now, let me see about a reward..." She rummaged in her small purse. "I'm afraid I don't have any cash on me, but if you want to come with us, I can get some at the bank, or just treat you to dinner."

"Of course we can," Nixie said, already looking down at her phone again. "Austin, take the keys and drive us to Market Street."

"Yes, Miss Prince-Hughes," Austin grumbled, snatching the keys form the girl. He opened the car door for Nixie and let the girl climb in after her, but closed the door harder than necessary behind her. Then he got behind the wheel and expertly pulled out of the parking lot.

In the quiet of the luxurious car, Nixie made a phone call.

"Donovan, yes, I got the report. It looks good, but I still want to increase the diameter of the filtration hoses. I know it means more money, but they're better quality and they'll last longer. Sovenn might have cut corners, but I don't. Bids are good--but I want this contract filled quickly. Yes, authorize that. Thank you," she finished talking and ended the call. Then she went right back to e-mails. "Austin," she said absently, not even look up. "Could you make a quick detour?"

"Temaki's again?" he asked, a slight smile visible in the rear view mirror.

"Yes, please. Just a crab roll to go, but I am craving it," she admitted. She turned to her guest. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. Would you like some sushi?"

"Austin is not my bodyguard," she said absently. Then she added, "Well, not officially. He's a hanger-on from my late husband's exhaustive staff. I dismissed them all, but for some reason Austin refused to go. He does anything I need--drive, fetch, carry, and all with a smile. Isn't that right, Austin?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" he replied, flashing a forced grin in the rear view mirror.

They pulled up to the sushi restaurant, and quickly jumped out of the car to fetch Nixie's snack.

"He'll be back in a moment. He speaks fluent Japanese, so the chefs give him priority," she explained. "By the way, I don't think I got your name. I'm Nixie Prince-Hughes, as in the Prince-Hughes aqua-culture empire."

Nixie put down her phone for a moment. "My late husband, may his soul be shredded by hagfish, left me a sizeable fortune and profitable business. But as soon as I find what he stole from me, I'm leaving it all and going home." She sniffed. "Pardon the indelicate question, but are you hurt? Austin didn't cause you any harm, did he?"

"Home," she murmured and she looked out the window at nothing. "I used to live between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. The water was so cold that sometimes icebergs floated by as if the clouds had gotten too lazy to stay in the sky."

Austin came back just then. He politely handed Nixie an expensive-looking to-go bag and started up the car again. Nixie's eyes brightened and she dug into the bag. She opened the box and the fishy, seweedy smell of fresh sushi filled the car.

"Ooooh, crab," she cooed. Wielding the chopsticks expertly, she dug in with a will and with relish. She ignored the wasabi and ginger, but ate every scrap of sushi. "That hit the spot," she declared, her hand over her heart. "Thank you, Austin."

"No problem, Ma'am," he replied with a wink in the rear-view mirror.